The White House, Beaconsfield

The first thing you notice when you enter this kitchen at The White House project is how calm and collected it feels, and the design brief was to create a workable space for young family life with the capability to easily entertain groups of friends and family in a workable and fuss free space.

This open plan kitchen is located in a newly built extension to the rear of the property and is flooded with natural light that evokes that wonderful feeling of letting the outside in all year round. The classic English design aesthetic of the Nickleby cabinetry combined with cool paint colours H|M Duffle (perimeter cabinetry), H|M Top Hat (island), and polished nickel Quilp handles creates a cool and contemporary space that not only looks incredible but will stand the test of time.

With a large formal dining table in a room just off the kitchen, incorporating an informal dining space for this busy family kitchen was essential and provides a place for everyday family meals or low-key dinners with close friends. The left side of the kitchen is used predominantly for food, drink and crockery storage. The end of the island houses a CDA wine cooler and just to the left of the island is a run of cabinetry with a large stainless steel Fisher & Paykel refrigeration and freezer unit. Flanking it either side are two crockery cupboards which provide masses of essential crockery and glass storage all within arms reach of the island and dining area – ideal for serving guests an aperitif as they perch on one of the Havisham counter stools at the island before dinner.

On the far side of the island is the main food prep area and directly opposite is the main cooking run featuring a Wolf range cooker, false chimney with concealed Westin extraction above and is flanked either side by countertop cupboards. To the right a breakfast cupboard with a Miele coffee machine and countertop space for a Dualit toaster, to the left a countertop cupboard is home to the integrated Miele microwave and beneath everyday appliances like a KitchenAid mixer. The door located between the end of the cooking run and storage run leads through to a walk in pantry, formal dining area with a wine room and drinks cabinet.

This walk in pantry is quite literally the stuff of dreams, finished in H|M Goose Iron the space offers the perfect balance of open storage with artisan shelving for jars, dry ingredients, small pans and tableware all of which can be easily reached with a bespoke movable Berkeley oak step ladder. Below the artisan shelving is a cold shelf that can be used as food prep area and storage for small everyday kitchen appliances, bowls of fruit etc. Underneath the cold shelf are large deep shelves for baskets and hampers and on the far right an integrated freezer which takes pressure off the main kitchen.

Everything you need in this project is where it should be, the design of the dining space for example has been fine-tuned and zoned for living at its very best with no fuss and no clutter. Everything has its purpose and what you need is always to hand. The layout of the rooms flows from the kitchen into an entertaining space complete with a bespoke wine room and drinks cabinet to serve the formal dining area.

A drinks cabinet that houses glassware and bottle providing a space for preparing and serving cocktails and pre-dinner drinks to guests. The glass shelves allow the cupboard to be lit during the evenings providing additional mood lighting during dinners, as well as cupboard space beneath for tableware and cutlery. Finished in H|M Farthing Pale the painted cabinetry of the drink’s cabinet contrasts perfectly with the interior and Berkeley oak wine room next to it, giving a cool calm feel to the dining space.

A laundry room can be so much more than a purely utilitarian space, carrying on the same design ethos as the kitchen and other rooms in the project this utility is about functionality and beauty. Accessed via the children’s playroom, the laundry room leads directly out onto the garden and has a run of cabinetry that houses a Miele washing machine and tumble dryer, with a tall cabinet at the end for laundry, ironing board etc and a large butler sink and Perrin & Rowe tap at the centre.