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Kitchen Tour: A Modern, Light-filled Space with a Holiday Vibe
This storage-packed kitchen has an uplifting mood of sunny family trips and plenty of space to entertain
With bifold doors opening onto a south-facing garden, a retractable skylight for summer breezes, and touches of warm yellow and rich blue, this clean-lined kitchen evokes happy trips to the Spanish coast for a young family of four.
The couple had thought carefully about how they wanted to use the space, and chose to incorporate the dining table into the island so there was room for a snug at the garden end of the room.
“They had quite a clear idea of what they wanted from the outset,” Yasmene says. “They had room for a separate island, but they’d seen this design online and liked it, and they wanted to fit in a little sofa and TV.”
They were also keen to work in as much storage as possible in a neat way, hence the handleless design of the cabinets. And they wanted plenty of places to sit. “They have lots of friends and family,” Yasmene says. “They like a good party.”
“They had quite a clear idea of what they wanted from the outset,” Yasmene says. “They had room for a separate island, but they’d seen this design online and liked it, and they wanted to fit in a little sofa and TV.”
They were also keen to work in as much storage as possible in a neat way, hence the handleless design of the cabinets. And they wanted plenty of places to sit. “They have lots of friends and family,” Yasmene says. “They like a good party.”
The cabinets are in a pale, blue-toned grey with a central section in a rough-sawn-oak finish, while the island is in cement-effect melamine.
The units run the length of one wall in the kitchen zone. “There’s plenty of storage here,” Yasmene says, “but what is a little bit deceiving is, the cabinet to the left of the fridge-freezer is actually the entrance door to a utility room.”
Next to the fridge-freezer, there’s a run of three double-door wall units with cupboards and open shelves below. In the base units, there’s a bin cupboard; a double door sink unit; a dishwasher, and a 60cm cupboard. In the tall unit on the right-hand side, there’s a main oven and a compact oven-microwave – topped by a cupboard and tailed by a drawer – then a larder unit with interior drawers.
The island contains three drawer units on the front, one of which is extra-deep at 75cm rather than 60cm. The island is 120cm deep, so there’s room for some cupboards at the back, too, behind the bar stools.
Cabinets in Papyrus Grey; central shelving and cupboards in Kansas Oak Rough Sawn, all Nolte.
The units run the length of one wall in the kitchen zone. “There’s plenty of storage here,” Yasmene says, “but what is a little bit deceiving is, the cabinet to the left of the fridge-freezer is actually the entrance door to a utility room.”
Next to the fridge-freezer, there’s a run of three double-door wall units with cupboards and open shelves below. In the base units, there’s a bin cupboard; a double door sink unit; a dishwasher, and a 60cm cupboard. In the tall unit on the right-hand side, there’s a main oven and a compact oven-microwave – topped by a cupboard and tailed by a drawer – then a larder unit with interior drawers.
The island contains three drawer units on the front, one of which is extra-deep at 75cm rather than 60cm. The island is 120cm deep, so there’s room for some cupboards at the back, too, behind the bar stools.
Cabinets in Papyrus Grey; central shelving and cupboards in Kansas Oak Rough Sawn, all Nolte.
The warm yellow splashback contrasts beautifully with the understated pale grey units. The tiles, which are in subtly different shades, are textured and laid in a herringbone pattern, giving a rustic feel amid the slick cabinetry and creating a focal point.
An LED light rail that runs under the wall units allows the family to change the atmosphere in the room. “It’s emotion-sensitive,” Yasmene explains, “so you can dim it down and up, but you can also change it along a gradient from a cool white light to a warm yellow light to set the mood.”
The tap is a boiling-water design with a pull-out hose.
Flex boiling-water tap, Quooker. LED light rail, Nolte.
An LED light rail that runs under the wall units allows the family to change the atmosphere in the room. “It’s emotion-sensitive,” Yasmene explains, “so you can dim it down and up, but you can also change it along a gradient from a cool white light to a warm yellow light to set the mood.”
The tap is a boiling-water design with a pull-out hose.
Flex boiling-water tap, Quooker. LED light rail, Nolte.
Within the wall units, the couple chose to have some open sections in a natural finish. “In a kitchen like this, it’s always nice to have open cabinetry, just to add a bit of colour, warmth and personality, otherwise it can look very boxed in,” Yasmene says.
“The owners didn’t want to have everything on display, but they have a lot of cabinetry here, and they said they’d like to incorporate some open sections.”
Thinking of revamping your kitchen? Read customer reviews of kitchen designers in your area on Houzz.
“The owners didn’t want to have everything on display, but they have a lot of cabinetry here, and they said they’d like to incorporate some open sections.”
Thinking of revamping your kitchen? Read customer reviews of kitchen designers in your area on Houzz.
