Style at Home (UK)

‘I’ve got my dream Kitchen’

Stylist at Home Petra, 35, extended her home to create a roomy kitchen and dining area with a country feel

-

his is our fourth home,’ says Petra. ‘my husband Luke and i enjoy renovating houses, but we get bored easily, so this time we wanted a project to get our teeth into – a property we could extend and renovate over time.

We had outgrown our previous place, particular­ly as my extended family from the Czech Republic often come to stay for a couple of weeks at a time. In this house, the kitchen was a high priority, as I wanted a space for entertaini­ng.

TGetting started

We had an architect recommende­d to us and she drew up a plan that would get permitted developmen­t, as we weren’t going beyond the original footprint of the house, just extending into the right-hand side return. A friend’s building company made a brilliant temporary kitchen with a couple of our old units at the back of the living room, and boarded off the original kitchen where the work was taking place. It meant we could carry on cooking meals, and disruption was kept to a minimum.

We stuck to the original layout for the units, as it worked well. We also invested in a range cooker to go in the fireplace area – I got one for just £900 with £500 off in the Curry’s sale. We had it installed at

‘decide what products you want,the n compare prices online – i managed to source our butler sink and tap for £275 on amazon’

like us on facebook.com/ styleathom­emag and see our latest videos, house tours and decorating tips. the beginning of the work, boarded it up during the build and worked around it.

Choosing the scheme

i knew i wanted an exposed brick wall to create texture and contrast with the dark grey bifold doors. i kept the overall palette neutral, and cream was the obvious choice to keep the north-facing kitchen light. The room had original features we wanted to retain, so it made sense to have shakerstyl­e units. We thought wooden worktops would be too much work to maintain, so we chose a dove grey Carrara surface that i matched when painting the shelf over the oven, the butcher’s block and sideboard.

Bringing in colour was the really fun part. First i found some roman blinds that echoed the grey of the worktops, plus some lovely pastel shades to soften the look. The colours influenced my other accessorie­s, such as the storage tins and Cath Kidston china. They’ve brought the space alive and created the country farmhouse finish i was hoping to achieve.’

 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom