Showroom manager of Bauen Design Hollie Clark scooped Kbsa Designer Award for Kitchens (£25k-£50k) for a Japandi themed project

Inspired by a teapot from her husband’s travel to Japan, Hollie Clark’s design-led client requested a Japandi-style kitchen for her new home.

The light and bright scheme was for an open plan extension to a Victorian home, which already had plenty of natural light.

Sponsored Video

Lauren Goodbrand of Kitchens International on winning the Kbsa Concept Designer Award 2024

Creating a kitchen space, without it appearing clinical was among the design challenges.

Material choice

The kitchen could only be designed against two walls in the room but the client wanted it to look different from the previous design.

The hob was originally positioned against the back wall, which Hollie moved to an island position.

She then considered the Japandi aesthetic. “I wanted to achieve a light and bright look, without necessarily using white doors, which can become quite stark and sterile”, says Hollie, adding “so choosing the right materials and finishes was a starting point.”

The client had seen a light grey door in the Bauen Design showroom and Hollie actually combined two doors to create visual interest in the simplistic kitchen design.

She used a handleless door and one with a bronze frame and handle.

The client was interested in marble, so Hollie looked to Dekton which offered the same aesthetics but which is more durable for the kitchen.

In addition, she added an accent Walnut bi-fold door to conceal a breakfast station, which all brought warmth to the scheme.

It complemented the Herringbone parquet flooring, which the client had already chosen.

However, Hollie was keen to avoid the use of too much wood, as the original kitchen was a timber design.

So she opted for an injection of the wood instead:  “I think it can be easy to overdesign something but, actually, what makes it so beautiful is the simplicity of it.

Simple structures

The design was broken up with simple structures, such as a bulkhead, wall-length splashback with shelf and a worktop which was thick at one side of the breakfast bar and thin at the other.

“Just the simple detail of building the splashback out to create a shelf at the top, it formed a nice place to display pieces including her Japanese teapot’.

Hollie also brought texture into the room by tiling above the shelf.

However, a key element of the design was fluting on the island, which offers movement and brings gentle texture into the room.

 Constructed from a mineral decorative wall panel, the installer fitted it to make it appear seamless beneath the breakfast bar.

“In the showroom, we had just started using this new material called FitWall. I just loved it and the client loved it as well.

“She really didn’t want a design that somebody else had, so it was really important for us to bring in new finishes and new things that we maybe hadn’t used before.”

New ideas

In fact, Hollie says her favourite part of the kitchen project was working with the new finishes, particularly the Fitwall. While she said the client’s favourite part was the overall aesthetic.

She concluded: “Design-led, light and bright and bringing in those Japanese and Scandi aspects, it just all came together and she just loved the overall look”.