The kitchen was within an old wool mill set in the beautiful Ribble Valley countryside.
The kitchen is a good size, although not huge, so there was no scope to extend the space to accommodate the addition of worktop space or storage.
The house is an old converted wool mill with period features such as ceiling beams, but this needed to blend with a contemporary feel.
Having previously had a white kitchen, the client wanted something entirely different. The kitchen is located on the lower ground floor, so the only natural light comes from the patio doors; therefore, lighting was very important.
They also wanted to make more of the outside space and views. The brief for this project was that the old kitchen was a white, U-shaped kitchen with a freestanding dining table.
The hob was on the far wall furthest away from the dining table and patio doors, leaving the cook facing a blank wall and away from the rest of the family, and there was a lot of empty space in the middle, meaning the ovens were too far from any usable workspace.
They wanted a modern kitchen that sat well with both a traditional building but in a modern style and way of living, making the most of the link to the stunning outside space and distant views.
It needed to offer more worktop space and storage as they regularly had big family dinners and parties, so appliance spec was important. Space for a dining table was very important, as this was the only dining space in the house
We opted to form a low-level wall, which meant we were able to incorporate a peninsula for the hob, which then allowed us to add some cosy booth seating next to the patio doors.
The new hob position means that whoever is cooking is now far more involved with the rest of the party while enjoying the view of the garden and also adding pan drawers below and more worktop. The ovens are now conveniently located next to the hob area, with sufficient room for resting hot food straight out of the ovens. We used 2 x single ovens, one with added vario steam for added versatility.
The combination microwave is used primarily as a microwave, but backup oven for bigger dinners. We discussed options for the warming drawers and having just one under the combi microwave wasn’t enough, so we opted for the 29cm models under each appliance, the space below the combi then made up with the vacuum drawer for use when batch cooking.
The colour palette of black doors with anti-fingerprint surface mixed with the warm Bergamo Elmaccent doors with the asymmetrical vertical groove gave a cosy yet contemporary feel. This was lightened up with a mottled white quartz worktop.
The dark smoked mirror below the wall cabinetslinking seamlessly with the dining area, gave a subtle reflection of the view outside.
Different zones of lighting around the ceiling, under the wall cabinets and below the worktop meant the room had plenty of atmospheric light.
We opted for Neff Collection appliances, with a single oven, a combination microwave, a single oven with vario steam, 3 x 29cm deep warming drawers, a vacuum drawer and a venting induction hob.
For this project, we provided a full turnkey service which included all of the building work, electrical, plumbing, plastering, decorating, floor tiling and kitchen installation.
“Despite all of the doors being very dark and there being so much more kitchen furniture and worktop, the clever layout and use of lighting means the kitchen feels so much larger than it used to. The quality of everything and the service provided is absolutely superb! We love it!”
