TRADITIONAL KITCHEN & DINING AREA

Location: Battle Town Centre

This kitchen was installed in a 16th century Grade 2 listed building in Battle. The brief was to design and install a kitchen & dining area with limited space for units and appliances without detracting from the inherent character of a period property. The kitchen was installed in the rear half of the property which is Victorian and some modernisation had already taken place.

There was only room for 8 floor units and 4 of these needed to be used for appliances. This included the space in the small utility room at the rear of the kitchen. After considering several possible solutions, it was decided to use the utilty room for the cooker, hob, sink and washing machine. The larger of the two rooms then became a dining area with the focus more on recreation. Space limitations dictated that the dishwasher and fridge were included in this area as integrated units.

STAINED OAK WORKTOPS

The client wanted solid wood worktops to match the existing oak dining table and chairs shown in the images. This was achieved using oak worktops stained with Liberon Palette Wood Dye and then treated with 3-4 coats Liberon Finishing Oil. A sample was prepared with several different shades and finishes for the client to choose from before the actual worktops were stained.

This method is safe to use in food preparation areas and a wide range of colours can be achieved with a bit of experimantation. It also gets round a common problem with worktop oils. Almost all oils used to seal worktops will produce an orange/yellow colour which doesn't always compliment the natural beauty of timber.

DIY TIP: It is possible to change the colour of existing worktops that are already treated by using Liberon Spirit Wood Dye mixed with Liberon Finsihing Oil. However the best results are achieved by using Palette Wood Dye on bare timber and then aplying the Finishing Oil.

The wall cabinets installed either side of the fireplace were all custom fitted. They had to be cut down to size to avoid interfering with the larder door. Each unit was cut to a different depth to overcome large variations in the existing walls. The whole room was plastered to achieve a good decorated finish but the intention was not to make the walls true as this was considered a valuable feature.

An offcut from the oak worktops was used to make a shelf above the fireplace.

COLOUR SCHEME

White Dulux Trade Acrylic Egshell was used for the woodwork and doors. The doors were old and had many surface imperfections. This added to the character of the room but it wouldn't have worked to highlight these by using a gloss or oil based egshell. Acrylic or water based egshells as they are also referred to have a low sheen finish which was ideal in this situation.

The walls were painted with Farrow & Ball Modern Emulsion in Matchstick. The modern emulsion has a slight sheen which makes it more washable and suited to a kitchen environment.

TILES

The floor and walls were tiled with natural marble and provided a finish that complimented the rest of the property. They were sealed to bring out tha natural beauty of the tile and to provide protection from stains. This process makes it easy to clean the floors as dirt does not get ground into the tiles.

Hamilton Antique Brass fascias were used for the the wall and light sockets. The antique tap was supplied by Howdens and to finish the look the grille in the middle of the 3 doors in the dining area was replaced with a brass mesh.