Light-Filled Express Kitchen in Deep Green and Soft Grey

★★★★★
“Ebstone Kitchens provided an outstanding level of service throughout the entire process. We were very impressed with the knowledge, guidance and creativity of Alexsei, the designer who took his time to find out what our needs were before designing the perfect modern kitchen that fitted our brief (and beyond). Steve’s exceptionally calm, reassuring and hands-on approach ensured that the installation was completed to a high specification.” — Jagroop Hickey

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This London kitchen belongs to a family of five: two parents and three grown-up children still living at home. The kitchen and dining room is the main hub of the house, and it gets heavy use. The family cook a great deal, and bake often enough to need somewhere to do it properly. And when a leak beneath the floor meant the whole kitchen had to come out, the insurance agreed to replace it.

The first instinct was a like-for-like rebuild. That’s usually what happens with an insurance repair; the family knew the layout, had lived with it for years, and a fixed payout doesn’t invite experimentation. But once photographs of the old room arrived and we talked through how the kitchen was really used, the problem underneath became obvious. For a household that cooks this much, there was almost nowhere to put the things they cooked with. Small appliances and everyday utensils had taken over the worktop because there was no space elsewhere. The range cooker at the heart of it all looked handsome, but it dominated the room and couldn’t do enough on its own, so it brought a crowd of countertop machines with it. And although a glass dome in the centre of the ceiling poured daylight down into the room, dark granite worktops drank it up and left the space feeling smaller than it was. Once the family could see that the clutter was a design problem rather than a tidiness one, they were willing to consider something altogether more modern.

The tall run, set against the wall opposite the windows, holds a bespoke pantry cabinet with its own worktop and illuminated shelves, which became the centrepiece of that section. It gives baking a dedicated corner, and when an enthusiastic session leaves it looking less than presentable, the doors close on the evidence. The laundry appliances, dishwasher, and bin are integrated too, right where they’re needed without spoiling the room. The fridge-freezer sits at the far end of the run, nearest the dining table and breakfast bar, and a second drinks fridge went into the back of the peninsula. With three adult children at home, the kitchen needed to let everyone gather around whoever is cooking rather than tread on them.