Award Winning Kitchens

Winner: The Nautilus. Best Kitchen in a Display Home $210,001-$280,000. The West 11th July

Style meets function in the galmorous kitchen of the Nautilus display, by the Dale Alcock Homes design team.

Chocolate Laminex cabinetry has been teamed with white CaesarStone benchtops to create an eye-catching look.

Full height cupboards, a mirrored splashback to the rear wall and feature pendant lighting above the central island bench add further touches of class.

The kitchen overlooks the dining and living areas as well as the covered alfresco area.

The big central island bench, with an 80mm CaesarStone fascia, has a sink that overlooks the living area and a breakfast bar with pretty underlighting.

At one side of the kitchen is a special area for wine with a benchtop above two glass-door wine fridges.

A bulkhead between the kitchen and living area defines the area and provides a focal ppint with its three pendant feature lights.

The kitchen has a lower ceiling in contrast to the soaring ceilings of the dining area for better task lighting, with recessed downlights providing plenty of illumination.

Soft-close drawers have been used extensively and stainless-steel appliances, such as the integrated dishwasher in the island bench, have been built in. View the Nautilus

Finalist: The Retreat: Best Kitchen in a Display Home $210,001 to $280,000. The West 16th May

This multi-functional kitchen is a cook's dream come true. With plenty of benchtop space and built-in stainless-steel appliances, it lends itself will to cooking for any number of people, and with its stylish lines and a big central island with breakfast bar, is also a good place for visitors to congregate.

Designed by the Dale Alcock Design team, the kitchen is part of the display - The Retreat, and forms the hub of the home, as part of the open-plan living and dining area.

It was designed to have a clean, modern look that would not date easily. Slick white cabinet faces have been teamed with a thite-tiles splashback and essastone benchtops and complement the timber floors.

A timber-look range hood to the gas burner stovetop ties in well with the rest of the design with its clean and unobtrusive lines.

As the sides of the range hood are floating-style display shelves that add interest to this wall. On another wall, honey-coloured cabinetry breaks up the expanses of white cabinet faces and gives the room a warm, inviting feel. There is a big fridge recess and a big pantry.

The kitchen also has two wine fridges. Set to one side of the kitchen with an EssaStone benchtop above, they have glass doors and blue lighting, turning a functional part of the room into an eye-cathing feature. View the Retreat

Finalist: The Frangipani: Best Kitchen in a Display Home $210,001-$280,000. The West 16th May

This practical kitchen, with an island bench overlooking the main living area, allows those preparing food to interact with family or dinner guests who can ist at the fioning table of the large breakfast bar. 

With plenty of space, the breakfast bar is also an ideal place for after-school snacks or for lazy breakfasts while reading the papers.

There is a glass upstand netween the seating area and the double sink. This partition hides any dishes in the sink from view. This was an important featre of the kitchn design because the kitchen is open-plan with the living and dining areas.

Neutral colours have been used for a timeless look, with Laminex cabinet faces contrasting with the white 30mm EssaStone benchtops and white tiled splashback.

The kitchen has a double-door fridge recess with display cabinetry above. Stainless steel appliances, including an integrated dishwasher, have been incorporated into the design. There is also a streamlined range hood.

A bulkhead to the range hood and stove area enhances the room's illusion of space while the ceiling to the kitchen was designed to be lower than that of the living area to create a dynamic look. View the Frangipani

Finalist: The Lakeview: Best Kitchen in a Display Home $210,001-$280,000. The West 20th June

This kitchen has full-height cupboards as a main feature to allow for extra storage and a clean, uncluttered feel tot eh area.

The kitchen, in Dale Alcock Homes' Lakeview, sits in a big open-plan room with the dining and main living area and has abundant worktop space with an L-shaped benchtop to two walls and a central island with a breakfast bar.

Overhead cupboards in the L-shaped work area offer plenty of storage and blend harmoniously with the rest of the room. All the cabinetry has been designed without prodruding handles to enhance the minimalist and modern look. The cabinets have flush cupboard handles.

The storage drawers have been fitted with European Grass Novo Pro soft-closing system.

A neutral colour scheme gives the kitchen a classic look, with a white tiled splashback complementing the colours of the cabinetry faces and the charcoal laminate used on the central island.

White EssaStone benchtops finish off the European styling. Stainless-steel appliances include a gas cooktop, range hood, 900mm underbench oven, microwave and dishwasher. View the Lakeview