MY EXPERIENCE

When we moved here, the kitchen hadn’t been touched since the 60s, but this meant the original parquet flooring was still down, which was a win. An engineer confirmed the dividing wall wasn’t load-bearing, which meant we could create one open-plan room.

We knew we wanted a navy, Shaker-style kitchen to complement the traditional feel of the house. The UK had just moved into lockdown, so we had to plan via online appointments. I kept a precise spreadsheet as managing money, product choices and tradespeople was a minefield. We finally chose a Howdens design that included a peninsular island, perfect for entertaining, and narrow wall cabinets, which helped the galley-shaped kitchen feel wider. The fitting was straightforward as the units come readymade, though we did drill through a gas pipe when we were levelling the floor, which sent us into panic mode until the plumber came to fix it. We did the herringbone tiling ourselves, which was a little tricky as it’s all about finding that initial angle and cutting correctly, but once we did the first row it went smoothly, and we like to get stuck in and do jobs ourselves. We spent three days sanding the parquet floor back to its natural colour and used a finishing matt lacquer for a modern feel. I felt that the space needed a splash of colour, so we went for a blue feature wall in the dining area to tie in with the cupboards.

It was a memorable moment when the garden doors were finally fitted and the light flooded through. Looking at the finished space, we wouldn’t change a thing. We just need our friends round now!

‘We chose open shelves to encourage a sense of space in the narrow room. We made the shelves ourselves from scaffold boards and some £11 brackets from Etsy. I’ve used lots of textures to make the room visually appealing, but sticking to a simple colour palette gives a cohesive finish’