Liverpool Road

Liverpool Road: Kitchen, Cloakroom, Utility and Bar Renovation

Liverpool Road: Kitchen, Cloakroom, Utility & Bar Project

TRUE Bespoke SW10 Kitchen painted in Black Blue | Quartzite Bianco Eclipsia worktop and splashback | Bespoke bar

A North London family home, designed for a professional cook who requires a kitchen to play multiple roles: as professionally equipped environment, as space to cater to the needs of a family (literally and figuratively), and as arena for hosting and entertaining.

The drama is all in the stone surfaces: a stormy, swirly quartz-heavy stone that is as beautiful as it is practical, and covers the central island, climbs the backstage wall, and reflects changing light conditions.

The cabinetry grounds the scheme in a black blue tonality, and features made-to-measure in-frame traditional joinery with a simple contemporary edge. It is enhanced by a complementary selection of matt black, knurled steel handles, knobs and plug sockets. When the stone surfaces are as dramatic, and as generously applied as they are in this project, we hold back the furniture from any attempt to upstage the stone’s emotional ‘affect’.

A Bora professional hob, with induction on both sides of its central ‘James Bond’ style downdraft section (it ‘disappears’ into the work surface when it is in operation), covers the sociable side of cooking – enabling a cook to look outwards without the distraction of overhead hoods and rising vapours – while ovens, refrigeration, and dishwashing are accommodated along the back run.

The Kitchen

A large stainless steel sink and Quooker boiling water tap complete the picture.

A ‘waterfall’ style edge keeps the drama of the stone front and centre. A wine conditioning fridge is tucked into the island – handy for the dining room and for enabling supplies to be accessed without disturbing the cook.

The Semi-Basement: Utility and Pantry

A utility and pantry area is accessed from the kitchen through a partially obscuring Crittal-style door, fitted with fluted glass panels.

In this semi-basement area, bottles hang out with the laundry in a dual purpose room that maximises the utility of the available space without sacrificing style – the focal point is, deliberately, the made-to-measure bottle store, while the less appealing wash-day practicalities stay just shy of the frame.

Dining Area with Twin Bar Units

Adjacent to a dining table and on either side of a chimney breast, is a perfect space for two low-profile ‘black-blue’ bar cabinets – there to support all the moments in a day when a pick-me-up is required – from early morning coffee through to end of day apéros.

The stone surfaces and cabinetry mirror the dramatic gestures, simple structures and colour palette of the kitchen, as do the fluted-glass panels those of the utility room door.

The proportions and placements of each piece in this room have been carefully considered against a background that has been kept deliberately simple – to allow the view of the garden and the decorative details to draw focus as and when it is their moment to shine.

The Cloakroom

The ‘smallest room in the house’ has been incorporated thematically into the rest of this project by careful colour co-ordination, and by employing the same stone, and the same matt black framing for the accessories, handles and controls as for the kitchen and dining areas.

Attention to detail throughout the house – even in the smallest places – makes a big difference to the coherent feel of a home.