6 minute read
A Formosa Kitchen Transformation
FAMILY-FOCUSED LIVING
FORMOSA has been helping customers create the kitchens of their dreams for almost 10 years. We caught up with clients Louise and Matt following a recent project...
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The last year of intermittent lockdowns has certainly changed the way we need our homes to function. With kitchen tables shared between home schooling and home-working, or living spaces packed with exercise kit, many of us have gotten to know our four walls very well - but found them falling short in terms of how they work for us...
This was the case with homeowners Louise and Matt, who had to put off a more significant move in March 2020, “We had a house move fall through because of the pandemic." says Louise. "It was a huge disappointment at the time, but, stuck at home like so many others, we instead turned our thoughts to improving some of the things in our home that bothered us and which had prompted us to want to move in the first place. We live in a 4-bed detached house but seemed to be on top of each other constantly, we certainly weren’t making the most of the space.”
Like every family home, the kitchen was at the heart of the action, “Our layout was a fairly standard one – a decent-sized kitchen/diner looking out on to the back garden, then a separate dining room that led through an archway into the living room." Louise continued. "We also had a conservatory which we never used – it was freezing in winter or upwards of 50°C in the summer. It just seemed like a huge waste of space and created this awkward, multi-door access to the garden, with about 1,000 trip hazards for our two-year-old.”
Many of us have spaces like this, which don’t fit with how we want to live – often the kitchen is separate and leaves one family member away from all the action. “The kitchen was perfectly functional I suppose but it was tired and not somewhere you particularly wanted to be. We wanted a new range as we both enjoy cooking and I wanted a much more social space, possibly with an island, where I could have friends over for coffee and have eyes on the kids playing too.”
Louise and Matt wanted to create a ‘broken plan’ space – that is, an open-plan kitchen/diner with some seating and a play area for the kids. They also wanted to block up the archway to make the living room a more grown-up space, free from children’s toys!
“Rather than having a full extension, we found out we could build up – using the existing conservatory foundations and dwarf walls – to create a proper insulated room with a skylight. Then, by removing the stud wall between the kitchen and
dining room, we could create a large L-shaped space, which included a snug/playroom for the kids.” says Louise, “This reconfiguration also allowed us to have French doors direct from the kitchen to the garden – something that makes summer dining outside so much easier!”
The couple went to see Natasha from Formosa with their ideas. She suggested that rather than go for an island, the couple would be better off, given the shape of the space, to have a peninsula or breakfast bar instead. “For an island to work well you need to have lots of room to go around it, otherwise they dominate the space and make it cramped rather than spacious.” Natasha says. “Islands are so on trend sometimes clients want them even if it’s not the best option. Thankfully Louise and Matt took on board what I was saying and the peninsula is a great alternative!” Louise agreed, “If we’d have tried to put an island in here we’d have been squeezing past each other or it would have been so small as to render it a bit pointless. The peninsula performs exactly the same job for us and it’s now the real focal point of the kitchen.”
The couple wanted a classic but modern finish so Natasha suggested they look at the Lifestyle Kitchen range by Crown Imperial. They loved the sleek simplicity of a modern shaker style called Avio and the colour options were fantastic. “I really like the look of dark units with light worktops, so we went with the Graphite shade on the bulk of
the cabinets – mixing it with white around the seating area. The dark colour is gorgeous – there’s such a depth to it which shifts in the light and the simple lines keep it timeless. We opted for a mix of conventional wall and base units, larder cupboards around the fridge, a curved unit for the peninsula and full height cupboards on the banquette seating – great for housing the hoover and large kitchen appliances! The light worktops are Aria by Mistral solid surface worktops. They are smooth and non-porous - so inherently hygienic and resistant to staining - as well as being durable and stylish.”
The kitchen also has some great finishing touches and extra features, including a beautiful herringbone Amtico floor, a selection of spot and feature lighting from DAR Lighting in antique chrome and a GROHE Minta SmartControl kitchen mixer tap that's perfect for the hygiene-focused and budding chefs alike with its buttoncontrolled start technology. The devil
The old dining room... The new extension and the kitchen's double doors which lead out on to the garden
...and separate kitchen/diner
There are some lovely touches, including great lighting The Grohe Minta SmartControl tap is a great feature
The Mistral solid surface worktop is in the detail so they say, and here the details have all been carefully considered.
Having now completed the project, would they change anything? “Honestly, it’s surpassed our expectations," says Louise, "It was a relatively painless process; Natasha recommended an installer for us - Rich Jones from Carpentry Plus - and his work was fantastic. As for the kitchen itself, we opted for the best quality we could afford and I’m so glad we did - the work has completely changed how we use and see our home - moving is now definitely off the agenda!”
To find out more get in touch with Formosa, or pop into the new showroom in Holt, where you’ll also find a gorgeous range of bathroom and bedroom displays.
• formosakbb.co.uk
