COUNTRY KITCHEN FOCUS
LISA BENTLEY OPTED FOR A CALM, BALANCED DESIGN IN HER KITCHEN WITH BOLD SHADES THAT NEVER FAIL TO IMPRESS
A traditional design enlivened by a statement island and bold use of colour
PROJECT PROFILE
Owners Lisa Bentley, an interior designer/stylist, and her husband, Robert, a company director, who live here with their nine-year-old daughter.
House A detached 1920s six-bedroom home in Kent. The project Knocking through into the adjoining playroom and adding an extension with French doors has created a large openplan kitchen with access to a snug and dining area.
Kitchen size 5.9x4.6m
Designer Melissa Klink, Harvey Jones.
Cabinetry Harvey Jones’ Original range, painted in Farrow & Ball’s Brinjal (island) and Dimity. »
Besides the property itself, a new kitchen is likely to represent the biggest single investment you’ll ever make in your home. Especially if, like Lisa and Robert Bentley, the project involves additional structural work. With so much at stake, the temptation to play it safe with colours is understandable. Fortunately Lisa’s training as an interior designer and stylist gave her the confidence to be brave, without straying too far from the ‘traditional country’ narrative of her home. ‘The island colour is a real talking point. It’s rich and warm, and brings the space to life,’ says Lisa. The colour was inspired by a painting by artist Lucy
Pratt, who Lisa discovered in a gallery on London’s Dover Street. ‘It’s worth remembering that a painted kitchen can be re-painted in years to come, so going for bolder shades needn’t be scary,’ she says.
Motivated by the need for a bigger kitchen with a more sociable layout,
Lisa began planning her new kitchen the moment the family moved into their Regency-style red-brick home in 2010. ‘Although the house had a kitchen-diner, the actual cooking area was tiny by comparison to the size of the house,’ explains Lisa. ‘We knocked through into the adjoining playroom, which created a fantastic open space, and meant we had a much larger kitchen, snug and dining room with two sets of French doors leading out onto the garden.’
For the cabinetry, Lisa turned to her local Harvey Jones showroom in Tunbridge Wells. ‘We were familiar with the brand and I felt confident the company could create a great kitchen for us,’ Lisa says.
While the entire kitchen is a great showcase for Lisa’s design skills, for her, it’s the island unit that really makes the space sing. ‘We always wanted a big island and felt the room could take it. Adding wide pillar details at each corner, along with the rich paint colour, gives it a really bold, strong presence,’ she says. ‘It is such a sociable kitchen. We can prep food, while washing up at the sink, all the time chatting to family and friends sitting relaxing at the bar stools.’
The layout
Centred on an island unit measuring nearly three metres long, the layout keeps cooking, washing and refrigeration neatly contained on one side, with a wine fridge and additional storage opposite, and a breakfast bar at the end. At the far end of the room and to the left of the fireplace are French doors, opening onto the terrace. To the right of the fireplace is a freestanding dresser, and beside this is open-plan access to the dining area. »