Colour makes a comeback
Kitchens have come in from the cold with bright blocks of colour helping to turn up the visual heat. Kallup is a new, garnet-red kitchen door from Ikea, one of the most stylish entry level kitchen options.
The doors start from €21 each and colour works really well with the bare timber boards in flooring, countertops and accessories like the chopping boards pictured. Kilner jars with all manner of fermented goods add further colour and interest. Ikea.com
Change up tiles
Forget chevron patterns and basic metro-tile layouts. The new pattern to use on walls and splashbacks is basket weave as pictured here in a cool new sienna shade from Spanish metro tile king Fabresa. This Craquele format features a rich wash of colour that appears slightly darker around the edges. It costs €46 per square metre at Tilestyle and also comes in an intense kingfisher blue and soft rose pink. tilestyle.ie; fabresa.com
Take on some texture
Surf the big blue trend with a cool smart take on texture. Garry Cohn of Cohn Design, one-time Design Doctor on RTÉ television, married contrasting natural solid oak drawers and doors on the island with painted and ribbed beech wood doors, bespoke work by The Design Yard, a company that has offices in Dungannon and in the Terminus Mills in Clonskeagh, D6.
The luxury look includes pocket doors, custom-stained patinated oak interiors and quartz countertops atop wall units. Owner Pádraig Donnelly says a similar design will cost from about €37,500 excluding appliances but including the utility room. High-end calacatta marble was used on the island and supplied by Enfield-based Granite & Marble Crafts. thedesignyard.com; graniteandmarblecrafts.ie
Introduce salvage material
In this more mindful age of reusing and repurposing it is encouraging to see Zara Home celebrating original Victorian quarry tiles, the hottest thing in salvage right now, in a recent editorial shot at French cook and writer Mimi Thorisson's family home in a 19th century chateau in the Medoc. You see them in old kitchens, usually in a black and terracotta checkerboard pattern or in the harder to find, warmer biscuit and red pattern pictured. They instantly turn up the temperature and are making a comeback in kitchens and utility rooms. Mac's Warehouse at Islandbridge has stock of both black and terracotta 6in squares, about 15¼cm. Each tile costs €2. macswarehouse.ie
Futuristic fun
Get with the counter culture. Your choice here can really bring an edgy fashion update to an existing kitchen. Cullifords White Beauty marble is a cool new stone can be ordered through Wexford-based Stone Solutions, where counters such as these pictured, will cost from about €658 per sq m. But to have it cut and finished to the 20mm deep standard of island-clad design, pictured, as well as cut-outs, will cost from about €4,000, ex-VAT and including fitting and delivery to anywhere to Ireland. geraldculliford.co.uk; stonesolutions.ie
London style
Make your kitchen work with the rest of your rooms as up and coming London architecture practice Red Deer did here. Founded by Lionel Real de Azua, Derry-born Ciara O'Brien and Lucas Che Tizard, this forms an integral part of a a really smart reimagining of an apartment set over two floors within an 18th century Grade II listed townhouse on London's Harley Street. There is a lightness of touch to Real de Azua's approach that includes fitting a bespoke kitchen into an existing arch. It is hidden from the main living area by the broken plan layout. Fabricated by Maddison & Sons its has arabescato marble countertops whose white background has stylish grey wave detailing. reddeer.co.uk; maddisonandsons.com
The age of elegance
Bert & May's floor tiles are handmade in Spain using traditional methods which give them a mottled effect that will make your kitchen floor look like its been in situ for years. Pictured is azul blue and the tile comes in fashionable shapes such as herringbone, about €2.81 per tile and hexagon, about €2.58 per tile but the hip choice now is square. Choose from 10cm sizes, about €1.78 each; 15cms, about €2.99 each or 20cms, about €3.56 each. These prices are ex-VAT and delivery from the UK. The tiles also need to be sealed to retain their matt, chalky look. Bert & May recommends a product called Lithofin, which can be ordered from most good builders providers. Minimum order is 3sq m. bertandmay.com
Take a seat
The devil is always in the detail and one that will add personality to an open-plan space is a choice set of stools. You can install them as places to perch at the island counter or shorter version can be stowed away under the table when not in use. One of the best-looking options on the market is this Tabouret Smack, by French brand Matiere Grise's Autres collection. It comes in 32 different colour options and four different sizes from foot stool (35cm high), from €313 to bar stools, from €417. Those pictured stand 45cm high and cost from €331 each. matieregrise-design.com
