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Updating a Traditional Farmhouse Kitchen

I don't normally put the "before" pictures in my kitchen design gallery but I've made an exception in this case because the original units, in this big farmhouse kitchen, were so typical of what a good quality farmhouse style kitchen used to look like.  (In case you're wondering ... the before pictures are on the left!!)

The original kitchen was nearly twenty years old and would have been the bees knees ... when it was first fitted. It was oak and it included a glazed dresser area, next to the Aga, as well as tall units for the built-in oven and microwave. There was a shaped oak canopy over the hob and a canopy with patterned cut outs extended over both windows, to join up the wall units from one side of the room to the other. The centre of the room was taken up by a big oak table and the owners had also added a free standing dresser to give even more of a country feel. The style of the old unit doors was square, multi-panelled oak with as many as four panels per door ... whilst in the utility room there were slightly more downmarket, cathedral arched, panelled oak doors. The main worktops were timber edged laminate.

The kitchen wasn't in bad condition at all (although the utility room units were starting to fall apart) ... in fact the old kitchen was to be re-fitted in the house of the owners' daughter. The lady of the house, in particular, didn't want to lose any storage space, or many of the features of her existing kitchen ... but she and her husband both wanted a more modern look and a less fitted appearance.

It's quite a difficult design brief - to keep all the storage space of a fitted kitchen and yet make it look less fitted - especially when the owners actually like the layout they have. The big central table was to stay - for entertaining - so adding an island unit was out of the question.

The answer, funnily enough, was to replace the free standing dresser with fitted units and to bring fitted units back around one of the end walls where there weren't originally any units. It sounds as if the new kitchen was even more fitted than the original ... but the difference will ( I hope!) be obvious in the pictures.

I deliberately made more space around the Aga, with it's brick mantel, in the new kitchen. It looked very cramped before. The new kitchen was also in a painted finish, instead of timber, which instantly gave the room (which has low ceilings and big beams) a more open and fresh look.

 

 

 

 

 

There are still units both sides of the Aga - but not so close to the brick mantel ... and more worktop is exposed
The original tall oven housings were next to the dresser area ... making it difficult for taking dishes out of the oven
The main oven was moved to the other side of the room ... where the free standing dresser used to be
There was just enough room to put a little base unit (sideways for ease of access) ... with worktop next to the oven
The hob stayed in the same position. Note too, how modern stone effect floor tiles are so much more convincing than the old ones
The hob has a modern angled cooker hood above it - which doesn't look out of place in such a traditional setting
The sink area looks much more open without the decorative pelmets ... posts and oak plinth make it look less fitted
Typically for a farmhouse kitchen with an Aga - big sink bowls were needed. The granite drainer grooves are in a recessed area.
One of the original sketches, shows the new larder on the end wall - for extra storage - and how the units avoid the beam
The new larder and dresser have furniture frames extended to the floor as feet - and use oak plinth - to look less fitted
The open shelves in the corner also give a more open feel and avoid that very fitted look
The utility room was fitted in the same style as the kitchen this time - since it's the main entrance into the kitchen
The other end of the utility room was tidied up a lot ... with the appliances hidden behind cupboard doors
This was a big kitchen and utility room ... and it took a while to get it right ... but everyone's pleased with the end result

Comments

by Anonymous | Fri, 21/01/2011 - 17:08
a wee bit too modern for me...looks sleek but it doesn't have the country kitchen feel.
by Majjie | Sat, 22/01/2011 - 10:34
Oh well - each to their own! That's the beauty of kitchen design - I get to create all sorts of different looks - tailored for what each client wants. I don't think I'd call this kitchen sleek, though.