This is our most recent kitchen interior design project in Oxfordshire and part of the ongoing renovation of a family home.
The house is very old in parts and was originally the brew house for the local abbey. Like most old houses it has been extended somewhat haphazardly over the years. This space was originally 2 rooms, a kitchen with no access to the garden and a separate, rather dark dining room which was rarely used. The brief was to create a large, light and bright family kitchen that would become the heart of the home, and have better access into the garden for outdoor meals in the summer.
We carefully removed the dividing walls between the dining room and a corridor, revealing a number of structural issues, as is often the case in old houses! Once these issues were resolved, we replaced windows and added French doors to the garden which flooded the space with natural light and created views across the garden on 3 sides, with easy access to the new terrace.
We wanted to retain and enhance much of the original architectural character of the house so we exposed parts of the old stone walls, kept the original beams, farmhouse doors and a very old, but much-loved Aga and replaced the linoleum floor with more authentic stone flags. As a deliberate contrast to the old and rustic, we chose a clean-lined, contemporary German kitchen from Willow Kitchens & Interiors to replace the tired 1950s kitchen, and rewired for the most up-to-date kitchen appliances and lighting.
We think this is a sympathetic restoration and hope you agree.
Photo credit; Faye Green