Jamie describes redesigning the kitchen with photographer Malcolm, who has a great eye and a head full of ideas, as a pleasure. ‘Malcolm is very on trend,’ says Jamie, ‘and always wants to do something different and crazy. He also never wants his kitchen to look like a kitchen! It should just be a very stylish, sociable space.’
To start with, Malcolm picked Jamie’s design brains for looks that are hot right now. ‘I told him carrara marble, texture, dark colours and contrasting white,’ says Jamie. With this checklist to hand, the pair then worked together to remodel the space, incorporating these contemporary ingredients. Now, a large room that could easily feel impersonal has become a family hub for Malcolm, Fi and their young daughter, Mya, and a sociable space for friends to enjoy, too.
Key to its success is the range of materials and surfaces used here. ‘There are six different textures in this kitchen,’ says Jamie. ‘The floors, walls, brickwork, timber, metro tiles and carrara marble.’ Each brings stacks of character and, with the white backdrop and accents of black, creates a room that looks appealing as well as impressive. The couple regularly use it for parties (when the island on wheels can be pushed out of the way to make room for decks), meals with friends and impromptu dance sessions across the open floor with Mya.
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here Malcolm Menzies, a photographer, his wife, Fi, and their daughter, Mya
Designer Blakes London
Location Southeast London
Size 60 sq m
Blakes London
With its huge footprint, one of the challenges of this project was to give the kitchen space some character. One clever idea was to install mock roof beams for a loft feel. ‘The flat white ceiling before just felt too big,’ says Jamie. ‘We wanted to pull it down a little and also create some visual closure at the top of the room, framing it so it doesn’t look as if it goes up forever.’
Blakes London
One wall of the kitchen features black cabinets, painted with Railings estate eggshell from Farrow & Ball. They are combined with metro tiles inside the glass-fronted cabinets, Carrara marble worktops and splashbacks, and rustic-looking timber on the base units for the multi-textural effect Jamie and Malcolm wanted.
See more great ways to use metro tiles
See more great ways to use metro tiles
Blakes London
The rustic wooden base units are a bespoke design, made by Jamie. He used flooring timber that can be treated and sawn to his design to front the units. ‘The wood can be cross sawn, heavily grooved, whitewashed or burnt to make it softer,’ he explains. ‘I can get whatever look I want.’ The work on the timber takes place in Holland, then Jamie mounts the wood onto cupboard doors. ‘Malcolm requested that the grain run vertically,’ he says, ‘so we then matched it all up to get the best result across all the units.’
Be inspired by more light wood cabinets in these kitchens.
Be inspired by more light wood cabinets in these kitchens.
Blakes London
Although Jamie has incorporated a wealth of materials and textures into the kitchen, the colour scheme is actually quite simple. White walls, a pale tiled floor and a mix of raw and black-painted wood. ‘Using black, but contrasting it with fresh white, is very now,’ says Jamie. Malcolm designed the light fixture so the individual pendants, bought from Lassco, can be pulled up or lowered. They hang from simple copper pipe.
Blakes London
While some of the walls are plastered and painted white, Jamie also designed a wall of tongue and groove panelling above the marble splashback and the Aga. Again, it serves to make a large surface feel more characterful and helps to give texture to the upper reaches of the room, so they belong in the overall scheme, rather than stretching off into infinity. The black lights were eBay finds, imported from the US.
Blakes London
Malcolm saw a picture of a dresser in an old shop that had tiles inside the cupboards. ‘It became the inspiration for the wall cabinets,’ says Jamie. ‘In fact, those metro tiles at the back have been the biggest success and the cornerstone of the design for the whole kitchen.’ Simple copper piping was used to create a cool but inexpensive tap.
Discover these copper taps on Houzz and pick some out for your kitchen.
Discover these copper taps on Houzz and pick some out for your kitchen.
Blakes London
The kitchen island has been designed on wheels, so it can be pushed out of the way if floor space is needed for a party. ‘It’s made with a really strong steel frame because it weighs about two tons!’ says Jamie. The worktop has a herb trough cut into it in the centre, too, creating a green feature amid all the cool marble, while keeping herbs conveniently to hand when cooking.
Discover other ways to create an indoor herb garden
Discover other ways to create an indoor herb garden
Blakes London
The flooring, from Texfield, is ceramic tiling that looks like wooden planks. It is highly durable, ideal for a space that sees a lot of parties, but has the texture that Malcolm loves. Malcolm found the Ercol sofa on eBay and had its cushions re-covered.
Blakes London
Malcolm and Fi love to entertain, and this chunky table at the far end of the kitchen provides space for around 10 people to sit together and enjoy a meal. Malcolm sourced many of the chairs on eBay or at second-hand stores, and had the table made bespoke in 2008 for the first home he and Fi shared.
Blakes London
Bricks salvaged from the bedroom upstairs, when a wall was knocked down, were used to make a textural feature in the kitchen. They contribute to the industrial, warehouse-style feel of the space, but their whitewashed finish keeps them discreet.
Blakes London
‘The doors are kind of in the wrong place in this kitchen!’ says Jamie. ‘Typically, they would be at the back of the room, so you can have units on either run.’ He coped with this central door simply by building units around it, extending the glass-fronted design above the door and beyond to top off the tall, larder-style cabinets.
Love this space? Share your favourite elements in the comments below.
Love this space? Share your favourite elements in the comments below.
http://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/kitchen
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