Two keen cooks, with a love of sociable evenings, needed a kitchen that would do the business
Ask most kitchen designers who their ideal client would be, and they’d probably describe someone who is open to new ideas and who has a genuine interest in cooking – a combination that presents a designer with the kind of opportunities and challenges that often stimulate the best and most inventive solutions. If such a client also had a generous budget and a sizable room with scope for large-scale changes, every kitchen designer in the country would be beating a path to their door.
Such dream clients are few and far between but they do exist: Kieron Bell, of Kitchens International, has just finished a project for an Aberdeen couple who ticked every box on the designer’s wishlist. Robert and Molly Niven moved into their home in the north-east eight years ago. A new-build, it was already equipped with a KI kitchen. The couple appreciated its high quality and functionality but were now ready to upgrade in the hope of giving the room a sense of grandeur.
“At 8m by nearly 6m, this is a fantastic space,” says Kieron, “but because the ceiling height was rather low, it actually felt a little too small for what Robert and Molly had in mind.” The pair are enthusiastic cooks who do a lot of entertaining at home. They wanted space for elaborate dinner parties (both for prep and dining), but they didn’t want to feel they were rattling around in it when it was just the two of them for breakfast.
This is just a taster, you can browse the full article with more stunning photography on pages 86-90, issue 105.
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Words Judy Diamond
Photography Paul Mavor
Brief The clients wanted an impressive, yet highly functional and practical kitchen along with plenty of dining space. It had to be easy to maintain, with lots of storage, and be a sociable space for informal dining and gatherings. The footprint of the room was very generous but the ceiling was comparatively low, so the designer had to find a way to work around this.
Works required The existing kitchen was removed and entirely new units were built.
Biggest challenge The size. Even though this was a large room, it was quite difficult to fit in everything the clients wanted.
Budget The clients had £90,000 to spend on the room. Of that, £42,000 went on the cabinets, £12,500 was spent on the worktops, the sinks and taps cost £3,000, and the appliances came in at £35,000.
Designer Kitchens International, 01224 824300, 0131 523 0477
