This once ugly extension has been transformed into a bold and playful kitchen filled with beautiful antiques

Reimagining a compact galley kitchen for modern family life is a challenge that faces many owners of period homes.

The most common solution to overcome a compact galley kitchen is to extend.

While this does open up the space, there is a real art to uniting the old and the new, something that was obvious to Anna Hope the minute she stepped into the poorly-designed galley kitchen extension in her Victorian townhouse.

Marrying the modern extension with period property

Like so many homes of this era, Anna’s kitchen was located in a modern extension.

‘The kitchen had white gloss cabinets, a cream tiled floor and dark worktops. It was so cold and sterile, and I felt like I would be forever cleaning the space rather than enjoying it,’ says Anna. While the room had lots of natural light – thanks to several roof lights, glazed French doors and windows – this only added to its stark, unwelcoming feel. ‘It wasn’t somewhere we could enjoy as a family, says Anna.

As part of the extension, the previous owners had incorporated a narrow downstairs bathroom against the back wall. ‘Not only did this feel odd, plonked in the corner of the kitchen, but it also meant the working space was reduced to a small, narrow rectangle,’ says Anna. ‘The rest of the house is really well proportioned, so the kitchen felt very out of place.’

Recreating the room

Stripping the space back to basics, Anna worked with designers at Harvey Jones to recreate the room’s floor plan, demolishing the bathroom walls and creating an L-shape run of cabinetry to establish a better use of space.

This served as a blueprint for the local building company, which set about bringing the vision to life – knocking down walls, rerouting the plumbing, relocating the bathroom under the stairs and removing the existing fixtures and fittings.

‘We rewired the space so we could choose where to position the lights and sockets. We also filled in the spotlights as they felt really clinical and I knew I wanted reclaimed antique lighting.’

In addition to reimagining the sense of flow within the kitchen, Anna considered how the modern extension would connect to the original house, both practically and in terms of design. Replacing the door between the kitchen and the rest of the house with a curved archway instantly created a smoother transition between the old and new, bringing architectural interest to the extension. ‘The arch turned a slightly odd, tall rectangular doorway into a lovely soft feature that reminds me of Georgian orangeries. It makes my heart sing,’ says Anna.

Adding warmth and building character

Usually, renovation projects see windows being added to make the room feel brighter; however, Anna went for the opposite approach, filling in several windows and roof lights to create a cosier feel. ‘To compensate, we enlarged the window that used to be in the bathroom so it could hold a traditional Victorian sash windows,’ adds Anna. In a thoughtful tribute to the home’s history, the doorway’s original lintel was cleverly repurposed as the windowsill behind the sink.

Raw terracotta tiles, sourced from Floors of Stone, were another nod to history, both grounding the room and setting the tone for its warm, rich colour palette. The muted plaster pink on the walls brought a softer element and proved the perfect partner to the darker cabinetry designed and fitted by Harvey Jones – Farrow & Ball's Studio Green, available at B&Q, is a similar colour.

‘I especially love the little details in the cabinetry,’ says Anna. ‘It has an intricate beading which makes it feel a bit more elegant than the classic Shaker-style that you see everywhere at the moment.’

Introducing antiques

While the bones of the kitchen brought warmth and a heritage feel, it’s the one-of-a-kind pieces that make this space truly special. ‘I believe that, ideally, everything should have a homemade feel and like it has a real story behind it,’ says Anna.

The island, a 100-year-old French dough-bin table, takes pride of place – its unusual silhouette and painted trim immediately catching the eye. A Victorian dresser – a lucky Instagram find – and a Georgian buffet from Vinterior add to the heritage charm.

‘I wanted every element to look like it could be an original feature of the house. That meant opting for aged brass finishes and searching for hardware that felt in keeping with the property’s age,’ says Anna.

‘I also wanted lots of soft furnishings, so added cupboard curtains and worn-in Persian rugs that deliver a soft, inviting look.’

The finished space feels both homely and nostalgic, while still proving to be a practical engine room for this young family. ‘Everything works so much better,’ says Anna, ‘and it’s such a joyful place to spend time in.’

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This feature first appeared in Period Living Magazine. Click here to subscribe.