Kate’s kitchen before and after
New work surfaces make
all the difference in kitchen revamp
When interior designer and blogger Kate
Young first viewed her new home she knew
it was the one. Despite the magnolia walls,
brown carpets and the cream kitchen, she
fell in love with the rural location, the views,
the layout and the living area’s oak floors.
Following the install the repainting of the
kitchen units was no longer necessary.
The clear white worktops brought out a
subtler tone in the cabinets, unlike the old
brown worktops, which made them look
very yellow. Replacing the dated old metal
handles with leather ones was crucial to add
to the sleek yet earthy new look and to add
texture to the plain shaker style units. The
icing on the cake to finalise the minimalist,
contemporary design was a matte black tap
and a white undermounted cast iron sink,
matched with a new ceramic hob and a
stainless steel oven.
The kitchen had beautiful stone flooring
and was a good size, big enough for a large
dining table. However, the kitchen units
looked dated and the cheap brown worktops
had seen better days. While everything was
perfectly useable, Kate was itching to get it
updated as soon as she could afford it.
As a blogger, Kate had to hold herself back
from sharing the kitchen on social media,
but after a few months, two things were
crystal clear: the units were well made and
the layout worked well. It was necessary
to find the right aesthetic to make it all
work together and tie it with the rest of the
house. She fell in love with a pared-back
overall scheme of neutral tones with black
taps, while being certain she would have to
repaint the kitchen units and jettison any
cream tones.
The search was on for new worktops;
the simplest way for an impressive
transformation given the scale of the
surfaces. Initially overwhelmed by the sheer
abundance of choice as well as budget
constraints, Kate was striving for a classy,
neutral aesthetic. While the look of marble
would have worked for the space, it was too
costly. Wood, too, was not ideal due to being
high maintenance and tricky with the desired
undermounted sink.
58 - www.refurbandrestore.co.uk
Reluctant to save for years before being able
to update her kitchen, she kept looking, and
realised she wouldn’t have to give up on her
dream. The Aria worktop range combines
the beauty of natural materials with the
durability and ease of maintenance typical
of solid core surfaces. As a fully waterproof
and non-porous surface, Aria also enabled
the incorporation of her long-standing wish
for an undermounted sink.
A neutral, subtle design was needed to
match the rustic countryside detailing.
Eventually settling on Polar White in 20mm
thickness with matching upstands, the
kitchen had to feel as light as possible.
Kate comments on the final result: ‘Our
kitchen is the most used room in the
house and the result has far exceeded my
expectations. I have a beautiful, practical
kitchen which will last for a long time. As
with every room in the house, always choose
carefully what you invest your money in. If
you have good solid cupboards try replacing
doors only or just handles. Worktops are
the biggest game changer in the kitchen, do
your research and order samples!’
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