Home Kitchen Minimalis

Choose colour-block cool
A deep, painted finish (in this case, Hague Blue by Farrow & Ball) grounds this robust 3m-long island in its central setting. The chunky worktop is made of Silestone (a quartz composite), which allows for a seam-free surface. A discreet shadowline recess underneath the worktop conceals LED lighting.

Find out whether you have space for a kitchen island

Update an Edwardian
This huge cook’s table is at the heart of the Edwardian-style kitchen. The solid oak island is half topped with oak and half with Italian black basalt, a volcanic rock. These dual surfaces function well for wet and dry tasks.

Make yours a moveable feast
Why not have your island float around the room on giant casters, like this ingenious birch ply design? Recessed electrical sockets in the floor mean plugging in appliances is a cinch, while vented doors allow air to circulate around the vegetable drawers. Finally, brushed stainless steel cladding makes for a resilient worktop.

Stay slimline with a space-saver
If your kitchen is on the smaller side, a slimline island is a valuable space saver. This 600mm wide bar with solid walnut top uses an unobtrusive column support at one end to reduce bulk. A cabinet housing storage and a microwave sits neatly at the wall end.

Boost a traditional butcher’s block
The chunky oak worktop and smaller proportions give this island the look of a traditional butcher’s block. Drawers add functionality, while the slatted base is perfect for storing vegetables.

Perfect your party zone
This atmospheric island is the perfect hub for entertaining thanks to stylish pendant lights and a sleek bar area. A wraparound worktop and clever use of colour ensure minimal visual interruption in the impressive indoor-outdoor scheme.

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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here A husband and wife, plus their two daughters when home from university
Location Near Chichester, West Sussex
Property A detached farmhouse with 5 bedrooms built in the 1930s
Size The kitchen, dining and living space is 11.2m x 5.8m; the working end of the kitchen is 5.8m x 3.4m
Designer John Kirby of Dovetail Workers in Wood

The owners invited John Kirby to work out how to create a single living, dining and kitchen space out of the four rooms that existed here originally. ‘We sat down with them to brainstorm what they wanted, submitted the planning and employed the builders, too,’ he says.

Now this room is the heart of the home. ‘The owners recognised that they were going to live mainly in this area and it was designed with that in mind,’ says Kirby. ‘The room is flooded with light and has views over the South Downs. It’s a lovely place to relax.’

Originally four different rooms, the kitchen-diner and living room is now one big space. ‘An enormous number of steels went in to support it,’ says Kirby, who relished the opportunity to create such a generous kitchen. ‘As much work goes into designing a tiny kitchen as a big one,’ he says. ‘With a large space, though, you have the chance to incorporate everything you want. Here, the idea is that everything is one step away: the larder is a step from the island and the ovens are just behind. It’s all close by, so you’re not running around the space.’

Kirby and his team completed work on this space in June 2015, but they had worked with the owners before. ‘We designed the circular dining table for them about eight years ago,’ he says. It’s made from European oak, bur oak, bur walnut and ebony veneer. ‘It was inspired by the Wishbone chairs by Hans Wegner positioned around it,’ the designer adds.

CH24 Wishbone chairs by Hans J Wegner for Carl Hansen, Ferrious.

The rich woods used to make the table are complemented by the rich blue cabinets behind. These are fitted right up to the ceiling to make maximum use of space and designed with elegant curved corner posts, with the cornices flowing around them.

‘The curves create a fluidity, so the cabinets don’t feel clunky,’ says Kirby. ‘The curves are all made as part of the cabinet; they’re not a panel slapped on the end. It’s technically difficult and time-consuming to do this, but it’s worth it.’

Cabinets painted in Tempest, Fired Earth.

The kitchen features lots of drawers. ‘More and more people are requesting drawers for their kitchens,’ says Kirby. ‘They make accessing everything so easy. The runner technology is so good now and they are really strong. You could store 200kg of crockery in a drawer with no problems.’

The flooring is ceramic tiling that looks like oak boards. ‘Using this was the owner’s idea, and we were unsure about it at first,’ says Kirby, ‘but it’s brilliant!’

Rye Harbour flooring in Old Oak, Fired Earth.

The kitchen cabinet doors are painted MDF, which is moisture-resistant and very stable. ‘Some people have seen MDF used badly and are allergic to the idea of it,’ says Kirby, ‘but if Chippendale were alive today, I think he’d use MDF. It’s an excellent material.’

The end wall of cabinets is painted a soft grey, while the island and remaining cabinetry is a warm blue. ‘All one colour on the units would have been too much,’ says Kirby. Two different granites have been used for the worktops. ‘The perimeter units are pale with a dark granite worktop, while the island units are dark with a pale granite worktop,’ he says.

The induction hob was fitted into the island so that anyone cooking can still face the room.

Cabinets painted in Tempest (dark blue) and Skylon Grey, both Fired Earth. Island worktop in Duke White Satinato granite, sourced in Switzerland by Gerald Culliford Ltd and cut to size by Granitewoods.

