ASK THE EXPERTS
KITCHENS: MIXING DESIGN STYLES
Q How can I best mix traditional and contemporary elements when renovating a kitchen?
A The juxtaposition of a contemporary kitchen with traditional architectural features can provide a kitchen scheme that is both modern and sympathetic. The clean, unadorned lines of today’s fittings work incredibly well with the more elaborate cornicing and skirting details found in Victorian or Georgian properties, for example. On the other side of the coin, adding a Shaker kitchen to the blank canvas provided by contemporary builds can add much-needed character and charm.
Colour and material choices make a huge difference here. A marble worktop can work as a nod to heritage eras, while a modern shade on a traditional-style cabinet door can put a new twist on a classic.
TRANSFORMING OLD CONSERVATORIES
Q We have a conservatory on the back of our house. It’s connected to the kitchen via doors but it’s so unusable that it ends up being a dumping ground! We want to create a space that’s integral to the floorplan that we can use as a family. We don’t know whether to knock it down and start again or keep it and make good. The space is 2.7m x 2.7m.
A Conservatories tend to suffer the same affliction countrywide: with plastic roof panels and leaking PVCu structures, they are uninhabitable for much of the year.
Often, conservatories are stuck onto the back of a house with little or no regard as to how they will work with the rest of the layout. They are generally accessed through the former garden
