Essential Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom May 2020

In uncertain times our home becomes our refuge more than ever, a place of safety and comfort to retreat to and be grateful for. In the current situation, while our movements are restricted and we withdraw into our private spaces, projects might have to go on hold, but what we don’t lose is the chance to let our imaginations run free. The thing I have always loved about magazines is their ability to transport us into another world: how looking at their beautiful pages and reading the stories of other people’s challenges and triumphs can inspire us in our own lives and give us new ideas of things to try. I can’t think of anything more helpful in pepping us up at the moment than a bit of escapism and…

SHOP THE LOOK TAKE TO THE FLOOR With a decorative pattern inspired by Delft design comes Belmont, part of the latest range of vinyl from Lifestyle Floors. Available in a choice of widths and finishes, the Lincoln range is priced at £15.49 per sq. m. MIDDLE GROUND If you’re a fan of Smeg’s iconic FAB fridge freezers, the brand has released a new size, making it easier than ever to incorporate into a range of kitchens. At 70cm wide, the FAB38 sits nicely between the FAB32 and FAB50 and retails from £1,899. GENERATION GAP 2020 is a year of firsts for heritage pottery brand Burleigh. Not only is it launching its first-ever multi-design collection and its Pollen pattern (the first new one in a generation), the company is also pioneering…

“The more open storage you have, the better, as the eye is automatically more interested and intrigued” TELL US ABOUT THE ABIGAIL AHERN X HERRINGBONE KITCHENS RANGE… Think beautifully designed cabinetry that is a modern take on the traditional English Shaker kitchen: flat-front units with fuss-free lines, and the option to paint it in any colour, which you would not normally get at this price point. The cabinetry is made in Herringbone Kitchens’ workshop in Canterbury and comes fully assembled, so any kitchen installer can fit it for you. It was hugely important for me to partner with a company where craftsmanship is key, that considers its materials (all woods are from sustainably managed forests and a tree is planted for every kitchen sold), and excels in quality and design.…

Until June last year, every time Janette Pittock stepped into the garage of her family’s home near Colchester in Essex, she felt a sense of frustration. The room where her engineer husband Duncan worked on his classic traction engines was a 16th-century timber-frame barn with stunning views of the countryside and the sea beyond. With a pair of barn doors that opened the space up to the garden, it was clearly the best room in the house and it would, Janette knew, make a great kitchen. ‘We were in our twenties when we bought the cottage and the barn,’ she explains, ‘and they were in a state of collapse after the great storm of 1987. We did them up, but it took ten years of me moaning at Duncan before…

How did you decide on the layout? Our greatest challenge was working out where the kitchen was going to go and that all depended on how we adjusted the internal structure of the barn. Janette and Duncan wanted to make the most of the sea view at the gable end and, in the end, it all worked out very naturally. While Duncan worked with the carpenter to glaze the gable wall, we carefully sealed one of the two large barn doors that were set into the side walls, creating a blank L-shape in one corner where the barn joins the main house to locate the kitchen. How did you adapt the kitchen design to work in the space? We scaled the Tillingham to fit both the corner and the…

DESIGN Davonport. Kitchens start from £40,000. APPLIANCES Integrated Dynamic Cooling refrigerator, ref K37222 iD, £1,299; PureLine Microwave Combination oven, from £1,749 for H 7140 BM Compact microwave combination oven; ContorLine warming drawer, from £320 for EGW 6210 10cm crockery warming drawer; built-in Bean-to-Cup coffee machine in Clean Steel, from £1,096 for CVA 6401 built-in coffee machine, all Miele, all supplied by Davonport. Flex-induction Domino touch-control hob, £729 for iQ700 Flex induction cooktop 30 cm EX375FXB1E, Siemens. Undercounter wine cabinet, Caple. Pro3 Fusion Boiling water tap in stainless steel, £1,150, Quooker. FIXTURES AND FURNISHINGS Bespoke Tillingham beaded frame cabinetry with internal oak drawers painted in Davonport’s own low-emission, environmentally friendly, scratch-resistant and durable paint. For similar colours, try Pointing and Hague Blue, £27 for 75cl, Estate Eggshell, both Farrow & Ball.…