Featured Project - Spring 2008

Graceville Kitchen

Greener Kitchens was asked to complete a kitchen renovation in Graceville, in the inner western suburbs of Brisbane in mid 2008. Our client was looking for a kitchen renovation that resonated with her passion for the environment and living more sustainably. She was also keen on a kitchen that was easier to use with storage she could access more comfortably and surfaces that could be kept clean with ease, without using environmentally unfriendly harsh cleaners that end up as pollutants in our waterways.

The end result of all of our efforts toghether is a kitchen with plenty of smart storage, making best use of materials to optimise available space including a number of long drawers for all of the frequently used items to live in and get to with ease. Every inch of the space has been thought about to ensure it makes a contribution to the function of the kitchen. All of the materials used to construct the kitchen were carefully considered to minimise their environmental impact, such as very low toxicity Australian made door and carcass materials, with wood content derived from sustainable plantations in Australia and a strong percentage of pre-consumer recycled content. The 'star' of the kitchen is a recycled timber servery bench, made from timber that is well over 50 years old reclaimed from the Southport Spit. The main benchtop is a reconsituted stone, which has been sourced from a manufacturer with a stated environmental policy, and an ISO 14001 rating to confirm the efforts they are making to reduce their environmental impact in many areas of the production of their material. The stone bench is long lasting (ensuring a reduction in long term material use) and is non porous, which hit the client's brief for a bench that is very easy to keep clean in an environmentally friendlier manner, requiring only a wet cloth in most cases.

The sink, handles and water efficient mixer tap are Australian made and of a very high quality ensuring that they do not need to be replaced within the long life of the kitchen.

In keeping with our holistic approach to providing environmentally consious kitchens, we worked with our client to secure the sale of her old kitchen to ensure it lives as long as it can, and help to offest the cost of the new kitchen.

We are very pleased with the end result of the 'Graceville Kitchen' and would like to thank our amazing client who was a joy to meet and work with. We were inspired by her regard for the environement and the work she is doing to improve the quality of the waterways in her local community. For more information on the group our client supports, please follow the link on the left hand side of the page.