CARVE UP THE KITCHEN

smaller. We often advise alternatives like sliding doors or room separators – this way you achieve the desired result of splitting up the spaces without compromising on light and the natural flow of an area.’

In a recent project Angel worked on (above), the living, dining and entertainment areas were all in one big room. ‘We decided to split it up and introduced a wall to create a separate snug,’ he says. ‘We didn’t close it off completely – we had a fixed wall in the middle and sliding doors on either side so the client could close that space off in the evening.’

In another home, the dining room was separated from the living space by a glazed wall with sliding Crittall doors. ‘It’s this delicate balance of open-plan and closing rooms off that’s proving popular,’ says Angel. ‘People need quiet spaces for home working and virtual meetings, but we still want our homes to feel light and open, which is good for our well-being.’

Think of it as the modern, multifunctional iteration of the wall. It doesn’t have to be bricks and mortar, and it can be sliding, folding or even seethrough. It might not be the end of open-plan, but the best of both worlds.

The popularity of open-plan living has brought with it a hankering for separate pantries, laundry rooms and boot rooms. As kitchens have become more decorative, and are used as entertaining spaces rather than functional zones, extra rooms or cupboards where you can hide

away the necessary but ugly stuff have become prime real estate.

This type of room has traditionally been the preserve of the country house, where, according to Rupert Sweeting of estate agent Knight Frank, it has long added value. ‘The traditional rooms of a pantry and utility room are now high up on buyers’ priority lists – especially those who are moving out of London,’ he says. ‘In my opinion, the utility room is the most vital room in the house.’

However, there’s evidence they are becoming just as coveted in city homes. Searches for pantries on Google more than doubled during the first week of lockdown, and Katie Fontana of Plain English (plainenglishdesign.co.uk), whose kitchens are as likely to be found in London homes as in the country, reports that ‘having a utility room has become a status symbol’.

Before starting on a kitchen redesign, consider carving out part of the space to create a separate housekeeping room, even if that does mean reducing the size of the main kitchen area. Not only will this keep the washing machine and tumble dryer out of sight (and earshot), it will also allow you to save your open shelving for displaying kilner jars and cookbooks.

A separate laundry room designed by British Standard by Plain English