Room with a view

With a home backing onto fields and woodland, Gill and Nick designed their kitchen extension so they could enjoy it while they cooked, ate and relaxed

Until five years ago, Gill and Nick’s kitchen was a dark room marooned in the middle of the house with no view to speak of and not nearly enough space for entertaining. Not that you’d know it – the new kitchen is striking and cleverly thought out, taking into consideration the couple’s need for a sociable space, as well as somewhere to store their collection of kitchenware, artwork and furniture pieces. Good looks like these don’t happen by accident, however, and it took 11 years to get it just so. Over the following pages, Gill explains how she created this beautiful space…

The antique home office desk, bought at Watsons Auctions, is paired with a vintage chair that Gill reupholstered.

Russian modernist painting, bought at auction. For a similar desk lamp, try John Lewis & Partners.

Gill upcycled the island unit from the old kitchen, which had an oak table attached. A carpenter turned it into a breakfast bar on brackets, and also made the open display shelves – now full of travel souvenirs.

ALUK glass doors and roof, fitted by Glaze. Jura limestone floor, Stone Vale Masonry. Plate rack, The Plate Rack Co, painted in Stiffkey Blue, Farrow & Ball. Cabinets painted in Purbeck Stone, Farrow & Ball

Profile

THE OWNERS

Gill Snow, a retired solicitor, and her husband Nick, who runs his own publishing business, live here with their dog Paddy, a sprollie – a springer/ border collie cross

THE PROPERTY