Dream Design is a luxury kitchen, bathroom and interior design centre in Dorset, creating one-of-a-kind private residences across Dorset, Hampshire, Poole, the UK and internationally.

Founded in 1984, Dream Design has developed from a specialist design business into a complete residential design destination, combining a 5,000 sq ft Design Centre with an award-winning interior architecture and interior design studio.

The business specialises in bespoke kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, living spaces and complete home design, supporting private clients, architects and developers with a highly considered approach to residential design, specification and project delivery.

The Design Centre in Dorset brings together leading brands and specialist ateliers across kitchens, bathrooms, appliances, surfaces, lighting, furniture and interior architectural systems. Arranged across two floors, it allows clients to experience full-scale room settings, materials, finishes and design details in person, giving each project a clear and practical foundation from the beginning.

Design Studio

Dream Design’s interior architecture and design studio supports more complex residential projects, including new-build homes, refurbishments and complete interiors. The studio works closely with clients, architects and wider project teams to ensure spatial planning, material continuity, lighting, furniture and detailed specification are considered together.

At the heart of every project is a director-led, highly personal design process, with a fundamental belief that every successful home is shaped by hundreds of decisions made well. The studio’s approach is built around proportion, flow, material quality, technical detail and understanding how each client wants to live.

What Makes Dream Design Different

Dream Design combines the experience of a long-established design business with the practical benefit of a physical Design Centre. Clients can explore kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, lighting, surfaces, appliances and interior details under one roof, while also receiving the guidance of a specialist design team.

The business works with leading international brands and specialist ateliers, allowing each project to be tailored through a wide range of materials, finishes and technical solutions.

This combination of design judgement, product knowledge and specification experience gives clients a clear route from early ideas through to detailed project delivery.

Clients and Locations

Based in Christchurch, Dorset, Dream Design works with private clients, architects and property developers on private residences across the UK and internationally.

Many client relationships continue across successive homes and generations, reflecting the trust built through careful listening, practical experience and a clear understanding of how each client wants to live.

Projects range from substantial coastal homes in Sandbanks and London townhouses to heritage properties in the Home Counties, with further projects completed in Spain, Antigua and Switzerland.

Find out more at dreamdesign.co.uk.

Hysterical, devoted and demonised. Ann Lee is the Mancunian woman who founded Shakersism, the devotional sect that have long been misunderstood. In a new film, 'The Testament of Ann Lee', the actress blisteringly portrays the trials and tribulations of this unshakable history maker (she even swore off botox for a year to really act it authentically: commitment indeed). It is an award-winning performance: one that stuck me to my cinema seat, and an extremely interesting piece of history to boot.

You may be wondering, however, what — if anything — this has to do with Shaker kitchens: the simple and much beloved interior design trend seen in pretty much every Surrey renovation. Never fear. Here we revisit a brilliant piece of writing by Alexandra Goss, published on the Country Life website last year, where she connects the dots.

A Shaker kitchen’ is the ultimate in interior aspiration — seen inside the most admired and luxurious homes, from London to Los Angeles. They are fetishised on Instagram — the hashtag #shakerkitchen has more than 177,000 posts — and fitting one costs tens of thousands of pounds.

So it may come as a surprise to learn that this elegant style’s origins lie in the Quaker religion.

The Shaker kitchen’s core elements include cabinets crafted from wood, and solid, symmetrical doors consisting of a flat, recessed central panel surrounded by a raised frame with square edges. Aside from this frame, there is little to no other embellishment.

Honesty, simplicity and utility were the fundamental guiding principles of the Shaker movement — an offshoot of Quakerism that can trace its roots back to 1747 Manchester. Members called themselves the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. Their nickname — or moniker — was ‘Quaking Shakers, later abbreviated to ‘Shakers’ because of the energetic shaking and trembling of their heads and bodies during worship.

One of their leaders was a woman called Ann Lee — a blacksmith’s daughter and mill hand — who endured an unhappy arranged marriage to another blacksmith and lost all four of her children in infancy. After escaping the partnership, she began to have divine visions. Shakers were, unsurprisingly, persecuted in England — and one of Lee’s visions directed her to establish a church in America. She and eight followers arrived in New York City on August 6, 1774, and settled near Albany, New York, two years later. In the ensuing decades, the group gained many converts and other settlements sprung up from Maine to Kentucky. At their peak, in the mid-19th century, the movement counted more than 6,000 members, spread across 18 rural communities — away from the perceived sin and corrupting influence of the cities — among their numbers. The largest and most influential Shaker group was to be found in New Lebanon, New York, and remained active until 1947.

Shakers were utopians who practised communal living and shared ownership; like the Quakers, they were pacifists and believed in racial and sexual equality. This made it an attractive movement for women, according to Merlin Wright, design director at Plain English, desperately trying to escape the constraints of a patriarchal society.

Communities were largely self-sufficient and, in their attempt to separate themselves from the outside world and create a haven on earth, they grew their own food, made their clothes and furnishings and built their own tools, homes and furniture. A strict set of rules governed their dress, behaviour and domestic environment — all of which had to be simple and useful.

‘Shakers believed that household objects should have a purpose and be made to last, denouncing decoration as unnecessary and dishonest,’ explains Tom Howley, creative design director at his eponymous kitchen company. ‘Shaker cabinetry was never about ornamentation — it was about purposeful design and enduring craftsmanship.' Indeed, to Shakers, the quality of the work they made was a testament to their devotion to God. 'Craftsmen were highly skilled and believed everything they made should look good from every angle — even parts that probably wouldn’t be seen,’ Howley adds. ‘This meant Shaker cabinets were as beautifully made on the inside as on the outside, with a smooth, unfussy finish.’ Pieces were made of American woods — such as pine, maple and cherry — and were usually painted or stained; colours were strictly regulated according to Shaker rules — blues, greens, reds and yellows the most popular.

To help support their communities, Shakers started selling goods to non-sect members and, by the 1860s, chairmaking was a key New Lebanon community industry and source of income. The wider world soon came to admire this simple yet expertly-crafted furniture and, as the Shakers declined, examples of their handiwork gained status as desirable collectors’ items. In late 1983, the Shaker expert Professor John Kassay sent former President Jimmy Carter a copy of his influential tome The Book of Shaker Furniture. At the bottom of his typed thank you letter, Carter handwrote: ‘I've long admired the beautiful simplicity of Shaker furniture and have made several of their pieces myself. Merry Christmas. JC.’

Today, only one active Shaker community remains — at Sabbathday Lake in Maine. However, the group has left an enduring legacy on kitchen design, both in America and across the wider world. ‘“Beauty rests on utility” was a key Shaker principle and that approach remains the signature of quality shaker kitchens today,’ says Fred Horlock, design director at Neptune. ‘Cabinetry embodies not just the Shaker aesthetic but their values, from the choice of honest materials to the skilled carpentry and the simple, but exacting lines.’

With raw plaster walls, skirted lampshades and lattice-fronted cabinets with crenellated details, there’s a certain theatricality to Alice Palmer’s kitchen in a 1930s house in north-west London.

The room is part of a large extension added to the house after she bought it in 2017 and in creating it she took inspiration from the work of the architect and set designer Oliver Messel — whose style she came to know when spending time in the Caribbean as a child. His trademark shade of pale green, which became known as Messel Green, is a particular favourite. ‘I painted the cupboards in a warm neutral called Clunch by Farrow & Ball. The fronts are made from a material intended for radiator covers, as anything custom would have been much more expensive, and I added Yeabridge Green, also by Farrow & Ball, behind to show through subtly,’ she explains.

The work surfaces are in a green onyx that came from a local marble supplier and the green zellige tiles were sourced from Habibi Interiors, which specialises in Moroccan designs. These link to the detail that runs along the top of the cupboards. ‘They were inspired by a trip to Morocco,’ says Alice. ‘This room is so light, I like the idea of feeling that I’m not in London.’

Above the island hangs a trio of lampshades that forms part of her collection, which she designed when pregnant with her third child. Her range has expanded to include fabrics, such as the red-and-white stripe used as a cabinet curtain in the glazed pantry. ‘As a rule, I like to use fabrics of similar colours, in different patterns to break up the look, but not be too out there,’ she adds. The floors are laid with limestone tiles from Mandarin Stone.

This feature originally appeared in the January 14, 2026 issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.

Grade I-listed Raynham Hall, near Fakenham, Norfolk, was built by Sir Roger Townshend in 1620 and extended by William Kent in the early 1720s. It is one of the earliest neo-Palladian houses in England.

A project to repair some of the damage caused by work in the 1950s and 1960s began in 2014 and, when Tom, Viscount Raynham, and his wife, Octavia, moved in, they set about creating a kitchen suited to their young family.

Having chosen a space previously used for entertaining, they asked kitchen designers deVOL for help. ‘They wanted a family kitchen, the heart of the home,’ says senior deVOL designer Francesca Froggatt. ‘As the building is so protected, all the services had to be accessed in the centre of the room so nothing on the walls would be damaged.’ The solution was to opt for freestanding furniture and the couple chose deVOL’s Classic English range of cabinetry.

‘A traditional farmhouse style wouldn’t look right in a room of such grand proportions and detailing,’ adds Francesca.

The cabinets are painted in deVOL’s Refectory Red wall colour, which is original, and the team from Edward Bulmer Natural Paint helped with restoration work.

Due to planning restrictions, a Lacanche range cooker was incorporated into the island, rather than against a wall (an extractor is behind the hob). A bespoke gaselier double pendant with porcelain shades provides task lighting above the island, which has a Carrara-marble worktop. The sink is made of polished brass that glows when the light is right and the aged-brass taps tie in with the rest of the hardware. To the right is a dishwasher, bins and an under-counter fridge, integrated behind doors. Leading off the room is a pantry with all the large appliances, such as the fridge and freezer.

‘We were nervous about creating a kitchen in such a grand room, but are delighted with the results: it feels as if it belongs in the space,’ says Francesca.

Cumbria — £795,000

This early-Victorian five-bedroom farmhouse is approached along a private lane on the edge of the village of Soulby, just outside Kirkby Stephen. There are plenty of original details, including flagstone floors and exposed timber beams. The kitchen/breakfast room is fitted with handmade oak cabinetry and a four-oven oil-fired Aga.

Upstairs, the bedrooms are arranged across two floors; one is currently used as a library. Syke Side House stands in the scenic Upper Eden valley and faces south over the Pennines, Stainmore and Mallerstang Edge.

A private woodland is planted with more than 3,000 trees and hedges forming avenues, clearings and seating areas to capture the sunlight all day.

For sale via Finest Properties — see more details and pictures.

Somerset — £950,000

Court Place occupies a central position in the village of West Monkton, a couple of miles from Taunton. Listed Grade II and dating back to 1802, it has a covered verandah running along the front façade with a small summer house at one end. The kitchen is particularly well arranged, with original cabinetry designed by Smallbone of Devizes, a central island with a granite work surface and a two-oven gas-fired Aga.

Upstairs are five bedrooms, some of which have glorious views of the Blackdown Hills. Outside are garages for three cars and a first-floor room that could be used as an office or storage space. The garden, of just under an acre, includes mature trees and large areas of lawn.

For sale via Jackson-Stops — see more details and pictures.

Buckinghamshire — £1.395 million

This mill house was once home to J.M. Barrie's wife, the actress Mary Ansell, who lived here with her second husband, Gilbert Cannan. Fittingly, it's a place with a real children's story feel, full of quirky touches: weaving staircases, original mill machinery, a study built into the mill tower, and a garden split into different zones.

At the bottom of the house, opening onto one of those outdoor spaces, is the charming kitchen with its pale blue Aga.

There's been a mill on this site near Cholesbury since the 17th century, with the current incarnation being a masonry tower mill, built in 1883 and thought to be one of the last of its kind in England. Strange to think that less than 30 years later it ceased production for good, despite the vuildin

For sale via Fine & Country — see more details and pictures.

Devon — £1.6 million

Potters is a Grade II-listed farmhouse with nearly five acres near Tiverton. The current owners bought the house in the early 2000s, when it was almost derelict, and have since carried out a renovation programme, taking care to retain period features, such as plank and muntin screens and exposed beams.

The house now incorporates an adjoining barn with seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and shower rooms. The characterful kitchen is off the entrance hall and features white-painted cabinetry, dark granite work surfaces and a large inglenook fireplace which is home to a four-oven Aga.

Outside is a heated swimming pool surrounded by stone paving.

For sale via Knight Frank — see more details and pictures.

Cornwall — £1.25 million

Tredarrup is a four-bedroom, Grade II-listed farmhouse set in seven acres with four award-winning holiday cottages; it is about four miles from Tregardock beach on the north Cornish coast and nine miles from Wadebridge.

A traditional kitchen with a flagstone floor is fitted with an electric Aga; this leads into an open-plan sitting and dining room. Just off this, in what was once a dairy, is a spacious pantry.

The cottages, which sleep between two and six, were originally stone barns; all are rated Five Star Gold by Visit England. ‘It’s the most beautiful family home in an idyllic, tranquil setting,’ says selling agent Penny Bolton.

For sale via Savills — see more details and pictures.

Furniture-maker and artist Tim Moss originally trained at the London School of Furniture, where he learned to make early musical instruments, including lutes, which gave him an interest in period crafts.

The owners got in touch with the designer as they were searching for someone who could design a very particular one-off kitchen for this Grade-II*-listed Queen Anne house. ‘This whole project was a collaborative effort between me and my clients, who were interested in the interiors and had clear ideas about what they wanted me to do.’

The aim was a kitchen that was beautifully made, practical to use and a little bit, as Tim says, ‘workery’ in its design. ‘This space had long been used by the household staff — behind the table is the original Tudor fireplace and my clients wanted to maintain the “downstairs” vibe,’ explains Tim. To the left is a housekeeper’s cupboard with elegant moulding details and a rounded end that houses the fridge and freezer. On either side of the AGA are two deep cupboards that sit below the window recesses, which allow cleaning products and condiments to be hidden away.

Despite being situated slightly below ground level, the room receives ample natural light. The muted palette of paint is from the Stone collection at Paper & Paint Library, a range of neutral shades inspired by natural stone, lending a calm and earthy feel to the space. A kitchen table with a solid-oak top and drawers for cutlery at either end was made in-house. Tall, elegant, glazed cupboards frame the doorway to the scullery, which is home to a collection of copper jelly moulds.

A Shaker kitchen’ is the ultimate in interior aspiration — seen inside the most admired and luxurious homes, from London to Los Angeles. They are fetishised on Instagram — the hashtag #shakerkitchen has more than 177,000 posts — and fitting one costs tens of thousands of pounds.

