‘WE USED EVERY INCH OF SPACE’
Athina turned her nondescript London basement kitchen into a bright, fully-functioning open-plan space
A clever reworking of Athina’s basement flat kitchen means it now ticks all her must-have boxes
Theo and I had both been house-sharing in southwest London and when we decided to move in together, we wanted to stay in the same area. We viewed this basement flat and were delighted,’ says Athina.
‘Flats in London are expensive and often have poky rooms, so we were really pleased with the open-plan living space.
Choosing the scheme
Although we loved the open-plan concept, the living room needed smartening up and I wanted the kitchen to blend in so it felt like one room. I’m not a huge fan of colour, so we painted the living room walls dark grey and brought in dark wood and black accents in the furniture. I had my sights set on black or charcoal grey kitchen cupboards and was really pleased when I discovered Ikea sold affordable matt black cupboards. I was tempted to have a black worktop, too, but I decided the room would feel too enclosed. I went lighter on surfaces, settling on Ikea’s pale grey gloss cupboards for the walls, a white worktop and white tiles. The white makes a great contrast – I love the monochrome look.
Planning the layout
We’re both keen cooks and as the kitchen area is a snug 2.6x2.3m, we felt really frustrated with the lack of storage and worktop space. We’d often get in each other’s way or I’d open one of the cupboards and a bag of rice would fall on my head! I had a play around with the layout on Sketchup. I moved the cumbersome fridge-freezer out of the alcove and planned in a double oven tower and slimline pantry as there’s more ceiling height there. I found space for a smaller undercounter fridge-freezer and when I took my ideas to Ikea, they finessed the layout. It’s a free service and a kitchen planner came to our
flat to measure-up and double-check everything would fit. I’m glad we did that because there were a few issues with the plumbing and gas outlets, which meant they had to adjust the position of the hob and the sink. We were given an itemised list to mull over before we placed our order and decided to take out some lights in the drawers because we didn’t really need them.
Fitting the kitchen
Ikea organised the kitchen fitters and it went very smoothly; they fitted all the cupboards in a week. By then we’d decided to splash out on a quartz worktop instead of laminate. They can’t template until the cupboards are fitted so it took another ten days before the kitchen was finished. We had a bit of a tense moment with the tiler who started the splashback, but didn’t do the herringbone pattern I wanted, so he had to start over. On a positive note, our fitters said they could build a wine rack in a gap we had at the end of the worktop. They used the cut-offs and it’s a nice bespoke touch.
Finishing touches
I’m particularly pleased with the black fixtures. A part of me was nervous a black kitchen would look too dark and cramped, but I was right to trust my instincts as I love it. It’s a dream to have lots of storage, nice appliances and plenty of worktop space – I still get a little buzz when I come in here.’