Kitchen Planning An Open Plan Kitchen Diner

Date Published:

06/11/2006

Credit:Simon Whitmore

Rip It Out And Start Again

Outdated units and a badly planned layout gave Naomi and Jamie Curry licence to remove, destroy and revamp. Read on to find out how they created their perfect kitchen.

Naomi and Jamie Curry bought their Edwardian house in Liverpool just over a year ago, but it was obvious from the start that it would take some work to bring it up to scratch. 'The whole house was totally run-down, but the kitchen was the worst,' says Naomi.

Apart from the fact that the original kitchen was about 20 years out of date, there were several other problems, too. All the units were at the garden end of the room, blocking the view to outside and meaning that the kitchen suffered from a severe lack of light. There was also a shortage of worksurfaces, making the kitchen quite impractical for food preparation.

Credit: Simon Whitmore

Naomi and Jamie's biggest kitchen luxury was their multi-fuel wood burner. 'It has always been my dream to have one of these in the kitchen,' says Naomi.

The obvious, though costly, solution was to move the kitchen units to the opposite side of the room and solve all the problems simultaneously. Not only would this create space for more worktops, but it would also mean the wall where the old units were could be knocked out and replaced with large, fold-back patio doors to reveal a stunning view of the garden that was previously hidden.

'We'd set ourselves a budget of about £20,000, including building works, and reckoned we could just about afford it,' says Naomi. 'Plus, I knew the patio doors would be a big selling point in the future. Jeld-Wen was the only company I could find that made them, and they weren't cheap because they are made from solid wood.'

Credit: Simon Whitmore

With the main building work complete and the plain white kitchen installed without a hitch, Naomi and Jamie kept the rest of the scheme modern and streamlined. 'I have such a hectic lifestyle, I was desperate to come home to a sociable and calming space,' she says. So, has it been worth all the hard work, not to mention the credit card bills? 'Definitely,' says Naomi. 'We often have people round for dinner and to be able to seat everyone and still have space to move around is great.'