So it may come as a surprise to learn that this elegant style’s origins lie in the Quaker religion.

The Shaker kitchen’s core elements include cabinets crafted from wood, and solid, symmetrical doors consisting of a flat, recessed central panel surrounded by a raised frame with square edges. Aside from this frame, there is little to no other embellishment.

Honesty, simplicity and utility were the fundamental guiding principles of the Shaker movement — an offshoot of Quakerism that can trace its roots back to 1747 Manchester. Members called themselves the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. Their nickname — or moniker — was ‘Quaking Shakers, later abbreviated to ‘Shakers’ because of the energetic shaking and trembling of their heads and bodies during worship.

One of their leaders was a woman called Ann Lee — a blacksmith’s daughter and mill hand — who endured an unhappy arranged marriage to another blacksmith and lost all four of her children in infancy. After escaping the partnership, she began to have divine visions. Shakers were, unsurprisingly, persecuted in England — and one of Lee’s visions directed her to establish a church in America. She and eight followers arrived in New York City on August 6, 1774, and settled near Albany, New York, two years later. In the ensuing decades, the group gained many converts and other settlements sprung up from Maine to Kentucky. At their peak, in the mid-19th century, the movement counted more than 6,000 members, spread across 18 rural communities — away from the perceived sin and corrupting influence of the cities — among their numbers. The largest and most influential Shaker group was to be found in New Lebanon, New York, and remained active until 1947.

Shakers were utopians who practised communal living and shared ownership; like the Quakers, they were pacifists and believed in racial and sexual equality. This made it an attractive movement for women, according to Merlin Wright, design director at Plain English, desperately trying to escape the constraints of a patriarchal society.

Communities were largely self-sufficient and, in their attempt to separate themselves from the outside world and create a haven on earth, they grew their own food, made their clothes and furnishings and built their own tools, homes and furniture. A strict set of rules governed their dress, behaviour and domestic environment — all of which had to be simple and useful.

‘Shakers believed that household objects should have a purpose and be made to last, denouncing decoration as unnecessary and dishonest,’ explains Tom Howley, creative design director at his eponymous kitchen company. ‘Shaker cabinetry was never about ornamentation — it was about purposeful design and enduring craftsmanship.' Indeed, to Shakers, the quality of the work they made was a testament to their devotion to God. 'Craftsmen were highly skilled and believed everything they made should look good from every angle — even parts that probably wouldn’t be seen,’ Howley adds. ‘This meant Shaker cabinets were as beautifully made on the inside as on the outside, with a smooth, unfussy finish.’ Pieces were made of American woods — such as pine, maple and cherry — and were usually painted or stained; colours were strictly regulated according to Shaker rules — blues, greens, reds and yellows the most popular.

To help support their communities, Shakers started selling goods to non-sect members and, by the 1860s, chairmaking was a key New Lebanon community industry and source of income. The wider world soon came to admire this simple yet expertly-crafted furniture and, as the Shakers declined, examples of their handiwork gained status as desirable collectors’ items. In late 1983, the Shaker expert Professor John Kassay sent former President Jimmy Carter a copy of his influential tome The Book of Shaker Furniture. At the bottom of his typed thank you letter, Carter handwrote: ‘I've long admired the beautiful simplicity of Shaker furniture and have made several of their pieces myself. Merry Christmas. JC.’

Today, only one active Shaker community remains — at Sabbathday Lake in Maine. However, the group has left an enduring legacy on kitchen design, both in America and across the wider world. ‘“Beauty rests on utility” was a key Shaker principle and that approach remains the signature of quality shaker kitchens today,’ says Fred Horlock, design director at Neptune. ‘Cabinetry embodies not just the Shaker aesthetic but their values, from the choice of honest materials to the skilled carpentry and the simple, but exacting lines.’

The owners of this Grade II-listed, 18th-century Cotswold-stone house were keen to make sure their new kitchen had a timeless feel, so, with the help of architect and heritage consultant Eva Palacios of Historic Building Studio, a central pillar was removed to increase the usable floor space.

‘After that, our brief was to create a warm and comfortable kitchen for no-nonsense cooking and eating,’ explains Sarah Picton, senior designer at kitchen makers Plain English. ‘The clients are keen gardeners and wanted plenty of storage for kitchen-garden produce, too.’

Certain elements were non-negotiable. In lieu of an island, the clients wanted to continue using an antique prep table made of elm with a hanging batterie de cuisine above. Antique dealer Robert Young sourced further pieces, including the horse weathervane over the AGA and the hanging antique lanterns in copper verdigris.

Cupboards and drawers run along the two external walls, with a double sink centred in front of the window to enjoy views over the garden, which was designed by Arne Maynard. All the windows have low sills and working shutters, which had to be accommodated within the joinery design.

The bespoke cupboards are from Plain English’s Spitalfields range and are painted in a leafy hue, appropriately called Garden, by Little Greene. These have pulls, lifting handles and knobs in antique brass. The sink taps are in unlacquered brass. These so-called ‘living finishes’ will tarnish attractively over time.

Generous work surfaces, in honed Carrara marble, provide lots of room for chopping and preparing. ‘It was really important that nothing looked too shiny or new,’ says Mrs Picton. ‘The idea was for this room to sit quietly within this rather beautiful building and not feel overly designed.’ Arabella Youens

Plain English (020–7486 2674; www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk); Historic Building Studio (07709 032210; www.historicbuildingstudio.com)

Most interior designers agree that, when in search of ideas for colour, it pays to look outside. ‘Nature is always a good source of inspiration for a colour palette,’ says interior designer Emma Sims-Hilditch. Her current go-to green is Sage by Neptune, which has warm, fresh and inviting qualities. ‘There are so many different tones and hues of green in the garden and beyond — and they all work beautifully together.’ Ruth Mottershead, creative director of Little Greene, agrees. ‘Because greens are fairly neutral and often contain both blue and red, they are incredibly versatile. They serve as a natural extension of the exterior, giving the impression of bringing the outside in.’ She recommends teaming a bright green, such as Little Greene’s Sage & Onions, with Loft White or Flint for a fresh and welcoming feel or softer Pea Green with fuchsia-pink Leather or delicate Dorchester Pink for a playful touch.

‘When the world is in turmoil, what better colour to comfort us than the protective feeling of green?’ asks Farrow & Ball colour curator Joa Studholme. Many of us spend most of our time in the kitchen, so we are now embracing the use of green on kitchen cabinets to evoke a feeling of nourishing nostalgia,’ she says. Her favourites? The ‘weathered familiarity’ of Green Smoke creates a relaxed feel, she suggests, or olive-based Bancha, used on both walls and cupboards, can create a bold, but calm and cocooning sanctuary. Teamed with dusty shades, such as Setting Plaster pink or Hay yellow inside glazed cabinets, they will create a cosy, mid-century look.

‘Goethe reasoned that greens were the most democratic and acceptable to people, as they were a mixture of two pigments, rather than relying on a single primary colour,’ says the colour expert Edward Bulmer. Mr Bulmer generally opts to paint a mid green, such as his fresh Pea Green, grey-green Tea Green, lively Evie or the limey Olympian Green, on the kitchen joinery, choosing a lighter shade for the walls. For a contrast, he suggests selecting a colour influenced by its complementary opposite, such as Jonquil pink or Dutch Orange.

Edward Bulmer

Evie, £60 for 2.5L Emulsion, Edward Bulmer Natural Paint 01544 388535; www.edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk

Olympian Green, £60 for 2.5L Emulsion, Edward Bulmer Natural Paint 01544 388535; www.edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk

Farrow & Ball

Bancha, £59.00 for 2.5L Modern Emulsion, Farrow & Ball 01202 876141; www.farrow-ball.com

Green Smoke, £59 for 2.5L Modern Emulsion, Farrow & Ball 01202 876141; www.farrow-ball.com

Little Greene

Pea Green, £64 for 2.5L Intelligent Matt Emulsion, Little Greene 0161–230 0880; www.littlegreene.com

Neptune

Sage, £48 for 2.5L Emulsion, Neptune 01793 934011; www.neptune.com

Designing and making for the past, present and future

Artichoke is a luxury design, interiors and joinery specialist for the world’s finest and most exclusive homes. Classed as one of the great makers, the highly skilled designers and dedicated master craftspeople create entirely bespoke interiors for every room of the house.

Through uncompromising quality and attention to detail, Artichoke has built a stunning reputation over thirty years with an enviable portfolio of global projects spanning London, the Cotswolds, Tuscany, Hamburg and Los Angeles to name a few.

As the natural designer and maker of choice for many historically significant homes, Artichoke is equally comfortable designing and making for primary rooms such as drawing rooms, libraries, music rooms and master dressing rooms as they are for the core domestic rooms of a home such as kitchens, sculleries, pantries, laundries and boot rooms. With a deep understanding of heritage architecture and classical principles, Artichoke specialises in period homes as well as lending their expertise to more contemporary projects.

The heritage makers offer everything from bespoke cabinetry and furniture to the finer architectural detailing. Artichoke’s multi-skilled, holistic approach means that it can lend its expertise to architecture, interior design, conservation, project management and installation.

Undertaking just a handful of projects simultaneously, design thinking is tailored towards each clients’ way of living and their philosophies to create homes that are distinctive and beautifully liveable spaces. This deep understanding and outstanding quality, means that an Artichoke home is a testament of time and will be enjoyed by generations to come.

Price is on application.

For more information visit www.artichoke-ltd.com

The owners of this 16th-century farmhouse in Hampshire wanted to create a larger kitchen to accommodate their growing family. Because planning restrictions prevented the removal of internal walls to increase the size of the existing kitchen, the couple decided to convert the granary that stood next door.

‘The granary had been subdivided into bedrooms in the 1980s, so our first step was to strip out the partitions and reveal the full character of the ancient beams,’ says Bruce Hodgson, founder and creative director of Artichoke. However, some of the supporting struts of the timber frame created obstacles by jutting into the room and its stone plinth created an extra element to overcome.

‘We used a scanning system to build a three-dimensional model of the space and worked very closely with the builders,’ he explains. ‘The cabinetry is quiet and unfussy — but this level of simplicity is only possible with very careful craftsmanship.’

Mr Hodgson took an equally considered approach to the extraction system above the electric AGA, concealing it in a custom-made canopy, constructed from old, locally sourced timber. ‘It is designed to look as if it has always been there,’ he notes.

The cabinetry takes its design cue from timeless estate joinery, finished with an almost translucent off-white paint to reveal some of the natural figure of the wood grain and traditional brass drop handles.

A large prep table takes centre stage, made from solid oak with a pickled finish designed to add a patina of age.

‘This is a practical room with plenty of storage, hidden appliances and sociable seating — designed for modern family life,’ says Mr Hodgson. ‘It also has minimal visual noise, to allow the beauty of the beams to shine.’

Artichoke — 01934 745270; www.artichoke-ltd.com

Artichoke's Bruce Hodgson: 'The mind and the eye have an emotional connection that can never be achieved in the digital world'

Bruce Hodgson, founder of Artichoke, explains why exquisite furniture is not only the result of craftsmanship and high-quality materials, but

Credit: Butson

A stunning country kitchen, which draws inspiration from the late Victorian kitchen at Lanhydrock, Cornwall

The kitchen of Lanhydrock House in Cornwall provided the inspiration for a stunning new kitchen, designed by Bruce Hodgson of

Credit: Artichoke

The lost art of English joinery: 'Without it, even the grandest room will be nothing more than a box'

In the revival of interest in English country houses, beautifully designed joinery is often overlooked. Bruce Hodgson, founder of Artichoke,

Credit: Artichoke

A boot room and flower room rolled into one — with a space made just for the dog (labrador not included)

This hard-working space caters for the needs of a large, sociable family. Arabella Youens takes a look.

Credit: Marcus Peel / Artichoke

A Tuscan kitchen reborn: 'When we first took it on a tree was growing through the kitchen and the basement was full of snakes'

The kitchen of this Tudor country house in the Shropshire Hills AONB hadn’t been touched for 25 years when the team from Tom Howley was asked to redesign it. The owners had bought the house in 2018 and embarked on an extensive renovation project that was established to retain its authenticity and distinctive features, as well as coax the house gently into the 21st century.

The brief was to design a classic country kitchen that harmoniously blended traditional craftsmanship with modern comfort and efficiency.

‘Our first move was to open up the space by removing some internal walls and incorporating the old walk-in pantry into the kitchen,’ says Marianne Batham, designer at Tom Howley. ‘Plasterboard was removed to create a vaulted ceiling with exposed timber trusses and beams.’

Symmetry and proportions were considered at each step, with the design of the cabinetry carefully planned to fit around the original architectural features and the island positioned centrally beneath the trusses.

The island features a small sink, pull-out baskets for produce and an integrated wine fridge. A solid-oak chopping block at one end emphasises the traditional farmhouse aesthetic.

‘Our clients wanted the kitchen to complement the existing features, but were also keen that it should serve the needs for their busy family,’ adds Miss Batham.

‘We were careful not to overwhelm the main wall with excessive cabinetry and to allow the natural stone wall to remain prominent.’

The cabinets from Tom Howley’s Hartford collection are painted in the company’s Tansy, a warm neutral. The worktops are in Calacatta Nuvo, a striking quartz by Caesarstone and the Belfast fireclay sink is by the Lancashire-based firm Shaws of Darwen, fitted with a Quooker all-in-one tap. The natural stone flooring — which has underfloor heating — was sourced through Quorn Stone.

Tom Howley — www.tomhowley.co.uk

Credit: Paul Massey

Six tips to make the most of a galley kitchen

Kitchen designer Tom Howley gives advice on how to maximise style with minimum space. Amelia Thorpe reports.

Designing a multi-function kitchen: 'Don’t be tempted to cram the walls with cupboards — the biggest luxury is some free space'

Vicki McCarthy, designer at Tom Howley, on multifunctional kitchens.

Little Naish: The folly that went from dilapidated garden shed to beautiful modern home

How to design a truly sociable kitchen: ‘It’s hard to believe that there was a time when a kitchen was simply a room for cooking and washing-up’

Kitchens have long been the hub of family life, but designs don’t always reflect that. Amelia Thorpe spoke to kitchen

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The kitchen of this Victorian house in north London was previously on the lower ground floor and offered neither the light nor flexibility its owners wanted.

Working with Leicestershire-based kitchen designer deVOL, they decided that the only solution was to create a new layout, converting the main reception room to provide a large, sociable space that includes both a kitchen and a dining area.

