Country kitchens,
built for this country.
Most country kitchen photographs are of English houses with cold rooms and small windows. An Australian country kitchen has a different brief entirely.
The short answer
A country kitchen is informal, practical and built around a large central work surface, usually with visible storage, a deep sink and a freestanding feel rather than a fitted one. The Australian version diverges from the English one in ways that matter: hotter light, a verandah or back door that is really the main entrance, and a room that often doubles as the laundry route. Designing from a Cotswolds photograph gives you a dark room that does not work here.
What makes it Australian rather than English
Light. English country kitchens are dark because the rooms are dark and the palette compensates with warmth. An Australian room with the same palette reads gloomy under much stronger light. The local version runs lighter, with more timber and less painted depth, and relies on the view out rather than the warmth in. The second difference is the back door — in most country houses here it is the main entrance, and the kitchen has to tolerate boots and buckets.
The island does the work
A country kitchen is organised around one large central surface rather than a tight work triangle, because the room usually serves more people doing more things. Make it longer than looks necessary and leave the ends open. Timber on the island against stone elsewhere is the pairing that reads country without tipping into theme.
Visible storage, and the limit of it
Open shelves and a dresser-style bank are what signal country, and they are also what collects dust and grease. The workable compromise is open shelving away from the cooktop and closed storage near it. A butler’s pantry does the rest, which is why so many country kitchens have one.
Specification for hard use
This is the style most likely to meet mud, heat and volume. 18mm moisture-resistant board, laser-bonded edging and Blum runners matter more here than in a style kitchen that gets used gently. Pot drawers earn their cost in a country kitchen faster than anywhere.
Kitchen styles
More in this series: Hamptons style kitchen guide · Modern farmhouse kitchen guide · Japandi kitchen design guide · Coastal kitchen design guide · Industrial style kitchen guide · Scandinavian kitchen design guide · Shaker · Two-tone · Contemporary · French provincial · Classic · Federation · Victorian · Art Deco · Mediterranean · Cottage · Transitional.
Frequently asked
Common questions
If your question is not here, call the studio. We would rather talk it through than have you guess.
Ask us directly →What is a country kitchen?
An informal, practical kitchen organised around a large central work surface, with visible storage, a deep sink and a freestanding rather than fitted feel.
How is an Australian country kitchen different?
Lighter. English country palettes read gloomy in Australian light. Ours runs more timber and less painted depth, and has to tolerate a back door that is really the main entrance.
Do I need an island for a country kitchen?
It is the organising element of the style. Make it longer than seems necessary and leave the ends open.
Is open shelving practical?
Away from the cooktop, yes. Near it, grease makes it work. Closed storage near the heat and open shelving elsewhere is the compromise that lasts.
Delivered assembled
The assembly is done
before it arrives.
Carcasses built square on a bench, Blum hardware fitted, doors hung and adjusted to even gaps. On site you are fixing finished cabinets to a wall, not building them on the floor. Our own team fits it in Central Queensland; your installer fits it anywhere else in Australia. Prefer to build it yourself? The same kitchen ships flat pack.
Concrete-look doors, matte black hardware
Navy cabinetry, open-plan island
Galley layout for a narrow room
Your style
Send us the dimensions.
We will draw it your way.
A fixed, itemised quote drawn to your room in the style you want, flat packed or delivered assembled.