We’ve been here for just over 5 years & have been gradually doing the house up as well as creating a garden. Above is the old kitchen that came with the house. Everyone said how lovely it was but it just didn’t do it for me. I did what I could with it – had it painted & bought it smart leather handles but really I wanted more. More worktop space, more circulation space, more light as we are north facing, a proper overhang for our barstools so people can talk to me whilst I cook & now we’ve added the glass box extension by Igloo (thanks again Paul – we love it) the room had a big gap with nothing in it.

 

So I sold it on ebay!

It’s been great having the whole thing made to my design. There were a few problems to overcome such as hideous boxing around the ceiling which sadly had to stay (I put lights in it & made it look deliberate over the hob section) so on the whole it’s worked out as I designed it. It’s taken weeks without any appliances which has been a pain in the backside (note the camping stove!) but it’s well worth it…I love both contemporary minimal but also a bit of bling! As we had original panelling & such high ceilings I thought I’d go a bit OTT. I really wanted a lot of rich marble to brighten things up & it adds a nod to the Victorians who loved it too. Next I really wanted to celebrate the height of the room & go really tall with extended height cupboards. The room is over 3 metres tall so they are very high but to be honest I don’t need to get things from the top cupboards very often so it’s all good.

So here’s the island with our barstools that we brought from our previous very contemporary house. They work really well & the marble is just beautiful. I stole the idea of a huge clock from James Martin the tv chef. I saw him in his own kitchen & he had one which I thought looked fab – nothing is ever original 🙂

The previous kitchen really detracted from the beautiful panelling & hemmed in the hand carved door. I wanted to give it more space so have kept everything well away. I also didn’t want it to look so much like a kitchen so have hidden as much as I can from general view. The extractor pops up from the work top & the cookers, dishwasher etc are all on the cooks side of the island so discreet & very practical too. If you are wondering, my husband was originally a pharmacist so here are some of our collection of Victorian carboys that used to be on display in chemist windows.

The island usefully points to the garden & makes so much more of a feature of it which is what I’d hoped.

 

Next time I’ll be back to gardens!

 

til then