DeVOL’s classic fitted cabinetry has the distinctive look and fine detail of classic freestanding furniture that makes it the ideal choice for multipurpose rooms of this type. Senior designer Alexa Jacobs worked with the clients on this project and suggested the installation of a Lacanche range cooker into the existing fireplace, which is flanked by a pair of tall, open-shelf countertop cupboards.

Extra-deep cornicing at the top of the cupboards was specified to hide cleverly the ventilation ducting that runs behind them. The splashback surrounding the range is in handmade tiles by the Surrey-based manufacturer Froyle Tiles.

A mix of cabinetry designs was chosen for this project; the firm’s Classic English collection was used around the perimeter of the space and the island is from the Real Shaker range. The cabinetry is painted in a two-tone scheme with bespoke colours mixed in house; a subdued, mellow yellow and a rich brown with purple undertones that combine to enliven the recessive backdrop. Both hues pair well with their respective surfaces: Carrara marble on the worktops and dark-stained wood on the island. In the bay window, where the shutters are painted in Farrow & Ball’s Shaded White, there is a mid-century dining table and chairs sourced by the owners.

Find out more at www.devolkitchens.co.uk

During the pandemic, interior designer Sarah Southwell and her family left south London and moved to rural Somerset. They bought a Grade II-listed manor house near Langport that was structurally in good shape (‘it has good bones,’ as she puts it).

Nevertheless, the house needed a lot of work and lacked mod cons, including central heating. The project involved a root-and-branch refurbishment that included stripping back the interior, rewiring and reinstating character, a process that encompassed replastering it in traditional lime plaster.

The kitchen floor that had previously been covered in brown carpet tiles was laid with pine boards sourced from a reclamation yard in Glastonbury. Mrs Southwell chose cabinets from the British Standard Stowupland collection and worked with one of its designers on planning the layout.

Work surfaces on the countertops and island are in Arabescato marble sourced from Italy.

When this was installed, Mrs Southwell says the striking, richly veined appearance was one of the highlights of the renovation: ‘I love the way the light streams through the windows onto the marble.’

The walls of the kitchen are painted in limewash that lends a wonderful depth to the space. ‘I put together a lot of mood boards and had a sample of the marble to make sure the colour palette and scheme worked together.’

Above the island hangs a trio of pendants with fluted shades and a pair of backless bar stools stands at the breakfast-bar end — both are by deVOL.

Sarah Southwell Design — www.sarahsouthwelldesign.com

In 2021 we bought our fourth house in little over two decades. Each of them has presented its own set of challenges. The first was a tired south London terrace, the second a similarly weary townhouse, the third an Arts-and-Crafts house on a river untouched in 50 years and, now, we’re knee deep in the business of dragging a 17th-century cottage, with later additions, into the 21st century.

All four have provided a learning curve, the steep trajectory of which has been suppressed by a combination of experience and growing faith in our own convictions.

It was probably easier a generation ago when there was much less choice: terracotta or cork? Sanderson or G. P. & J. Baker? Dulux or Crown? Stripped pine or paint?

Nor was there the internet or social media, only a handful of magazines and the brilliant Terence Conran’s The House Book to hold our hand.

We’ve found that experience teaches you what lasts, what falls to pieces, and why. Because creating a busy home full of people and pets is rather different to creating a pretty picture for Instagram.

1. Ignore your friends

Isn’t it amazing how friends reveal hidden depths of expertise when you show them around a project? Magically, they all transmogrify into Kevin McCloud, Kirsty Allsopp and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen all rolled into one, dispensing advice about every aspect of a project you’re embarking on.

Most of these pearls of wisdom are couched in rhetorical questions. Should the staircase be there? Have you thought about removing that wall? Have you seen this new paint colour on Instagram? Have you thought of knocking the house down and doing a new-build? Of course, it’s all offered with the best of intentions. Well, most of it anyway. Ignore it all: trust your architect, your builder and your instincts.

2. Remember that you don’t live in a museum

The best interiors are those that serve the needs of the occupant (a quality known in the trade as people-centric) rather than offering a showcase for your own extensive collections, unless they happen to be both comfortable, aesthetically pleasing and you don’t trip over them when you are trying to find the remote.

The master of the art of using antiques and textiles in a disciplined way was my namesake Robert Kime, who died recently. Another was David Hicks, who succeeded in using antiques in a way that made them feel refreshingly modern. The benefits of restraint in interior design are not only practical, but also aesthetic.

3. Invest in fitted joinery

In the pecking order of priorities, good joinery comes right after effective sanitation and just before central heating. In most cases, it might also be more expensive, but the transformative impact on an interior provides an opportunity to make a house your own (and hide your clobber out of sight). The only possible exception is if you have bought a significant pile with huge rooms that will accommodate the sort of vast wardrobes that often go for a song at auction houses (but then there will be plenty of other calls on your cash).

For the rest of us, cramming the impedimenta of our lives into period houses built for people whose worldly goods didn’t run to more than a milking stool, butter churn and a smock or two requires a feat of logistics and aesthetics.

As well as focusing on the obvious places such as utility rooms, seek out storage opportunities in every last nook and cranny that yield spaces for everything from books to walking boots.

However, at the same time as chucking money at the problem, also chuck stuff away or secret it in a garage or lock up; less stuff requires less storage.

4. Don’t kill the spirit of a house

It’s easy (and fun) to rip out walls, shove in floor-to-ceiling windows, add extensions and hotel-style bathrooms, but the hard bit is to do so at the same time as preserving the intrinsic character of a house. It’s a balancing act; of course you want creature comforts, plus light and space, but ask yourself if that has to involve throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Thoughtful, experienced architects will suggest subtle interventions that make the most of internal space and find opportunities to bring light into an interior without extinguishing the period charm of a house. There’s much that can be done with antiques and materials to add texture, but sometimes it simply won’t be enough to save an interior that has been stripped bare or poorly extended.

5. Paint small rooms in dark colours

There was a period in the 1990s when ‘light’ and ‘airy’ were the two most oft-repeated buzzwords in the design world. It precipitated a ubiquitous new look that involved painting everything white; walls, floors and furniture and even the family dog if it stood still for long enough. It’s a great vibe on a Greek island, but can be pretty bleak on a chilly afternoon in the northern hemisphere.

Nowhere is it bleaker than small, white north-facing rooms that look so much better in a rich cosseting hue that creates a womb-like feeling of loveliness on a cold winter evening. Also note: there’s a popular misconception that pale colours make rooms look bigger, but this has yet to be scientifically proven.

6. Decorate in haste, repent at leisure

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Credit card in one hand, a second brimming glass of wine in the other, we settle down to a quiet evening with our laptop to do some sourcing (also known as googling furniture and materials). It’s a voyage of discovery, the deeper you get into your search for a new sofa/eiderdown/bathroom tiles, the more your head swims with images encountered on Pinterest and Instagram. Then you take the wrong turning down an aesthetic rabbit hole that leads to an option you would never consider in the real world.

Down there, with your Chablis goggles on, that ‘ironic’ sofa covered in a patchwork of jolly fabrics or ‘faux zebra’ seems like such a ‘fun’ choice… until it arrives a few weeks later. In the cold light of day, it’s not quite so ‘fun’ and you spend the evening not on Pinterest, but googling ‘what can I do with a brand-new sofa I can’t stand?’, like Dr Crippen planning what to do with the body of a victim. Do your research in the morning with a cuppa in your hand — and your wits about you.

7. Love your builder

Your builder — or, at least, a good one — should be your guiding light. Firms such as those listed in the Country Life Top 100 have spent years at the cliff face, learning what works and what doesn’t and history tends to relate that they are usually right. Of course, it’s tempting to question possible motives behind any advice they might proffer (money and their convenience being the chief causes of concern), but, if they’re professional, have worked with you before — and want to do so again — they’ll share your desire for the best possible outcome.

8. Seriously question the need for overhead lighting

Few things invade your retinas or drain your skin quite as effectively as massed ranks of low-voltage spots. It’s hard to know exactly why some electricians over-spec them; fear of under spec-ing them? Lack of knowledge? A revenue opportunity? The fact is that you will probably need far fewer than the number an over-zealous spark will suggest.

The chances are you might not need any at all; in most cases, your money will be better invested in plenty of low-level light in the form of table lamps and floor lamps that are significantly easier on the eye and create a pleasing atmosphere. A few strategically placed spots can undoubtedly serve a purpose, but, a year into our fourth project, we haven’t specified one.

9. Avoid anything even remotely fashionable

Trust me — and I speak from bitter experience — you’ll regret it. The idea of interiors being fashionable was a conspiracy dreamt up in the 1990s by retailers and breathless PRs, aided and abetted by journalists who should have known better (myself included). The aim was shifting more merchandise/finding more things to write about and, ultimately, it did nothing but contribute to landfill.

Peddling trends is an iniquitous business and most fads have a habit of dying a death before you’ve paid for your latest folly on a credit card.

10. Relax

Finally, remind yourself that projects should be fun. If you spend too long with your head immersed in Pinterest, your head will be full of other people’s ideas and none of your own. Although imagery can be helpful in formulating ideas, remember that you’re creating a home for yourself, your loved ones and your pets, not a pale imitation of a scary stylist’s overthought home, usually in a converted warehouse or beach-front villa in some part of the world where the light and lifestyle are far removed from yours.

The two are very different; your own home is very real, whereas those on Pinterest are a heavily edited fantasy. And remember: there are few things more boring than perfection.

The interior trends of 2022: 'Maximalism is here to stay — minimalists would be advised to emigrate'

Giles Kime offers his top interior trends for the year.

The special magic of rattan, the furniture which almost forces you to recline languorously and have fun

A new book extols the virtues of rattan — and Giles Kime is absolutely sold.

Blending antiques, colours and design to create a beautiful room

Giles Kime takes a look at the work of Max Rollitt, focusing on this beautiful room in an 18th century

Statement style

Featuring linear painted cabinetry and an island with hand-turned legs, a polished Belgian Blue limestone floor and a glossy orange sliding door to add a pop of cheer, this Art Deco-inspired design was created by bespoke handmade joinery specialist Artichoke for a new-build country house. Kitchen prices from £250,000. 01934 745270; www.artichoke-ltd.com

Light show

Kitchen brand deVOL offers a range of stylish accessories, including this Task light, £450, from its Heirloom collection, inspired by Victorian gas-light fittings and made with a wide glossy creamware shade, oak pattress and handmade brass arm. 01509 261000; www.devolkitchens.co.uk

Make it modern

There's an unmistakeable 1980s retro vibe in the Horizon collection by The Modern British Kitchen Company. This handleless design is finished in Farrow & Ball Cornforth White with oak detailing for natural warmth, contrasted with a cool splash back of Neolith Zaha Stone ultra-compact surface. 01329 283123; www.modern-british.com

Artistic influence

Constable Green is a new paint colour by Neptune, created in collaboration with artist and pigment maker Lucy Mayes and named after John Constable. It is shown here on the Henley kitchen, prices from £16,000. 01793 934011; www.neptune.com

Creative collaboration

Designer Matilda Goad has joined forces with Anthropologie to launch a collection of furniture ideal for casual kitchen dining, including this natural rattan Bistro table with marble top, £698, and matching whimsical chair, £398. 0808 1968 599; www.anthropologie.com

Into the blue

Painted in its own Azurite paint colour, this Butler kitchen by Tom Howley features an induction hob with integrated extraction, built-in refrigeration, reeded-glass cabinets and matt-black handles to add to its smart and elegant appeal. Kitchen prices from £25,000. 0161–848 1200; www.tomhowley.co.uk

Classic appeal

Made in Norfolk, Naked Kitchens’ Raynham design features solid-oak Shaker frames and drawer boxes and a resilient spray-painted finish in the company’s own paint colours—shown here in Blakeney Channel and Flint. Kitchen prices from £15,000. 01328 838854; www.nakedkitchens.com

Credit: Dug Wilders / CENA Outdoor

Why we've fallen in love with outdoor kitchens

The founder of CENA Outdoor, Jacques Shelton, left a career in hospitality to launch an innovative garden furniture business and

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Art Deco is almost a hundred years old, and its modern revival now dates back almost 15 years – but it's

The very best new kitchens in old houses, as chosen by our expert judges

For the second year, Historic Houses and Country Life joined forces with Neptune to find great examples of new kitchens

Credit: Photograph by Andreas von Einsie

How to seamlessly blend the old and new when transforming old rooms into country kitchens

Charlotte Hughes has created a family kitchen that looks as if it has evolved over time.

Credit: Paul Craig / Humphrey Munson

The next step in kitchens? A kitchen-within-a-kitchen where everything can be swept out of sight

An integral pantry and utility are vital ingredients in this family kitchen by Humphrey Munson. Arabella Youens takes a closer

Sophie Eadie and Fi Crole, the co-founders of their eponymous design studio, were asked to redecorate the kitchen of this house near Newbury in Berkshire, creating a space that would be the focus for the life of a large, busy family. The original layout of the kitchen felt too cluttered, so they simplified it, as well as reducing the length of a work surface, and used the space behind to create a larder.

Colour has been kept muted throughout. ‘It’s not a big room, so we didn’t want to overcomplicate the space,’ explains Mrs Crole. ‘It was important for our clients that this end of the kitchen is functional and easy to use.’

The pair have focused on subtle details, including the addition of vertical panelling to the walls. The work surfaces and splashback behind the Aga are lent a luxurious look with a heavily veined Arabescato marble.

The cabinets and island were made by Martin Moore and the space provides enough room for all four children to sit and eat (0845 180 0015; www.martinmoore.com). The bar stools were custom-made by the Farmhouse Table Company (01803 362368; www.farmhousetablecompany.co.uk) and a window blind was made up in a hand-woven fabric by Namay Samay, sourced through Tissus d’Hélène (020–7352 9977; www.tissusdhelene.co.uk).

See ore at Eadie & Crole (01264 738768; www.eadieandcrole.com

How kitchens are being enlivened with colour, from romantic juniper tones to mustard and olive for the brave

When decorating kitchens, colour is now definitely on the menu, says Arabella Youens.

Credit: deVOL kitchen

The brand new kitchen perfectly in sync with a house full of antiques

Arabella Youens takes a look at a beautiful new kitchen in London.

