Thoughtful design decisions have transformed this family kitchen from damp and unusable to beautiful and practical

When Natalie, her husband Tim and their three-year-old daughter moved into their Victorian terraced home in Shoreditch last May, they faced a major renovation project. It hadn’t been lived in for years and the kitchen was in dire shape. ‘The old floorboards were rotten with holes, and the bathroom at the back had damp and mould,’ says Natalie. ‘Naively, I thought we were just going to need to make a few repairs and knock through a wall or two, but then the entire back of the house had to come down, steels went in, and we ended up needing to pour a new concrete floor, too.’

Rather than extend, Natalie and Tim decided to work with the original footprint, retaining the bay window at the side, which adds a lot of natural light. Their vision for the space came to life thanks to kitchen designer Dave of Herringbone House. A close friend of Tim’s, Dave became an essential part of the process early on. ‘I kept going back to Dave for advice. He just got it – he understood my style from the start,’ says Natalie. What began as a few casual sketches quickly evolved into the entire kitchen plan. ‘One of his first designs is what we went with – he nailed it straight away.’

‘Having all the tall cabinets at one end – to house the fridge-freezer, pantry cupboard and oven stack – meant we could then have a low run of units at the other end with just a shelf above them,' says Natalie. 'It looks really slick.’

Large-format floor tiles from Mandarin Stone were a last-minute switch after issues with the planned microcement floor. ‘They actually saved us money and look even better,’ says Natalie. ‘They’re easier to maintain and work really well with the rest of the kitchen.’

Originally, the plan was to have a downstairs loo at the very back of the house, but Dave advised against placing it within sightline – recommending instead a clever curved wall in the middle of the house, mirroring other curves, and allowing space for a bespoke dining bench and table.

Grouping all of the tall cabinets at one end and running low units with open shelving along the other, gives the space a sleek, uncluttered look.

A last-minute structural change made one of Natalie’s wishlist features suddenly possible: the pantry cupboard. ‘We always wanted one with pocket doors, but we couldn’t fit it around the old chimney breast,’ she says. ‘Then, by chance, our neighbours removed theirs, which meant we could remove ours – and suddenly the dream cupboard was back on the table, it felt like it was meant to be. It’s honestly one of my favourite things in the kitchen.’

The finished kitchen functions as a hub for family life and entertaining. Thoughtful design decisions mean the space is as practical as it is beautiful. ‘I’m totally obsessed with it – it’s a space that works for all of us,’ says Natalie.

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