We’ve been following the renovation of interior designer Kathryn Bamford’s renovated home, room by room, and today we’ve reached the heart of the home: the kitchen!
If there’s one space that completely transformed during The Peppertree Project, it was the kitchen.
The original kitchen had definitely seen better days. It featured high gloss beige cabinetry, Venetian Gold stone benchtops and a feature tile strip splashback. All very 2000s! The house had been rented out for many years, so the kitchen had its fair share of wear and tear. But the biggest issue wasn’t cosmetic — it was the layout.
For such a large home, the kitchen felt surprisingly small and disconnected from the rest of the living spaces. It simply didn’t function the way a modern family kitchen should.
A demolition tip that saved money
Here’s a handy tip if you’re planning a renovation. Everyone told me I should try to sell the old kitchen because it had stone benchtops and cabinetry that were still usable. But the reality was that it was dated and it could have taken months to find a buyer.
I would need somewhere to store it and if it didn’t sell, I would have had to dispose of it myself — and kitchens take up an entire large skip bin, which costs around $900 to hire. On top of that, natural stone can’t go in skip bins, so that would have meant additional disposal costs.
Instead, I listed the entire kitchen for free on Facebook Marketplace. Within a week, it was gone and had found a new home in Windsor, which felt like a much nicer outcome than sending it to landfill and it saved a decent amount of money.
Designing the new kitchen
Once the old kitchen was demolished, I literally drew the elevations for the new kitchen directly onto the wall so the contractors could follow the design. Sydney Custom Kitchens came out to quote shortly after — and the rest is history.
If you read our floorplan story, you’ll know we removed the formal dining room and divided that space to create a butler’s pantry and an ensuite for the nearby guest bedroom.
That decision completely changed the functionality of the kitchen.
It gave us an incredible seven-metre run of cabinetry along the back wall, which is quite rare in a residential kitchen. Because we had the space, I worked with our joiner to design a custom rangehood surround and display cabinetry to break up the cabinetry and create a focal point.
A kitchen designed for entertaining
This kitchen was designed to handle serious entertaining: two ovens, two fridges, two clean-up zones with bin, sink and dishwashers.
Having separate clean-up zones makes hosting incredibly easy — dishes can be handled without interrupting the cooking area. It’s one of those design decisions that might seem excessive at first, but once you have it, you realise how practical it is.
The lighting plan for the kitchen was designed to be both practical and atmospheric. We opted for downlights throughout for general illumination, but layered this with warm white LED strip lighting under all shelving and cabinetry to create a softer glow in the evenings. I’m not a fan of harsh overhead lighting at night.
Along the back wall, we added LED lighting beneath the stone shelf, paired with wall sconces to bring warmth and a more decorative element to the space. We also made sure to strategically conceal powerpoints throughout, so functionality is there without disrupting the overall aesthetic.
We also incorporated a built-in bar nook next to the fridge, which has quickly become one of my favourite features in the kitchen. It’s designed as a dedicated zone for entertaining, with space for glassware, drinks and styling pieces, while keeping everything easily accessible but neatly tucked away. By integrating it into the cabinetry, it feels seamless rather than an add-on, and helps break up a full wall of joinery with a more relaxed, lifestyle-focused moment. It’s these little pockets of functionality that make the kitchen not just practical, but really enjoyable to use.
Reworking the dining space
The dining area sits beside the kitchen and already had a gas fireplace, but it was originally recessed flat into the wall and lacked any real presence. To give it more impact, we framed it out and brought the fireplace forward by 150mm, then finished it with a stacked stone surround.
It completely changed the look of the space.
We also added two pendant lights over the dining table and installed sheer linen curtains, which have been a game changer for softening the room and diffusing natural light.
Storage and custom joinery
In the living room adjoining the kitchen, we added custom cabinetry with a stone top made from the same material used in the kitchen to keep everything feeling cohesive.
We also incorporated a custom bookshelf, which has become both a practical storage solution and a design feature.
One thing I always say when designing homes is this: storage is key. If you want your home to look beautiful most of the time, you need places to hide the everyday clutter — whether that’s dog toys, kids’ toys, books or the thousand little things that accumulate in a busy household.
And in this home, there’s finally a place for everything.
Image: BLK DOT Media
Get the look:
- Wall colour: Dulux Natural White
- Kitchen cabinetry colour: Monument
- Stone: AC Stone Arabescato Corchia AC1019
- Floor Tiles: Amber Tiles
- Bar Stools: Coco Republic
- Dining pendants: Early Settler – Sutton Pendant Gold
- Kitchen Wall sconces: Beacon Lighting – Made by Mayfair Seaside St Kilda Exterior Wall Bracket in Aged Solid Bronze with Spanish Alabaster Shade
The team:
- Interior design & styling: Kathryn Bamford
- Kitchen joinery: Sydney Custom Kitchens
- Builder and carpentry: Traynor Constructions
- Plumbing: VAS Plumbing
- Electrical: JCG Electrical
- Before and during photography: Kathryn Bamford
Next in The Peppertree Project, I’ll share how we completely revamped a very awkward backyard into an entertainer’s paradise!
The Peppertree Project sold at auction through McGrath Castle Hill at the weekend (28 March, 2026) for $3.285million, smashing the suburb record, and indeed the highest price ever paid for a house on a sub-650m plot.
View the full listing, photography and video tour here.
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