Credit: Paul Craig / Humphrey Munson

The next step in kitchens? A kitchen-within-a-kitchen where everything can be swept out of sight

An integral pantry and utility are vital ingredients in this family kitchen by Humphrey Munson. Arabella Youens takes a closer

Credit: Rupert Bevan

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Rupert Bevan’s experience as a furniture restorer helped him dream up an Arts-and-Crafts-style kitchen for this London riverside home, as

Credit: Astrid Templier via Maddalena Minerva

The kitchen in a Victorian house in Surrey that marries the practical and beautiful in a classic family hub

Dark-green cabinets, crisp white walls and wooden beams combine to create the ideal kitchen for a large family. Arabella Youens

Credit: Luke White for Minnie Peters

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Minnie Peters combined natural materials and antique pieces to create a pared-back kitchen with plenty of character. She spoke to

Credit: Ray Main for Todhunter Earle

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Emily Todhunter has created a seamless blend of old and new in this extension to a Jersey farmhouse. Arabella Youens

Credit: Ray Main / Todhunter Earle Interiors

Creating a graceful, beautiful and above all cosy bathroom in a period house in Wiltshire

Emily Todhunter took a restrained approach to the decoration of her Wiltshire bathroom. She explained more to Arabella Youens.

The owners of this farmhouse, set among rolling hills and with views to the sea, were keen for a larger kitchen, better suited to entertaining. Emily Todhunter, co-founder of Todhunter Earle, set about designing an extension that had the same atmosphere and feel of the existing house.

‘It’s something we specialise in as a studio: balancing new with old,’ explains Miss Todhunter. ‘We intentionally didn’t want there to be a significant visual difference when stepping into the new kitchen.’

Marrying the two spaces involved adding beams to the new room, albeit higher than those in the existing house. A second nod to the latter is the use of bead-and-butt boarding on the walls, which continues a theme established in other downstairs rooms.

‘We draw a line at pastiche, so the floors in the kitchen are a more contemporary contrast to the flagstones in the rest of the house. Our approach is to adapt houses to make them fit for today’s lifestyles.’

Greens and blues dominate the colour scheme. Picking up some of the hues from the garden beyond, the tiles behind the Aga are Maison Series in moss green from Craven Dunnill. The floral curtains are in Bannister Hall by Christopher Moore, who specialises in authentic copies of 18th- and 19th-century French and English designs.

‘It’s so important to balance the practical with a softer aesthetic in a kitchen,’ says Miss Todhunter. With this in mind, she lined the walls behind the kitchen table with Panama Ardoise by Abbott & Boyd, which lends a cosy feel. Above the fumed-oak island are Petworth lanterns in bronze from Vaughan.

Todhunter Earle (020–7349 9999; www.todhunterearle.com)

Credit: Ray Main / Todhunter Earle Interiors

Creating a graceful, beautiful and above all cosy bathroom in a period house in Wiltshire

Emily Todhunter took a restrained approach to the decoration of her Wiltshire bathroom. She explained more to Arabella Youens.

Get your home's lighting just right: Seven questions answered

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Credit: Astrid Templier for Rosanna Bossom

A drawing room design that shows how if you start with the right wallpaper, everything else can fall into place

A distinctive wallpaper was the foundation for this drawing room of a London townhouse. Arabella Youens explains how Rosanna Bossom

Credit: Getty

Britain's best interior designers on the paint colours you just can't go wrong with

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Website: https://www.cenaoutdoor.co.uk

Telephone: 01455 825403

Address: CENA Outdoor, Manor Farm, Manor Lane, Peckleton, Leicestershire, LE9 7RJ, United Kingdom

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CENAoutdoorkitchens

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cenaoutdoor/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cena-outdoor-kitchens/

CENA Outdoor is a British company designing and manufacturing bespoke, high-end outdoor kitchens and bars from its base in the peaceful Leicestershire countryside. CENA was founded in 2015 and has since worked with customers the length and breadth of the UK — CENA have recently completed outdoor kitchens for clients all over the UK in Scotland, England and Wales.

The company’s outdoor kitchens have been installed in rural, city and suburban homes from the lakeside garden of a large country home to the rooftop terrace of a contemporary villa and the petite garden of a Fulham townhouse.

The evergreen popularity of outdoor kitchens

The demand for an upscaled outdoor living experience has grown year-on-year for the past 7 years, with many British homeowners looking to create a haven for relaxing and socialising in their garden. An outdoor kitchen is a hugely popular choice, enabling people to expand their cooking and entertaining space into the garden and access a different range of cooking appliances such as kamado-style grills, sear plates, rotisserie grills and wood-fired ovens.

Other CENA customers are less fussed about creating alfresco culinary masterpieces and more concerned with happiness, focusing on designing a space to gather their favourite people and giving them easy access to a gas grill, fridge loaded with cold drinks and some sociable bar seating. 

Creating bespoke outdoor kitchens 

CENA works directly with clients who seek a beautiful, British-made outdoor kitchen for their garden, guiding them through the process of choosing the location and layout before focusing on materials and appliances. Other customers already have a location in mind thanks to an existing garden redesign and a very clear idea of the end result they are after, so then it’s the CENA designers’ jobs to bring that vision to life. The company’s approach is totally bespoke, and its customers can select from the widest range of cladding and worktop materials, appliances and design features available in the UK. 

CENA also partners with a range of businesses, including landscape designers, architects, property developers and garden designers, enabling them to add outdoor kitchens to their projects. Again, the CENA approach is flexible, with some projects already fixed in terms of aesthetics and designs, and in other cases the partner business looks to CENA to design an outdoor kitchen in keeping with the style of the overall project. 

Taking the next step towards your dream outdoor kitchen

The CENA promise to its customers is to always offer: 

• Impartial advice - if our kitchens aren't the right fit for you, their team will help you work out what you need, and signpost you to an alternative supplier.
• Unparalleled choice – CENA has the widest range of cladding and worktop materials, appliances and design features of any outdoor kitchen designer in the UK. 
• Complimentary consultation – anyone can book in for a chat with a CENA designer to see how the company can help, with absolutely no obligation to take it any further. 

The CENA team is passionate about outdoor kitchens and truly enjoys sharing expertise and ideas with customers. To learn more about CENA Outdoor and be inspired by the company’s past outdoor kitchen projects, please visit the website.

Plain English are traditionalists. We’ve spent 30 years studying, with fascination, the Georgian sensibility of form and proportion and this runs through all of our designs in any number of architectural settings.

Bespoke kitchens; larders and laundries, sculleries and pantries, rooms defined by the dignity of utility, crafted from the best materials and infused with our unique sense of style.

See more at www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk

See more at www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk

There was a publishing genre in the early 1980s that involved gathering a lot of women with impeccable taste and photographing aspects of their home to create books entitled The English Woman’s Kitchen/Bedroom/Garden, and so on. The rooms were blessed with a deeply reassuring quality derived from the fact that they had evolved over a few decades — and from their owners’ unshakable but unspoken belief in their own aesthetic instincts.

They had a distinctive, sometimes eccentric charm that you didn’t get in interiors magazines of the time, the focus of which tended to be polarised between a fixation with dried flowers at one extreme and the swaggy confections of interior designers at the other. The exception was my alma mater, The World of Interiors, that ploughed a lonely, but lovely furrow with a thrilling mix of faded palazzi, shabby châteaux and cutting-edge Modernism.

Forty years on, these books — also looking a little faded — are a reminder of a time when interiors were perhaps more devil-may-care than they are today. What is particularly remarkable is the considered use of colour, not in a way that was intended to shock the neighbours, or to keep abreast of trends, but simply as a source of simple pleasure, together with scrubbed-pine dressers and industrial quantities of French porcelain. It was bold injections of vibrant hues that gave their welcoming rooms a distinctive feel, particularly in kitchens, where jaunty table cloths and dressers in, say, Mediterranean blue or crimson, added significant joie de vivre.

There are cheering signs that colour is once again rearing its pretty head in the kitchen. Everhot, the Cotswolds-based manufacturer of range cookers has added a new Pillar-box Red to a rainbow of colours that already includes Mustard, Sage and Aubergine. None is driven by fashion, but is simply very pleasing.

Cabinetry is getting a similar treatment with bespoke kitchen specialist Tom Howley’s addition of two new colours to its range: a lovely, lovatty green called Serpentine and Dusky Pink.

Last year, Plain English entered the fray with a colourful collection that included a jewel-like Medlar Jelly and vibrant grassy Moygashel and Mouldy Plum. Although some of these new shades are vibrant, most have a subtlety that is unlikely to scare the horses. Most important, however, is that they create a kitchen that is very much your own.

Credit: Devol's handles

How metal handles offer a beautiful finishing touch to a kitchen

Interiors editor Giles Kime gives his advice on how to get a handle on your kitchen drawers and cupboards.

Why the future of the kitchen-diner is more diner than kitchen

Giles Kime takes a look at the new breed of kitchens that could easily be mistaken for dining rooms.

Credit: Alexander Baxter / Plain English Design

The kitchen at Lundies House, blending practicality, beauty and history

Giles Kime takes a look at a kitchen design by Plain English in a 17th-century manse that is sympathetic to

Canine cubbyholes: Dogs have taken over our homes — and now they're taking over our kitchens too

Country Life's interiors editor Giles Kime on a bold new idea which bows to the inevitable and gives a pair

There are few hard-and-fast rules of decorating, but simply following your instincts can be both time consuming and expensive.

One rule is that comfort and practicality are the foundation of every successful room; after a lifetime of projects that have included everything from decorating Annabel’s and a box at Ascot to English country houses and apartments in Manhattan, I’ve learnt that decorating relies on anticipating the needs of clients and their guests. No detail is ever too small to be overlooked and, when they have all been properly considered and planned, the whole will be infinitely greater than a sum of the parts.

What the past 50 years has also taught me is that, as well as being comfortable, the best rooms are also fun, interesting and memorable places to be. Get that right and you’ll never want to leave.

A few eternal truths

Rooms should be as comfortable as they are stylish

John Fowler told me never to plan a room completely. Sort the bones and then walk into the room and it will tell you what it wants

The excitement in a room is when it contains a combination of things: some new, some that have been in the family for ages and some unusual finds

Wit is important: have something in a room that is a bit quirky

You can get away more easily with a bad design in a good colour than a good design in a bad colour

Scale is vital; avoid the middle road and remember that contrast is king

Don’t coordinate things too much — you always need a spark of something unexpected to make it look as if you haven’t tried too hard

Shop around; it may be more difficult than buying everything from the same place, but it’s much more interesting and satisfying

A room needs time to settle into itself and it often looks better a few weeks after it’s been finished, so don’t pass judgement on your efforts too soon

Husbands can come and go, but whatever you do, hang on to your curtain-maker

Sitting comfortably

Be sure to choose a piece of furniture that suits everyone —you don’t want older guests to sink into a deep armchair (together with the dog)

If you’ve fallen for a fabric you can’t afford, have it made up into cushions rather than curtains or a sofa

Think of conversational possibilities: you never want anyone to be stuck on a chair by themselves

Club fenders are wonderful, but, in my view, they are only suited to English fireplaces. They don’t tend to work on Continental styles

Remember to tint your ceiling to a colour — a dead-white ceiling will look grey

Don’t be afraid of strong colours. If considering Hermès orange, for example, remember you’re going to cover it with paintings

Have occasional chairs that can create a triangular arrangement

Always consider the possibilities of corner seating; it offers the ideal set-up for conversations or games of backgammon

A beautiful bathroom

For those with hectic lives (particularly those with children) a beautiful, calm and spacious bathroom is pure luxury

Try to have an armchair in a bathroom; bath time is a good opportunity for a chat and a glass of Champagne

To avoid accumulating things in bathrooms, steer clear of too much storage. A surface next to the basin will keep paraphernalia to a minimum

Carpets are fine in bathrooms as long as they only have a bath or basin; those with a shower need stone or ceramic floors

If a bathroom is small, try to have some elements with legs, such as the bath or basin. It will help to create the impression of space

Never put the loo directly in front of the door — hide it around the corner

Bedded bliss

The most important thing is to keep bedrooms calm with a walk-in closet, so that clothes are kept out of the way

To avoid bedroom joinery looking too much like a fitted kitchen, replace the central panels of wardrobes with chicken wire over pleated fabric

In small bedrooms, if there isn’t room for a bedside table, consider building a niche into any adjacent joinery

Lightweight piqué covers are particularly useful on beds if you have dogs as they can be easily thrown into the washing machine (the covers, rather than the dogs, that is). Antique tablecloths make wonderful covers

Put baffles on central ceiling pendants so you’re not lying in bed looking up at the glare of a naked lightbulb

Much as I love blinds, there are some occasions when a bedroom calls for curtains. There’s nothing more comforting than shutting the world out at the end of a long day

Always have a bookcase in a bedroom. There’s something deeply pleasing (and soporific) about being surrounded by books

In my view, bedrooms — rather than sitting rooms — are the ideal place for family photographs and watercolours

Hang wallpaper on the inside of wardrobes so that they look pretty when you open the doors

I don’t have any rules about colours for bedrooms; I once stayed with a friend who had lined the walls of their spare room in a deep burgundy cloth. I have never slept better in my life; it was like being back in the womb

Bedroom lighting should be multi-layered: you need lights to read by, lights to wash by and you should be able to control them from the bed

I have to have a television in my bedroom and don’t see any reason to disguise it

Be a host with the most

Make sure to have nice hangers in cupboards; beware of dry cleaners’ hangers creeping into the mix. I like to have soft, upholstered ones for dresses and shirts and wooden ones for everything else

Keep a lavender sachet on the pillows of your guest bedroom. They can be a great way to induce sleep

Display an up-to-date selection of good books

Spend a night in any spare bedrooms you have to make sure they’re comfortable for visitors

It’s no longer enough to leave a hairdryer in a drawer — keep a phone charger ready for use in the spare bedroom, too

A radio is always a good addition, especially for insomniacs

Fun with friends

Is there anything nicer than the sight of a heavily laden drinks tray with an ice bucket filled to the gunwales?

Dining rooms that are rarely full of people become sad and musty. Find another purpose for them, such as a billiard room

Antique plates were made to be used, although make sure you wash them yourself rather than entrust the job to someone else

Linen sheets that have tears or have been damaged can be cut up and hemmed into napkins or dishcloths (glasses should always be dried using linen)

A thoughtfully laid table is a joy to behold; I have lots of china ready to create different table settings

I only serve Champagne and wine at parties; cocktails can get incredibly complicated when people arrive at the same time

Keep the hors d’oeuvres simple: cheese straws, served in glass ice pails with silver tops, go very quickly

I’m not keen on ordinary water tumblers — they remind me of boarding school. I love having a mix of different types and scour antique markets for them

Credit: Joanna Wood

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Traditionalists might baulk, but a variety of rich or vibrant hues are finding their way into kitchens. In country house kitchens of old, the emphasis was on the practical rather than decorative, says interior designer Edward Bulmer, who has worked on a number of Grade I-listed houses. ‘The kitchen at Burghley, Lincolnshire, with its painting of a butchered ox by Frans Snyders, was perhaps an exception,’ he adds. ‘In the main, the priorities were that materials were fireproof, serviceable, sturdy and washable.’

