Kitchen of the Week: A Light, Bright, Open-Plan Kitchen-diner

Kitchen of the Week: A Light, Bright, Open-Plan Kitchen-diner- When the owners of this semi-detached Edwardian house in southeast London first moved in, the rear of the ground floor was divided into three separate rooms – a playroom, a kitchen and a dining room – all on different levels, making the space feel cramped, dark and incohesive.

Calling on the architectural expertise of Richard Morgan from Design Squared, the owners asked for a family-friendly kitchen-diner that would make the most of the garden and flood the newly open-plan space with light.

Design Squared Ltd

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here A couple and their two young children
Location Forest Hill, southeast London
Size 6.2m x 4.8m; part of an Edwardian, semi-detached, four-bedroom house
Designer Richard Morgan of Design Squared

Design Squared Ltd

As well as having to merge the three separate rooms into one open-plan area, designer Richard Morgan had to deal with the fact that they were all on different levels, making the space feel awkward and meaning there was no natural flow.

‘The brief for this design was to open up these rooms to create one level space with a connection to the garden,’ Morgan says. ‘The most challenging aspect was accommodating the different floor levels, but this was critical to achieving the feel the homeowners wanted.’

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Design Squared Ltd

The kitchen area is now spacious and open, with plenty of clean-lined glossy units – perfect for busy family life. ‘Increasing the sense of light and space was one of the most important parts of this project,’ says Morgan. ‘Including these high-level windows above the kitchen units was one of the ways we achieved this and one of the most successful elements of the design.’

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Design Squared Ltd

‘The owners wanted the room to flow into the garden,’ explains Morgan. Bifolding doors allow the new dining area to be filled with light and ensure that, no matter what the weather, the family can enjoy the view of the garden as they eat.

Find out how to bring the outdoors into your kitchen

Design Squared Ltd

The kitchen area has a vaulted ceiling with roof lights in it. This is one of Morgan’s favourite aspects of the design. ‘I love the ceiling height in the kitchen area and the sense of openness it provides,’ he says. It also helps demarcate the ‘working’ area of the room from the dining space, which has a lower ceiling for a more cosy feel.

Design Squared Ltd

Pale tones of light grey, white and off-white, plus plenty of glossy surfaces, ensure the kitchen units and worktops bounce light around the room. The owner sourced the lighting, furniture and flooring herself, leaving Morgan to focus on the architectural reconfiguration of the space.

Take a look at some more cool contemporary white kitchens

Design Squared Ltd

Another way in which Morgan ensured the garden seamlessly integrated with the kitchen was by using the same flooring both inside and on the raised terrace.

Design Squared Ltd

The raised terrace is the perfect place for barbecues and entertaining in the warmer months and a natural extension to this family kitchen.

Design Squared Ltd

The homeowners sourced copper pendant lights to hang above the dining area. Along with the rich wooden table and leather chairs, these add warmth to the area and stop the scheme from feeling too stark. They also give the dining area a more intimate feel, ideal for grown-up entertaining in the evenings.

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