Apartment
Kitchen

Interior designer Carole Whiting’s apartment — a warehouse conversion in Central Melbourne — features a kitchen with her signature crisp, monochromatic palette. The hidden functionality creates visual cohesion with understated warmth.

Designed To Match

Carole’s kitchen exemplifies what can be achieved when appliances are designed to match a clear vision. The kitchen is constructed using two main materials — larch wood and large-format porcelain tile. These solid blocks of light and dark make this small kitchen feel spacious. The Integrated DishDrawer™ Dishwasher and Refrigerator embed functionality seamlessly. Similarly, Minimal-style black cooking appliances let Carole remove stainless steel from the kitchen landscape and allow the appliances to recede into the background.

Townhouse To Warehouse

“When I moved in, the apartment didn’t have a lot of interesting features,” says Carole. “It was a project from the '90s and looked more 'townhouse' than 'warehouse', so my aim was to convert it back to a more industrial feel."

Carole created this warehouse feeling with sharp lines alleviated by the warmth of the original wooden floors. Leather door pulls on the fridge and freezer panels complete the look.

“The kitchen was designed to blend into the open-plan living and dining space without appearing too domestic,” she explains.

It’s great to be able to have everything in the ovens and spend more time with people.

Scandinavian-Style Dining Table with Fruit Bowl and a Black Ceramic Cooking Pot atop a Gas Cooktop in the Foreground.

Maximising Minimal Space

To maximise space, Carole removed the existing island, replacing it with a lightweight, freestanding trestle table. She relocated all the cabinetry to around the walls to let more light in and open up the space to the rest of the apartment.

Carole Whiting's Kitchen Schematic Floor Plans.

Black Ceramic Cooking Pot atop a Gas Cooktop next to an Open Refrigerator.

Kitchen Perfection

Carole chose to install two ovens in this relatively small kitchen. She explains: “When I do cook it’s mostly because I’m entertaining, and it’s great to be able to have everything in the ovens at the same time — that way I can be organised enough to spend more time with people.”