Mr Bulmer explains that painted cabinetry became a necessity when softwood timber was more commonly used in kitchens. A clear coating of linseed oil was required to protect the wood, but it tended to yellow over time.

‘Adding some pigment to the linseed became a well-trodden route,’ says Mr Bulmer, who is an expert in natural paint-making methods. ‘It was down to budget, of course; spaces that were largely used for servants wouldn’t be painted with expensive pigments. Hence the ubiquitous use of browns and off whites in kitchens.’

Increasingly, however, kitchens are being enlivened with colour, not only on cabinetry but appliances, too.

The Florentine manufacturer, Officine Gullo, finishes its units and appliances in a choice of colours ranging from zesty orange to baby pink (www.officinegullo.com). Everhot, the Cotswolds-based manufacturer of range cookers, offers models in vivid shades of teal, mustard and tangerine (www.everhot.co.uk).

Those who are nervous about embracing strong colours in a kitchen are opting to paint cabinets in one colour as another part takes a contrasting hue. This can either be done below and above the worktop or when kitchen islands are given a different treatment.

It’s a popular trend among the clients of Neptune. ‘The effect creates a calming atmosphere, with balance and contrast working together,’ says George Miller, one of its home designers. He suggests pitching its new Clove colour, a juniper-berry maroon, against a cool neutral. ‘Or it can also be paired with other statement shades, such as Mustard or even Olive for a touch of eccentricity.’

Over time, people have become more confident with colour, notes kitchen designer Tom Howley. ‘When I think back to earlier showrooms I designed, it was a timeless, neutral combination of colours. Fast forward to now, and our most recent showroom is a celebration of colour.’

Mr Howley’s clients are erring towards richer and bolder colours in their kitchens and pairing them with burnished brass hardware. ‘This helps to create a more unified space, particularly useful if you are zoning areas in an open-plan room.’

Another, more discreet way to introduce colour is to paint the interior of glazed cabinets. ‘This is a great way to link spaces and add a feature to an unassuming space,’ explains Mr Howley.

Although dark kitchen units always look elegant, ‘they can sometimes feel overwhelming if you have acres of cabinetry, so choosing a delicate neutral on the walls to act as a softer counterpoint is key,’ says Patrick O’Donnell, colour consultant at Farrow & Ball.

‘Studio Green units, for example, are made less weighty by introducing soft-nuanced white walls, taking away any heaviness of the fitted furniture.’

One of the main advantages of painted units is their versatility. ‘With careful prep work and the correct paint, quality furniture can be easily repainted to prolong its lifespan and introduce another colour combination,’ adds Mr Howley.

Artichoke

Taking centre stage in this family kitchen in a country house on the south coast is a substantial cook’s table, hand-finished to look as if its layers of terracotta-coloured paint have accumulated over time, with an aged sycamore top. Bespoke kitchen by Artichoke, prices from £200,000 — 01934 745270; www.artichoke-ltd.com

Ercol

Established in 1920 by Lucian Ercolani, Ercol continues to manufacture furniture in Buckinghamshire today. Its latest collection is inspired by mid-century design, for which the brand is so well known, reimagined for the present day. Heritage love seat, £799; armchair £449; chair £349 — 01844 271800; www.ercol.com

Halstock

Constructed in European oak finished with a subtle limewash, the island and double-doored baking cupboard add to the ‘unfitted’ style of the furniture in this custom-made kitchen by Halstock in a 16th-century barn. Kitchen prices from £240,000 — 01935 891762; www.halstock.com

Kaelo

Described as the ‘first ever social kitchen appliance’, Kaelo, from £996, is designed to keep an open bottle of wine chilled as you drink it. Gather around the island with friends, put the bottle into the patented cylindrical chamber built into your worktop and dry-cold technology will keep your wine to within 1˚–2˚ of its opening temperature. 020–7870 1115; www.kaelo.co.uk

Ledbury Studio

Hand-finished solid zinc Metallics Collection doors make a striking feature in this kitchen by Charlie Smallbone, founder of Ledbury Studio, teamed with stained-glass windows by artist Brian Clarke. Kitchen prices from £50,000 — 020–7566 6794; www.ledburystudio.com

Neptune

A mix of soft neutral tones creates a tranquil mood in this Suffolk kitchen by Neptune, where punches of black add definition. Kitchen prices from £12,000; Suffolk bar stools in seasoned oak, £370 each; and Browning lanterns, £290 each — 01793 934011; www.neptune.com

Officine Gullo

Officine Gullo is known for its bespoke kitchens and professional-style cooking appliances, handcrafted in Florence to your individual colour specification. The pink and polished copper Fiorentina 120 dual-fuel range cooker costs, £24,978, 128cm; Professional hood, £9,804; and Professional freestanding fridge freezer, £19,050 — 020–7036 1632; www.officinegullo.com

The Modern British Kitchen Company

Newcomer The Modern British Kitchen Company specialises in bespoke hardwood kitchens with a contemporary twist, such as this fresh interpretation of classic Shaker furniture. Handmade in Hampshire. Kitchen prices from £35,000 — 01329 283123; www.modern-british.com

Tom Howley

Imaginative use of colour will personalise any kitchen, as Tom Howley shows in his new showroom at 1, Canberra House, London Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire. Seen here, Devine furniture painted in Serpentine, Hartford in Pink Dusk. Kitchen prices from £20,000 — 0161–848 1200; www.tomhowley.co.uk

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When Bridget Elworthy, one half of The Land Gardeners, first arrived at this Jacobean manor house, the kitchen comprised four plasterboard walls and a concrete floor.

‘The first thing we did was to lay a stone floor — sourced from a local reclamation yard — with the hot water pipes running underneath to add some warmth,’ explains Mrs Elworthy.

‘Next was the Aga — absolutely essential in old, cold houses.’

Instead of kitchen cupboards, she used a mixture of fabric curtains made from antique French linen sheets for the under-counter storage and open shelves above. ‘I love to see where everything is and it’s so much easier when we have guests who don’t spend ages opening and closing cupboard doors in search of things.’ A trio of rise-and-fall pendants from The French House provide the main source of light.

A countertop of Carrara marble provides the main preparation surface. ‘I like the tomb-quality marble rather than anything polished. I never worry about stains as they disappear after a week.’ The long shelf above is where items in regular use can be found, such as plates, glasses and mugs.

Shelves also double as display areas for a few favourite finds, including a delicate Swedish vase that was a gift from her friend the designer Lulu Lytle of Soane. Simple white glazed metro tiles form the splashback.

The large farmhouse table and benches that occupy the centre of the room are antiques. ‘My decorating style starts from quite a low base. I don’t like buying anything expensive and would much rather rummage around markets,’ she says.

‘Two things that are always present on the table are the collection of silver candlesticks and bunches of flowers from our garden.’

See more about Bridget at www.thelandgardeners.com. This kitchen appears in ‘At Home in the English Countryside: Designers and Their Dogs’ by Susanna Salk, with photographs by Stacey Bewkes, published by Rizzoli

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When it came to designing a new kitchen for her Cotswolds barn, Lisa Mehydene turned to cabinet-makers British Standard for help.

‘I wanted my kitchen to feel lived in and not remotely new,’ explains Lisa, who runs online interiors emporium edit58. Eschewing the fitted look, she chose fabric skirts, antique pieces and cupboards from British Standard by Plain English. ‘Not having wall-mounted cabinetry makes it feel brighter — and helped the budget go further, too.’

‘Lisa wanted the pieces to work with the elements that were already there, such as the fireplace, uneven stone walls and her collection of furniture,’ says Karla Pattison of British Standard. ‘The old elements are complemented by the new cupboards.’

The terracotta floor tiles from Floors of Stone were treated with boiled linseed oil before being laid, then left in the sun. A mix of antique and clear wax took the colour from orange to brown.

Tongue-and-groove panelling is painted in Dead Salmon by Farrow & Ball. The existing Aga was exchanged for an electric equivalent in cream, which can be operated on a timer. ‘From a longevity perspective, I knew cream would be a safe bet.’

The wall tiles are Forecast by Fired Earth, a simple design that offers a perfect backdrop to Lisa’s vintage copper utensils. Wall sconces either side are by Pooky, with hand-painted Bloomsbury-inspired shades.

Meals are taken at a late-19th-century ebonised former florist’s table bought from the antiques website www.1stdibs.co.uk, as were the Thonet Bentwood dining chairs. The dresser houses crockery and linen, as well as providing extra worktop space.

For more information, visit British Standard and Edit58

The humble kitchen cabinet, as reinvented by an award-winning architect

When choosing his kitchen, George Gardener felt uninspired by the choice of cabinetry — and took a rather unusual step to doing

Credit: Paul Craig / Humphrey Munson

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Having run his award-winning architectural practice for 25 years, George Gardner was itching for a change. ‘I didn’t want to spend the next 25 years doing the same thing,’ he explains of the decision to sell his practice and property-holding company five years ago. ‘Being financially liberated gave me the opportunity to think freely and creatively.’

He and fellow architect Peter Foulk turned themselves into an ideas factory, focusing on kitchens. ‘I had recently bought kitchens for my own home and commercial properties and simply hadn’t found anything special — everything seemed so similar, with a choice, broadly, of German handleless or Shaker-style designs,’ recalls Mr Gardner. ‘We found ourselves with the time and opportunity to invest in creating designs for furniture that hadn’t been done before.’

It was the start of ELK (Extreme Logic Kitchens), which opened its doors in 2018. Passionate about protecting the environment, sustainability and minimising waste, Messrs Gardner and Foulk dedicated themselves to engineering wood so as to use the minimum of it in the construction of their kitchens. ‘The strongest part of a tree is at the crux, where a leading branch bifurcates from the main trunk, at 45 degrees in an oak tree,’ he explains. ‘This led us to start exploring the idea of an alternative geometry for furniture.’

Using a specially developed, strong, yet lightweight, three-dimensional framework (patent approved), their kitchens are made with up to 50% less material than standard cabinet carcasses. The framework for the O’45 collection allows for V-shaped ‘utility centres’ and diagonal drawers that offer easily accessible and fully visible storage. ‘The efficiency is massive,’ says Mr Gardner.

The same logic-driven approach has been used in the development of the Grid kitchen collection, which uses a similar framework to deliver a stepped arrangement of horizontal to vertical storage, including unique L-shaped drawers. As with all ELK designs, storage solutions are ‘optimised to use less, but give you more’. ‘Our aim is to surprise and delight through expressing function in a new and alternative way,’ continues Mr Gardner.

All kitchens are bespoke, designed and made at the ELK workshop in Hampshire, using predominantly solid timber, from responsible sources, including English Woodlands Timber, known for supporting sustainable woodland management. Chestnut, oak, ash and Scottish elm are favourites, often combined in light and dark shades to highlight the unusual shape of the furniture. Paints and lacquers used are water-based.

Next comes the expansion of ELK’s collection of furniture, including dining tables and chairs, console tables and wardrobes. Even chairs are designed with a characteristically ELK twist, combining ‘angular and curvilinear’ shapes for elegance with comfort.

‘What excites me is breaking new ground,’ Mr Gardner says. ‘There’s not a day that goes by without us inventing something.’

ELK Kitchens — www.elk-kitchens.com

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Material magic

Since founding kitchen brand Smallbone some 40 years ago, Charlie Smallbone’s passion for striking design has continued apace. Now, he runs bespoke kitchen company Ledbury Studio, offering a personal approach to design and a signature combination of interesting materials.

Here, hand-painted cupboards are teamed with verre églomisé splashbacks, fluted glass door panels and a cooker hood wrapped in aged brass. Kitchen prices from £50,000. 020–7566 6794; www.ledburystudio.com

On the boil

It seems it’s not only Nigella Lawson who appreciates having boiling water on tap for cooking and making tea, given that sales of Quooker’s instant 100˚C water taps are growing by 50% per year. The Flex boiling-water tap is also equipped with a pull-out hose for hot, cold and filtered water, available in polished chrome, stainless steel and black, from £1,150. 0345 8333 555; www.quooker.co.uk

Beauty in blue

Celebrating the beauty of quiet shades, Neptune’s Chichester kitchen is shown here in Flax Blue. Kitchen prices from £8,000, with Ludlow oak stools, £375 each. 01793 934280; www.neptune.com

Sociable hub

Hand-painted in Pale Ivory with burnished brass knobs, this bespoke kitchen by Martin Moore features a gently curved island, designed so that family and friends can see each other more comfortably when sitting on the bar stools.

It also features a drop-level walnut countertop, complete with electric wine cooler and drawers that conceal charging sockets for all the family’s phones and laptops. Kitchen prices from £35,000. 0845 180 0015; www.martinmoore.com

Italian style

Officine Gullo’s impressive range cooker, the OGS 208 in white with gun-metal trim, can be seen in the new four- storey Smallbone flagship showroom, opening this spring at 197–201 Brompton Road, London, SW3. The handcrafted cooker is made in Florence, features a gas hob, electric griddle, pasta cooker and electric oven and costs £61,000. 020–7036 1632; www.officinegullo.com

High low

Adjust the height of the Conical Prismatic Glass rise and fall pendant, £245, to suit your mood. Lower the level for an intimate dinner or raise it for broader illumination, from Original BTC. 020–7351 2130; www.originalbtc.com

Top seat

Skilfully harvested hazel from Kentish woodland and English elm are used to make the Coppiced Hazel and Elm chair by Sebastian Cox. Each chair is made to order in his zero-waste, carbon-counting workshop in London and costs £880. 020–8316 5679; www.sebastiancox.co.uk

Statement look

The move towards mixed-metal finishes is highlighted in the On Tap collection, including this kitchen mixer with spray in matt nickel with wheel, ball handle and cap in brass. It costs £5,100 from Waterworks. 020–7384 4000; www.waterworks.com

Modern impact

Hand-selected oak veneer and Belgian fossil stone are combined with tinted glass panels, framed in custom metal to create the luxurious and streamlined Modernist collection from Smallbone. Designed as a modular concept, it can be used to create impact in a large-scale space or with one or two standalone pieces in a smaller room, to introduce modern elegance. Kitchen prices from £200,000. 020–7589 5998; www.smallbone.co.uk

Traditionally made

Sturdy cupboards are painted in Farrow & Ball Strong White to provide fresh contrast against a reclaimed timber work- top and original brick floor in this Suffolk cottage kitchen. British Standard by Plain English kitchens start from £8,000. 020–7870 7688; www.britishstandardcupboards.co.uk

Seats for all the family

Bespoke kitchen company ELK has launched a range of furniture pieces, including (from left to right) the Crescent Orbit chair, £1,500, Flute barstool, £1,650, and Flute chair, £1,500. Made to order by ELK’s craftsmen in Hampshire, the chairs are shown here in oak and can be made in walnut, olive, ash and other woods as you please. 01329 283123; www.elk-kitchens.com

Softly does it

Inspired by Moroccan design, these softly coloured Tangier Ivy Mix ceramic tiles posses a vintage appeal. Suitable for use on walls and floors, they cost £46.08m sq, from Mandarin Stone. 01600 715444; www.mandarinstone.com

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Designed as an extension to the main kitchen, it features Wilkes cupboards painted in Little Greene Tuscan Red, a 17th-century Spanish centre table and an antique wooden stool — and even a sink large enough to bathe the dog.

