Tree-changer Sophie Hansen explains: The five must-haves for the perfect country kitchen

Our kitchen is a cosy, colourful and practical corner of the house.

It’s fine for now, however I’ve also developed (read: enviously collated) a fair idea what makes one perfect (or close to), and guess what – it comes down to five elements…

The table 

A lovely old scrubbed wooden table can be the focal point of any kitchen and where most family activities play out.

It’ll be the site of everything from homework to feasts, peeling and prepping ingredients for dinner, game-playing for after dinner, spreading out the Saturday papers with room for the teapot and mugs, hours of puzzles and messy minutes rolling out biscuits, pasta and kneading dough.

A walk-in pantry

Oh, to have a walk-in pantry. A space to, as the name suggests, walk in and see all your best platters, jars of preserves and lovingly labelled containers lined up in rows.

Who wouldn’t want a walk-in pantry? Photo: iStock.

The perfect walk-in pantry would also have a spare fridge and chest freezer, a long shelf upon which toasters, blenders and food processors can live – plugged in, ready to go and never having to be shoved into a corner cupboard again.

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The kitchen desk

Right in the heart of things will be a neatly appointed desk. Here’s where your laptop will live, with a charging dock and hidey holes for cords.

There will be a shelf for your cookbooks, and this little nook is where you’ll Google recipes then print them out.

The drawers will be well-organised homes to hairbrushes, seed packets, ribbons, sticky tape and batteries. And there will be a neat pinboard for bills, garden plans, school notes and all the other important but so easily lost ephemera of household admin.

A wood-fired stove

This really is the stuff of country-living dreams. We grew up with a big old Aga and it was the heart of our home.

In winter, mum would drape our pyjamas over the drying racks to warm them after baths.

Porridge would be cooked just perfectly on its hob, the kettle would always be on the verge of boiling and the roast dinners it produced would just taste better. Agas, Rayburns and the like are not cheap but if you can possibly swing it … DO.

The ‘wet’ area

Anyone who has spent winter in the country will know about the piles of gumboots that appear at the back door.

And all about the mud that gets walked into the house – no matter how many times you ask people to remove boots before coming inside.

Families in the country are no strangers to the muddy gum boot conundrum. Photo: iStock

So the dream country kitchen must surely be entered only through a well-designed little mud-room where boots can be removed and replaced with slippers.

There would be a high-pressure hose and gently sloped floor to wash out mud, pegs to hang all those wet coats, so they’re dry when needed next, and a wide bench to sit on while all that gear is removed.

Two kitchens to try

Sydney

621 Penrose Road, Penrose. Photo: Supplied

Not only does 621 Penrose Road in Penrose come complete with a gorgeous big house – Rayburn wood-fired stove, walk through wet-room/laundry, generous rooms, lovely high ceilings and all – but it’ll also make you an overnight farmer.

With 137 acres looking out across pristine rainforest, running stream and well fenced and maintained paddocks; here’s the place to breed cattle, run sheep or get into horseriding.

Whatever your tree-change dream, this place could be the answer. It does come with a fair price tag it’s true…but what price can you put on the happiness that comes from lush green fields, wood-fired stoves and views for miles.

Harcourts Southern Highlands agent Paul Macefield is asking $1.995 million for the property.

Melbourne

8 Mineral Springs Crescent, Hepburn Springs. Photo: Supplied

Beautifully renovated and perfectly located in the heart of Hepburn Springs, 8 Mineral Springs Crescent is a tree-changer’s dream come true.

And while the conservatory, open fire places, views over Doctors Gully and bar and home office set-up all make this place super attractive, for my money, the walk-in butler’s pantry is the major selling point.

And just to gild the lily, it’s within easy walking distance to the historic Hepburn Spa, so just think, you can soak away any stress in the mineral waters then head home to your cosy cottage and well-stocked pantry.  

Tom Shaw of Biggin & Scott Daylesford has the listing, and advises on a guide between $1.175 and $1.25 million.