A garden facing worktop for a contemporary kitchen redesign

When it came to overhauling their kitchen, Debbie and Allan Matheson knew exactly what they wanted from their new-look space.

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Here’s what it came down to.

The project in a nutshell:

The property: A detached new-build in Dunblane, Scotland

Who lives here? Allan & Debbie Matheson

The designer: Helen Taylor at Kitchens International

“It needed to be more contemporary than the 15-year-old kitchen we had had previously,” they tell us.

When it came to setting a brief for the redesign of the kitchen, Debbie had specific things in mind.

“I’d seen numerous Kitchen International spaces in adverts and articles,” she explains. “We knew we wanted the back wall to be all-united, with a large non-regular island.

“We wanted wine/beer coolers and a display area, along with a lower eating area and higher seating area.”

Debbie continues: “Although our previous kitchen had been an extremely successful design, we definitely knew what we wanted for our new space.

“No traditional worktop runs.

“The food-prep area to be garden-facing; the fridge to be larger, and the kitchen to sit within the kitchen.

“It was also really important to us that it could function as a a social hub, too.”

One tricky element of the kitchen build was the ceiling raft. “It was a major undertaking when so large and it involved some structural considerations,” the Mathesons tell us.

“The builders cursed it as extremely difficult to construct well due to complex shapes,” they say, “just as well it was a new build with excellent access and ability to make a mess!”

The couple had built the entire property from scratch, meaning the Kitchens International design was the first cook-space to sit within its walls.

“The kitchen was one of the first major blocks in the puzzle,” they explain.

“Unfortunately, the build took a couple of years longer than planned owing to external issues but throughout, Kitchens International were fantastic,” they say.

“There was plenty of two-way dialogue through the delays and they gave us our dream kitchen at the originally-agreed quote,” they continue.

They say: “Not having to pay VAT – due to it being a new-build – meant we stretched our budget to include all of our ‘would like’ list.

“After all, this will be our ‘forever’ kitchen!”