‘As we now tend to live in our kitchens, we want them to be beautiful spaces, not filled with things that would be better put away elsewhere, so ancillary rooms, such as larders, boot rooms and utility rooms, are very useful for practical tasks and storage,’ explains Mr Rollitt.

‘Ancillary spaces need to be functional, but, given that we spend so much time in them, they also want some charm.’

Such charm comes from the inclusion of ‘functional’ antiques, such as tables and shelves. ‘They’ve gained their richness and patina by being used over many years, so why not continue to use them?’

He also likes to apply bolder colours to cabinetry. ‘You do find brighter colours used in smaller rooms in historic houses, but in days before chemical dyes, they were mixed with more black and raw umber tones, which softened them,’ advises Mr Rollitt, who likes to choose similarly ‘friendly’ shades for his projects today. Max Rollitt — 01962 791124; www.maxrollitt.com Plain English kitchens start from £50,000 — 01449 774028; www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk

[collections]

Has lockdown accelerated the move towards multi-functional kitchens?

Definitely. Spending more time at home has encouraged us to consider how our spaces can be improved, especially the kitchen, where so much of our living at home takes place.

Increasingly, the kitchen is the space for working, family dining and socialising (when we can) and for relaxing, perhaps with a sofa and television.

How do you design with several functions in mind?

Begin by identifying zones for each specific task. Protect the cook-prep zone and avoid getting it mixed up with areas for socialising or a through route, because it is not a good idea to be attempting to drain a boiling pot of pasta as children are running past.

For this reason, we are seeing a shift towards double islands in larger rooms (such as in this Hartford kitchen pictured here, from £20,000). One island can be used for cooking and prepping, the other for socialising.

What other requests do you receive?

Sometimes, we’re asked to build apertures in cabinetry to house a pet bed (no more tripping over the dog by the Aga). Power and USB sockets in islands make useful charging stations for phones and laptops; wine storage, a cocktail bar or a coffee station are also popular. Some keen bakers want a dresser with bi-fold doors to house a ready-to-use mixer, ingredients and specialist equipment.

But don’t be tempted to cram the walls with cupboards — the biggest luxury is some free space to display art, which will help the room feel less claustrophobic and more like the living space we want it to be.

As do many period properties, this Victorian house in Wiltshire had a kitchen that was small and had only one modest window, offering a limited view of the garden. Keen to create a new, larger kitchen suited to family life with their three young children, the owners asked John Comparelli to conceive a plan that would open up the house to the beautiful south-facing view.

The solution was to add a former artist’s studio to the new kitchen and to replace the next-door greenhouse with a garden room. Floor-to-ceiling glazing with minimal framing offers far-reaching views and the structure itself maintains the ceiling height of the existing house. In addition, the floor was lowered to the level of the terrace.

‘My approach, and one that garners support from planners more and more, is to create a contemporary extension on a period house,’ he continues.

‘Historically, buildings were added to in a style of the time, so you might find an Elizabethan house with an unashamedly Georgian front. The same applies today — if I can use modern, 6ft-tall panels of glass that offer an unimpeded view, rather than small period window panels, and if it works with the original, I will.’

The garden room is built with a slender, but strong steel frame that allows for the cantilevered corner: sliding doors on two sides can be pushed back to allow uninterrupted access to the terrace. The result is a transformative space that is connected both physically and visually to its surroundings.

Comparelli Architect — www.comparelli.com

Credit: Westbury Garden Rooms

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Employing what she calls the ‘concierge-style’ approach from concept to completion of a project, Minnie Peters often starts working with clients when they are searching for a house, sharing her knowledge and experience to ensure they make the right decision. ‘We like to get involved early; I can’t bear people making mistakes,’ she explains.

This is the kitchen of a new house set in mature gardens on the south side of Dublin. The owners requested a relaxed scheme that would evolve with the changing demands of their young family. ‘I always start by understanding how the room is going to be used by day and in the evening. Having the appropriate balance of task and mood light-ing is vital to ensuring the right atmosphere.’

"I’ve tried to create somewhere that is easy to keep calm and tidy"

To accommodate a large amount of storage, Minnie designed full-height cabinetry, which was made by Andrew Ryan, and added a wrought-iron library ladder to access the top cupboards. Running the cupboards to the ceiling helps the joinery to dissolve into the walls.

A narrow skylight was cut out above the cooker, throwing natural light into the room. To introduce texture, she installed a reclaimed beam as a lintel above the Aga. The work surface is an earthy lava stone called Basaltina, which contrasts with the fresh Calacatta marble island. Both were sourced through Miller Brothers.

Added layers of interest include the use of Belgian tiles in a mix of putty and soft grey to create the splashback, French copper wall sconces and an over-sized antique planter from Holland that offers a useful place for children’s toys.

‘Kitchens can be so messy,’ adds Minnie. ‘Here, I’ve tried to create somewhere that is easy to keep calm and tidy and a space to relax at the end of the day.’

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Credit: Alexander Baxter / Plain English Design

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Credit: Butson

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In the two years since their launch, our kitchen awards have elicited a cheering number of entries from ‘house’ members of Historic Houses, willing to share their experiences of creating kitchens that are sympathetic to historic interiors. This year’s shortlist offered three dramatically different scenarios and solutions.

Judging three such creative and sensitive responses to different objectives was never going to be an easy task. As a result, judges decided to give a joint award to the kitchens at both Wolterton Hall and Great Oakley, with a special mention for the Old Rectory.

The judging panel comprised John Sims-Hilditch, co-founder of British interiors brand Neptune, Henriette Von Stockhausen, creative director of VSP Interiors and Giles Kime, Executive Editor and Interiors Editor of Country Life.

Joint winner: Wolterton Hall, Norfolk

Keith Day and Peter Sheppard

At Wolterton Hall, Keith Day and Peter Sheppard were keen to create a kitchen that complemented the magnificent library where they spend many of their evenings and which offers magnificent views over the surrounding parkland.

The judges were full of praise for the way that the kitchen at Wolterton was designed to have minimal impact on the fabric of its surroundings and also offered the perfect environment for two or more people to work alongside one another — as well as for a professional chef to cater for gatherings in the next-door library.

Joint winner: Great Oakley Hall, Northamptonshire

Alexander and Wendy de Capell Brooke

Alexander and Wendy de Capell Brooke’s challenge was to create a kitchen at Great Oakley Hall in Northamptonshire that is the focus of their large family’s busy lives.

The aim was to find a space close to the heart of the house that also offered the light, lateral space and access to the garden that can contribute so much to a successful family kitchen.

The solution, they discovered, lay in converting a garage that had been accommodated in an 18th-century addition to a house that has Tudor origins. The judges recognised that Great Oakley was a truly collaborative project between the owners, the architect Hawkes Edwards and the joiner Rob Norrish, all of whom won plaudits.

Special mention: The Old Rectory, Hampshire

John and Christina Benson

In Hampshire, John and Christina Benson’s solution to the same challenge was to repurpose an outbuilding behind their Old Rectory, leaving much of its original structure exposed. The sensitivity of the Old Rectory project was considered to be worthy of a special mention.

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Credit: Paul Craig / Humphrey Munson

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Elk Kitchens doing it differently

Architects George Gardner and Peter Foulk have set up ELK, producing bespoke kitchens that feature their own patent-pending storage solutions, which are designed to ensure that all cupboard and shelf space is used to the maximum. These include their striking, triangular-shaped V-drawers, intended as ‘function centres’, with contents visible and accessible.

‘Unlike most kitchens, which are built from boxes, ELK’s designs are based on a framework, which frees the designers from standard restrictions and uses less than 50% of the material of a conventional kitchen,’ explains Mr Gardner. Each kitchen is constructed at ELK’s workshop in Hampshire, using responsibly sourced timber engineered to produce a stable framework, often using light and dark woods for contrast and to highlight the unusual shape of the furniture. ‘Our aim is to produce beautiful, sustainable kitchens that are genuinely innovative,’ Mr Gardner says.

Kitchen prices start from £50,000 — www.elk-kitchens.com

Tom Howley’s colour confidence

Dusky Pink is one of two new shades that join the range of more than 20 hues available at Tom Howley, introduced in response to the demand for elegant kitchens with confident use of colour. ‘The possibilities are endless, but for a truly classic look that marries refinement and playfulness, I would suggest pairing these bolder tones with white,’ advises Mr Howley.

‘A stark white paint or worktop acts as a marvellous contrast to the depths of these two new colours. Think about bar stools with upholstery in the same tone, or even vases, plates and glassware in pinks or greens for a creative and imaginative touch.’ Prices from £20,000 — www.tomhowley.co.uk

Perrin and Rowe’s top of the pots

No more lugging heavy pots of water from the sink to the stove: the Perrin & Rowe Traditional Pot Filler in Aged Brass is designed to be installed above the hob. After use, it can be folded neatly and safely against the wall.

£767 — www.perrinandrowe.co.uk

Officine Gullo’s multiple choice

Known for professional-style performance, range cookers by Italian kitchen specialist Officine Gullo are available in more than 1,000 colours and 50 different finishes to help you choose your perfect design. Shown here is the Fiorentina dual-fuel 92cm range cooker.

£14,920 — www.officinegullo.com

Smallbone’s art of craft

Featuring curbed cabinet doors, made by hand from Rift Cut oak veneer with beautifully consistent grain, the Icarus kitchen collection by Smallbone highlights the company’s reputation for skilled craftsmanship. The kitchen features suspended cabinets — they almost appear to be levitating — with scalloped glass doors made using an ancient slumping technique.

Prices start from £200,000 — www.smallbone.co.uk

Plain English’s lighter look

Inspired by the classic kitchen worktable, this Osea island on legs by Plain English is designed to create a lighter look, an effect that is accentuated by its soft shade of mid blue, which differs from the fitted dresser and tall cupboards.

Kitchens from £35,000 — www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk

Martin Moore’s island life

Painted in Nantucket Blue to enhance its role as the focal point of this spacious Martin Moore kitchen, the large island draws family and friends to the heart of this Cotswolds home.

Kitchens from £35,000 — www.martinmoore.com

Otto Tiles’ light fantastic

Natural light creates subtle reflection on the surface of these Moroccan handcrafted and glazed natural-clay tiles, changing as the day progresses, making them an interesting choice for a wall or splashback.

Dusty Pink zellige tiles, £153.60 per sq m — www.ottotiles.co.uk

Julian Chichester, sitting comfortably

Finding a bar stool that’s both comfortable and elegant can be a challenge, so the Dakota is a welcome find. Shown here in Firmdale Grey oak and Beluga Black leather.

£1,314 — www.julianchichester.com

Quooker on the boil

Flex is an all-in-one tap in a black finish from Quooker that not only delivers water at 100°C, but also has a flexible pull-out hose for use with ‘standard’ hot and cold water. Add on a Cube to the tank system below the sink and the tap will dispense sparkling and chilled water, too.

Tap £1,490, Cube £1,150 — www.quooker.co.uk

LG’s wine zone

The LG Signature LSR200W wine cellar holds 65 bottles in three adjustable temperature zones for storing all wines at their best, plus fridge drawers (one can be converted to freezer mode) and an Auto Open Door, which can be operated by a wave of your foot — useful if your hands are full.

£5,999 — www.lg.com

Beyond 50 shades of grey: Subtle colours for your home

Amelia Thorpe goes in search of new hues.

How to make a hallway that’s more than just a dumping ground

The best hallways create a bold statement. Amelia Thorpe explains.

Credit: The Fabric Collective

Transforming a space with paints and wallpapers, from natural hues to velvety bold colours

Amelia Thorpe rounds up the latest wallpapers and paint colours.

Credit: Chris Warren / Marston and Langinger

What to grow in a conservatory, from cacti and succulents to orchids and herbs

Conservatories are once again being used for cultivating and enjoying plants. Amelia Thorpe reports on a growing trend.

As part of a top-to-toe refurbishment of a family house in Belgravia, Alison Henry moved the kitchen to an orangery-style structure, opening up the ground floor and allowing natural light to reach as much of the interior space as possible. She worked with Florence-based company Officine Gullo to come up with a bespoke kitchen design that incorporates gleaming white steel units, smart nickel trims and Italian marble.

The starting point was one of the firm’s signature range cookers, behind which the designer added a splashback of deeply veined Italian marble. The centrepiece is the vast island, which measures just under 15sq ft. ‘I chose a neutral palette in order to create a contrast with the greenery from the garden. Wisteria grows up the wall behind.’

The space is visible from much of the house, so plenty of storage was vital to keep surfaces free of kitchen clutter. Two floor-to-ceiling units either side of the range accommodated a generous larder and fridge freezer; the island is home to the sink, dishwashers, bins and drawer units.

‘The kitchen needs to work on many levels: as a casual space for a quick breakfast before school, as somewhere to prepare meals for the family and, on occasion, it’s used by professional chefs for more formal entertaining,’ says Alison.

She upholstered the Officine Gullo bar stools in soft white leather: ‘Leather is such an easy material to look after, but people often shy away from it.’ The pendants, with pleated shades in an antique silver finish, deliver task lighting to the island. The choice of a slim design was deliberate, so as not to interrupt views through to the garden from deep within the house.

The design even continues outside the house: outside, a gas barbecue that matches the look and feel of the kitchen is on hand for summer barbecues.

Alison Henry Design — www.alisonhenry.com

The range cooker, where making dinner meets 'the beauty and functionality of a Land Rover Defender'

The market for range cookers is hotting up thanks to a renewed taste for classic kitchens.

When Peter Humphrey, founder of handmade-cabinetry specialists Humphrey Munson, was asked to design a family kitchen and entertaining space for a country house in Surrey, his first instinct was to carve out a partition or, in the firm’s terminology, introduce a ‘Humphrey wall’.

Not only does this approach create useful ancillary space that doubles as a pantry and utility, but it positions the hardworking elements of the kitchen closer to the action, improving its flow and functionality.

