This kitchen is in a lovely Victorian house, in the city of Nottingham. Owners, Jo and Steve, were keen to have a more modern look and also needed a lot more storage space. What they didn't have, though, was a big budget to play with.

The answer was to use IKEA units, which are very reasonably priced ... but they asked me for help with the design. I suggested also using IKEA's bespoke, edged laminate worktops. That gave me much more scope to be adventurous with the design and use some interesting worktop shapes.

Like many Victorian kitchens there were quite a few doorways into the room and the layout couldn't be changed a huge amount ... but we managed to squeeze in quite a bit of extra storage space.

With square shaped kitchens it's often difficult to use the central area effectively ... but a narrow peninsular section, between two doors, helped to make the best use of what space was available ... and a bespoke, curved end to the worktop made it more user friendly to walk around.

The original kitchen had a table in one corner - but it tended to get used as a dumping ground, rather than a seating area - and Jo thought it was a bit of a waste of space. Have a look at this blog for the before and after pictures.

In the new kitchen, the fridge was re-positioned to this corner, together with some extra units for storage space and another little peninsular worktop area ... this time to sit at ... just enough room for two. This corner became the drinks area, with a coffee machine and the tv ... and the seating does apparently get used now.

Two peninsular areas in one smallish kitchen is unusual ... but both areas were slim and both were designed with curved ends ... often a good idea in a tight space.

The kitchen was actually fitted last year but I was delighted to get an e-mail from Jo the other day. She said:

"Just thought I’d let you know that we went ahead with ... (the kitchen) ... exactly as you planned it, Ikea did a really good job with the fitting and it looks fantastic. We’re still really pleased with it. What’s more, every one of the fitters, electricians, plumbers etc that we used said they’d never had such good plans to work from. So thanks very much for your excellent work!"

I was also invited to go and take some photos ... which you can see here ... and to partake of some splendid coffee!

I think you'll agree that the finished result looks good.