Kitchen Tips: 'Countryfying' Your Kitchen
If you prefer a more traditional or ‘English Countryside Chic’ kitchen to a modern sleek one, there are a few things you can consider when designing and decorating your kitchen to ensure it’s every bit of what you first visualise!
Mixing & Matching Burnished Brass Handles and Knobs
Mixing up the shape and type of hardware in your kitchen will offer a traditional yet stylish look to your space. Keeping all the handles the same will offer a more modern and sleek look. Another thing to consider is the harshness of the shape. Squared off, geometric designs lend themselves to more contemporary kitchens. If what you’re after is a softer, more organic country look, think gentle, rounded shapes! An antique-esque burnished brass finish is perfect for adding that old, golden warmth so many farmhouses have.
Belfast & Pie-Crust Sinks
A big Belfast sink screams country kitchen! These ceramic beauties are not only beautiful but very practical because of their depth. You can get them as a single or a double (or an 1000mm if you want that extra bit of space!). A ‘pie-crust’ sink offers the same charm as the conventional Belfast sink but gives an extra bit of * spice *.
Keep Your Beams & Expose Your Brick!
If you’re lucky enough to have beautiful old wooden beams or an exposed brick wall, keep them just as they are! These natural textures and warm tones really aid that feeling of cosiness that a traditional shaker kitchen has. Try adding touches of wood throughout your kitchen to really amplify this with your stools or chairs, worktops or even displaying a lovely heavy wooden chopping board or pepper mill on your countertop.
Dresser Units
This isn’t your Nanna’s sideboard with all her fancy china, it’s a new and improved version! A dresser unit or side board unit is a classic piece in any English kitchen. Bi-fold doors and glass fronts can make it a really special piece that you will love using each day. We love seeing the beautiful oak or walnut on the inside as well as a cold shelf which makes cleaning much easier! If you want to take a step further, paint this unit an entirely different colour to the rest of your cabinetry or even consider exposed wood.
Table Seating
With kitchen islands and peninsulas truly stepping into the spotlight more and more, they can sometimes be a replacement for a kitchen table all-together. Keep a kitchen table for a more nostalgic and traditional feel (bonus points if it’s wooden).
Colours: Off-whites, Creams & Soft Greens
We all know of a country kitchen in an off-white or cream, and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it! Warm neutrals, beautiful sage and olive greens will bring a cosy and natural feel to the space.
Window Bench Seats
If you’re thinking of adding some banquette seating or even a bench to your kitchen, consider placing it under a window if possible. These little nooks are wonderful places to curl up with a cup of tea and a book, where kids can do their homework or simply gaze into the garden.
Tiled Splashbacks
More modern kitchen designs have been leaning more towards quartz splashbacks to match the worktops or glossy, white metro tiles. Try a small, square porcelain tile for your splashback for a more traditional look. Play around with colours, patterns and textures to find what works best for you and your space; maybe try a terracotta tile!
Leave us a comment telling us what your dream country kitchen would look like!
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Kitchen Colours Inspired By Nature: Pampas Grass, Eucalyptus & Calamine
The new year brings in new trends in the interiors sector but also brings back old favourites. Colours inspired by nature and earthy neutral tones are coming back with a bang in 2021. Sandy, creams and off-whites, clayey pinks and dusty greens are just a few of the colours we will be seeing more and more of.
Pampas Grass Neutrals
The Argentinian rooted plant (although, you may have seen it in flowerbeds by the river or in your neighbours garden) has taken Instagram and Pinterest mood boards by storm; adding texture, height, and an organic feel to any space it inhabits.
‘Grosvenor Square’ by Mylands in Holland Park Kitchen
This feathery looking flowering plant has become an extremely sought-after home accessory and depending at what stage of it’s lifespan it was harvested, can come in many shades of cream, beige and mid-toned brown. The most popular version, being the fluffy light cream.
Light, warm-tone neutrals like these will suit a huge variety of decor styles from classic, countryside kitchens to minimalist Scandi inspired kitchens and even more sleek, modern ones. This colour palette allows for a lot of experimentation with additional pops of colour in places like your furniture, tiled splashbacks, funky worktops like marbles and granite, decor and bolder or darker colours for kitchen island cabinetry.
‘Grosvenor Square’ by Mylands in Holland Park Kitchen
‘Chambers Gate’ by Mylands in Classic Kitchen Extension
Pampas grass gained popularity on social media in late 2020 and can now be seen in many decor magazines & Instagram homes.
