18th Century Rectory


Challenge: Our Client instinctively sensed the large extended kitchen in his 18th century rectory house was unbalanced by the split ceiling height, and asked not only for a design that would restore the balance but for a kitchen that made a bold statement as well as feeling intimate (phew!)

Solution. Large spaces require large furniture so the area beneath the taller ceiling space was filled with a 4 oven Aga and ornate mantelpiece to create a false ceiling line and restore balance. An English Oak dresser and the mantelpiece maintained a classical rigour in the design while a distressed cream paint finish in the rest of the furniture softened the overall effect to give a sense of history and intimacy.


Essex Village House


Challenge: A new extension to this period family house unfortunately created a lifeless, orphaned space between the dining / family room and relatively small kitchen area. Too big for a walk-through and too small for a separate room area the challenge was to not only make practical kitchen use of this space without encroaching into the living area but to use it to create a sense of seamless connection and flow between the kitchen and dining / family room.

Solution: We transplanted a new 'heart' into the house by making the orphaned space a busy intimate area for homework, childrens meals, and administrative duties by careful use of a dresser, breakfast bar and domestic office. The clients were delighted and the house gently hummed.

Listed 16th Century Farmhouse


Challenge A very original 16th century farmhouse, sympathetically restored by its high-flying creative new owners, demanded a kitchen that was broadly in keeping with the historical antecedents of the house (even had a priest-hole) but finely detailed and a little bit quirky to suit the clients creative instincts.

Solution We decided to pillage 'Gothic' motifs from all periods from the 14th through to the 19th century and meld them together under a cool blue broken colour finish.

Though always considered 'churchy', Gothic (Gothick / Gothik) has been used in frivolous buildings since the 18th century - the Brighton Pavilion to name one - as a reaction against the mass produced monotony of the Industrial Revolution. Though the specific Gothic motifs in design were separated by up to 500 years the overall continuity and integrity of the style shone through and the Clients loved it.


The Charity Cottages


Challenge: The owner of a leading-edge graphic design company gutted this 16th century cottage into one floor-to-ceiling forty foot room and asked for a compact "classically miniminalist" kitchen at one end that would be distinctive while also complementing the period nature of the house. The major obstacle to this request was that contemporary kitchens rely on straight lines to amplify and sustain their minimalist values, but unfortunately there wasn't a straight wall or floor in the house!

Solution: We knew that because of the age of the property a contemporary design could only work if the kitchen was visually self contained and self referencing, and that we had to use core bespoke techniques to ensure it subscribed to classical proportions to be remotely sympathetic to the spirit of the cottage.

We installed a restored 1927 black Aga to give us a the link to the past (albeit only 75 years). Black laminate doors echoed the sombreness of the Aga while lacquered American Cherry interiors to the cupboards softened their harsh miniminalism. To promote the appearance of self sufficiency and disconnection low recessed plinths were used to give an impression of the furniture floating off the floor, while a single stainless steel fridge door visually 'earthed' a stainless steel worktop and stopped the whole ensemble floating away. Because the walls were very uneven and would have detracted from the crispness of the furniture and compromised its self-sufficiency an upstand / shelf was introduced into the back of the worktops to preserve a sharp line and retain design integrity.

We thought it was a success, and so did the client as we were asked to do his other house.

Other Rooms...