Mr and Mrs Q. wanted to revive the ground floor of their lovely traditional style house near Guildford, Surrey; in particular their ‘L’ shaped room containing their kitchen and the adjoining conservatory. Whereas ‘L’ shapes are probably one of the most popular kitchen designs as far as the layout of the cabinets go, this kitchen‘s ‘L’ shape was formed by the shape of the room, presenting us with a challenge to overcome.
The whole area needed to be re-plastered. French doors which divided the kitchen from the conservatory were removed in order to open up the space and the old flooring was removed and replaced with oak boarding all the way through. A tip to help unify two rooms into one is to lay the flooring lengthways to generate continuous flow lines which draw the eye through from one space into another. More radiators were added and the conservatory was remade with state of the art, high insulation glass. We also completely redesigned the lighting layout. This all helped generate a greater feeling of space.
We utilised the short section of the ‘L’ shape by using this as the main sink area, perfectly located in front of windows and the half glazed back door to the garden, fruit cages and vegetable patch.
A French Farmhouse that is big enough for AGA pans sink was set into the work surface with an elegant, Victorian goose neck swivel mixer tap, fitted with attractive porcelain handles. A sliding willow basket for storing the vegetables was set below the worktop. An American style fridge freezer was suitably located in this area too, a couple of steps from the centre island food preparation area and the larder rack (featured in the main feature photograph).
In order to maximize the use of the space within the tall larder cabinet, we provided racks on the back of the doors.
The angled cabinet by the opening through to the conservatory softens the flow through to the space beyond.
We placed a Centre Island in the main part of the room so that the food prep sink and the food prep areas were adjacent to the tall larder cabinet. The island also housed a dishwasher and electric points for mixers, whisks etc. The worktops were cut from Nero Impala granite, with a honed finish (this is when the polish is removed to give a softer feel and matte look). We allowed extra length for a breakfast bar over hang at one end, with high stools so family and friends could sit and chat to those either at the table or those preparing food.
We situated a knife drawer above a cut out for chopping boards and trays, all handy for the food prep area.
The existing AGA was retained, but the surrounding area was re-modelled and rebuilt to form an arched chimney and over mantle, with a contemporary glass spashback behind it. Concealed LED lighting was fitted around the AGA and above the mantle shelf of the AGA up to the ceiling.
When working with clients who have fixed budgets, we are always able to offer them flexibility, so we bought in a table base and chairs but made a new table top from oak to match the floor.
We made a dresser adjacent to the dining area to house the crockery etc. All cabinets were fitted with stainless steel handles to give a fresh, clean, contemporary lift, which completed the look and fulfilled Mr and Mrs Q’s brief for a timeless, traditional kitchen, with a modern edge.
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