When the time came for Amy Davies to tackle her disorganised and uninviting kitchen, she needed a clever layout to fit in everything on her wishlist
Feature and styling Zoe Bishop Photos Lizzie Orme
Plate up
Add a plate rack shelf to free up cupboard space and keep attractive crockery out in the open and easy to grab when you need it In the 22 years they’ve lived in their Victorian home, Amy and her husband have slowly worked their way through each of its rooms, decorating them one by one. ‘The kitchen seemed to be ignored, though, and we’d just update it with the odd new bit now and then,’ says Amy, ‘but after all this time it was crying out for some love.’ The old kitchen was tired and lacked storage, and Amy was looking forward to injecting her style into the space, too. ‘As my job involves interiors, I’ve always had lots of ideas for how I imagined the kitchen to look. I wanted it to have real impact, yet still be in keeping with the Victorian style of the house.’
THE PROJECT
As the room is fairly long and narrow, Amy headed to Howdens for advice on how to maximise this tricky space. ‘I wanted help with a CAD (computer-aided design) to get the look just right and make use of the awkward alcoves. My dream list was a pantry, wall cabinets, built-in appliances and, if possible, a breakfast bar for the kids to hang out at when back from university, or just a place to grab breakfast in the morning.’ Amy and the Howdens designer played around with lots of ideas and plans, ‘and to my surprise we’d were able to include the breakfast bar I wanted, and the pantry would be custom-built to work around the awkward areas. It was essential to include plenty of storage – for spices, jars, my blender – and to be able to keep everything neat, tidy and in its place.’
WHAT WE DID
With the layout finalised, the next big decision for Amy was deciding on the units themselves. ‘I love blue, so in the end I went for the Chelford design in Marine Blue,’ she says. ‘I also picked out beautiful quartz worktops, and found some soft pink wall tiles which looked amazing against the blue units. Howdens had everything I liked, including some vinyl flooring in an oak finish, so it made the whole purchase and design process really easy.’ The renovation was a big job, so the couple employed a loc
