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Kitchen Tour: A Colourful Family Kitchen for a Modern Farmhouse
This kitchen in Ireland was designed to maximise its rural views – but it had to be practical, too
The owners of this kitchen were at the early stages of building their home, in the Craigantlet Hills above Holywood, when they approached Simon Lennox of Adornas Kitchens, who they’d found on Houzz. “They’d used Houzz for inspiration while building the house, so when we met for the first time, we were able to look at their profile to see what they liked,” Simon says.
Along with a list of needs for the room, the information allowed Simon to source suitable samples and gather tailored ideas in advance. “They’d seen five other designers and said no one else had been as prepared as we were,” he says.
One of the clients had grown up in the family farmhouse behind the newly built house. She talked fondly of her mum’s kitchen, which has an Aga, and wanted something just as cosy, but more modern-looking, along with plenty of storage to cater for family life and her passion for baking.
Along with a list of needs for the room, the information allowed Simon to source suitable samples and gather tailored ideas in advance. “They’d seen five other designers and said no one else had been as prepared as we were,” he says.
One of the clients had grown up in the family farmhouse behind the newly built house. She talked fondly of her mum’s kitchen, which has an Aga, and wanted something just as cosy, but more modern-looking, along with plenty of storage to cater for family life and her passion for baking.
Simon’s starting point was the view from the room’s large windows. “We wanted to max this with the layout,” he says. “You can see the sea – and even Scotland on a clear day.” So the dining table and the island, which also has seating, were positioned with this in mind.
The owners chose wooden flooring. “It’s engineered boards in wide planks and makes the kitchen feel cosier than it would with, say, a tiled floor,” Simon says.
The owners chose wooden flooring. “It’s engineered boards in wide planks and makes the kitchen feel cosier than it would with, say, a tiled floor,” Simon says.
The door to the left of the tall blue units leads to the front door.
Inside the cupboard, there’s a worktop for a toaster and coffee machine, plus storage above for baking kit. “It keeps things off the visible worktop,” Simon explains. The lower part has internal drawers.
To the right of the run is a matching full-height cupboard. This contains the fridge on the right and, on the left, a larder fitted with five pull-out drawers.
Space Tower pull-out larder drawers, Blum. Cabinets painted in Parisian Blue, Adornas Kitchens. Yellow bar stools, clients’ own.
Inside the cupboard, there’s a worktop for a toaster and coffee machine, plus storage above for baking kit. “It keeps things off the visible worktop,” Simon explains. The lower part has internal drawers.
To the right of the run is a matching full-height cupboard. This contains the fridge on the right and, on the left, a larder fitted with five pull-out drawers.
Space Tower pull-out larder drawers, Blum. Cabinets painted in Parisian Blue, Adornas Kitchens. Yellow bar stools, clients’ own.
Either side of the oven are deep, wide drawers with a reclaimed ash veneer to temper the blue units. Some also have internal drawers. “This keeps the look minimal and avoids creating too many lines,” Simon says.
The lighting was also a key design decision. “Because the ceiling is really high, you’d have a lot of shadow when cooking if you were just relying on ceiling lights, so we advised the owners to fit a bulkhead with flush spotlights,” he says.
This stretches across the range cooker and adjacent worktops. Simon also added recessed LED strips into the shelves either side of the range. “These are the two main task lighting areas,” Simon says. Additional plinth lighting works well in the evenings to create atmosphere.
The lighting was also a key design decision. “Because the ceiling is really high, you’d have a lot of shadow when cooking if you were just relying on ceiling lights, so we advised the owners to fit a bulkhead with flush spotlights,” he says.
This stretches across the range cooker and adjacent worktops. Simon also added recessed LED strips into the shelves either side of the range. “These are the two main task lighting areas,” Simon says. Additional plinth lighting works well in the evenings to create atmosphere.
As a nod to the owner’s mother’s Aga, Simon suggested this electric range cooker. “It looks traditional, but it’s modern – a theme that characterises their whole house,” he says.
Electric range cooker, Everhot.
Electric range cooker, Everhot.
This door leads to the side entrance to the house from the farm.
This view from the other side of the kitchen shows the three spaces that connect to the kitchen. The door on the left, as mentioned, leads out to the farm. The middle door leads to the children’s den. On the far right, opening off the living area, is a courtyard with a pizza oven.
Simon built the sideboard and floating shelves at the far end of the dining table using the same ash veneer as the drawer fronts and island doors in the kitchen. “We needed to make this room cohesive, especially because it’s so big. This [detail] connects the dining area to the kitchen.”
Lule dining chairs, Made.com.
Simon built the sideboard and floating shelves at the far end of the dining table using the same ash veneer as the drawer fronts and island doors in the kitchen. “We needed to make this room cohesive, especially because it’s so big. This [detail] connects the dining area to the kitchen.”
Lule dining chairs, Made.com.
The owners created a play area for the children close to the cooking area and overlooking the garden. It can be screened off with sliding oak pocket doors.
This view across the island shows the living area on the left. The owners found the ‘live edge’ wood for the breakfast bar at a self-build home show a couple of years before the kitchen was even designed.
“They were very keen to integrate it into the kitchen, so we had to keep the rest of the island design really simple so the wood wouldn’t fight for attention,” Simon says. “The waterfall stone gables – in a matt, honed granite finish – were a big part of this.”
Waterfall island worktop in Serena from the Eternal collection, Silestone.
“They were very keen to integrate it into the kitchen, so we had to keep the rest of the island design really simple so the wood wouldn’t fight for attention,” Simon says. “The waterfall stone gables – in a matt, honed granite finish – were a big part of this.”
Waterfall island worktop in Serena from the Eternal collection, Silestone.
All the doors on the kitchen side of the island are push-to-open, except for the dishwasher, which has a discreet razor handle. There’s also a bin system, sink cabinet and concealed drawers. “They’re all behind slab doors for symmetry,” Simon says.
Pendant lights, clients’ own.
Pendant lights, clients’ own.
On the blue, outward-facing side of the island there are push-to-open cabinets. “The owners have yet to fill these,” Simon says. “We deliberately designed more storage than they needed right now, so they can grow into it as the family grows.”
The sink in the island is generously sized, so the owners can comfortably wash big baking trays in it. It also has a three-in-one boiling-water tap. “Its best feature is that it has a hose,” Simon says. “Because the sink is so big, it needed that so you can rinse around the sides.”
A built-in soap dispenser matches the tap.
Boiling-water tap, Quooker.
A built-in soap dispenser matches the tap.
Boiling-water tap, Quooker.
The kitchen as seen from the open-plan living room.
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Tell us:
Inspired by the storage in this large kitchen? Let us know what your favourite type of kitchen storage is in the Comments.
Find a design professional from the Houzz directory
Tell us:
Inspired by the storage in this large kitchen? Let us know what your favourite type of kitchen storage is in the Comments.
Who lives here? A young family with two small children
Location The Holywood Hills in County Down, Northern Ireland
Property A newly built farmhouse in a rural location
Room dimensions 6.7m x 7.5m (the kitchen and dining areas only; in the same, semi-open-plan space, there’s also the children’s den and a snug)
Designer Simon Lennox of Adornas Kitchens & Interiors
Photos by Collings & Heal Photographic Services