When we bought our new house, there was one room that I disliked completely- the kitchen. It had lovely views towards the back garden the fields behind, and that was about the only good thing about it. I didn’t like the way it looked, and it didn’t work at all.
We lived with it for a full year when we first moved in, then it was removed the first week of the renovation. I’m so happy to be able to share plans for our new kitchen!
The Progress So Far…
When we started re-designing the house with our architects, we had already decided that kitchen should be moved. It was originally located on the back garden side, but it made sense to make the most of the existing layout and move the kitchen on the front of the house. You can see how we changed the existing floorplan in this post.
The photos on the top right show the room where the kitchen will be located post-renovation. It was my husband’s study and probably the worst room, it didn’t even have windows! The rest of the photos are during the reno – walls were knocked down and the whole room was stripped out. We wanted to maximise the height where possible, so we removed all the ceilings in this end of the house.
Plans for the new kitchen
One thing I was sure on for the new kitchen was a pantry! I also wanted to have a different style kitchen than I had in the old house. Not because I didn’t love it, but because it would be a shame not to use this opportunity to have something different. There are too many beautiful kitchens in the world to stick with just one style 🙂
flooring
So instead of the Crittal style windows and doors, polished concrete floors and modern matte white units we had in the previous kitchen, I wanted to do something different! I knew from early on that I wanted to have wooden floors throughout the house, initially thinking of herringbone parquet flooring, but in the end decided against it. As we have a fairly big space, I thought the pattern might make it look too busy. I wanted the flooring to be a beautiful, neutral backdrop, not distracting. Our flooring is Salcombe Seashore oak from Woodpecker*. It’s a gorgeous neutral mid-tone oak, medium wide planks and I think it’s just what I had visioned for the new house!
kitchen units
I had plenty of ideas and vision for the new kitchen. Our fantastic kitchen designer Neil Stafferton from British Standard* created plans for my dream kitchen. And yes, I got my pantry (albeit a small) as well as a big build-in display cabinet which was also what I really wanted. Below are the plans for the kitchen.
worktops
Our new worktops will be from Dekton by Cosentino*. We loved the Silestone quartz worktop we had previously so are excited to try their new product. Dekton is a blend of raw materials- porcelain, glass, and quartz – an extremely hardwearing material. We had wooden worktops in the first house we renovated. I loved the way it looked, but I definitely prefer having hardwearing surfaces in the kitchen. I’m not 100% sure about the colour yet, but I love their industrial collection!
kitchen tap
We’ll also have kitchen tap of my dreams – Quooker Fusion square in patinated brass*. In addition to providing instant boiling water, you can also get sparkling and chilled water – all from the same tap! Sparkling water from your kitchen tap sounds like magic to me. I can’t wait to see how it actually works!
Kitchen appliances
Choosing the right kitchen appliances for the new kitchen can be challenging as there is so much choice available. You’ll need to consider various things when choosing: budget, size of your kitchen, style, energy efficiency and your lifestyle too – how do you want to use your new kitchen.
Fisher & Paykel* is from New Zealand and it started in 1930’s as an importer of refrigerators, washing machines and radios. Manufacturing their own products started in the mid-1950s, and it has been going strongly ever since. As a fan of Fisher & Paykel’s kitchen appliances, I was beyond excited to be working with them in my project. All our kitchen appliances are in black steel, which is a gorgeous alternative to the usual lighter steel colour. My sister-in-law already has Fisher & Paykel American style fridge-freezer which has been great so I can’t wait to get mine! It comes with a water dispenser, an internal ice maker and separate humidity controls for fruit and vegetable storage boxes.
We were initially toying with an idea of getting a kitchen range cooker, but chose an induction hob instead – we had one in the old house, and it’s so much easier to keep clean than the gas hob. I do also love the sleek look of the induction hob we chose – it’s a thing of beauty!
Other appliances we chose were a double dishdrawer- dishwasher, built-in microwave combination oven and a built-in pyrolytic oven.
Finding kitchen inspiration
Making decisions about the new kitchen has been the biggest & most time consuming in this renovation project by far. It’s the room we will spend most of our time in, it’s really important I get it right so we’ll love it as much as our kitchen in the old house. No pressure, eh!
I’ve been designing this room for months now. Hours of measuring, looking for inspiration, talking it through with my husband and friends.I’m not good at visualising anything in my head, I like to see things and layouts before I get a proper idea of the space. I always go to Pinterest to help me out, and then I start to create moodboards that help me visualise and refine what I’m after.
I’m yet to confirm a few details like colours, but I wanted to share what I have planned for the space so far!
photos from top left: thekitchn.com, studioesteta.com.au, @jilleganinteriors, nordiskakok.se, @amberinteriors, cocokelley.com, devol.com, madaboutthehouse.com, @jhszandi, mydomaine.com, @tessaneustadt & @amberinteriors
*Post contains PR gifts & products that I’ve purchased with PR discount