Dark, warm toned neutral from the Mylands 900 Range in Kent Farmhouse Kitchen
Eucalyptus Greens
Soft green from Mylands 900 Range in Clapham Kitchen.
Light and pastel greens are a great way to keep a space fairly neutral but with a bit more colour! Green is known to be a very soothing, tranquil colour; some researches have even found that it can improve your reading ability. (sounds like the perfect home schooling colour if you ask me!) Naturally, as the most earthy and organic colour it is a great one to use in a space with back garden windows and French doors, mirroring your bit of nature and bringing the outside in.
Pale green from Mylands 900 Range in Applegate Kitchen.
Eucalyptus is a plant with a soothing colour and scent. Often used as table or mantle garlands, hung in showers or simply dried in a vase as home decor.
‘Beauvais’ by Mylands in Sidcup Kitchen & Utility
Calamine Pinks
Calamine, often used on the skin for medicinal purposes is also often included in things like face mask and cleansers as it is very gentle on the skin and can help ease certain skin ailments and allergies. Skin benefits aside, the powder is a beautiful soft, pink that has been slowly but surely taken over interiors, in some cases used as a neutral.
‘The Boltons’ by Mylands in Sidcup Kitchen & Utility
Soft pinks in hues of rose, champagne, Chilean and millennial are an excellent way of adding a hint of colour to your space while keeping it fairly neutral. A trend that is quickly picking up are plaster pink walls in a rougher, raw finish mimicking external walls. This can create an organic and weathered look, almost Mediterranean!
‘Grouse’ by Mylands in Hammersmith Kitchen
‘Threadneedle’ by Mylands in Sevenoaks Kitchen & Walk-In Pantry
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Kitchen Trends: Light Kitchens, Utilities & Dressing Rooms
Amongst the dark greens and blues, we have also done quite a few projects in white, grey and creamy neutral colour schemes. A neutral coloured run of cabinetry can allow you to be more daring with colour and texture in your accessories or perhaps a contrasting colour on your island or peninsula, or it can create a calm & minimal aesthetic in the space.
It can be daunting choosing colours, especially when you are choosing a white or grey, as there are so many hues, tones and undertones to each white, grey or cream! We have compiled a list of some of our neutral coloured projects to hopefully help you along the way.
Cornforth White
A cool toned, off-white, almost grey white. This looks beautiful paired with blues, greens and other cool toned colours. The satin nickel plated cup pulls and bun knobs tie in beautifully with this colour and the warmer tone in the nickel creates balance.
Sloan Square - Mylands
Closer to a true white, but still leaning in the “off whites” section. This white is a perfect neutral; meaning cool and warm tones alike will compliment it beautifully. In this bespoke kitchen & office space, the client went for a contrasting black island and silver range (cool tones) next to warm, brass handles, tap and orange chairs for the floating desk.
Grouse - Mylands
Grouse is a warmer, slightly pink hued neutral. Warm toned colours will look beautiful next to it like the beautiful burnished brass handles, tap and oak details in this dreamy bespoke utility room.
Pure White No.1 - Mylands
Pure White No.1 is exactly what it says on the tin. You cannot get whiter than this! Pure White No.1 will go with absolutely anything as it is fundamentally, the absence of colour. It is the perfect contrast here to the black Lacanche, granite splashback and black marble in the checkerboard floor.
Temple Bar - Mylands
Whites closer to creams are quite flexible. The yellow undertones pair nicely with exposed wood, terracotta or burgundy and golden brass accessories, while the neutrality still maintains it as an excellent partner to nickel & stainless steel, greens, blues & purples.
Kitchen Tips: A Guide to Kitchen Extensions
After 6 years of working with clients through the extension process and working on hundreds of kitchen extensions, we have learned some tips along the way. We’ve put together this guide to help clients and others who are thinking about a kitchen extension and have asked for some help. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but an ever growing one!
PLANNING
A brief discussion with your planning department won’t harm as a first step, but in most cases, you will need to consult with an architect to produce initial drawings for planning (planning takes around 8 weeks - if you have cooperative neighbours). Getting a recommendation for an architect is crucial. In some cases, you won’t need an architect and you can work with an architect technician or a surveyor.
The kitchen is normally the reason for the extension, so you want to make sure it can accommodate everything you are dreaming of. It is a good idea to get an initial design and quote from your kitchen company early in the planning process, after you have planning permission ideally. This ensures you won’t run into design limitations further down the line.
