Diane Berry

This old house had been used as an architects office for years, Tina and Mark had bought it knowing they could bring it back to its former glory with a fresh modern twist. The original kitchen was a tiny scullery so they had chosen a great room to transform into a kitchen but wanted to squeeze so much in. Their current house has a kitchen diner with a snug and as a family they loved this room but hoped to find a way to make this space work for the family in a similar way, they knew that it was very tight and other kitchen companies had told them it wasn’t possible.

The most important aspect for me as a designer and for the client was to ensure most of the original features stay and become a feature and not overpowered by a traditional kitchen, my clients wanted contemporary styling too so great we were on the same wavelength. I set the units at the right height to allow us to paint from the picture rail through to the ceiling and coving in a stylish dark grey, this reduces the feeling of height a little and increases the feeling of width. The floor just had to be a herringbone natural wood this is a nod to the original floor in other areas of the property and adds the cosy warmth a living kitchen needs.

The back wall starts with a tall storage pantry and then we have a breakfast unit, this houses a small microwave as when we chatted about their needs two ovens was the dream but everyone else had said to take a combination microwave. By using a small easy to use Microwave for what they use it for (mainly porridge and milk for coffee,) it seemed sensible to tuck this in the breakfast unit and give Mark his dream of two large ovens.  Mark is a house husband and Tina has a successful business they are both in their forties and between them have brought up their children who now have flown the nest. They love the social aspect of the design as Mark cooks and Tina can relax and be in his company as they share their days updates together. Having a television in the room was super important and needed it to be suitable for all areas so sitting it in the corner of the room on a bracket allows it to work whether its Mark using the screen for an online recipe or catching up on the news or just simply playing music whilst streaming family photos.

The ovens and hob are situated away from the table and close to the window, this helps with cooking smells as Mark likes to open the window and also keeps children away from the risks associated when they are using the breakfast bar or the table and bench seating (planning ahead for grandchildren one day as this is their forever home).

By using a bench seat the dining area is nice and compact allowing the island to have enough space to have a couple of bar stools and then we created a recess where there was an old fireplace (sadly long gone) and this gave us a cute area for shelves and books and just enough space for a couple of cosy chairs to relax in and chat.

Cost of Project: £35,354.42

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