In this instance, there was an added advantage, too: ‘The client wanted the main kitchen surfaces to be clutter free,’ says creative director Louisa Eggleston. ‘As she regularly entertains in the kitchen, this means everything can be swept out of sight between courses.’

The cabinets, in the firm’s Nickleby design, finish well below the 9ft-high ceiling so that they didn’t feel too overwhelming; they include glass panels that are illumin-ated at night. The central island acts as the main food-preparation area and includes an integrated Kohler Deerfield sink (www.kohler.co.uk).

A sophisticated monochrome colour scheme was favoured over bright hues: the island, cabinetry, pantry-door architrave and shelving units are painted in contrasting pale greys and blacks from Humphrey Munson’s in-house paint range. ‘As a counterbalance, the units surrounding the fridge are in natural oak, which adds warmth and character,’ says Louisa.

The floors are laid with Brampton, a natural limestone sourced from the company’s flooring library (www.hmflooringlibrary.co.uk), and simple glass Walcot pendants by Jim Lawrence hang over the island (www.jim-lawrence.co.uk).

Humphrey Munson — 01371 821300; www.humphreymunson.co.uk

Credit: Plain English

What modern kitchens can learn from early-Georgian simplicity

Art Deco kitchens: An ageing classic look that is still pushing new trends

Art Deco is almost a hundred years old, and its modern revival now dates back almost 15 years – but it's

Credit: Photograph by Andreas von Einsie

How to seamlessly blend the old and new when transforming old rooms into country kitchens

Charlotte Hughes has created a family kitchen that looks as if it has evolved over time.

Brian and Annabel Charlesworth have lived in Wood Hall, near Downham Market, since 1974, but it wasn’t until 2009 that they decided to redesign the kitchen. Their aim was clear from the outset: to create a timeless look, repurposing as many items from around the house and grounds as possible, and to design the scheme in-house with the help of local Norfolk craftsmen.

The project began with three painted Victorian pine cupboards found in a potting shed. Left unpainted and in their original condition - complete, in one case, with gardener’s notes down one side—they have been repurposed as china cupboards. Slate slabs discovered in an old larder were re-employed as work surfaces and new wooden plinths were made for a table top that was sitting in an outbuilding.

'It’s now known as a ‘drawing room’ for the couple’s pugs, Augustus and Black Jack'

The room, which measures nearly 30ft by 30ft, is ideal for hosting parties. As a result, a central island was dismissed in favour of a butcher’s block on wheels and a table found in an antiques market. ‘We wanted to ensure that the configuration of the room could be rearranged at any time, for example, if we want to have more tables for a large dinner party,’ explains Mr Charlesworth.

Further decorative details were sourced locally, including the pictures, which are mainly by East Anglian artists. A blacksmith was commissioned to make hooks and racks; these are now home to antique kitchenalia, such as copper pans and wooden salad bowls, collected over the years by Mrs Charlesworth. The old fireplace was opened up and the reveal decorated with pictures of dogs. It’s now known as a ‘drawing room’ for the couple’s pugs, Augustus and Black Jack.

This piece was first published November 2019.

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How to transform a Victorian kitchen with bold colour and Georgian-style joinery

Georgian-style joinery and dark colours lend a cosseting feel to this farmhouse kitchen.

Credit: Jake Fitzjones

How to transform a dark Victorian kitchen into a charming social space with bespoke joinery

Charlotte Crosland redesign project turned into an entire refurbishment when it came to this Victorian house in London, including this

Credit: Turner Pocock

From accountant's office to family kitchen: A social space with warmth and grandeur

Bunny Turner has transformed a former accountant’s office into a family kitchen by removing false ceilings, custom-ordering a table and

The new kitchen design mantra: Don’t be afraid of the dark

Dark colours and rich materials are creating moody new looks in kitchens, says Amelia Thorpe.

When planning this kitchen at remote Lundies House in Sutherland, on the northernmost extremes of the British mainland, the aim for Plain English was to create as much clear work-surface space as the room allowed, with deep painted shelves on brass brackets for easily accessible crockery storage, a system of hooks for pans and plenty of drawer space for cutlery.

With this in mind, sinks, fridges, pantry and dishwashers are all in rooms that lead from the kitchen. A small integrated fridge for milk, eggs and cheese was fitted close to the Molteni cooker, with a sink and integrated bin on its right-hand side.

A painted window seat was fitted over a radiator to create a cosy nook that offers scenic views over the surrounding landscape.

The colour palette is soft and natural, in keeping with the setting, with the walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s Off-White and painted with tongue-and-groove beaded wall cladding in Farrow & Ball’s Mouse’s Back. The painted splashback is in Off-White gloss.

This Plain English Spitalfields kitchen is fitted with a Derbyshire fossil-stone worktop from Mandale Stone and brass taps by Officine Gullo that complement the handcrafted shelf brackets and cupboard knobs. A bespoke extractor is concealed within the custom-made cooker hood and the floor is laid in local Caithness limestone flags.

Plain English — 020–7486 2674; www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk

The dos and don'ts of designing your own ideal utility room

From stone sinks to sturdy, Merlin Wright of Plain English offers advice on creating the perfect utility room.

How to change the personality of your kitchen with a fresh coat of paint

To accompany the launch of her new paint collection for Plain English, interior designer Rita Konig reveals the secrets of

Credit: Plain English kitchen design

A kitchen that's a breath of fresh air in a world of homogeneity

Giles Kime takes a look at a new kitchen design that's taken the best elements of Victorian and Edwardian traditions

Credit: Antony Crolla

The life-affirming joy of a brilliantly bold, yellow kitchen: 'As you walk into the room, you can’t help but smile'

Originally built in 1916 by a Swiss family, this 12-bedroom villa stands nearly 4,000ft above sea level on the border between Tuscany and Umbria. It was used as a hotel, but was abandoned in the 1980s. For its new British owners, a hard-working kitchen to suit their large family of enthusiastic cooks was essential.

‘When we first took on the project, a tree was growing through the kitchen and the basement was full of snakes and scorpions,’ says Artichoke’s creative director, Bruce Hodgson.

Using Tuscany-based artisans and local materials where possible, the company oversaw renovation works that took four years. Part of the project included merging smaller rooms to create this voluminous kitchen in the centre of the house, where it acts as the ‘engine room’, says Bruce.

One of the stipulations that informed the architecture was that a traditional inglenook fireplace spacious enough to cook porchetta (roast suckling pig) should be included. This involved running a flue under the main staircase that crosses the top of the kitchen — resulting in a vaulted ceiling from which hang two striking wagon wheel-style chandeliers from Ralph Lauren Home.

Much of the decorative interest comes from the wood used on the dresser and cabinetry — a mixture of local chestnut and oak, which has been bleached. For day-to-day cooking, a Wolf range was installed, with a surround of tiles in a glossy sage from Verona adding a splash of colour. An acid-etched zinc extractor, designed and made by Artichoke, adds an industrial feel.

‘We wanted the story behind the room to make it feel as if it had evolved over many centuries,’ adds Bruce.

The best interior designers in Britain

Of all the decorating trends that have been in vogue over the last 50 years – be it Scandi, Minimalism

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Britain's best interior designers on the paint colours you just can't go wrong with

People across the country are using their time to decorate, and with the big companies still running delivery services you're likely

Beyond Instagram: London Design Week's unparalleled breadth and depth will help you avoid 'unhinged eclecticism'

Listening to the world’s greatest interior designers talk about their work is one of the best ways to get to

Inside the home of a top designer: Philippa Thorp’s Hampshire dream

Interior designer Philippa Thorp tells Arabella Youens about the transformation of her Grade II-listed house in Hampshire.

Credit: Ray Main / Todhunter Earle Interiors

Creating a graceful, beautiful and above all cosy bathroom in a period house in Wiltshire

Emily Todhunter took a restrained approach to the decoration of her Wiltshire bathroom. She explained more to Arabella Youens.

Having started out as a gilder and restorer, Rupert Bevan moved into interiors, employing his deep understanding of materials, surfaces and finishes to create a wide range of highly distinctive projects. Working alongside a team of craftsmen based in London and Shropshire, he designs, makes and finishes pieces for a broad spectrum of projects and clients.

This kitchen forms part of a project being overseen by designer Susie Atkinson that involved the internal reorganisation and decoration of a cottage on the river in Chiswick, west London.

‘The client wanted a country kitchen that was practical and functional, but aesthetically attractive, too,’ explains Rupert. ‘He was keen for a design that had a bit of patination and character; something that would be perfectly imperfect.’

An island takes centre stage. Rupert used solid oak that was washed and coloured to open up the grain of the oak and bashed to soften the edges, thus imitating the look of a well-used kitchen.

Classical elements, such as the turned columns and pilasters, belie the fact that it features ventilated cabinetry for fitted appliances. It’s topped in Carrara marble, with an extractor fan sitting within the upstand.

A trio of vintage-oak bar stools from Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson (each feature a carved mouse) stand at the breakfast bar and echo Arts-and-Crafts touches throughout the house.

The rear walls are covered in the client’s collection of Dutch 17th-century Delft-ware and timber shelves were added to display a further collection of English plates. Stonework arches either side of the chimneybreast were added for interest. ‘The design of the kitchen is deliberately loose and open—in the manner of an old Italian farmhouse kitchen.’

Find out more about Rupert Bevan’s work at www.rupertbevan.com

Credit: deVOL kitchen

The brand new kitchen perfectly in sync with a house full of antiques

Arabella Youens takes a look at a beautiful new kitchen in London.

Credit: Ray Main / Todhunter Earle Interiors

Creating a graceful, beautiful and above all cosy bathroom in a period house in Wiltshire

Emily Todhunter took a restrained approach to the decoration of her Wiltshire bathroom. She explained more to Arabella Youens.

The new kitchen design mantra: Don’t be afraid of the dark

Dark colours and rich materials are creating moody new looks in kitchens, says Amelia Thorpe.

North Farm, the house in Teesdale, Co Durham, that the interior designer Rita Konig has recently brought to life, offers convincing evidence that, contrary to conventional wisdom, a desirable kitchen doesn’t have to be the size of Wembley Stadium. Nor does it have to look very much like a kitchen; as her design demonstrates very eloquently, a kitchen of more modest proportions can look lovely, function perfectly and doesn’t require floor-to-ceiling (and wall-to-wall) cabinetry and appliances.

The driving factor behind the designer’s approach was not to save space, but to create a room that is an elegant hybrid of both kitchen and dining room. ‘I was keen that guests weren’t subjected to a view of dirty pots and pans, so I made room for a small, highly space-efficient scullery for washing up.’

The latter also offered plenty of storage that took pressure off the main space. ‘It was made by Plain English and I took inspiration from the amazing kitchen that Christopher Howe created in the basement of his London shop, where there’s only one run of cabinets.’

The result is a room where it’s possible to strike an even balance between the cooking and dining. Miss Konig even found room for a large, comfortable wing chair (that essential depository for guests with whom you want to converse, but not share the cooking). As a space for entertaining, it is everything it should be — pretty and intimate, but not remotely poky.

Another more extreme example of this new approach is at the Oxfordshire home of Emma Burns of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, where, amid a delicious mix of dining chairs and Robert Kime curtains, a discreetly placed Aga is one of the few pieces of evidence that her kitchen ever sees much cooking. Here, the secret has been to decorate the space in exactly the same way that you would any other room in the house.

This approach couldn’t be further removed from the sleek, contemporary kitchens so popular at the turn of the 21st century, which offered all the charm of being entertained in a laboratory. It’s a welcome shift and, should anyone need proof of its efficacy, North Farm is available to rent (or will be once we’re out of lockdown) through Yorkshire Holiday Cottages.

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Giles Kime asks whether the the ‘digital pop up’ the answer to the homogeneous home.

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French-Brooks Interiors is a design studio in South Kensington and Hampshire. At its helm is Victoria Wormsley who, having spent 15 years designing interiors for developments in central London, is comfortable working in a range of idioms, from pared-back Minimalism to traditional and eclectic.

Adhering to the mantra that interior design needs to speak to the architecture of a house, Victoria set out to create a kitchen that would set off the scale of the space that was formerly the dining room. ‘I didn’t want a predictable country-house style. I was aiming for a more impressive, more formal space, which incorporated some contemporary elements.’

The focal point is the chandelier above the dining table. Made by Cox London, it features oak leaves made of steel and brass. ‘It’s imposing, yet very much of the countryside, especially as there are lots of oaks locally. We all love it. It’s like living with a piece of oak tree growing in the house.’

‘I didn’t want lots of cheery mugs and colourful cookery books on show.’

The table, which seats 10, was made to order in Wiltshire to echo a medieval-refectory table, with a pedestal base in a stained oak. The chairs are in a style known as os de mouton (‘lamb bone’, which relates to the shape of the stretches on their bases) and covered in a Belgian linen by Stereo with antique brass nailing.

The compact cooking area was designed by Martin Moore in a classic style. For this, Victoria chose muted colours, including Stony Ground by Farrow & Ball, for the cabinetry and Plumbago Blue by Fired Earth on the island. The storage is closed, underpinning the space, which is used by both the family and for more formal entertaining: ‘I didn’t want lots of cheery mugs and colourful cookery books on show.’

To find out more about French-Brooks Interiors and to see more wonderful examples of work, click here to visit www.french-brooks.com

Born in America and raised in Britain, interior designer Katrin Cargill fuses New England influences with bold colour and simple patterns. An example of her distinctive approach is the kitchen of her London home, which she doubled in size, creating a generous space filled with light from a roof lantern and two full-length French doors.

There are breaks in the run of wall-hung cabinetry to make the room feel less crowded. Designed by Ray Munn Kitchens with Neptune joinery, it is painted in Little Greene’s Gauze, a pale green-grey. The walls are in Dulux’s Jabot. ‘It’s a lovely, honest white – about the best you can get. It’s not pink, or blue or green.’ To reinforce the rustic, East Coast feel, Katrin covered the walls in 6mm vertical planks. ‘I didn’t want plaster, wallpaper or paint. These add a bit of texture and interest.’

‘It’s divine: the heat is much higher than from a conventional hearth.’

Taking a cue from a similar design she had seen in a Belgian house, Katrin had the fireplace built from scratch, raising the hearth to eye level with log storage underneath. ‘It’s divine: the heat is much higher than from a conventional hearth.’

The table is from Howe London and the chairs sourced through Tobias and the Angel. Seat covers are in simple sacking cloth, edged in green velvet; curtains by C&C Milano hang from steel poles by Jim Lawrence. The red is echoed on the wing-back chairs, covered in gingham cotton from Fabrics Galore.