The height of the windows was adjusted so the worktops could run smoothly all the way around the bay. ‘There was quite a lot of work involved in getting that right,’ says Kirby. ‘If we’d run the worktop straight across, that would have looked a bit boring. Instead, it steps in, creating a smooth flow.’

The symmetrical design of this area makes it look particularly appealing and balanced. ‘It all looks great, but the reason it does is that we made a tremendous effort to get the symmetry right,’ the designer adds.

A generous larder cupboard stands conveniently close to the island food prep area. It has LED lighting fitted inside, with proximity sensors so the lights come on when the doors are opened. The insides of all the cupboards are made from oak veneer with a durable lacquered finish.

The drawers are all made from solid ash with traditional dovetail joints.

Discover 15 ingenious ways to stash your herbs and spices

On the food prep side of the island, drawers contain cooking ingredients, so they are always conveniently to hand. These drawers have been designed to perfectly fit bottles of vinegar, oil and sauces.

‘We designed and made the handles in wenge wood,’ says Kirby. ‘They’re unique and very individual.’

Browse clever style steals to add personality to your kitchen

The food prep end of the island features a curved chopping block formed from bamboo that’s been sliced and jointed together, so the end grain points upwards. ‘It grips the edge of the knife as you cut, which is useful,’ says Kirby. Its dark finish tones in beautifully with the wenge knobs.

A plug socket below the worktop overhang on the island provides space for charging phones or laptops. Bright red Tolix stools add some contrasting colour and provide seating at the island.

Tolix stool, available from John Lewis.

See more breakfast bars with coffee shop appeal

Clever pull-out shelving that folds back into the deepest recesses of this corner helps to make use of every scrap of space.

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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here A couple and their 7-year-old daughter; he’s a restaurateur who loves to bake
Location Minnesota, USA
Size 39.6 sq m, plus a 17.8 sq m boot room
Designer Jacqueline Fortier of Jacqueline Fortier Design

This detail-packed kitchen has an iron-encased island with a pewter worktop, glazed cabinetry and a seating nook. ‘We were careful not to have it too farmhouse-y,’ Fortier says. ‘It’s a city kitchen, and we didn’t want it to be country.’

The wife loves colour and, at the start of discussions, ‘it was going to be a lot more colourful than it ended up being’, Fortier recounts. ‘We paid a lot of attention to rein in the project to not make it so wild. In the end, it is a really beautiful, classic kitchen that can last 30 to 40 years.’

Among the kitchen’s special touches, the glass pendant lights over the island have garnered many admirers during home tours and open houses. They replaced other lights that turned out to be too large. Fortier had the original bright chrome finish ‘knocked down to look like zinc’, then installed old-fashioned Edison-style bulbs. ‘I didn’t think they would get so much praise, but people love those fixtures,’ Fortier says. Their not-quite-modern but not-quite-traditional look blends with the overall design.

Pendant lights, Cyan Design. Bar stools, McGuire Furniture.

BEFORE The nondescript kitchen before the makeover lacked visual interest and warmth.

AFTER ‘I’m not a huge fan of islands,’ Fortier says, ‘but they can solve some functional issues and this one does. What I try to avoid is the standard wall of miles and miles of cabinetry and worktop space.’

The 1.83m x 1.17m island, topped in luxurious (lead-free) pewter worktop, is a workhorse. In addition to housing the large farmhouse sink, a pair of dishwasher drawers and the pull-out rubbish bin, it offers handy seating.

The cooking set-up is an exercise in efficiency. The range cooker, flanked by cabinets, is only a step away from the fridge, and a half-pirouette from the sink and clean-up facilities.

The island’s hard metal framework gives way to an old-fashioned floral linen curtain sitting under the deep farmhouse sink. ‘I always try to sneak in a fabric curtain under the sink,’ Fortier says. ‘In kitchens, you don’t have a lot of opportunities to add softness, because you want the materials to be hard and functional and wear well.’

Not only does a little fabric bring another material into the mix, it also carries, Fortier says, ‘a sense of nostalgia’ and is a place to add pattern. Her choice was ‘floral but not too Victorian’, in shades of steely grey-blue with a shot of mustard yellow on a soft white field. ‘It added a bit of femininity to a mostly masculine island,’ she says.

Farmhouse sink, Shaws, Rohl. Dishwasher drawers, Fisher & Paykel. Fabric, Camberwell Vase in citrine from Schumacher. Island cabinetry, bespoke design by Jacqueline Fortier Design, made by Zroka Cabinet and Fixture.

The cosy nook seems meant for dining, but it was intended as an art space for the couple’s creative daughter. ‘That was the first idea we decided on,’ Fortier says. ‘The way I sold it was, you have this one daughter, she’s always doing projects, you don’t want her to do them on the island because then you have to clear them away when they aren’t finished to sit down and have a meal.’ Eventually, Fortier imagines, the nook will become a homework and computer station.

