So now the fun part began of getting the walls painted and the kitchen island fitted along with the new cabinet doors.
Christian Blake, who built our apothecary drawers, removed all of our existing cabinet doors and remade new ones with an in-frame style. Our original cabinet carcasses were in a relatively good condition and to save cost, we opted to just replace the doors and drawer fronts.
Christian Blake also built our central island for us too, including the Belfast sink and integrated dishwasher.
The reverse of the island would become the breakfast bar area and we also decided to tile this. Mainly to avoid damage to the woodwork from little legs kicking the backboard whilst sitting here!
Christian made all of our island and new doors within his workshop and also sprayed the primer on the doors so it would be ready for us to paint. The primer was mixed so that it was the exact same colour as our paint choice for the units. This made it a much easier job to paint them.
The unit colour is Farrow & Ball Greensmoke, which is a really warm toned sage. We chose polished brass cup handles and knobs from Yester Home.
One of Adam’s biggest reasons for wanting an extension was to have a room we could all sit as a family, entertain and cook at the same time. This, he felt required a really great oven! We bought the Rangemaster Elise 110 in slate grey. We loved the silver star shaped knobs and softer colour of the slate. We’ve not had an opportunity to cook on a large scale as yet but we’re excited for the day!
Next up was the worktop. After our visit to Cullifords stone yard to select our worktop (read about that here) we selected the Michelangelo Quartz. It is white with a fine grey marbling running across it. We also had up stands made to go around the edges of the worktop to finish it off.
For the flooring we always knew that we wanted a parquet look. We had previously had Polyflor in our kitchen and loved how it felt underfoot and the durability.
After looking at samples we chose the Georgian parquet. We had a professional lay the floor for us and also got them to create a two-tile width border around the edges to finish the look off.
The lighting was something we had deliberated over for a while. It’s quite a hard decision. We wanted a statement pendant light over the kitchen table and glass globe pendants over the island. The wall lights are steampunk style lights and the two over counter lights were brass, just to break the look up a little.
The Heals pendant over the table is our favourite. It’s so simple and elegant and the petrol-toned glass reflects different tones. It’s a real timeless statement piece. It hangs over our rustic but industrial style table from Hemming & Wills.
The final part of the never-ending puzzle were the tiles for the kitchen. We fancied a heavy patterned tile on the back of the island and wanted a much more simpler tile for the backsplash of the oven
We went for the Marquis tile from Claybrook studio for the island. Although the kitchen is green I didn’t want a tile with too much green in it incase we should repaint the units. I felt the mix of grey, blue and white with black accents would probably suit most redecorating projects I may do over the next few years!
The tiles for the backsplash of the oven are glazed terracotta and although predominantly white they feature a tiny black geometric triangle print, I couldn’t simply have a plain tile, that’s just not my thing! These ones were from Lapicida and a brand who has some beautiful tiles in their portfolio.
The kitchen has become the hub of our home and has transformed how we use this space. With the old dining room now a playroom, it means the children can play and we can keep an eye on them.
I’m looking forward to the day we can entertain friends and family and fling the doors to the garden open. Not long now!