Shades of Grey: A Contemporary kitchen, utility and boot room for a Cheshire home

Having extended their home and created a large open plan area, they went to the Failsworth showroom at Housing Units and met with designer John Crosby. Being just 20 minutes from Kitchen Design Centre’s Urmston showroom, they also visited this showroom and gained valuable inspiration and ideas from the various displays on show, especially the utility room. Seeing other displays meant they discounted an industrial style kitchen, which was their initial idea and opted for a sleek, modern contemporary kitchen in grey tones instead.

John cleverly designed a space that was modern but also homely with twists such as open shelving in the island and contrasting textures throughout. He introduced a softer edge to the island with a sharknose edge and channel lighting around the island to create an ambient setting when the kitchen is not being used.

John advised on the space as a whole, with a major part of the design including his suggestion to change a large high window to a lower letterbox one. This enabled the Corian worktop to run into the window which not only looks better but creates a much larger working space.

Instead of a high breakfast bar, a lower dining table with chairs was introduced which suits the family perfectly, offering casual dining in the kitchen area. They loved the fact that John also made a matching formal dining table out of the same wood for their dining area opposite the kitchen.

Neff appliances were chosen including the Slide and Hide Oven, Oven with microwave, Venting hob, Integrated Dishwasher and a separate built-in fridge and freezer. A Chrome Quooker Pro3 Flex was also selected.

A key part of the design included a drinks area for both hot and cold drinks making at the end of the kitchen with the inclusion of a Liebherr wine cooler and a Neff Coffee machine.

A matching utility room was created and John also designed a functional boot room with tall units for outerwear storage and a bench and hooks for storage and seating by the back door.

The couple are delighted with John and the whole Kitchen Design Centre team including the fitters and love their new kitchen space.