Kitchen of the Week: A Fresh Look for a Georgian Country Kitchen
Whitewash and understatement help turn the kitchen in this period home from a tricky-shaped room into a stylishly unified space
The owners of this handsome Georgian country kitchen used to describe it as a room of two halves — everything was on different levels, meaning the main cooking zone felt separated from the dining area and also from the narrow space the owners had been using as a pantry. Jo Ashwin’s company, Hill Farm Furniture, was brought in to bring these disparate areas of the kitchen together and turn the spaces into one room. “Apart from that we were given free rein,” Ashwin says. “The owners wanted everything white — to match the rest of the house — as they planned to add color with accessories.” They also wanted to steer clear of any rustic clichés. “They didn’t want to go too twee,” Ashwin says, “and while the pine worktops keep the look fairly traditional, they wanted everything else to be quite simple.”
All the units are custom creations, designed and made by Ashwin’s dad, Mike Ashwin, and fitted by brother Chris Ashwin.
“We never use MDF for cupboard carcasses, always solid wood,” Jo Ashwin says. Everything — from the cupboard interiors to the doors to the tops — is made of Quebec yellow pine.
“We never use MDF for cupboard carcasses, always solid wood,” Jo Ashwin says. Everything — from the cupboard interiors to the doors to the tops — is made of Quebec yellow pine.
The kitchen layout was led by the original architecture. The floor was leveled to better connect the different parts of the space, but a little corridor where the pantry was remains. This area is still used for food storage, as well as for feeding the owners’ two dogs. The large fridge-freezer (more on that shortly) is also here, tucked behind the column of books on the left.
The doorway would have been wider, but the refrigerator is about 2 feet deep. Mike Ashwin came up with the idea of the tall cookbook shelves, rather than just blanking off the ends and bringing the wall in, and winding up with dead space and a wasted storage opportunity.
The doorway would have been wider, but the refrigerator is about 2 feet deep. Mike Ashwin came up with the idea of the tall cookbook shelves, rather than just blanking off the ends and bringing the wall in, and winding up with dead space and a wasted storage opportunity.
For balance, he added a cavity on the other side of the pantry arch to mirror the bookshelves, and turned it into a wine rack.
Ashwin says she enjoyed designing a kitchen in a Georgian room like this, since the architecture allows more range than some other styles. “The high ceilings and grander features here work well with both contemporary and traditional styles, whereas in a low-ceilinged cottage kitchen, you just can’t go modern and remain true to the era,” she says.
The integrated fridge-freezer has been hidden behind handmade painted pine doors and a bookshelf strip on its left-hand side.
Fridge-freezer: Mastercool, Miele
Fridge-freezer: Mastercool, Miele
Simplicity of design was key, Ashwin says, to combine a hint of traditional country style with the requirements of a contemporary kitchen. “And we never go too gadgety,” she adds.
The limestone floor adds another rustic touch without going over the top.
The limestone floor adds another rustic touch without going over the top.
The range and range fan sit underneath the center of the ancient wooden beam that formed the original kitchen’s inglenook fireplace. “The extractor had to be one with a very small vent to fit into the space,” Ashwin says, “and this was pretty much the only one we could find. Luckily it looks nice, too.”
The old-fashioned double butler’s sink has a modern addition in the form of a Quooker boiling-water faucet.
Faucet: Perrin & Rowe; cupboard knobs: Herbert Direct
Faucet: Perrin & Rowe; cupboard knobs: Herbert Direct
One end of the kitchen island doubles as a storage area for slotted knives. “The husband is a really keen cook,” Ashwin says, “and he has a collection of unbelievably sharp Japanese knives. Because they’re so sharp, we didn’t want them just to live in a drawer, so we designed this for him.”
The kitchen doesn’t have much countertop space, so Hill Farm compensated by building a movable kitchen island to provide a main prep area.
Underneath the raised chopping board is a teppan-yaki griddle, only usable when the island is wheeled close to a power outlet. The husband likes to wheel it up to the dining table and cook and serve from there.
Underneath the raised chopping board is a teppan-yaki griddle, only usable when the island is wheeled close to a power outlet. The husband likes to wheel it up to the dining table and cook and serve from there.
The teppan-yaki griddle is concealed neatly underneath a hollow chopping surface. The pendant lights in the background, hanging over the table in the dining area, are from the Nottingham Lighting Centre.
Rather than extending into the kitchen, this cupboard was designed on an angle. “The hallway leads into the kitchen at this point, and the space simply wouldn’t flow well if we’d added a protruding square cupboard,” says Ashwin.
The secret to a fantastic corner cupboard, Ashwin says, is to fit it with adjustable shelves. “It means there’s no wasted space,” she says. “People think corner cupboards won’t hold a lot, but adjustable shelving means they can hold the maximum.”
More:
The 15 Most Popular Kitchen Storage Ideas on Houzz
Exploring Architecture: Discover the Secrets of Georgian Style
More:
The 15 Most Popular Kitchen Storage Ideas on Houzz
Exploring Architecture: Discover the Secrets of Georgian Style
Who lives here: A couple and their 2 Yorkshire terriers
Location: Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England
Size: About 140 square feet (13 square meters); pantry: about 65 square feet (6 square meters)
The owners wanted to keep the cooking area contained within the original fireplace nook, and to preserve the original Georgian beam. Hill Farm Furniture built an oven, cooktop and extraction fan into the space.
You might notice a quirky detail in this otherwise clean, white rustic kitchen: the disco ball hanging from the ceiling. The owners, both former ballet dancers, say they’ve always had a penchant for these — maybe because of their past in the theater.
Range, extractor: Siemens; oven: Miele