Decorex Cape Town Goes Bold with Colourful Kitchens

The increasing prominence of the kitchen within the home has placed more emphasis on the décor and design elements used to craft the perfect space. Visitors to this year’s Decorex Cape Town – taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 27 April to 1 May – will get expert insight and endless inspiration into the best kitchen designs when they step into the Franke Kitchen Trends Project.

The Kitchen Studio

This popular Decorex installation will see four of the country’s best kitchen designers incorporating the latest Franke SA range into their unique space, centred on this year’s theme, ‘An Expression of Colour’ with a nod to the Decorex #rhythmoflife theme. The kitchen models by Gardner Interior Concepts, Holly Wood Furniture, Unique Kitchens and The Kitchen Studio will be assessed by representatives from Franke SA and the Kitchen Specialists’ Association (KSA) with the winning team taking home R15 000 worth of Franke SA kitchen products.

Gardner Interior Concepts

Franke SA’s National Sales Manager, Clinton Soutter, said: “Decorex Cape Town has always been a really dynamic exhibition which attracts discerning customers looking for something truly unique and just a bit edgy. This pushes the kitchen designers to craft interesting kitchen installations that showcase exactly how the latest trends and products can be suited to different tastes. This exhibition is such a useful platform for those in the trade, as well as potential customers looking for quality workmanship and on-trend products.”

Unique Kitchen

Meet the designers:

Previous winners of the Franke Best Kitchen Award and a Decorex Excellence Award recipient, Holly Wood Kitchens will craft a ‘simple, functional family kitchen’ for this year’s feature.

“We don’t really follow the trends, rather design and manufacture what we know will appeal to the client,” said Vince Muir of Holly Wood Kitchens. “Kitchens are very much part of the Rhythm of Life… a place where family and friends come together to celebrate cooking and eating. Our kitchens are designed to be sociable and informal. The central hub of any home. We will be expressing the colour theme in our own unique way.”

Muir said visitors can look forward to light, bright kitchens accented by hardwood accessories. “We’re going back to our shaker traditions with all the functionality of a modern chef’s kitchen.”

For a contemporary, warm kitchen design with natural finishes, audiences can take a look at The Kitchen Studio’s latest Franke Kitchen Trends Project design. Having earned countless ‘Best Overall’ and ‘Best Kitchen’ awards over the years, The Kitchen Studio always matches the demand of Decorex’s discerning market.

Dane Maharaj of The Kitchen Studio said there are a number of interesting trends to look out for this year: “Due to a scarcity of natural resources, natural finishes and materials are becoming increasingly sought after – this was evident in industry shows in Europe over the last year. The design community is also getting tired of the same-old high-gloss colours and finishes. As a result, designers are using natural finishes, combined with high quality synthetic materials such as high gloss and matt Crystal acrylic doors, in a contemporary way, contrasting the natural warmth with synthetic modernism.”

Looking to Decorex Cape Town, Maharaj said they bring ‘an expression of colour’ into every kitchen and there would be a focus on more minimal, modern design trends such as stained and washed natural finishes with square line Crystal acrylic doors.

Always in tune with the best trends suited to local tastes, Gardner Interior Concepts will be featuring a kitchen space with an industrial contemporary feel, popular in Europe today.

“With the use of bold colours, light timbers or reclaimed timber and blackened steel features, we feel this trend really lends itself to a hard-wearing kitchen, suited to high traffic and some serious catering, while lending itself to a warm and cosy feel,” explained Steven Turton of Gardner Interior Concepts. “The shaker style and classical trends are making their way back in our designs but leaning towards a more contemporary industrial feel. An example is sprayed matt shaker doors in a pastel grey, with the use of face brick or reclaimed timber wall cladding, and some black powder coated steel features. White Oak and French Oak timber are still popular, bringing warming elements to the kitchens, often with grey or white washes added to the timber.

Rather than showing off a variety of trends, as has been done in the past, Turton said they have committed to their favourite trend in an attempt to expose the public to this relatively unexplored kitchen style.

“We will not only use bold contrasting colours, but also textures in our design,” he explained. “Everything from smooth to rough, as well as matt finishes with clever lighting to provide just the right amount of shine for highlighting the contrasts within areas.”

Winners of the 2015 ‘Make It Wonderful’ Award at Decorex Joburg and last year’s Franke Kitchen Trends Project winners at Decorex Cape Town, Unique Kitchens will seek to replicate this success with their on-trend kitchen design.

“We’re taking a more modern approach with our stand this year, incorporating the new PG Bison board range, with a combination of colour and lighting to touch on the Franke ‘Expression of Colour’ theme,” said Gerhard Calitz of Unique Kitchens. “White is still popular in the high-gloss melamine or duco with the classical shaker style preferred by many clients.”

For all the latest #rhythmoflife kitchen products and colourful styles, visit the Franke Kitchen Trends Project at Decorex Cape Town – sponsored by Plascon.