Kitchen Project in West Malling, Kent
Budget: £26,000
It was important to me (as I do most of the cooking) to have a peninsular rather than an island because I like my work space to be mine whilst cooking. A peninsular separated the cooking and dining areas so there would be no human traffic around me when I am in ’the zone’ of food prep. having said this, I didn’t want to be anti-social when, for example we were entertaining guests and the peninsular meant I could still ‘own’ the cooking space but chat at the same time.
We live in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Conservation Area. Hence the Planning Department were extremely particular about the design of the extension and actually wanted it to contrast the original building. We therefore wanted to reflect this in the design of the kitchen and achieve a modern feel that would also compliment our older house, which is a converted barn.
‘Violet our designer was amazing! She really listened to us both and suggested things we might like to consider without being pushy. Our favourite features are the accessibility of all appliances and kitchen tools and gadgets that has actually made cooking a pleasure rather than a chore but it’s the attention to the smaller details that make me very happy! The large drawer with a separate cutlery area, the hose extension to our kitchen tap which I love, but most of all is probably the Quooker which I was initially very skeptical about but my husband, with his powers of persuasion, managed to convince me it would work for us. Boiling water on tap, no more kettles to fill for cooking and, obviously, making cups of tea!’
