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Kitchen Tour: A Pink and Green Room is Flooded With Light
This pretty kitchen is also immensely practical thanks to improved storage and worktop space – and a new island
“The kitchen was the most hated part of the house – and now it’s the most loved,” says interior designer Anna Shepherd of Life Design, whose ideas helped a family decide to improve rather than move from their Victorian home.
The room was dated and not laid out in a way that was working for the owners, so Anna redesigned it to boost functionality as well as looks. The space now contains an open-plan cooking area, a dining spot with bench seating, and a living zone that opens onto the garden through new double doors. “The garden is where they spend all their time in the summer,” she says, “so it’s opened up a whole area they weren’t using.”
The room was dated and not laid out in a way that was working for the owners, so Anna redesigned it to boost functionality as well as looks. The space now contains an open-plan cooking area, a dining spot with bench seating, and a living zone that opens onto the garden through new double doors. “The garden is where they spend all their time in the summer,” she says, “so it’s opened up a whole area they weren’t using.”
Anna says the original kitchen looked nice, but was not functioning well for the owners. “It had no proper run of worktops and nothing was in the right place for them,” she says.
They also wanted more meaningful access to the garden, as well as a space to cook that worked well for them practically.
Anna’s design involved reconfiguring the room’s original opening to the garden in the living area and installing a new opening at the end of the kitchen, just seen here.
They also wanted more meaningful access to the garden, as well as a space to cook that worked well for them practically.
Anna’s design involved reconfiguring the room’s original opening to the garden in the living area and installing a new opening at the end of the kitchen, just seen here.
Where the open shelves are there used to be a window that looked out onto a fence. To add useful wall space here, Anna and the homeowners opted to remove it. “What we gained in terms of light and access with the new doors allowed us to get rid of that and get more wall space – and gain nicer views,” she says.
Anna discussed having a unit on top of the worktop in the corner, but the owners have lots of things they want to be able to display and didn’t need closed storage here.
Herringbone flooring, Amtico. Walls painted in Setting Plaster, Farrow & Ball. Flaunt wall tiles, Parkside.
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Anna discussed having a unit on top of the worktop in the corner, but the owners have lots of things they want to be able to display and didn’t need closed storage here.
Herringbone flooring, Amtico. Walls painted in Setting Plaster, Farrow & Ball. Flaunt wall tiles, Parkside.
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The corner was previously very cramped, as the oven was originally further to the left and the run also contained the sink and a fridge-freezer. “Where the toaster is now was pretty much the couple’s only chopping space,” Anna says.
The new kitchen has plenty of space to work and there’s now a good length of white quartz worktop either side of the oven, as well as more work space on the island.
The boiler, previously inside one of several wall cupboards, is now housed neatly out of the way in a tall bespoke unit at the end of this run. The unit also contains shelf storage and a microwave.
Elsewhere, cupboards have been swapped for drawers for improved access.
Anna opted for black grout between the tiles, a black oven, black drawer and cabinet handles and black sockets. “The owner loves black, so she really likes it,” she says. “I always like lots of monochrome. People are often scared it might look too harsh, but when you have pastel colours, especially, it really makes them sing.”
Kitchen sprayed in Nordic Spruce, a Kitchen Stori stock shade.
The boiler, previously inside one of several wall cupboards, is now housed neatly out of the way in a tall bespoke unit at the end of this run. The unit also contains shelf storage and a microwave.
Elsewhere, cupboards have been swapped for drawers for improved access.
Anna opted for black grout between the tiles, a black oven, black drawer and cabinet handles and black sockets. “The owner loves black, so she really likes it,” she says. “I always like lots of monochrome. People are often scared it might look too harsh, but when you have pastel colours, especially, it really makes them sing.”
Kitchen sprayed in Nordic Spruce, a Kitchen Stori stock shade.
“The couple definitely wanted an island, so that feature led the design,” Anna says. “They now never sit at the table unless they’re having dinner there – [the island] has become the social hub of the house.”
The island contains the sink, a dishwasher, a wine fridge and integrated bins. Anna explains that the couple wanted a standalone fridge and separate freezer, meaning that worktop space would have been too compromised if she’d located the sink on the main run. “They mostly use the dishwasher, so they don’t have things constantly on the drainer. They manage to keep it tidy,” she says.
The island contains the sink, a dishwasher, a wine fridge and integrated bins. Anna explains that the couple wanted a standalone fridge and separate freezer, meaning that worktop space would have been too compromised if she’d located the sink on the main run. “They mostly use the dishwasher, so they don’t have things constantly on the drainer. They manage to keep it tidy,” she says.
Anna put in a few discreet recessed spotlights. “There were more spots before, but we stripped out the ones we didn’t need,” she says.
She added a pair of monochrome pendants, one over the island and one over the dining table.
Anna painted the ceiling in a soft, pale pink that works beautifully with the green cabinets.
Perch pendant lights in Matt Black, lights&lamps. Ceiling painted in Tailor Tack, Farrow & Ball.
She added a pair of monochrome pendants, one over the island and one over the dining table.
Anna painted the ceiling in a soft, pale pink that works beautifully with the green cabinets.
Perch pendant lights in Matt Black, lights&lamps. Ceiling painted in Tailor Tack, Farrow & Ball.
Anna painted the dining area walls in the same green as the kitchen to link the two areas.
“The dark paint up to the coving also creates a cosy area for the dining table,” she says.
The sofa sits in front of the existing opening that Anna reconfigured, which the owners have open most of the time in the warmer months.
So what’s the owners’ overall verdict on the new room? “They say it’s a total game-changer,” Anna says.
Tell us…
Which detail do you like best in this pink and green kitchen? Let us know in the Comments.
Tell us…
Which detail do you like best in this pink and green kitchen? Let us know in the Comments.
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Who lives here? A couple and their nine-year-old twins
Location Blackheath, south-east London
Property A five bedroom, semi-detached, late Victorian terrace
Room dimensions The kitchen area is around 7m x 5m, plus a dining and living area
Designer Anna Shepherd of Life Design
Kitchen Kitchen Stori
Project year 2022
Before the renovation, the owners of this airy kitchen were thinking of selling up, but, thanks to Anna, they came to see how their existing home could be transformed and decided to stay put and invest instead.