The curvy iron legs mirror those on the island, but the worktop is soapstone. Under-seat drawers house the art supplies. The arched seat-backs repeat the shape of the bench in the boot room. Fortier used magnetic paint on the nook wall so the budding artist can display her works. The finishing touch: a dainty chandelier – ‘a little girl fantasy’, Fortier says.

Table and benches, bespoke design by Jacqueline Fortier Design. Bench paint, Temptation, BM 1609 by Benjamin Moore. Magnetic paint, Benjamin Moore.

The cabinetry wall, with its rustic tiles, open plate rack and chicken-wire cupboard, comes the closest to a real farmhouse look. The symmetrical worktops next to the range are made of different materials. On the left is wood for the cooking prep work, and on the right is soapstone, a cold surface good for rolling dough, for the husband’s baking station.

The plate rack is an element Fortier particularly likes. ‘I always put those plate racks in my kitchens,’ she says. ‘They are so functional; that’s the one thing my clients love most about them. They’re great for people who don’t want open shelving, but who’d like a little character in their kitchen.’

The cabinetry, made from paint-grade maple, looks fresh and of an age at the same time, thanks to the glazed finish on the off-white painted surfaces. Fortier herself did the glazing, which, she explains, ‘dulls the finish, which is one of the reasons to do it. It also accentuates the mouldings and hides fingerprints.’

‘I always glaze my kitchen cabinets,’ she continues. ‘It’s softer to the touch, softer looking to the eye. It blends well with darker worktops. It makes the kitchen more comfortable and older looking. The cabinets age better.’

The big splurge in this kitchen was the island’s hand-fabricated pewter worktop. ‘Pewter is pretty durable; it’s been around for hundreds of years,’ Fortier says. ‘It’s a beautiful element to add to any space, because it already has that sense of age. It takes on the character of the clients – and these clients are full of character.’

Pewter is a notoriously soft metal, but that only enhances its charm, Fortier says. ‘I don’t think people should be scared about how raw materials age,’ she says. ‘That’s where the beauty of the materials comes out, when they take on the patina of the owners.’ It didn’t take long for this worktop to reflect its owners. Within a month of installation, the couple’s daughter had etched ‘I love you’ into its surface. ‘How can you not melt when you see that?’ Fortier says.

Pewter worktop, François & Co.

See inspiring ways to work art into your kitchen

‘A really traditional French kitchen always has blue and white tiles,’ Fortier says. ‘We automatically knew we wanted to bring that French touch into it.’ The rustic terracotta tiles, in shades of midnight blue and charcoal black on a cream field, ‘fit the bill’. While the overall pattern is large, the detail work is small, so the tiles don’t overpower the subtlety of the cabinetry finish. At the same time, the tiles pull together the entire kitchen palette for a cohesive look.

‘All those elements came together perfectly,’ Fortier says. ‘They all blended, and I’m not a matchy person. It’s neat in the end.’

Splashback tiles, Palio 1, Tabarka Studio. Range cooker, Bertazzoni. Cabinetry, bespoke design by Jacqueline Fortier Design. Cabinetry paint, Shoji White, SW 7042, Sherwin-Williams. Glazing, custom glaze using Benjamin Moore Glaze Base by Jacqueline Fortier Design.

Perhaps nothing says farmhouse more than chicken-wire cabinets. ‘She likes chickens,’ Fortier says of the homeowner. ‘It was a nod to her desire to have a chicken coop, or a small nod to a country kitchen, but minimally. It’s a slight intro to a different style, but it’s not in your face.’ The cabinet pulls up to open and accommodates large bowls or long platters.

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here A young French couple and their baby
Location North London
Property A Victorian terraced house with five bedrooms
Room size 6m x 5.2m
Designer Andrew Hall of Woodstock Furniture

The kitchen, completed at the end of 2014, is in an open-plan space that also contains a large dining table. A glazed back wall and huge roof window flood it with light.

One of the most distinctive pieces in the kitchen is this huge fridge-freezer, which is fitted into a wall that divides the kitchen from a living space behind. ‘We added a niche above for storing bottles,’ says Hall.

The wall is not full height, but it creates a visual barrier between the living space and the kitchen. ‘The architect wanted the cabinets to go up only as far as that wall, but I wanted the kitchen to be as tall and elegant as possible, so I took them higher,’ Hall says.

Fridge-freezer; wine fridge; extractor fan, all Gaggenau.

There’s space to eat casually at the raised breakfast bar, while a large dining table caters for a crowd.

Lem bar stools by Shin and Tomoko Azumi, John Lewis.

The dark finish on the cabinets creates a warm feel within this very light space. ‘It brings the garden and its colours in,’ says Hall. ‘It draws the green of the grass into the room.’ He also installed two glazed cabinets. ‘They reflect the light and break up the dark green,’ he adds.

The bespoke dark green colour sprayed onto the kitchen cabinets has a classic feel, while the simple bar handles are more contemporary. ‘The cupboards and drawers have solid oak interiors,’ says Hall, ‘while the glazed wall cupboards are painted inside.’