A luxury kitchen in natural wood veneer

Designer: Elle Cocinas
Product: Fibranatur Eucalipto Fumed
Application: panelling and kitchen furniture.
Location: Madrid
Year: 2019

A luxury home needs a kitchen that conveys maximum elegance and the same luxury as the rest of the spaces. This is the premise that Luis Fernández, founder of Elle Cocinas, faced with this project. Luis was in charge of the complete management of the project, from the design to the installation, including the manufacturing. Luis Fernández already had the confidence of his client, a Mexican millionaire who owns several homes in Madrid's Barrio de Salamanca, and whose kitchens he is exclusively in charge of. In the case of this apartment in Calle Lagasca, the importance was paramount, since the final recipient of the property was the owner's parents.

The particularity of this project is that the kitchen is located in the room that gives access to the apartment and therefore the objective was that visitors do not notice that it is a kitchen. "Since this space is located at the entrance of the home, I didn't think it was very elegant to see the sink as soon as you enter the home, but at the same time it had to be practical”, explains Luis Fernández, and for this he created a design adapted to the client's needs where the furniture wraps around the room and is hidden behind swinging doors. When they are closed, the kitchen goes completely unnoticed, and then, depending on the use that is needed, the retractable doors are opened. Once they are opened, all the elements of the kitchen -vitroceramic hob, dishwasher, sink...- are visible, without losing any of their elegance.

This project, like all Elle Cocinas projects, is a "made-to-measure solution”. For example, Luis Fernández tells us how “when the client said he wanted to incorporate a wine cooler, I asked him for the different glasses he would use and I made a specific support to hold all of them” in a bar cabinet.

Natural wood veneer for kitchens

Elle Cocinas opted for one of the latest kitchen trends for this project, dark tones, combined with the timeless elegance of wood. For this purpose, he created customised furniture made of Fibranatur boards covered with Eucalipto Fumed natural wood veneer. With this finish, the natural beauty of the wood is accentuated by the smoking process, which gives it an intense dark brown colour tinged with golden veins that give it a sophisticated and elegant air.

"It is a very beautiful veneer aesthetically, the wood looks more natural and with a tonality close to that of exotic woods such as wenge. And, most importantly, the customer was very happy”, says Luis Fernandez about this material. Although this was the first time he used Eucalipto Fumed, he had already used Finsa natural wood veneer in other projects, for example, combining Fibracolour Negro with the exposed edge covered with natural oak veneer. 

At Elle Cocinas they are very knowledgeable about Finsa solutions, since they work exclusively with our products. “I currently use 19 mm thick Twin Wood panels with Gris Tormenta finish in all the interiors and I go for Finsa in all my projects. These materials provide me with all the qualities I need. I am also proud to be able to purchase a quality product made in Spain. Finsa awakens in me extraordinary feelings in every way. It is the largest Spanish multinational company, it started from the bottom and thanks to its good work and dedication it has managed to become the best company in the world in its sector”.

Dark tones as a trend

In this project we can see the influence of the new trend in kitchens, which is moving towards dark tones. As the designer explains, “after the dominance of gloss, matte surfaces are now in. I use a lot of black always combined with some wood, but it must be in kitchens that have a lot of natural light, because otherwise the space is visually reduced”. At Elle Cocinas they incorporate taps, profiles or extractor hoods in black, taking care of all the details “because the set of these small details is what creates a masterpiece. It is necessary to do so in order to surprise this type of customer, who are used to surrounding themselves with the best quality”.