It is normal for builders’ quotes to vary massively. It will depend on how busy they are, what else they have in your area, how much they want the job and how well they think you’ll work together. Remember - cheap is not always best! It is important to have a good relationship with your builders and strong communication, this will help during the issues that will inevitably arise during every project.
During the project it is best to move in with family or into rented accommodation if possible. It is much less stressful - especially as it is common to experience delays to the project. If you’re staying at home during the build, think about setting up a temporary kitchen if you can. Lots of builders will do this for you, or there are companies that do this. Or you can set up the fridge, microwave and a camping hob and a slow cooker somewhere in the home.
DESIGN
Having a carefully considered kitchen design that works for you and your lifestyle is key when planning your extension. Your kitchen designer can help to advise with simple things that will make a huge difference to the design of the kitchen - like moving windows/doors, plug sockets and where to put the boiler.
When doing substantial building works like an extension, it’s normally possible to move the waste, so don’t let this worry you about where to put the kitchen. If you’re having under floor heating, think about where your manifold should go (a massive pipe junction that takes up a lot of room).
Your kitchen designer can show you different ways you can design the kitchen/living space, but there is usually one way that will quickly become obvious to your designer once you tell them what you would like in the space.
Our personal top 5 must-haves for a kitchen/family room extension are:
1. An island/peninsular
2. Large doors (sliding/crittal /bifold) leading out to the garden. But this does not have to be all the way across, sometimes it’s nice to break it up with a sink run
3. Underfloor heating – this removes the need for radiators which can take up a lot of space and will feel like heaven on cold winter mornings!
4. Skylights or roof lanterns
5. A larder
When sitting at the island, you want to face into the kitchen, not out into the living space - it feels more natural to be facing whoever is cooking. The ideal distance between an island and units is 1000mm, but aim to keep it between 900mm and 1200mm.
If you want to have a clear island with no hob/sink, you can put the hob and sink on the same run – but, this can make designing the space difficult. You will need quite a long run and you’ll need space somewhere in the kitchen for your tall units.
Using complimentary colours or materials to link living spaces together will help the design to flow. A well placed island or peninsular can define the separate spaces. Artwork and lighting will also help to add your personal style and character to the space.
INSTALLATION & LEAD TIMES
Undertaking a kitchen extension is a big project with lots of moving parts and so there are many things that could potentially delay your project. Careful planning can help to avoid some of these delays but remember that some issues are unavoidable.
Keep in mind the lead times for your kitchen cabinetry (ours is around 12 weeks). It takes time to make a bespoke kitchen as every piece is hand made and finished just for you. This also applies to your handles and taps, especially if you are choosing a special finish like brass, which can take up to 12 weeks! The more you have decided on and ordered beforehand, the better. You don’t want to be disappointed if some products have longer lead times than you are expecting.
To fit some kitchens (like ours) you’ll need a finished room wall to wall, flooring, electrics and plumbing in place and ideally the room would be decorated so you’re not risking getting paint on your new kitchen.
Just like in Grand Designs, most window and doors will be made to order, and they will not make them until the space is measurable. There can be a lull in projects while you wait for windows to arrive, so keep this in mind when booking a date for your kitchen installation. Another common reason for delays to the project, is the drying times for different types of flooring. Concrete screed takes roughly 1 day per mm deep and some wooden floors need time to acclimate to your space which can take 2 weeks.
If you are having solid worktops (e.g. quartz, marble or granite), allow another week or more for this. The stone masons will template once the kitchen units are in place, then go away and cut the stone to the template and come back to fit it a week or so later.
Changing your mind will delay things, for example, adding or changing plug sockets are not always quick jobs. However, it is also the right time to do it if you don’t like something. Speak your mind and have a close relationship with your builders, pop in often and try to enjoy the process together.
Finally, having an extension is messy, disruptive and chaotic (especially if you have children!). The dust never ends. But hang in there, because it will be worth it in the end. It will transform the way you live and socialise as a family. It’s our favourite thing to hear how much the extension has changed the lives of our clients.
Book a Design Consultation
We do require all clients to visit our studio in Canterbury for a full design and quote. In this appointment we will go through everything you want in the design, come up with suggestions and explain the different finishes available. The actual design process will take our Kitchen Designers 4-8 hours to complete and will aim to send you a quote/design within 2 weeks of your appointment.
“Yes going down to Canterbury is a pain, but I’m so glad they insist. We got so many additional ideas from being in the show room. We understood so much better what we would be getting. Having worked in property development I know everyone being clear about what is to be delivered from the outset is key to a harmonious installation. The trip to Canterbury is probably more important then trawling the web looking for ideas.
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