No Sharp Edges
A curved wall, oval table and cosy banquette seating are key to this French-flavoured dining space.
Interior Design EMMA MACKIE, M INTERIORS • Photography JODY D’ARCY • Story ELIZABETH CLARKE
The chic dining space rotates around a GlobeWest Benjamin Ripple dining table, banquette seating, and a set of Raglan chairs from Papaya. The brass Line pendant is from Snelling Studio, and the wall sconces are from the Lighting Collective. The photographic artwork is by photographer Giovanna Aryafara.
There's nothing cosier than a banquette. Like the corner booth of a French bistro, it feels glamorous and inclusive, making it the ideal dining format for a family or a dinner for two. Designer Emma Mackie says that as part of this Sorrento dining space, it imbues ambience but is practical too.
"A banquette looks stylish and makes a strong impact, but this is also a family home, so it must be functional. It's not an obvious choice for everyday family life, yet it works."
Situated near the beach, the house was designed by Banham Architects, with Emma in charge of its interiors. "It’s a very modern home, and the kitchen's five-metre-long kitchen island bench made of porcelain with beautiful veining and peachy tones is its hero," she says. Its dramatic veining, inspired by Arabescato marble, marks a delightful journey across a colour palette of soft, peachy and natural tones, culminating in the elegant banquette-style dining space that sits opposite.
"The floorplan is very long, and we needed a dining space that would fill the area and balance out the long island bench," Emma says. The solution was to bookend the dining space with cabinetry at one end and a long, curved wall clad in timber at the other that flows right through to the entry.
Emma decided on a banquette-style dining space that embraces padded seating on one side, its backrests floating above the seating so as not to dominate the space, and a quartet of chairs on the other. The dining table, oval in shape with substantial circular ribbed legs, was the last piece of the puzzle.
"We wanted a natural timber table but felt it would be overkill next to the curved cladded wall," Emma says. Instead, she selected an oak veneer table in a soft shade of putty from GlobeWest that blends beautifully with the space's dreamy palette.
The table's organic shape offsets the kitchen island's long angular form and speaks to the curved wall. "An organic shape is also more practical for moving around than a table with strict corners," Emma says.
A large window takes in garden views, filling the room with sunlight. Emma's gentle, soothing colour scheme is elevated by atmospheric lighting: a brass pendant light featuring blown glass and hand-finished metal by New Zealand brand Snelling Studio, and a pair of ribbed white wall sconces that reference the detail of the table legs. The composition sits beautifully with the polished concrete floors that flow throughout the home, inside and out.
A large artwork is the finishing touch on this Michelin-star-worthy space. "The walls are large, so we needed a substantial piece," Emma says, and a print, The Stepwell, by photographer Giovanna Aryafara, was just the one.
Combining various elements into a seamless whole sums up Emma's method of blending various design elements into something fresh and enticing. "It is a dining space that sits seamlessly in its floorplan," she says, "but best of all it's comfortable and functional too."
Emma styled the space simply with Bloomingville candlesticks from French Bazaar and the owner’s own ceramic vase. The table's curve riffs on the adjacent timber-clad curved wall
that runs through the open floor plan.
"It is a dining space that sits seamlessly in its floorplan, but best of all, it's comfortable and functional too."
—EMMA MACKIE, M Interiors
Follow Emma’s projects @m_interiors
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