Touches of warmth include wooden chopping boards and English spongeware plates found at markets in Derbyshire.

To find out more about Katrin Cargill Interiors, visit www.katrincargill.com

How to transform a Victorian kitchen with bold colour and Georgian-style joinery

Georgian-style joinery and dark colours lend a cosseting feel to this farmhouse kitchen.

Credit: Jake Fitzjones

How to transform a dark Victorian kitchen into a charming social space with bespoke joinery

Charlotte Crosland redesign project turned into an entire refurbishment when it came to this Victorian house in London, including this

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Credit: Millie Pilkington/Country Life P

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Kate Priestley's father transformed this outbuilding into calving pens in the 1990s. It is now home to a rather different

This year, Historic Houses and Country Life joined forces with Neptune to celebrate great examples of new kitchens in old spaces. Last week, the inaugural Historic Houses Kitchen Award was presented to the Willoughbys, owners of Birdsall House in North Yorkshire.

The story of every historic house is one of evolution: façades are updated, roofs remodelled, wings added (and removed). But in the 21st century, alterations are more likely to be functional than stylistic. Kitchens, in particular, reflect different times; fewer staff and changing lifestyles require a multi-functional space that can accommodate family and entertaining rather than merely the preparation of food.

For the members of Historic Houses, creating a large kitchen within the confines of a heavily listed space can present a challenge. The shortlist for the award included three very different responses to the conundrum: Francis Terry moved the kitchen to the drawing room, making the most of lofty proportions and beautiful light; Brian and Annabel Charlesworth repurposed furniture from other parts of the house; and the Hon James and Lady Cara Willoughby combined six separate rooms to create 1,000sq ft of space that provides room for cooking, entertaining and relaxing.

After much deliberation, the judges — John Sims-Hilditch, co-founder of British interiors brand Neptune; TV presenter Sarah Beeny; Kate Earle of interior-design practice Todhunter Earle; and Country Life’s Executive Editor, Giles Kime — decided that the award should go to the owners who had succeeded in the greatest architectural challenge.

Without a doubt, the couple that met the criteria most closely was the Willoughbys, whose light-filled kitchen has west-facing views over the garden. The result is a space that offers the perfect setting for 21st-century living within a house with 16th-century origins.

‘Needless to say, it has been so exciting to have the collective hard work of those who created our kitchen recognised by the judges,’ says Lady Cara. ‘We hope it demonstrates the versatility of historic buildings.’

Historic Houses membership

The Historic Houses pass (£54 for an individual adult, or £86 for a joint membership) gives free entry to more than 300 impressive castles, beautiful houses and gorgeous gardens. Together, they form Britain’s largest collection of historic houses open to the public, from Alnwick Castle to Athelhampton House, Sandringham to Sudeley. On top of free admission, members enjoy opportunities to book places on exclusive private tours of hundreds more undiscovered, lived-in, places and receive Historic House magazine four times a year. Country Life readers enjoy an exclusive £5 discount on any new membership of Historic Houses. Visit www.historichouses.org to sign up, using the code CLSCRB.

Credit: Simon Brown/Country Life Picture

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The new kitchen design mantra: Don’t be afraid of the dark

Dark colours and rich materials are creating moody new looks in kitchens, says Amelia Thorpe.

As a boy, the architect Francis Terry visited Dedham House, near Colchester, when it was the home of his father’s business partner, Raymond Erith. Years later, when the opportunity arose to buy it, he and his wife, Miranda, also an architect, jumped at the chance. ‘The house had not been changed much since it was built in the 1830s. It had two large reception rooms with a spectacular orientation overlooking the garden – I remember watching bullfinches playing in the trees as a child,’ explains Mr Terry. ‘When we moved in, like most modern families, we spent all our time in the kitchen, which was small and dark.’

Mr Terry eventually resolved the problem by heeding his own advice. ‘I get frustrated when clients reserve the best rooms of the house for special occasion – as a result, they hardly ever get used. Invariably, what happens is that owners add on a boxy kitchen extension and everyone lives in that.’

The solution was to move the kitchen to the sitting room. Into this space of perfect proportions, which has a pair of French windows facing south and two sash windows overlooking the garden, the couple installed a simple, Modernist kitchen in pale colours. ‘I felt that a traditional style of kitchen cabinetry would fight with the existing details such as mouldings and plasterwork,’ explains Mr Terry. ‘Although I’m a Classicist, Miranda comes from a Modernist background. I think it’s a style that works much better with interiors than it does with exteriors, where a clean and white aesthetic can weather badly.’

The couple’s approach has been sympathetic to the room: the Everhot range has no hood and there are very few wall-hung shelves. Two further elements define this wonderful space and blur the boundaries between a kitchen and a sitting room: a vast kitchen table in lieu of a fixed island and a working fireplace that ‘crackles magically during supper,’ notes Mr Terry.

How to transform a Victorian kitchen with bold colour and Georgian-style joinery

Georgian-style joinery and dark colours lend a cosseting feel to this farmhouse kitchen.

Credit: Jake Fitzjones

How to transform a dark Victorian kitchen into a charming social space with bespoke joinery

Charlotte Crosland redesign project turned into an entire refurbishment when it came to this Victorian house in London, including this

Credit: Turner Pocock

From accountant's office to family kitchen: A social space with warmth and grandeur

Bunny Turner has transformed a former accountant’s office into a family kitchen by removing false ceilings, custom-ordering a table and

The new kitchen design mantra: Don’t be afraid of the dark

Dark colours and rich materials are creating moody new looks in kitchens, says Amelia Thorpe.

When Lady Cara Willoughby moved into her husband’s family’s Grade II*-listed house in 2017, more than 70 years had passed since the last time the keys had been handed over to a new custodian – a period that has seen vast changes in the way that country houses are lived in and managed.

With three children and without an army of domestic help, there was plenty of work to do to reorganise the house to make it suitable for the young family. ‘My grandparents-in-law had lived here with plenty of staff, but that wasn’t what we were going to do,’ explains Lady Cara.

As with many unrestored historic houses, the layout offered up no obvious live-in kitchen/breakfast room. ‘We looked at every configuration, but nothing really worked without altering the existing footprint of the house.’ Instead, the couple approached planners with the idea of knocking the six small rooms that made up the kitchen and domestic offices into one room, with the benefit of a west-facing aspect over the garden.

'Items such as the Lacanche range were sourced secondhand and the whole scheme came in under budget'

The result is a vast space measuring more than 1,000 square feet – ‘It has more metalwork than the Forth Road Bridge,’ quips Lady Cara. Armed with an art degree and a sound knowledge of design and proportion, she set to work on a design using cardboard cutouts to lay out the cabinetry, which would have period details appropriate to the Georgian origins of the house.

‘The challenge was that quotes for a bespoke build came in too high and standard units wouldn’t work.’ By chance, a tenant on the farm was a talented joiner, whom she commissioned to make the cupboards from tulip wood, to Lady Cara’s designs. They are painted in Farrow & Ball Green Blue and Pigeon. Items such as the Lacanche range were sourced secondhand and the whole scheme came in under budget – of which Lady Cara is understandably very proud.

Colour is key to creating the personality of a room.

Compare an all-white kitchen with the same space painted in bold, dramatic tones: they will each have a completely different character. I’m excited by combinations of colour and my paint collection was planned to work in groups of three: an under-the-counter colour, a wall colour and an upper-cabinet colour.

This could be a strong star colour, a softer shade and one that will add some punch. For example, Silver Polish, a soft neutral, is a good wall colour, particularly when paired with cupboards in warm, orange Medlar Jelly and an island in deep moody Burnt Toast or stools in inky-blue Bib and Braces.

Another way to use colour is to paint all the cupboards in one shade and then use a foil colour on the interior. In this way, you see a flash of interest as you open a cupboard door. Colour drenching – painting every surface of a small room in one bold colour – can be very successful. Colours behave differently in eggshell, gloss and emulsion paints, so a mix of finishes can add interest, too.

If you feel the colour scheme is getting too complicated, reel it back until you feel more comfortable.

More people feel nervous of colour than confident, so my advice is to start calmly and add more shades, when and if you wish. Painting an island in a different hue to the wall cabinets is a good place to start. You could add bar stools in a punchy colour as the next step.

Avoid ‘porridge-y’ schemes with too many sludgy neutrals. Add an accent colour – it doesn’t have to be dark or bold, but it does need to be crisp, such as Cotton Pinny (a fresh, light blue), to lift a room and bring it to life.

Bearing in mind that a kitchen will be used throughout the day, I’d avoid a room full of punchy colour, which may feel too strong at breakfast time. Otherwise, I encourage you to play with combinations.

Why not? Colour can be so joyful.

Plain English kitchens start from £25,000. For more information, visit www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk.

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Pippa Paton has artfully transformed the interiors of a Cotswold barn. Giles Kime takes a look.

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Kate Priestley's father transformed this outbuilding into calving pens in the 1990s. It is now home to a rather different

The rise and rise of the kitchen island has been nothing short of remarkable — no new design, it seems, is complete without one. Popular culture has caught up to the point where having an island is not so much kitchen furniture as a lifestyle accessory:

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But interior design always has an element of an arms race to it, and thus it's no surprise to see people out there pushing the barriers of what is possible with kitchen islands.

Here are three examples which have caught our eye:

Shapely curves

This New England painted island, featuring sweeping curves is by Mark Wilkinson Furniture. Another of Mark Wilkinson's designs is shown at the top of the page, ideal for a smaller kitchen. From £35,000 — www.mwf.com

Shining example

A highly polished plinth lends this Original Hand Painted island from Smallbone of Devizes a light, ethereal feel. Kitchen prices start at £70,000 — www.smallbone.co.uk

Return to Victorian

This handsome prep island takes its inspiration from a Victorian cook’s table, as reimagined for the 21st century by Guild Anderson Furniture Makers. Kitchens from about £30,000 — www.guildandersonfurniture.co.uk

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Art Deco is almost a hundred years old, and its modern revival now dates back almost 15 years – but it's

Credit: Photograph by Andreas von Einsie

How to seamlessly blend the old and new when transforming old rooms into country kitchens

Charlotte Hughes has created a family kitchen that looks as if it has evolved over time.

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The Bull Pen is one of five luxury holiday rentals created as part of the painstaking restoration of a sprawling collection of redundant mid-19th-century barns near Bibury that offer distant views over the surrounding Gloucestershire countryside.

'The heritage of these beautiful barns was really important to us'

Pippa Paton and her team worked with owners George and Polly Phillips to design generously proportioned accommodation in spaces that exude the charm of their agricultural past. ‘The heritage of these beautiful barns was really important to us,’ says Pippa, who has skilfully worked with the structure – and the contents – to create interiors that are big on texture and creature comfort.

Weathered stable doors have found new life as coffee tables and artisanal implements, including a baker’s paddle and large, sculptural dough bowls, lend a rich layer of interest to the pared-back interiors.

'The evocative photography of Ed Shepherd records the derelict structures before they were transformed, a reminder of the transformative possibilities of sensitive interior design'

Into this mix, Pippa has added contemporary pieces by established artists, such as Linda Bloomfield, whose ceramics are displayed in the kitchen area, as well as large, abstract works executed in a muted colour palette by Archie Leschallas, a recent graduate, and photography by Amy Bateman.

The furniture is a mixture of new and old; as well as upholstered sofas and tub chairs designed by Pippa, there are also vintage pieces, many of them vast in scale.

Another feature that acknowledges the agricultural heritage of the barns is the evocative photography of Ed Shepherd that records the derelict structures before they were transformed and which are a reminder of the transformative possibilities of sensitive interior design.

To find out more about Pippa Paton and her work, visit www.pippapatondesign.co.uk

To find out more about Bibury Farm Barns, Gloucestershire, visit www.biburyfarm.com

Credit: Harry Lowther/Lewis & Wood

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In North Yorkshire, Melanie Phipps has furnished a pair of shepherd’s huts with every creature comfort.

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Dreamy Cotswold farmhouse complete with excellent equestrian facilities and a party barn

Bosmere Farm is a wonderful family house in a stunning rural setting.

A superb 16th century Cotswolds manor with a very 21st century party barn

The Old Rectory is a quintessential Cotswolds house dating back to the 16th century – with a very 21st-century attraction that's

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The rundown stable which became a stunning party barn, perfect for New Year's Eve parties

Unloved outbuildings and rundown stables provide the perfect opportunity for some imaginative updating. Case in point: this 18th century stable

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A beautiful Grade I-listed manor pre-dating the Domesday Book, with 243 acres and a party barn

Morwell House is a beautifully restored manor house, peaceful and secluded, set in the middle of its 243 acres of

While working at Christie’s and later for the dealer and TV presenter Paul Martin, Charlotte Hughes has developed a passion for antiques. Today, she weaves them into schemes that successfully blend the old and the new to create distinctive rooms with a timeless feel.

When it came to reorganising her own house in Gloucestershire, the first project was to move the kitchen to the space previously occupied by the sitting room, a job that involved removing plasterboard partitions to take the room back to its bones. ‘The 1980s hadn’t been kind and lots of the original features had been stripped out. I needed to add them back,’ she explains.

To distract the eye from steel joists across the ceiling, Charlotte added oak beams sourced from Timberpride in Tetbury and chamfered off the edges to soften them. On the floor, she laid a weathered ‘Medieval Bourgogne’ limestone from Boniti; it’s covered with an antique rug picked up at a country-house auction.

‘I tend to shy away from a fixed island when I want a kitchen not to look too kitchen-y'

All the cabinetry was made in oak by her in-house joiner: ‘I wanted a finish that was more unfitted and not too new.’ To achieve that, Charlotte dispensed with kickboards and painted the doors with an undercoat of pale pink and then a top coat of Farrow & Ball’s French Gray, which was then rubbed back and waxed.

At the centre of the room stands a 19th-century charcuterie table from France: ‘I tend to shy away from a fixed island when I want a kitchen not to look too kitchen-y.’ A pair of steel-frame barstools with oversized Champagne-style cork seats adds a playful note. A fender and armchair around the fire provide a convivial space for sitting and chatting: ‘Wherever possible, I like to keep a open fire in an eat-in kitchen—it creates a wonderful ambience.’

Next month, Sutton House Interiors is launching a new online store. For more information, visit www.suttonhouseinteriors.com.

How to transform a Victorian kitchen with bold colour and Georgian-style joinery

Georgian-style joinery and dark colours lend a cosseting feel to this farmhouse kitchen.

Credit: Jake Fitzjones

How to transform a dark Victorian kitchen into a charming social space with bespoke joinery

Charlotte Crosland redesign project turned into an entire refurbishment when it came to this Victorian house in London, including this

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