When Lisa Mehydene, founder of the homeware website Edit58.com, installed a new kitchen for her barn conversion in the Cotswolds last year, she designed it around vintage pieces, books and paintings she already owned. “I wanted it to be full of happy memories and to feel like a living room,” she says. She scoured antiques shops and markets for cupboards, bookcases and lamps, and painted the walls in Farrow & Ball dead salmon, a mushroom pink that sets off the collection of paintings, plates and pans that she has on display. The floor is tiled in terracotta and the dining table and chairs are brown wood, with an antique rug beneath for warmth and added texture; Mehydene has also hung fabric skirts under the Belfast sink. “I know they’ve become a cliché, but they work so well in a country setting – the ditzy floral pattern warms the place up,” she says.
The backlash against the modern kitchen, where fridges, kettles and even taps are hidden behind handleless doors, is partly because they can be quite unpractical, says Suss: the truth is that it’s easier and cheaper to have everything you need on display. “The extra steps to access the things you need become a bit of a pain – why not make a virtue of having your toaster on the worktop?” she says. Adam Hills, of the salvage yard Retrouvius, believes a loose-fit kitchen, where appliances can be easily switched out when they break or you move house, and the cupboards can be moved about and recycled once they are no longer wanted, is not a step backwards but a move towards more sustainable living. “So many people buy a new kitchen as a matter of principle when they move house, but you’ve got to ask yourself if it’s really worth it,” he says. “There’s so much you can do to improve what’s already there – we sell beautiful salvaged wooden work surfaces that can go on any units, as well as reclaimed lighting, sinks and mahogany cabinets.”
The loose-fit kitchen is not going to suit every property, as it tends to be homely looking, as per the cottage-core and farmhouse-core interiors trend that has been circling Instagram this year. This isn’t to say, however, that you can’t create a shiny, minimalist kitchen using the same principles of reusing, salvaging and adding personal touches. “This isn’t about adding clutter to your kitchen,” Hutchinson says. “You can create a sparse mid-century kitchen or something even more modern using items you’ve bought second-hand – it’s a question of thoughtful design.” For reclaimed modern kitchens, Hills recommends the Used Kitchen Company, which sells second-hand German kitchens such as Bulthaup, Poggenpohl and Siematic, along with recycled budget kitchens from Howden’s and Ikea – many include appliances, too.
Before getting carried away with adding paintings, armchairs, standard lamps and other living-room paraphernalia to your kitchen, it’s important to make sure it functions well as a… kitchen. “It still needs to be very practical; you probably need a few built-in units sitting quietly in the background, and a decent amount of work surface,” Bergman says.
Mehydene divided her new kitchen into zones: one for washing up, one for laundry, another for crockery and storage, and another with Aga, work surfaces and knives. Tucked into the corner is a free-standing pantry. “My husband is a keen cook, so it had to be a functional space for preparing and serving food,” she says. “It’s well set up for him, but it’s also a cocooning space that feels like us, and everyone gravitates to.”
Good lighting is also essential, adds Hills, not only for preparing food, but also to create a warm ambience around the dining table. “You don’t need to rush out and install expensive integrated under-counter lighting,” he says. “If you buy a wall-mounted anglepoise that you love, a couple of side lamps and a pendant, you can take them with you to your next house.”
Mehydene’s new kitchen was ready to use in a matter of months and yet the room is still coming together, she says – she’s hunting for the perfect armchair or sofa, and there’s more space on the walls for pictures. “It’s a mistake to try to do it all at once,” agrees Bergman. “Not only is it daunting and expensive, but if you build up gradually, and only include pieces that truly mean something to you, the end result will be so much more than the sum of its parts.” Even Plain English, a company that regularly sells kitchens with six-figure price tags, is encouraging clients to scour antiques markets for dressers before placing an order for a new one. “Mixing up the old and the new saves so much money and leaves you with a room that looks more striking,” Bergman says.
If you’re eager to get started, however, there are certain objects that bring instant character to a room, says Hutchinson. Round dining tables with a rug beneath, for example, well-worn armchairs and free-standing cabinets. “I’ve painted two of them – one for toys and one for cookery books,” she says. If you’re on a budget, updating dining chairs with new cushions, repainting a cabinet in a glossy red, or hanging framed posters, vintage postcards or your children’s best artworks will add warmth and personality.
And if one day you wake up and decide you no longer like the look of your kitchen, you can simply repaint, switch your rugs and paintings, and buy a different toaster. “It’s only natural that your tastes and influences change over time,” Bergman says. “But remember that your kitchen can evolve with you, too.”
Simple steps to a loose-fit kitchen
Stay away from symmetry
Aim instead for a balanced room, without all your furniture on one side, says Bergman. If your vintage corner cupboard and drawers don’t match, relax. “Once they have been painted in a warm colour, your eye will be drawn to other aspects of the room.”
