Mr & Mrs Griffin were in the middle of building an extension to their home when I first visited, but were unsure of the style and how to zone the large open plan space.
They had lots of Pinterest images of green Shaker-style kitchens with brass handles and open shelving, but the description of their lifestyle and their vision of a grown-up, glamorous space didn’t seem to fit this aesthetic.
The large space needed to house a large kitchen, a snug and a dining room for the family of four. The new space is large and open plan, and they wanted it to have a homely feel but also be a social space, as they host a lot of parties.
I designed the kitchen using an Eggersmann black wood door and used accents of reeded glass, white veined quartz, and warm tones to give the room a stylish feel. They can use green as an accent colour, which I have picked out in accessories and planting.
The position of an existing boiler was the starting point of the design, which I housed in a large corner unit. This unit has a solid base, which the engineer will be able to stand in to service the boiler, and a light and racking was also added to make the most of the space.
A breakfast unit with pocket doors started the tall run, which is fitted with glass shelves and a quartz worktop and back panel. This unit can easily be turned into a bar for parties. The back of the island nearest the breakfast unit has a wine chiller and two drinks fridges for easy access to the breakfast unit to make and serve drinks.
A tall fridge and freezer with an ice machine are housed next to a tall, shelved unit which contains large appliances. Each appliance - microwave, air fryer, mixer, etc, all have their own shelf for easy use.
On the long wall of the kitchen, I created a goal post effect to the sink area with tall units, housing single ovens, warming drawers, and pantry units.
The client requested an ‘Amazon cupboard’ to house the parcels they get every day, so that the island isn’t cluttered – this is the last unit in the run and also houses wrapping paper and gifts.
The sink area has glass wall units with reeded glass; the back panels of the wall units are mirrored to give a glamorous feel, and they are lit inside and out.
The base units of the sink area include a dishwasher, a large sink base and recycling bins.
The large island has plenty of drawer storage and an induction hob on the working side of the kitchen and stool seating for six. Quartz worktops, back panel and side legs give it a fully wrapped effect.
The client was concerned about the large central pillar dominating the space – I used 3 sides of this to include a wood burner and a 2nd TV for the cook and a radiator to give it function, and the client says she is pleased it's there now as it allows her to heat the centre of the room.
To soften the elements of the room, I zoned a snug at the entrance of the kitchen with an L-shaped sofa and low TV units in a heavily textured material, which complements the colour scheme.
The room has three interior doors, and I was keen to hide the door to the utility space to create a better TV area. I did this using Acupanel wood panelling to completely conceal the door.
A panel of the Acupanel and a console table made from matching quartz sit in the far corner of the room to bring it into the space.
A great deal of time was spent creating the lighting plan and choosing pendant lighting for the space. As the ceilings are quite low, I wanted to avoid heavy pendants and chose a range of glass pendants for the island, dining table and TV area.
The clients are delighted with the space and spend most of their time in the room – I get photos all the time of them enjoying the space and cooking as a family, which they hadn’t been able to do in their previous kitchen.