Celebrating 20 Years of The Block: Iconic Kitchen Designs with Caesarstone & Freedom Kitchens

Can you believe The Block is now in its 20th year?! By popular request, we’re looking back at some of our favourite kitchens created by talented teams. The Block suppliers, Caesarstone and Freedom Kitchens, are two of the most renowned suppliers and are often associated with the award-winning reality TV show.

The following kitchen designs, including winners of The Block Kitchen Week, are a testament to the magic that can happen when quality and style unite!

OMAR AND OZ – HOUSE 5 – RUGGED CONCRETE

As winners of The Block 2022, Omar and Oz brought a unique blend of style and personality to both their on-screen performance and their kitchen design. Winning $250,000 worth of high-end kitchen appliances only added to the charismatic mix! 

Omar and Oz selected two Caesarstone surfaces to further enhance their deep, bold, fairly masculine kitchen colour scheme – Mineral Rugged Concrete™ for all benchtops and Porcelain Aluminous™ for splashbacks.

In a kitchen that oozes texture, from the blackened timber cabinetry and shelving to the grooved timber ceiling, the tactility and patina of Caesarstone Mineral Rugged Concrete™ for the statement island bench and rear kitchen benchtops provided the perfect amount of contrast and visual inspiration.

Soon available in a crystalline silica-free format, Rugged Concrete™ is prized for its raw authenticity, with its textural patina of bold greys and hazy whites further enriched by its rough matt finish.

The choice of Caesarstone Porcelain Aluminous™ for splashbacks was both informed and inspired!  Aluminous, with its soft neutral grey surface, emulates the appearance of fresh cement. Its subtle granular patina highlights the tonal mix of greys throughout the surface.

Again, in a rough matt finish, Aluminous™ creates the perfect visual transition from the deep Charcoal cabinetry to the Rugged Concrete™ benchtop surfaces.

SCOTTY AND TEAM – HOUSE 6 – ATERRA BLANCA

Drawing inspiration from the home’s country surrounds, Scotty created a modern kitchen inspired, in part, by the traditional farmhouse aesthetic. Freedom Kitchen’s Shaker-style cabinetry, in matte black, was teamed with perforated metal door inserts and reeded glass door fronts. Timber is a big part of the materials palette, with parquet flooring, ribbed wainscotting and rustic island bench reinforcing the country farmhouse kitchen style. 

Scotty selected Caesarstone Mineral Aterra Blanca™ for the benchtops, due in part to its subtle, understated aesthetics and exceptional resistance to all forms of kitchen wear and tear. Its misty, milk-white base is overlayed with the softest traces of earthy-hued veining. This patterning creates the appearance of movement, radiating a subtle translucent glow. It creates a visual breathing space amongst the other rich, complex materials within the space.

TOM AND SARAH-JANE – HOUSE 1 – ARABETTO

As 2022 Winners of The Block Kitchen Week, Tom and Sarah-Jane created a showstopping kitchen that took elements of the popular farmhouse style and added a very contemporary twist.

With an overall colour scheme of soft grey and mid-tone timber, design elements included shaker-style cabinetry, glass-fronted cabinets and a large country-style freestanding range with copper detailing. 

The focal point of the entire kitchen though, is the 3.7m island bench topped in the eye-catching Caesarstone Mineral Arabetto™ (soon available in a crystalline silica-free blend) in a polished finish. Inspired by the Italian Arabescato marble, Arabetto™ features an elegant white base overlayed with a complex pattern of fine, small-scale veining in deep grey. The veining is further enhanced by a delicate interlacing of jade and copper threads. It’s clear to see why Tom and Sarah-Jane won Kitchen Week on The Block!

RACHEL AND RYAN – HOUSE 2 – ALPINE MIST

A large, light-filled kitchen that is both welcoming and highly functional is the epitome of a family-friendly kitchen. Rachel and Ryan certainly nailed the brief with their warm white, marble and brass kitchen design that features streamlined cabinetry, timber detailing and open shelving.

Central to the look is the beautiful 3.4m island bench, with a mitred waterfall edge, finished in Caesarstone Mineral Alpine Mist™ (now available in a crystalline silica-free blend) – the cleverly integrated timber shelf provides valuable seated dining space.

Alpine Mist™, in a polished finish, features a cool grey base delicately overlaid with dappled veining in soft white and flecks of deeper grey. 

The rear workbenches are also in Alpine Mist, with splashbacks in Caesarstone Porcelain White Ciment™.  Evocative of the patina of concrete, its whitewashed surface features irregular cloud-like blooms of warm white colour variations. With an ultra-rough finish, White Ciment™ is both tactile and organic in appearance, complementing the other finishes within the space.

The Block kitchen designs have become iconic, thanks to the partnership between Caesarstone and Freedom Kitchens. Blending stunning surfaces with stylish cabinetry, this collaboration of innovation and quality plays in perfect harmony.