I Wanted A Social Kitchen

I Wanted A Social Kitchen. Keen to shake up her layout, Lynsey Dorman knew exactly what she needed from her spacious, new open-plan design. Feature NATALIE OSBORN Photographer DAVID GILES.

Meet the renovators Lynsey Dorman, a visual manager at The Cotswold Company, and partner Daniel Kunka, an account manager Makeover brief Knock down a conservatory to make space for an open-plan kitchen-diner with garden link Project costs Cabinetry £4,813 Worktops £3,750 Tap £64 Flooring £1,464 Appliances £1,600 Lighting £99 Total spend £11,790.

WHY DIDN'T YOU LIKE YOUR OLD KITCHEN? The existing layout wasn’t terrible, but it really wasn't our style. Daniel and I love entertaining and our small kitchen felt really antisocial and disconnected from the dining area. Plus, an adjacent conservatory created a barrier to the garden, and it was always too hot or too cold. 

HOW DID YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE SPACE? We definitely wanted our new kitchen-diner design to be light as possible and also to connect to the outside. We’re expecting a baby and we realised that it’s better for us to have an open space in which our little one will be able to play indoors or out and still be visible from the kitchen. 

WHAT WERE YOUR MUST-HAVE FEATURES? The whole design has always been about being social, so having a kitchen island and breakfast bar was crucial. It lets us prep food and chat to guests while we cook, and also have informal meals and work there as well.

DID YOU STICK TO YOUR ORIGINAL BUDGET? We did go slightly over in the end because we had the garden landscaped by our contractor. It had been completely obliterated by the amount of work between the new kitchen and our garden studio, which we had installed at the same time. It’s wonderful to have a beautiful garden again rather than a building site – it’s one of the things I’m most glad we invested in. 

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST LESSON YOU LEARNED? That good communication with your neighbours either side of your home is absolutely essential. Right from the very start of the project, we made sure they knew which parts of the build were happening and when. I honestly don’t know how we would have done it without their support and understanding – especially when our temporary roof was letting water gush into our party wall, ruining their wallpaper.

Shopping basket Cabinetry Carrera units, £4,813, DIY Kitchens. Handmade brass kitchen handles, £250, The Foundryman on Etsy Worktops Pure white quartz, £3,750, Topsco Taps KunMai antique brass mixer tap, £64, Amazon Appliances Smeg DOSF634X built-in oven, £734; Smeg SR975NGH gas hob, £329; Smeg UKC7280FP fridge-freezer, £520, all AO.com. Klarstein Lumio Primo retro cooker hood, £187.19, Hifi Tower. Flooring Pearl Satin engineered oak, £34.99 per sqm, Luxury Flooring Lighting Vintage pendant lights, £30 each, Winsoon Hardwear.

Sources: GoodHomes UK, September 2018

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