WE WERE inspired by the LIGHTING IN BARS & restaurants
Martin Hurren and Anne Mcvey transformed their new kitchen into a relaxing, mood - enhancing space.
When Martin Hurren and Anne Mcvey decided theyd had enough of their small kitchen, they chose colour - changing lighting to show it off to its best effect.
How long had you lived in your house before you decided to change the kitchen?
Wed lived here for 10 years, so the whole house needed a general overhaul, especially the kitchen, which was a small galley - style room with hardly any preparation space.
Did you have ideas for your new scheme?
Yes, we wanted a light, open kitchen with plenty of storage space and room for food preparation - a design that was more sociable and would allow us to entertain our guests while we cook.
How did you get started?
We began by employing Alice Poole from Alice Poole Architects, who won the Kitchen Designer of the Year award in 2009. There was some building work to be done next - we had a previous extension that housed a second reception room, which was where Alice wanted to locate the new kitchen. She also designed a full - width extension for the new kitchen and knocked down a supporting wall to open up the space, which mean: that we had to put in a steel girder. We were also able to incorporate new windows, with folding doors that open out to the garden.
What design did you decide on?
We were starting from scratch, so it was like working with a blank canvas. We had to really consider what we wanted —its odd. you think you know your own style but when youre given unlimited choice it forces you to think again. We wanted something sharp and modem, so we decided on a white hi - gloss kitchen. Alice thought that teaming it with walnut would be an interesting contrast - her idea was to give the kitchen a more organic feel and keep it from looking too sterile.
What inspired your lighting?
We felt that with all the white units, walls and ceilings it was an opportunity to do something a bit different where the lighting was concerned. We chose colour - changing lights after seeing them in hotels and restaurants as we thought we could do something similar.
Did you have any particular requirements?
Experience has shown us that its more practical to have your oven away from your hob, at a similar level, rather than underneath it. Its easier to move items between the two and it involves less bending down. Also, we built up the worktop so that it was at a higher level for comfort.
What made you choose a granite worktop?
We felt that granite provided a hardwearing, easily maintainable surface. Wed seen it in other peoples houses and loved it.
Is your kitchen as you imagined it would be?
Absolutely. The design fits perfectly and we use it much more than we did our last kitchen. We cook more, we weigh more, but were happy.
MAKE COLOURED LIGHTING WORK
Martin and Anne share their secrets:
Decide which areas of your kitchen you want to light. We chose colour - changing LEDs that came on a sticky - backed strip and were really easy to install. Our electrician put them above and below the cabinetry.
Make sure its on a separate circuit to the rest of your lights. Ours is controlled by a remote so that we can change the colour and frequency when we want to. We always use the lighting when we have friends over - our preference is the slow colour - changing mode.
Work out roughly how much it will cost you to run. As ours are LEDs. the cost of usage is nominal, but then we dont use it all the time, t think it would lose its appeal if we did that.
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Color in the interior