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FROM DESIGN DISaSTER TO KITCHEN COOL
FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY TO A DREAM KITCHEN FROM DESIGN DILEMMAS ALL THE WAY TO OUR FIRST DINNER GUESTS
Here at dluxe we like to put our money where our mouth is. So much of what you read in our magazine are things that we have genuinely tested and invested in ourselves – we’d not recommend it otherwise. So, when dluxe Magazine owners, Kevin and Jonathan Fraser Urquhart, upped sticks and took on a Grade II period property project in which to make their new forever home, it was only natural that they should turn to their own magazine for inspiration - especially when it came to the biggest renovation challenge in their home – the hideous kitchen!
FINDING INSPIRATION
When we first walked in, we both knew this was the house we’d been searching for. It was love at first sight: a period property that was light, bright, brimming with features and that was just waiting to be upgraded - all apart from the dark, dingy kitchen, that is. There’s a problem room in every house and this was definitely ours. Dark red terrazzo tiles from the fifties and a dark brown Hygena kitchen from the eighties proved a period problem. It got worse with dark brown tiles with a painted picnic theme coupled with low, black painted beams and it could definitely be described as an interior disaster zone. The house deserved better. What it did have going for it, though, was size. L-shaped in format, it was quirky: at one end it boasted a dining space with giant picture window; there was a double height void with rooflight in the middle but at the 36 dluxe-magazine.co.uk
far corner of the L it was dark with no natural light, made worse by the fact that the ceiling height was lower at this end and the period beams were painted black which made a low ceiling feel even lower. There were so many design issues to resolve that it was overwhelming. How to make the space work became the prime topic of conversation at the housewarming and for our Pinterest and Instagram searches – speaking of which, follow us on our_old_ new_home. We had to get this space right or we’d be letting down the house and the hard renovation work we’d been lavishing on the rest of it, so it was definitely time to call in the experts – the team at Sherwin Hall. We’d already seen how beautiful Sherwin Hall’s handcrafted kitchens were when we’d visited their new showrooms at Oadby House - on the corner of Oadby’s Parade –
but, we’d never looked at them as a buyer before. So, we jumped in the car to have a look properly and of course fell in love immediately with the dark blue and marble shaker kitchen on display - perhaps not the most sensible choice when your kitchen is like a coalpit! Thankfully, showroom manager, Daniella, was there to translate our unique brief into a kitchen design that would suit the grandness of the 16th century house. Over a cup of coffee, she explained how we could choose literally any colour we wanted, given everything is made to order. Sherwin Hall use Little Greene paints - a brand we’re big fans of and use throughout the home thanks to their exemplary finish – so, there was no reason why we couldn’t inject a bit of colour and personality into our kitchen – plus we knew that this would help give it the wow-factor you don’t get off the shelf.
