COUNTRY KITCHEN FOCUS
A relaxed layout centred Around A classic cook’s table creates A welcoming kitchen, perfect for entertaining
A farmhouse dining table is the hub of this renovation
PROJECT PROFILE
Owners Elizabeth Watkins and her fiancé Robert Parkes live here with their dog, Monty, and two cats, Walter and Clement. House A detached, threebedroom, 18th-century stone cottage in North Yorkshire. Project A rear extension was built to accommodate a large kitchen-diner with a better connection to the garden.
Kitchen size 6.5x5.1m
Designer Alan Jones of Harvey Jones Kitchens.
Cabinetry The Original Range by Harvey Jones Kitchens, painted in Farrow & Ball’s Mole’s Breath and Dulux’s 88BG.
Instead
of the usual kitchen island, Elizabeth Watkins chose to place a large dining table centre-stage in her new kitchen. ‘I know it’s a bit controversial, but I’m really not a fan of island units,’ she says.
‘If you’ve got plenty of worktop space, a dining table is far more practical, not to mention sociable.’
It was the pursuit of a more sociable kitchen that prompted Elizabeth and fiancé Robert to build a large extension at the rear of their cottage as part of their house renovations. When they bought the property in 2016, the kitchen was at the front of the house. ‘It was a galley-style space that never got any sun,’ she says.
Finding a kitchen designer who could fulfil the couple’s brief took a bit of legwork. ‘We visited all the main kitchen studios in and around Harrogate but it wasn’t until we reached Harvey Jones that we found cabinetry with the fluidity and finesse we were after. Plus, we got on well with the designer, Alan, which always makes life easier,’ says Elizabeth. The cabinetry in question has a traditional in-frame design, with beaded panelling and ornate cornices. Elizabeth is particularly happy with the classical mantelpiece, which anchors the range cooker as a focal point and, along with two impressive oak beams above, helps the new extension feel like a natural addition.
Keen collectors of salvage and antiques, Elizabeth and Robert’s weekends are often spent trawling reclamation yards and antiques fairs for treasure that can be turned into quirky decor, such as the copper beer funnels that Robert used to create the vintage pendants that hang above the dining table.
The house renovations have been a long labour of love for the couple, who have done much of the work themselves. There are still a few rooms to go but Elizabeth is delighted to have completed the kitchen, not least because they now have a beautifully finished space to escape the inevitable DIY chaos. Her advice for planning a new kitchen as part of a ‘whole house’ project is just to go for it. ‘You’ve got to have a lot of stamina,’ she says. ‘But if you stay true to your vision, and don’t become sidetracked by trends, you’ll end up with a kitchen that suits the way you live.’
The layout
Arranged for ergonomic efficiency with plenty of prep space around key elements, the U-shape layout features cooking on one elevation, washing on another, and food storage on the final elevation. A generous table provides a bridging point between the three zones, while leaving a clear perimeter around the table ensures smooth traffic flow through the space. The soft seating area is kept safely away from the cooking action and closer to the garden.
‘A modern kitchen wouldn’t have suited the traditional cottage style of our home but this classical design is a beautifully natural fit’