3 CLEVER DESIGN SOLUTIONS
1 INTERNAL WINDOW
To the right of the cooker is an opening within the oak frame that looks through the hallway to an external window, with views over the garden. ‘We created little vistas wherever we could so the kitchen didn’t feel isolated or detached from the rest of the house,’ says Merry. Internal openings also help bring extra daylight into darker corners of your home and don’t need to be glazed if your home is well-insulated, but you could install glass if noise or odours are a concern.
2 MIXING METALS
Despite the trend for warm metals, many people find it hard to match finishes across different products. Merry’s solution is to not even try – she has mixed brushed-nickel light switches, silvery wall lights, copper reclaimed pendant lights, plus taps and cupboard pulls in brass. ‘Yes, there are lots of different metals, but what holds it all together is the fact it isn’t supposed to match and that they’re all a bit weathered,’ she explains.
3 BACK-UP KITCHEN
Accessed directly off the kitchen, the utility room and pantry act like a second kitchen, and Merry says this is the secret to successful open-plan living. All of the food is stored in there, plus the appliances. ‘It means all the noise and mess is kept out of our living space,’ says Merry. ‘Without this back-up support, an open-plan lifestyle wouldn’t work for us.’ The walk-in pantry is shelved out so all contents can be viewed in one swift glance, and the utility’s cast-concrete sink is a modern update on the classic Butler shape.