Inside My Kitchen
The heart of our home, even if I’m not a natural cook
As in most homes, the kitchen is the room we spend a lot of our time, is where we congregate as a family, where we entertain our guests, and, sometimes, even the spot where we work from.
In this kitchen, I wanted to keep some of the country feel we had in the old house but adapt it to suit our new city life. We discovered early on that our old cupboards worked very well with what was already in the new house, so we re-used them, painted them in a rich blue shade - I’d seen the idea on Pinterest and instantly fell in love - and they transformed the space. The blue we went for is Carbon by Fired Earth, for the walls we used a bright, neutral shade called Slaked Lime Midi by The Little Greene Paint Co. These colours, combined with the darker ebony oak aged parquet flooring, created a really nice contrast and a mix of modern and traditional.
We also got to reuse the countertops from our old house, called Honed London Grey from Caesarstone. We added an island to frame the kitchen space, and it’s the perfect spot to chatter, have drinks and perch with a coffee during the day. Our bar stools are from Oka, and I had them upholstered in a signature brown fabric from Sharland England, my homewares collection.
Once I had my blue joinery in place, the colour scheme came together easily. We have some beautiful Milagros blue and white tiles that were hand-painted in Mexico. I used terracotta grouting, and the colour is picked up in the floor runner.
The shelves on either side of the cabinets are a mix of glass Kilner jars and colourful jugs that I’ve collected over time.
But that’s not the only place where I store and display my (growing) collection of ceramics… I got a Welsh dresser that gets a light refresh seasonally, new flowers, and a rotation of my favourite plates and mugs.
Lighting-wise, I knew what I wanted the overall look and feel to be prior to works beginning. I already had one beautiful pendant light by Alice Palmer that we’d had in the old orangery, so I got another to match and hung both of them over the island. The blue and white fabric shades are perfect. There are downlights under the cabinets which give the kitchen a really soft, low-lit glow in the evening. To me, a great kitchen is one that is bright and open during the day but cosy in the evenings.
Attached to the kitchen is a little dining area and a sitting area featuring our rust sofa - I am obsessed with it!
Right next to it, we placed our bar cart, which is actually a two-tiered rattan side table from my homeware brand. It’s a lively spot where I hung some floral art prints and… yes, more plates.
As with every room in the house, I play around with the art a lot. I love mixing prints, painting on canvas and plates to create little gallery walls that add character and colours to the space.
