Concrete and a ceramic island for a West London kitchen

Sharon and Robbie wanted to transform their traditional old kitchen which was separated by a wall into a bright new open plan space.

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They needed somewhere that worked both as a family space and a place to entertain.

Here’s how they, and designer Graham Robinson, did it.

The project in a nutshell:

Who lives here? Sharon and Robbie Stewart

Location: West London

Property style: Victorian

Designer: Graham Robinson, at Halcyon Interiors

Year the property was originally built: 1860

Rough budget for the project: £84k

When explaining where their inspiration came from, the Stewarts explain that, “we saw a concrete kitchen on display (by ALNO) in Halcyon Interiors showroom window in Wigmore Street and thought it would work perfectly in our home.”

Now they’ve had a chance to live in the space for a while, the Stewarts explain that their favourite aspect of the kitchen is the textured ceramic island, “We absolutely love the island, it works perfectly for when we are entertaining,” they say.

Comparatively, the favourite part for designer Graham Robinson are the sleek white Miele ovens which “blend in beautifully.”

We ask him about how the project came together.

What was the biggest challenge?

As the space was large, we didn’t want any element to overpower. For this reason we used white Miele ovens which allowed the appliances to blend in with the which was one of the reasons we recommended white Miele ovens, to create an undisturbed colour palette.

The size of the space also caused some further complications, Robinson had to think carefully about how to make extraction efficient yet subtle. “We hid ducting in a false beam to ensure it was as efficient as possible, without being visible to the design,” he says.

How does the garden view work in the space?

Initially your eye is drawn past the island towards the large open space and beautiful garden. A bank of tall white units blends into a side wall, and when you turn you see the bank of stainless steel refrigeration. The end of the island turns into a social seating area with drop pendant lighting to create an intimate mood.

Any renovation advice?

Really take time with your designer to see where the money is being spent so you can evaluate the best was to use it.”