The Brief
The clients, a young couple with a baby, while very happy with the rest of their new house felt that the kitchen/dining area felt far too heavy and traditional and didn’t suit them or the rest of the house.
The living spaces in the house were all upstairs with a large open plan dining/living room and a dark enclosed kitchen. The whole space lacked zoning and felt empty and impractical.
The potentially stunning views out onto the fjords were inaccessible with the only windows being small and high up.
The family wanted to create a space where family and friends could gather around a table and make cooking part of the social life within the house, never again standing alone in a dark area preparing dinner while listening to the sounds of people having fun in another room.
Our aim was to make the house feel usable and warm for family time, as well as creating a more spacious, sociable atmosphere for visitors.
The Kitchen
Through the repositioning of kitchen/dining room walls and the incorporation of smart storage, we were able to create a design that was child friendly and multifunctional. The new kitchen is now open to the dining area, including a breakfast bar and a built-in table with fitted seating next to a new window. By incorporating seating spaces into the kitchen itself, the family now have the opportunity to come together and keep the space active. It gives them practical surfaces to use that are suited to the scale of their family unit.
The new kitchen has a bright and fresh feeling, reflecting light from the newly extended windows and exposing the family to as much natural light as possible. The old tiles were replaced with more dynamic, blue wallpaper and glass splashback giving the room a contemporary finish. By using yellow highlights in contrast with the blues we’ve created focal points to bounce light around the space and make it feel bright and stimulating.
The Living Room
A new wall separating the living and dining rooms uses a sliding pocket door to give the family the option of opening the two areas up to one another and close them off when necessary to prevent the spread of unwanted cooking smells or noise. A cosy built in seat with smart storage beneath it gives any future children a space to get cosy and look out onto the landscape from. This references several key biophilic design principles, by creating a space with both prospect over natural views and a sense of refuge. It also provides seating spaces for the extendable table which will seat 10 when fully extended – giving the family the opportunity to gather extended family together.
A new wood burner and timber storage provides a beautiful, natural focal point at the end of the room. The texture of the logs drawing the eye whilst the welded metal frame keeps storage neat and practical. We incorporated further beneficial natural materials by cladding the heavy chimney breast in the same textural pine that we used for the flooring.
Get in touch...
If you would like to speak with us about how we can help create you a Biophilic home.