Period Manor House
Ashurst Wood

About This Project

The Brief 

This new kitchen forms part of a beautiful Jacobean manor house situated amongst the most idyllic gardens and location in historic Ashurst Wood. It was such a treat to design a kitchen to complement these special surroundings.

The brief was to create a lighter, brighter kitchen and to incorporate more cooking options to facilitate lots of family entertaining.

Our clients are wonderful cooks and keen gardeners so in addition to the request for increased cooking facilities, also asked to switch the hob and sink around to enable them to enjoy views of the garden whilst cooking.

Our bespoke kitchen design

The first task was to increase the available space in the kitchen and improve the flow around the room. This was achieved firstly by moving the main doorway. We blocked off one doorway to increase the wall and worktop area and reinstated an old doorway that wasn’t being used. Secondly we removed a large brick corner oven housing that was very dominant in the space and then painted all the ceiling beams white. Having been black previously, this really elevated the ceiling. Coupled with the doorway change and removal of the oven housing, these simple changes made such a difference to the sense of light and space in the kitchen.

To further enhance the sense of light in the kitchen, we designed a very classic in-frame shaker kitchen in a light grey. This is a softer palate than white but still bounces lots of light around the space, especially when used with the lovely Crofts & Assinder chrome handles. 

With increased entertaining capacity high up on the brief, we replaced an old built in larder with a set of fantastic Wolf appliances (oven, microwave and warming draw) which sit perfectly into this nook.  In addition, a professional grade Bora hob was incorporated and as requested is situated over looking the garden. The last must have appliance is of course the Quooker tap, we just love how these work so well in classic and contemporary kitchen designs.

All in the detail 

Getting the details just right is always so important and we were delighted with our bespoke chunky shelves and the upcycled open shelves wall unit. After some TLC, paint and a new spot (where the door used to be) it slots into this new kitchen perfectly. 

Look really closely and you’ll see the quartz worktop is also chunky. It is 40ml deep rather than the standard 20ml and really suits the kitchen and proportions of the house.

‘Excellent service in all aspects. Nothing was too much trouble, would definitely recommend to others.’

Feeling inspired?

This was a great project to work on, implementing a design that appropriately modernised a manor house kitchen, whilst ensuring the look and feel was in keeping with the style of the property.  Got an older property in need of renovation? Talk to us at info@kitchensbespoke.co.uk and don’t forget to browse more classic kitchen designs on our Projects home page too.

Photos by jackbeard.com