The worktops are white quartz with a slight marbling. They’re just 20mm thick for a slim profile. The island worktop has an overhang on two sides, so there’s room for at least four bar stools, adding to the places for guests to perch.
There’s an upstand in the same quartz under the yellow splashback tiles. “The tiling could easily have gone down to the worktop,” Yasmene says, “but it’s quite nice not having water running up against the grout.”
There’s an upstand in the same quartz under the yellow splashback tiles. “The tiling could easily have gone down to the worktop,” Yasmene says, “but it’s quite nice not having water running up against the grout.”
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To add to the sense of being connected to the outdoors, the rooflight above the dining table opens. “The garden is south-facing, so it gets quite hot in here,” Yasmene says, “but the rooflight is a retractable electric sliding one, so [the owners] can get a bit of a breeze flowing through.”
The white extractor fan in the ceiling above the induction hob is almost invisible. “The couple had an external motor fitted to reduce the noise,” Yasmene says.
Extractor, Westin. Induction hob, Siemens.
The white extractor fan in the ceiling above the induction hob is almost invisible. “The couple had an external motor fitted to reduce the noise,” Yasmene says.
Extractor, Westin. Induction hob, Siemens.
The doors to the garden are bifolds, so it can feel as if the seating area is part of the garden on warm days.
The engineered oak herringbone flooring, which chimes with the rustic touches elsewhere, is topped with a rug to zone the seating area. “The owners wanted [the design] to be clean and contemporary, but with a rustic edge,” Yasmene says.
Opposite the sofa is a TV mounted on the wall (see the first photo). The beach pictures are photos of Tarifa in Spain, where the family like to holiday.
Styling of the snug, Decorbuddi.
The engineered oak herringbone flooring, which chimes with the rustic touches elsewhere, is topped with a rug to zone the seating area. “The owners wanted [the design] to be clean and contemporary, but with a rustic edge,” Yasmene says.
Opposite the sofa is a TV mounted on the wall (see the first photo). The beach pictures are photos of Tarifa in Spain, where the family like to holiday.
Styling of the snug, Decorbuddi.
Here you can see how the kitchen connects to the living room, through the wide opening fitted with a sliding door, and the hallway, which is through the white door to the right.
The wall light angled over the table gets around the fact there’s nowhere to secure a pendant above the dining table because of the rooflight and adds another rustic note.
You can also see how the table fits with the island unit. “It’s off-centre and wraps around the island slightly, so the [owners] can seat quite a few people,” Yasmene says.
“We’d normally put in a passageway a least a metre wide between a table and an island, so the advantage of connecting them is that both elements can be bigger,” she says. “The dining table is 2.4m at its longest and 1.15m wide; a standard dining table is 90cm. The island is 1.2m by 2.3m, so they’re quite big pieces. If you had to have a metre-wide passageway around them, it would be hard to fit in all that and leave room for a little snug. You’d have to sacrifice something.”
The table is made of the same rough-sawn-oak-effect melamine as the wall cupboards. “It’s very fit for purpose,” Yasmene says, “because you can just wipe it down and it never really wears. This kitchen is built to last.”
Table made from Kansas Oak Rough Sawn panel material, Nolte.
Tell us…
What do you like best about this sunny kitchen? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
The wall light angled over the table gets around the fact there’s nowhere to secure a pendant above the dining table because of the rooflight and adds another rustic note.
You can also see how the table fits with the island unit. “It’s off-centre and wraps around the island slightly, so the [owners] can seat quite a few people,” Yasmene says.
“We’d normally put in a passageway a least a metre wide between a table and an island, so the advantage of connecting them is that both elements can be bigger,” she says. “The dining table is 2.4m at its longest and 1.15m wide; a standard dining table is 90cm. The island is 1.2m by 2.3m, so they’re quite big pieces. If you had to have a metre-wide passageway around them, it would be hard to fit in all that and leave room for a little snug. You’d have to sacrifice something.”
The table is made of the same rough-sawn-oak-effect melamine as the wall cupboards. “It’s very fit for purpose,” Yasmene says, “because you can just wipe it down and it never really wears. This kitchen is built to last.”
Table made from Kansas Oak Rough Sawn panel material, Nolte.
Tell us…
What do you like best about this sunny kitchen? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Who lives here? A family with two daughters aged 9 and 7
Location New Malden, south-west London
Property A semi-detached Edwardian house
Kitchen dimensions Around 7.5m x 4.5m
Designer Yasmene Davies of Thomas Davies Kitchens
“This family love their holidays,” says Yasmene Davies, who was asked to design the kitchen for the owners of this period home. “They’re sun lovers and go to Spain every year, and they wanted their kitchen to reflect them in that way, so that’s where the yellow came from and all the bright colours of the furniture and artworks. They wanted it to have that feeling of being in the sun.”