Reno lego.
Kitchen reno ‘a bit like lego’
When Auckland couple Camille Sanson and Sohail Shah decided to renovate their holiday home in the coastal town of Karekare, they knew their kitchen had to be a key feature.
The pair bought the house in 2011 while living in the UK. It was an opportunity they couldn't miss - the home was designed by Award-Winning New Zealand architect Andrew Patterson in the 80's, and Camille and Sohail could visualise living there once they left Europe.
They always intended to move to New Zealand, so when they became parents, it felt like the right time to make the move.
“We spent time thinking about what we wanted to do with the house to ensure we kept the essence of the building based on Andrew’s original design and slowly renovating the property to give a more contemporary feel.”
The luxury escape features a stunning outdoor setting boasting views across Karekare valley.
The kitchen needed to be both stylish and practical for the family - a place where they can bake cakes with their little boy, make coffee or pour a glass of wine, before stepping outside to soak up the tranquillity.
The couple aren't strangers to renovating. The pair share a passion for art, furniture, design, and have used their creative flair to undertake projects in the past.
Before they start anything, they browse magazines and look online at Pinterest for inspiration.
The couple’s friend - who is a high end cabinet maker - recommended Cutshop, and contacted them initially to discuss the project.
Sohail says the process seemed easy, so they went ahead.
They hand drew a rough sketch of the kitchen, took measurements, decided on the appliances they wanted, and selected plywood as their material of choice.
Both of them agreed they wanted a connection between the kitchen, dining and outdoor area. They thought about their interactions with friends and children, and decided a breakfast bar coming off the island would also be an important part of the design.
Cutshop then came back with a 3D render of what the kitchen could look like.
"Everything was mocked up for us. It was super simple," says Sohail.
Sohail would recommend Cutshop to anyone wanting bespoke furniture.
"It's high quality precision without the cost of paying for a brand name."
Despite no previous building experience - he built the flat pack kitchen within 10 hours, and after a few days he'd also installed cabinets.
There was a longer wait for the kitchen tops, and hand trowelled italian plaster work from Solid State Concrete. The entire installation took just 3 weeks to complete.
“This was never about money but the pleasure and satisfaction of creating things. Sure, you could pay someone to do the whole kitchen for you but why spend that when you can spend a fraction of that selecting your own materials, appliances and putting it together yourself … and getting the same result.”
Sohail enjoyed time away from his busy work schedule to undertake the project.
"A kitchen is not like taking a rocket to moon, it's simply using logic to construct pieces together - a bit like my son building Lego. The difficult work of precision was done by Cutshop and all I did was to construct it together, like Lego.”
