Japanese interior designer Minako Bryson of Studio Kaimi was commissioned for a South London apartment refurbishment for a client who wanted to make their new property very much their own home.

Diespeker’s part was within the kitchen element of the project. The kitchen refurb took place during lockdown when, as Minako reminds us, it was really difficult to find a builder!

The kitchen itself was relatively new, and there was no structural issue with the cabinets so these remained in situ. The colour, however, needed updating. The original kitchen was painted with a dark, grey gloss finish and Minako’s client, a singer and actor, had a clear vision of the look they wanted, opting for a very personal palette of earthy muted pinks and teal/green colours from Lick paints.

The existing kitchen didn’t include a splashback, and Minako was looking for something quite striking and contemporary. She had sustainability in mind and thought terrazzo would be a good option with its use of marble offcuts. Terrazzo brought her to Diespeker’s website, where she browsed the website and was taken with the terrazzo used at Omar’s Place in Pimlico.

After ordering several samples she presented the options to her client and the winner was TE112, due to the larger marble chunk design which met the client’s design aspirations perfectly.

A member of Diespeker install team arrived to template the splashback, returning with a team to install the piece. Minako was impressed with the team’s professionalism, and the fact that the fitting only took around 30 minutes.

Final touches from the designer included replacing a chrome tap with a black mixer tap, which works well with the plain white worktops and the eye-catching terrazzo splashback.

Design by: www.studiokaimi.com

Photographer credit: Kotomi Yamamura