How The Tale Of A 'Small' Kitchen Was Debunked In Midrand

I have always been amazed at how often we underestimate a space—until a kitchen has been designed, assembled, and installed. That was exactly the case recently with a client I'll call Ms Maroo of Midrand.

As is so often the way, she spotted my advert online and put through a call requesting a site visit. I promptly complied—if you can apply "promptly" to a visit that took place only two or three weeks after the initial call—and collected the measurements.

I must admit: even to me, the proposed space appeared relatively small. But as I said at the outset of this story, that was before we fleshed out the design and began the installation.

The Shape of Deception

To give you an idea, we were dealing with an L‑shaped space, with an arch on one of the walls. In hindsight, I believe that huge arch was the culprit—it played tricks on the eye, shrinking everything around it.

So we decided to fight back. We chose to utilise as much open space as possible, transforming that modest L into an upside‑down U. A kitchen that would wrap around you like a well‑planned strategy.

The Foundation: A Tile That Commands Respect

We started with the floor.

The client settled on the stately 600mm x 600mm polished Chinese porcelain tile. I am yet to see a tile that comes even close to these in terms of pure aesthetics. With its sharp 90‑degree edge, it demands a 3mm spacer—no chance of popping due to expansion, unlike cheaper clay tiles that betray you later. The finish is so seamless it looks as if there are no gaps at all.

Pair that with a light grout—oatmeal, or even a soft light grey—and the combination is sublime.

But what truly blew my mind was the contrast between those porcelain tiles and the cherry‑wood finish laminated flooring in the adjoining lounge and dining room. One side warm timber, the other cool stone. And to cap it all, we inserted a broad aluminium tiling strip between them—clean, deliberate, perfect.

Notice the perfect symmetry
between the two floors

The Oven Tower: A Negotiation in Three Acts

Now, let me walk you through the kitchen itself.

Imagine the upside‑down U. On the left side, right at the corner of the wall enclosing the stairs to the sleeping quarters, we erected the oven tower. A double eye‑level oven, with space for a microwave at the bottom.

I have to mention: the client was so exacting here that the oven had to be shifted up or down three times until the height agreed with everyone in the household. And, of course, lunch was on her afterwards—to smooth what she called "frayed" relations. No hard feelings. Only a perfectly positioned oven.

Above the twin ovens, we customised a sizable double‑door unit. Below the microwave, we devised a 600mm drawer—perfect as an extra pot drawer.

The Drawer That Solved a Problem

Next to the oven tower came a rather traditional four‑door cutlery drawer unit, though a bit smaller at 390mm. This was a custom design, sketched on site, to accommodate the client's wish: she wanted the cooker hob moved further from the oven tower, to prevent cooking splashes from dirtying the side panel. Smart. Practical.

Then came a cavernous two‑door, 900mm main pot drawer unit. And after that, a traditional 900mm x 900mm corner unit to complete the floor units on the left arm.

Wall Units: Small Footprint, Big Attitude

Space constraints meant only two wall units were possible. But we made them count.

First, a custom 1,000mm x 900mm tall corner unit (1,080mm high). Second, a 390mm tall unit to complement the cutlery drawer below. Sandwiched between them, a 600mm gap for the extractor unit, to be installed later.

All wall units featured glass cut‑outs for glass fronts. And to optimise lighting? Four down‑lights inside the units—one in the 390mm unit, three in the big corner unit. Because a dark cupboard is just a cave. A lit cupboard is an invitation.

The oven tower

The Arch, The Fridge, and The Breakfast Nook That Seats a Village

That arch we mentioned earlier? It dictated everything beyond this point. The only thing we could fit on its left was the 900mm x 900mm corner unit.

Past the arch, we positioned the fridge compartment—built specifically to house a traditional French fridge. And then, on the right arm of that upside‑down U, we fitted something glorious: a huge, 3,400mm breakfast nook with two 1,200mm double‑door units underneath.

This was the moment the small‑kitchen myth exploded.

This addition on the open side of the L added so much space that the kitchen could no longer be called small. The client herself confessed as much, standing there with her arms spread, laughing.

And the breakfast nook itself? Oh, it's so spacious it could seat a village. 

View from the lounge 

The countertop—a new board on the market at the time, high‑gloss, deceiving the untrained eye into seeing polished granite—was actually a merging of two boards, one cut lengthwise to 450mm. The result: a 1,050mm wide breakfast nook that just kept going.

The Scullery: An Encore

As if all this wasn't enough, the neighbouring room became the scullery—with more wall and floor units, including a truly, truly cavernous 1,000mm x 1,000mm pentagonal pantry at the back. Big enough to swallow kitchen utensils and groceries.

Loose Ends and Flapping Laminates

Back in the kitchen, we had one small challenge left. The team who had installed the laminated flooring had somehow left two edges bordering the kitchen space unpinned. Despite numerous efforts by the family to fix those flapping ends, it remained a work in progress.

My team stepped in, solved it properly, and finally—finally—the kitchen was complete.

We also attended to a few extra issues left unresolved by previous artisans: dysfunctional down‑lights on the kitchen ceiling.

Job done.

The Lesson

When we packed up our tools and stood back, the final impression was not of a small kitchen at all. It was a truly spacious, cosy, inviting space—warm, logical, and alive.

And it taught me a simple, enduring lesson: never call it small till it's done.

(See the complete photo album of this project on [this link].

                                 ________

Are you looking at your own kitchen right now—measuring it with doubtful eyes?

Let me show you what an L‑shaped doubt can become.

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