This Shaker inspired kitchen looks effortless, but it took serious thought and skill to put together

This Shaker inspired kitchen is proof that knowing what you want and working with a creative team can result in pure magic. On paper, this wasn’t an easy project for Cupar’s The Painted Kitchen. The property was a B-listed detached villa dating back to 1849, with a sandstone façade and a slate roof, so a traditional kitchen looked to be on the cards. Not quite.

Instead, the kitchen needed to fit snugly into a brand new oak-framed extension which wasn’t even built yet. “Working within the oak frame was like doing a 3D jigsaw,” recalls designer Louise Parr. “We had to constantly consider height and other clearances, and had to wait until the oak was installed and sand-blasted before we could take exact measurements for manufacture. The final fit could only have been achieved with a truly bespoke, handmade kitchen inspired by the Shaker style. The tops of the tall cabinets were expertly measured and installed, just skimming the underside of the oak beams.”

Louise’s clients were steadfast and consistent in their vision, which was based on a Shaker kitchen. “The space needed to suit a young family with two children, acting as both a practical, everyday space and as a place to relax in the evening with views out over the garden. The clients were particularly keen to create a scheme that felt connected to the garden, so we used multiple shades of green throughout.”

The Shaker esque kitchen was painted in two colours from Paint & Paper Library, Hornblende for the cabinets and the lighter Greenback for the island. “The family love how the colour changes in the light,” explains Louise. A Shaker-style cabinet was chosen, its clean lines successfully bridging the gap between the old and new parts of the house. The addition of more traditional hardware helps too: the handles are part of the Milliner range by Corston, and the antique-brass finish was carried through into the rest of the accessories to create consistency.

“The clients wanted symmetry as far as was possible in this kind of Shaker inspired kitchen within the organic oak frame and asymmetrical architecture, so we had to figure out a few workarounds,” Louise says. The central island helps to ground the space and tricks the eye into believing the area is almost perfectly balanced despite the presence of the oak columns. A solution had to be found for ventilation too: “A ceiling extractor was out of the question due to the architectural detailing, so we went with a Miele vented induction hob, installed flush with the worktop.”

The island is home to the hob as well as lots of storage. There’s a bottle fridge, drawers, a bookshelf, and even a hidden cabinet just to the left of the cookbooks behind the bar stools. “It’s perfect for stashing items that are only used occasionally.”

Lighting was considered carefully. Plenty of natural light streams into the extension but Louise wanted to avoid the casting of unnecessary shadows. “We always illuminate worktops where possible, to create good task lighting. Positioning lights at different heights and with various switching options allows you to control the ambience throughout the day.

We worked closely with our stone designer, Toffolo Stirling, to integrate lighting into the stone shelf above the sink. It’s a great hidden detail that provides extra mood lighting as well as being practical.”

Speaking of practical hidden touches, this clever Shaker kitchen also incorporates a narrow shelf unit which houses a whole host of chopping boards. “The clients found this idea on Pinterest, and we were delighted to make our own version,” says Louise.

A Quooker boiling water tap (Fusion Pro 3 in patinated brass) matches the hardware and makes life a little easier. A whole cabinet is dedicated to breakfast: the toaster and coffee machine sit behind pocket doors, easily hidden away for a clutter-free feel. The clients’ decisions, mixed with Louise’s expert touch, have combined to create a glorious entertaining space which celebrates the oak frame of the extension, instead of fighting against it.

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