Kitchen of the Week: A Sensitive and Considered Renovation, by Australian Kitchen Maker Cantilever

The Japanese-esque open timber shelving, the streamlined white cabinets, the black steel window frames, the cutout drawer pulls, the compact footprint: this kitchen in Melbourne by Cantilever, an Australian custom kitchen systems company, checks off all our boxes.

It’s owned by artist and former furniture maker Martin Tighe and his partner Jennifer. After raising their children in the family compound, a former bottling dairy owned by Martin’s grandfather, the two decided it was time to remodel the kitchen to suit their new empty nester status.

“So our initial kitchen stood us in very good stead for 23 years, but we’re 23 years older, and everything was [under the counter] including our pantry and oven, and it was getting harder and harder to work in that space,” Jennifer told Cantilever. “We had to get down on our hands and knees whenever we wanted something! So we thought that we needed to do a kitchen renovation, and we wanted something a little bit special, it’s a beautiful space.”

The couple tapped Cantilever for the project, but asked that they work within the confines of the existing compact footprint. It had served several generations well, after all. Here’s a peek at the results:

Photography by Martina Gemmola via Cantilever’s blog.

Above: Martin and Jennfer’s family compound is comprised of several buildings connected by a courtyard. Their priority for the project was to preserve the original footprint and keep the building intact.
Above: The couple in their new kitchen. The concrete floors from their former kitchen were simply cleaned up and polished. The stools are by Tait.
Above: Cantilever offers four different kitchen systems to choose from. The couple selected its K3 system, the brand’s mid-century-inspired line.
Above: “I love the fact that I’ve got a beautiful set of integrated timber shelving, which is great for displaying all different kinds of pieces,” Jennifer told Cantilever. “I’ve got some mid-century teapots and cup sets and things that I can put on there and display along with changing artwork, like a moving display case.”



Above: The tiles, in two different sizes, are by Tiento.
Above: Really, do kitchens need to be any larger than this?
Above: The kitchen is open to the dining area.

For more Australian Kitchen of the Week posts, see:


Kitchen of the Week: A Modern Garden Kitchen in a Historic Row House in Melbourne
Kitchen of the Week: Designer Georgia Ezra’s Modern-Rustic Star Kitchen in Melbourne
Kitchen of the Week: A Seventies-Era Overhaul in Australia

#KitchenSystems #SteelWindows&Doors #Australia #Countertops #ConcreteFloors