Design, Interior Design, kitchen design, Project, Renovation
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The Victorian Cottage Kitchen – Part 2

Victorian Cottage Kitchen

I tootled over to east of York this week to check in on the Victorian Cottage Kitchen project. Work has been coming along nicely since I last shared this project with you guys (read the intro over here).

Victorian Cottage Kitchen before

This is where we were before any works began; a pretty traditional set up for a cottage kitchen.

And here’s where we are now…

The green, glazed tiles from Mandarin Stone with brass trim have transformed this side of the kitchen. Tiles are primarily specified for areas that get wet; bathrooms, kitchen splashbacks, floors, but they can be the perfect solution to create feature walls in alternative spaces. Tiling across the width of this wall gives the illusion of space and the rippled, gloss surface of the tiles helps to reflect the light in what’s a pretty dark part of the house.

Paintbox Avocado Tiles with Brass Trim

The homeowner’s love of green had been set aside for many years, fearing that green would clash with the family’s beloved blue Esse range cooker.

“Do you think I can have green in here? Won’t it look wrong as our Esse is blue?”

“Sod that, it’ll look awesome. I promise. Look ere”

**Knocks up moodboard in shed.

Renovation Budget

And they were sold. This wall was getting the full green tile treatment. I don’t think it could look more perfect in this Victorian cottage.

The gorgeous fluted wall lights in the above moodboard (someone asked about those on my last post about this project) are the Box Holophane lights from Edison Light Globes

I love them. You will be seeing a lot of holophane, fluted and ribbed glass over the next few years. You’ll no doubt be spotting this gorgeous glazing in screens, doors, cupboards, cabinets and lighting. Industrial metal light fittings are certainly taking a back-step to glass, wood and fabric light fittings. For this space, these light fittings are not only bang on trend, but absolutely timeless for a cottage kitchen. An investment piece for sure. And the adjustable joints means you can play around with jaunty angles (when you’re really bored).

Another key piece on the moodboard is this piece of art by Michael Thomas, an artist based in Leicestershire.

Victorian Fox Girl

There’s something about a portrait that just gives a space a little kick; gives a wall an extra focus. The tiled wall it’s going on is completely skew whiff, so much so it needs a key piece of art to balance out the visual weight of the Esse which is bottom left of the wall. As soon as I saw this piece, it was on my mood-board before I could say, “Victorian red head with fox ears holding a dog”. 

At the other end of the kitchen is where an L-shaped  run of units are going. This is what this wall looked like before:

Renovation Budget

Before

During

And hopefully what it will look like after all the fun and games…

Victorian Cottage Kitchen Mock up

Kitchen cupboards are to be painted in Paint & Paper Libray, Stable Green, a rich and dark earthy green. You can see how dark it is here in the utility room that leads off from the kitchen.

Rubbish phone camera pic

Another rubbish phone pic

We’re hoping this kitchen will be completed in the new year (the sink we’re eyeing up is out of stock until January), but this space below, the adjoining garden room which was previously a hugely, unused space is getting a little makeover which we hope will be completed before Christmas.

Before

Before

And what’s the cheapest way of making a space (that’s falling apart and is soon to be demolished for a huge extension) look like a million dollars? You guessed it.

During

Paint that bad boy black, Paint & Paper Library, New Black to be precise. A rich black with no blue undertones. Once the black has worked its magic, we’ll be adding a shed load of plants, some key pieces of art and i’ll be styling the crap out of it. I can’t wait to get my mitts on it!

Right, that’s your lot for today. I’m off to source some furniture for this very room. Time to hunt!

7 Comments

  1. How are u going to protect that beautiful wallpaper from damage during cooking or is there a separate hob?

    • Karen Knox says

      It will be covered with a piece of glass/clear perspex behind the hob. There will also be an oak up-stand that will run behind all units.

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