The Brief
When the owners of this family home bought the property back in 2016, the five-year renovation plan was to start from the top and work their way down. This involved a loft conversion, moving a bathroom, creating a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite, restoring original cornices and fireplaces then tackling the kitchen.
When the owners of this family home bought the property back in 2016, the five-year renovation plan was to start from the top and work their way down. This involved a loft conversion, moving a bathroom, creating a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite, restoring original cornices and fireplaces then tackling the kitchen.
The original kitchen was dark and cramped with very little joy about it. The couple loved the home’s character and its south-facing garden and have completed all the work themselves so far, apart from the plastering. When it came to redesigning the kitchen, they approached CKP Kitchens after initially considering designing and fitting the kitchen themselves. “We’ve done a lot of work on the house,” says homeowner Charlotte, “and are always wary of paying for things we don’t need to when Ryan has the skill set to do it. We had a design appointment at a trade centre but needed to specify down to the last millimetre what we wanted, so that wasn’t too helpful. We then popped into CKP at their Monton hoping for a bit of design inspiration on a couple of tricky bits and fully expected the quote to be much more expensive. It ended up being comparable but included the fitting and with so many bespoke cuts and alterations, it made us realise afterwards that it would have been really stressful to fit it ourselves.”
The new space has merged the original kitchen and separate snug into one room, creating an open-plan room suitable for family dining as well as entertaining. “Our daughter can stand at the island and draw or play while we cook,” adds Charlotte. “And in the evenings we can enjoy cooking in a large space that feels part of the social area.”
The couple chose Laura Ashley’s Rosedale Fitted Kitchen in Sage, as they wanted something that was both classic and timeless. “I love dark blue and dark green kitchens at the moment,” explains Charlotte, “but we wanted something that would look just as good in a few years’ time. Our old kitchen was so dark that the addition of bi-fold doors and Velux roof windows has made a huge difference. When the sun shines on the sage colour, it’s absolutely beautiful.”
The Rosedale kitchen is part of Laura Ashley’s Fitted Furniture collection and features a beaded Shaker design with distinctive detailing and a choice of classic painted finishes. There are also a number of design features that can be added, to enhance and elevate the style and practicality even further. These include bi-folding dressers, oak cutlery drawer organisers, glazed angled cabinets and oak tray storage. For this scheme, CKP Kitchens included timber drawer boxes, a pantry unit with wicker baskets and spice racks on the door, integrated appliances and a freestanding range cooker to enhance the traditional styling. “The island has a beautiful open ended unit with drawer and a wooden surface while the purpose-built mantel creates a stunning feature,” adds kitchen designer, David Turner. “This room is so large and bright and the clients were clear with the direction they wanted to go – keeping a lovely traditional feel – that there were no challenges during the process at all.”
