An Art Deco-influenced kitchen can work with your home’s period character while improving storage, preparation space and everyday use. Start with the details you want to retain, then plan the cabinetry around how you cook. Colour, profiles and handles can bring the room together without every surface repeating the same motif.
For a Surrey Hills home, the useful starting point is the building itself. An original interwar room, an altered kitchen and a contemporary rear extension may call for different responses. You do not need dark cabinets, black stone or an island to make the design feel considered.
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Start with the details worth keeping
Look beyond the existing kitchen cabinets. Photograph any cornices, leadlight, door surrounds, timber floors or built-in furniture you would like the new kitchen to sit comfortably beside. Record their proportions and condition, as well as their appearance. These details are possibilities to investigate, not features every Surrey Hills home shares.
Choose a small number of references. A stepped cornice might inform a cabinet reveal; a window’s repeated lines could suggest the rhythm of cupboard doors. If the room already has patterned glass and a detailed ceiling, quieter cabinet fronts may let those features remain prominent.
Art Deco has varied influences, rather than one compulsory kitchen palette. The V&A’s introduction to Art Deco is a useful visual starting point. Bring references that show what appeals to you, and note whether it is the geometry, colour, metalwork or overall proportions.
A curved island end or pale cabinetry can be part of your interpretation. In a newer extension, you might carry through one colour or handle detail from the older rooms while keeping the kitchen’s overall form simple.
Plan daily use before the cabinet faces
Write down what the current kitchen makes difficult. Perhaps two people need the same preparation area, deep cupboards hide everyday items, or an open dishwasher blocks the route to the dining room. Those problems give the layout a purpose beyond a change of style.
- Map the room: include windows, doors, existing services, ceiling details and any features you intend to retain. Have final dimensions and site conditions checked before manufacture or ordering.
- Test movement: consider people passing through, appliance doors opening and drawers being used at the same time. An island should earn its place; a well-planned wall run may suit the room better.
- Allocate storage: list bulky appliances, trays, cookware, food and waste sorting. Decide what needs easy daily access and what can sit higher or further away.
- Resolve appliances early: use the selected models’ installation instructions for openings, ventilation and clearances. Allow for handles, door swings, service access and any integrated panels.
For example, if a retained window sits low over the existing bench, a taller cabinet run could interrupt both the window and the work surface. Recording that constraint early helps you compare a different cabinet arrangement with any proposed building alteration.
Discuss task lighting and extraction before finalising overhead cabinetry. Keep electrical, plumbing and structural decisions with the relevant qualified trades and advisers; a cabinetry drawing does not settle those requirements.
Choose cabinet details you will enjoy using
Compare the whole composition as well as individual samples. A detailed door can look quite different when repeated across a long run. Ask to see how a proposed profile meets drawer fronts, end panels and corners.
| Cabinet approach | What it can contribute | What to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Stepped or framed detail | A way to echo architectural lines and give the cabinet faces depth. | Profile scale, drawer proportions and how the detail finishes at edges. |
| Reeded or fluted detail | Texture and a repeated vertical rhythm, perhaps on one focal area. | Cleaning access within grooves and the appearance of joins and corners. |
| Plain fronts | A quieter surface beside an existing cornice, patterned window or expressive splashback. | Door alignment, handle placement and the balance between plain and detailed surfaces. |
Compare colour, finish and care together
Deep green, charcoal or timber tones can create a strong visual focus. Cream or pale cabinetry can leave more emphasis on the room’s existing detail. View samples beside the floor and wall colours in daylight and under your planned lighting before choosing.
Compare painted finishes, laminate and timber or veneer options against the profile you want and the maintenance you will accept. Ask for the actual door construction, edge treatment and care instructions. A colour name or finish category alone does not establish resistance to moisture, scratches or fingerprints.
Try a representative sample with the proposed handle. Check how it feels to open, where your fingers touch the face and how readily you can clean the profile. Use the supplier’s approved cleaning method rather than assuming every matt, satin or gloss surface behaves alike.
Choose hardware by feel as well as appearance
Bar handles, cup pulls and knobs each create a different rhythm. Check grip, projection and clearance beside adjacent doors and drawers. Brass tones can add warmth, but black, nickel or other finishes need not be ruled out if they suit the composition.
