A champion of Australian design, he launched his own homewares range last year and has now enlisted the team a Freedom Kitchens to overhaul the former basic kitchen he shares with husband Olivier and their three dogs.
The brief was to transform his kitchen from its (circa 2010) basic state into a stylish, high-end, high-tech contemporary space.
“The kitchen trend I’m really loving at the moment and the one that inspired my kitchen is mixed tones and metallics, grounded by the natural elements of timber and concrete.
After a modern Scandi aesthetic, Darren opted for a mixture of cabinetry finishes with clean lines, opting for touch-catch doors on the ‘Iceland White’ overhead kitchen cabinets to eliminate the need for handles, adding to the smooth appearance. “I chose touch-catch doors rather than handles to keep it sleek, but then tied back to the metallic with anthracite handles on my timber-look lower cabinets.” The cabinet designs include an integrated dishwasher.
"You can make a neutral palette so much more interesting by incorporating textures and a pop of metallic really dials up the interest."
Darren Palmer
Darren has renovated his kitchen to create a “comfortable and inviting space” using an L-shaped kitchen design with a large island bench as the central element. “I find this layout really practical and it follows the rules of the traditional working triangle – the zone between food storage, benchtops and cooking zones.”
The timber look of the kitchen cabinet design below the benchtops offsets the bank of metallic finished ‘Titan’ anthracite-toned cabinetry along one wall, which offers endless storage, conceals a washing machine and dryer and ingeniously incorporates a generous stainless steel French door fridge. This new metallic trend in kitchen cabinets ticks boxes of clever design and smooth functionality and gives a fresh, contemporary feel.
Benchtops are made from Caesarstone’s new ‘Cloudburst concrete’ in a 30mm thickness with a mitred edge. Special design features include an ‘apron’ flowing down from the cooktop to the oven and the surface continues up to form the splashback.
“Metallics have been popular in interiors for a couple of years now,” says Darren. “But the Titan cabinet doors are an evolution and expansion of the use of metallic surfaces in interiors which also lends a subtle, sophisticated sheen to the kitchen.”
For more details visit Freedom Kitchens.
