SPRING palette

Katy and Ross's confident use of colour has brought freshness and charm to their new open-plan kitchen extension

- IFE ADEDEJI 

The great thing about living in a property for a while before attempting to make changes to it, is that you can really appreciate what works and what might be lacking from the existing set up. Ross and Katy had been in their family home for 13 years before their three children were born, and knew the building inside out. This meant that when it came to extending, they were able to make informed choices, and marry them with playful design considerations. The finished project goes to show that good design can make the most out of any space.

STEP 1

1 Disjointed Spaces 

‘The existing layout didn’t use the available space to its maximum capacity,’ says Ross. ‘ We wanted to reconfigure and add space. It was a typical Victorian property with a front room and dining room, a long corridor/hallway and a galley kitchen to the side. The dining room became a dumping ground.

‘The kitchen itself was okay until we had our third child. There wasn’t enough room to have five chairs around the table, and we couldn’t have guests around. We knocked the dining room into the side return, so we now have one big space. We wanted to stay here because it’s a very nice street and we have great neighbours. The children love their school.’

STEP 2