Ask whether the selected hardware has a living finish that changes with use or a protective coating, and request its care instructions. “Brass”, “aged brass” and “gold” are not enough to establish the underlying material, coating or maintenance needs.
Specify the benchtop and splashback as working surfaces
A dark benchtop can reinforce contrast; a lighter surface can make a different feature more prominent. Look at a sufficiently large sample or the proposed slab, including its edge and any joins. Neither colour is a requirement for an Art Deco-influenced kitchen.
If considering marble, understand its sensitivity to acids and the possibility of etching before selecting it for a busy preparation area. Sealing is not a guarantee against acid damage. The Natural Stone Institute’s care guidance explains why stone type and care matter. Ask the supplier about the exact material, finish and maintenance requirements.
Check the current composition and suitability of any manufactured benchtop product. Victoria bans the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs, subject to limited exceptions. Use WorkSafe Victoria’s engineered-stone guidance and ask your supplier to confirm the proposed product’s status. An older brand or colour recommendation is not sufficient evidence that a product can be supplied and installed now.
A geometric tile can carry the decorative detail while the cabinets stay simple. Compare grout joints, cleaning access and the finish around outlets. Any splashback near a cooking appliance must suit the selected appliance’s installation requirements; have the relevant supplier and installer confirm the specification.
Would custom cabinetry or an IKEA kitchen suit the brief?
Custom cabinetry is worth considering when particular dimensions, cabinet proportions or profiles are central to the design. It allows the cabinetry brief to respond to the room, including retained features and awkward spaces. The result still depends on the agreed drawings, materials, hardware and installation scope. See Silk Touch’s custom kitchen cabinetry service in Melbourne for that pathway.
A modular system such as IKEA METOD may suit if its available cabinet sizes, fronts and fittings meet your layout and storage needs. Check the full plan, including fillers, cover panels, appliance openings and door clearances. The room’s character can also come through retained architecture, lighting and the splashback; bespoke door detailing does not have to carry the whole design.
Silk Touch considers suitable IKEA and other flat-pack installation projects. If you are weighing that route, read the IKEA kitchen planning and installation guide, then confirm the installation inclusions for your project. Installing a modular system is a different scope from designing and manufacturing custom cabinetry. Do not assume a quote includes alterations to the system, custom fronts, or work by other trades.
Check the property’s controls before committing to changes
Surrey Hills is shared by Boroondara and Whitehorse. Establish the council for your exact address, then check the property’s planning controls and any heritage listing. A period appearance does not tell you which controls apply, and the suburb name does not settle permit requirements.
Use the Boroondara alterations guidance or Whitehorse alterations guidance for the relevant address. Confirm any internal-alteration controls in the applicable heritage schedule and seek property-specific advice from council. Check building-permit requirements separately with a building surveyor, particularly if changing a supporting wall, window opening or other structural element.
Identify those dependencies before approving cabinetry that relies on building work. Replacing cupboards and removing a wall are different proposals; neither should receive a blanket “permit-free” assurance from a kitchen style guide.
Prepare a cabinetry brief that makes the choices clear
A useful brief explains what you want to retain, what needs to work better and which design details matter most. Include:
- Your project suburb, available room photographs and any plans or measurements.
- The existing features to retain, plus reference images with notes about what you like.
- Storage priorities, appliance models and any proposed layout or building changes.
- Preferred profiles, colours, finishes and hardware, with alternatives you would consider.
- Your working budget, preferred timeframe and any known approval or trade dependencies.
- Whether you want custom cabinetry or installation of a selected modular kitchen, and what you need included.
Keep the cabinetry quote and the wider renovation budget distinct. For the wider scope, use the kitchen renovation budgeting guide. For choices that change the cabinetry specification, see what affects a custom kitchen cabinetry quote. Compare the actual details, quantities and inclusions being quoted rather than assuming a fixed Art Deco surcharge.
Discuss your kitchen cabinetry project
Silk Touch designs, manufactures, supplies and installs custom joinery for Melbourne projects. Stone, appliances, plumbing, electrical, splashbacks, painting, flooring and structural work need their own agreed scope; do not assume an all-trades renovation package.
Send your project suburb, what you want to change and whether you are considering custom cabinetry or a modular kitchen installation. Mention any plans or photographs you have available. Silk Touch can review the enquiry and discuss the appropriate next step towards a project-specific quote.