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At a renovated home in Pennsylvania, the orange kitchen countertops were swapped for custom concrete countertops. The cabinets were painted Pink Ground by Farrow & Ball and paired with Build.com hardware, giving the kitchen a warm glow, in particular thanks to the natural light coming in from the double exposure of the windows. The kitchen sink and faucet are from Amazon, while the tile is from Lowes.

The new kitchen features a full-sized refrigerator behind the paneling, a multi-functional oven and induction cooktop, and a stainless-steel sink with integrated cutting boards. “The induction stove top was carefully chosen because it's a durable glass top and it's very efficient,” says Jones. “It's also spatially efficient because you can put a cutting board on top of it, or prepare food on top of it.”

Access into the garden is through the side of the kitchen and not the rear. This means the rear is protected for wildlife and the family do not have to go through the garden to access the BBQ and hard landscaping.

The window in the kitchen that overlooks the garden is intentionally free of any structure, with the small ventilation openings discretely located to the side. This ensures the view is uninterrupted and the woodlands become part of the interior.

The green backsplash tiles are vintage, reclaimed from another project.

For the interiors, the firm chose timber for “a hard-wearing internal finish and a gentle, humane scale within the space,” says O’Callaghan. A series of semi-open plywood screens creates porous living, dining, and kitchen areas

"The kitchen is pretty small, so we were inspired by Japanese design where everything is highly organized,

"The cork literally warms up everything,

Custom oak cabinetry in the kitchenette was given a modern treatment to balance the more rustic elements in the setting, like the ceiling and antique table-turned-kitchen island. The faucet is by Kingston Brass.

In the kitchen, minimalism prevails. Jared notes that the use of plywood was loosely inspired by design seen in the 1960s Sonoma County Sea Ranch community. "It's something that one of my heroes, [architect] Barbara Bestor has done very well," he says.

Brutalist materials like concrete and steel are balanced by the gentleness of the wooden carpentry. Ash wood is used for the cabinetry throughout, from kitchen cabinets to storage units.

Custom kitchen cabinetry with a stone countertop is made of the same ash wood sustainably harvested in Canada.