Diane Berry

The work was carried out under their anticipated budget and surpassed their hopes and expectation (their words) I hope you can see some of the work we did to make things work like making some of the Geology unit drawers into doors for the sink! It’s so lovely as a designer to create a room that can never be copied as the antique pieces are one offs.

The Davis family live in a traditional detached Tudor property, their challenge to me, how to change the ground floor to create a kitchen that connected to the back garden. They would need a family space open to the kitchen for their children to play & watch TV, a breakfast bar, kitchen dining table plus a laundry room. Then their dream kitchen needed to be respectful to the property but without being obvious in its styling, they wanted a subtle & stylish eclectic look & high on their wish list is a mix of old and new that created individuality & interest.

It was great that they were so open to building works as their current kitchen sat at the front  of their building with no access to the back garden and was super dark too. They had a second lounge on the back of the property but this room only had a window to the garden no patio doors and they had a laundry room.  The design I suggested was to swap the rooms around and demolish walls and created a glass bay for their dining table to sit in the window onto the back garden, a stunning island to sit as a centre piece and their current kitchen be turned into a family room with TV and fire.

So once the space was agreed the work started on the actual dream kitchen, we found an old vintage Geology unit big enough to be a statement in the back of the island. Then the perfect find was a V & A display cabinet used by Damien Hirst no less! We had the eclectic content & now it was all about the detail making sure the modern and robust kitchen they needed didn’t over power these stunning pieces, & we then focused on the detail of the feature ceiling, covings, skirtings, radiators & lights.  The kitchen works so well for this family & they have everything they wishes for, from a drinks cabinet a hidden simple to use Microwave at the best height for the children, a sink under a window & an island that acts as a centre piece for all entertaining.

It was a joy to create this simple yet quirky kitchen for this family as the vision to swap the rooms over & open up the spaces & get the garden working was their dream come true & what joy it has been for them in lockdown as their outdoor space fully interacts with the garden, where they created a social space for visits during the Covid safety rules allowing them to keep connected with their family safely.

Cost of Project: £55,182.99

View this retailer's profile