Apt Kitchen & Closet Installations Pty Ltd

Small spaces always present special challenges in design. And when that small space happens to be a kitchen, the challenge becomes even more peculiar. That was precisely the situation I faced recently with the Mtambisi family kitchen in Kempton Park.   Now, it's true that I have worked with small spaces before. At Kapele Freight & Logistics (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of the JSE-listed  Rohlig Grindrod  Group of Companies, I was tasked with designing and installing two small kitchens—one on each floor, back to back—alongside the main kitchen facilities and bar in the staff canteen. However, apart from very minor differences on one wall, those two small kitchen spaces were basically identical. The Mtambisi kitchen, on the other hand, was a different story altogether, and I'll explain why.   To begin with, we were dealing with a truly cramped space. Two walls measure 2400 mm long, while the other two are just 1900 mm long. One of the 1900 mm walls is an exterio...

I have to confess: I have never been a great fan of refurbishing when it comes to kitchens or any other built‑in cabinets (BICs) for that matter. But of late, I have seen a tangible spike in inquiries to that effect. First, it was an elderly gentleman from Soweto who called in, asking if it could be possible to do a kitchen refurbishment by simply working on the doors of his kitchen. He requested that I visit him to see what could be done. Politely, I suggested he take the measurements of the doors and forward them to me. My intention was to design – free of charge – new doors for him, get him a quote from a board‑cutting and edging outlet close to his place, forward it to him, and have him pay for the materials and complete the job on his own. In fact, in our ten‑minute-or-so discussion, I basically gave him a 101 tutorial on how to go about effecting the makeover. He sounded enthusiastic and willing to follow through on my suggestions but, strangely, he never came back to me with the...