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When renowned shoe and boot designer Penelope Chilvers bought her Cotswold farmhouse some six years ago, she declared that she wouldn’t change a thing. ‘I loved the house because it was unrestored,â€� she says, ‘but then our children started having babies and I realised the kitchen, which was really a small parlour, could only fit four people around the table and I was dreaming of a space where our five children could get together and the grandchildren could play and run around the table.â€�

While Penelope and her husband decided to enlarge the kitchen, by knocking a stud wall through into the dining room next door, they didn’t want to create a typical open plan, modern kitchen but instead, they wanted to retain the rustic charm of the low-ceilinged, 400-year-old building.

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It was at this point that Penelope turned toÌęNeptune, visiting the Cheltenham store which, as a Georgian townhouse, features some smaller space kitchen layouts that helped her envisage what her own small kitchen could look like. Penelope’s kitchen journey had begun.

‘Next the design experts came for breakfast,â€� says Penelope. ‘We sat in the old parlour kitchen, and they talked me through what could be done. I wanted the kitchen to look like it had been there forever, so we selected Henley cabinetry as it was similar to the cupboards that had been there before.â€�

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Originally, Penelope had been keen to keep her much-loved solid ash kitchen table rather than introducing a fixed island, to avoid covering up the beautiful original flagstone floor. Instead, the Neptune team suggested she incorporate a freestandingÌęCharlecote island with a marble worktop. ‘It has been indispensable and makes the space look like an old Victorian working kitchen,â€� adds Penelope, ‘plus, I’ve now got an extendable 12-seater Sheldrake table in the dining area so we can easily have large gatherings for lunches and dinners.â€�

AÌę tap and Belfast sink, induction hob, Henley broom cupboard (‘my new favourite luxury where I now keep the ironing boardâ€�) and made-to-measure merino wool curtains by , completed the kitchen transformation.

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Outside, a disused out-house was re-imagined as a convenient boot room with the addition of two fitted Pembroke open cupboards, with solid oak shelves, and a Buckland bench, all painted in Sage. Extra storage comes from a run of Wardley coat hooks and useful under-bench Somerton baskets. ‘The boot room has become a wonderful extension of our home,â€� says Penelope. ‘The most useful part of the house really, where we polish our boots, keep our boots, and store our warm clothes. Having the bench means I can sit down with a cup of tea, polish my boots and just have a quiet moment to myself.â€�

Back in the kitchen, and sharing Neptune’s affinity for natural colours and quality materials that get better with age, Penelope was drawn to Henley’s exposed oak finishes and wanted to bring a sense of the countryside inside, so she opted to paint the freestanding island, wall cupboards and walls in Sage (‘which is like light shining through refracted glass, in summer it feels like ·É±đ’r±đ outside, in winter it warms up the roomâ€�), while painting the Suffolk cabinetry in Polenta which reflects the mellow yellow tones of the building’s Cotswold stone.

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As a conservationist and trained artist who still draws every day, Penelope was keen to personalise her kitchen with a nod to nature. Using watered down NeptuneÌępaint shades, she spent a few happy weekends painting butterflies on the inside of the glass-fronted wall cabinet. ‘Butterflies remind me of the fragility of nature and last year I noticed there were hardly any butterflies around, so they were on my mind,â€� says Penelope. ‘I’d like to think that as our grandchildren grow up, they will always remember visits to the house with the butterfly kitchen cupboard.â€�

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And those family gatherings? The paint had barely dried before Penelope and her husband began hosting. ‘We had twenty family and friends for lunch on the first weekend after the kitchen was finished,â€� she adds, ‘so we’ve definitely celebrated the space.â€�

Feeling inspired by Penelope's kitchen? Shop the edit, orÌębookÌęyour free consultation today or visit your nearestÌęstore to start your kitchen project.

Proof of the versatility of our kitchen collections is the elegant, painted and oak kitchen in Rosanna and Kydd’s Primrose Hill home. Successfully combining two kitchen collections â€� Suffolk cabinetry wrapping around the walls with a Henley oak island â€� the kitchen is an essay in harmony, from the mellow colour palette to the fine details and proportions. And, to test the theory further, the couple added a Chichester laundry and boot room off their new kitchen.

When Rosanna and Kydd decided to amalgamate the lower garden level into their upper-storey Victorian terrace, it was a no brainer to turn the space into a large, welcoming kitchen that connected directly with the garden, free-flowing into a playroom for three-year-old Kasper and baby Paloma, a utility room and boot room. It was also an obvious decision to opt for a Neptune kitchen: the couple had already installed a Chichester kitchen in the original flat, so they were familiar with the collections � and their flexibility. Indeed, the former kitchen space on the first floor was turned into a study and the existing Chichester cabinetry was overhauled to become smart and useful office storage.

But back to the new kitchen. The vision was clear: ‘It needed to marry beauty with function,â€� says Rosanna. ‘We wanted it to be the heart of the family home. A place for adults to cook and entertain in, but also for our children to play in and feel welcome. A place where Kasper could pull up his wooden standing ‘towerâ€� and happily make food alongside me.â€�

The connection with the garden was also important. During the early renovation, working with architect Reginald Verspreeuwen, building team and design studio , the couple installed full length windows overlooking the garden to ‘breathe light into a shady basementâ€�. The windowsâ€� strong lines drew the eye vertically to take in the impressive ceiling heights and this became an important factor in the kitchen design process. Tall worktop units with slim bi-fold doors (one is now a coffee and breakfast station) were designed to sit either side of the Lacanche range to emphasise the elongated lines of the room. On the other side of the room, a high, glazed countertop cabinet was bespoked to fit neatly under the stair well.

Central to the kitchen, though is the Henley island. Working with kitchen designer Nerine Vacher from Neptune Fulham, the couple configured the island to create a deep and comfortable breakfast bar area. ‘We went through a lot of design options and Nerine was amazingly patient,â€� recalls Rosanna. ‘No idea was silly, and nothing was too much trouble to draw up. In the end, I love how the modern functionality of the Suffolk cabinetry frames the room and allows the exposed oak of the island to bring an organic warmth into the space and connect us with the garden.â€�

‘We needed to be flexible with the design process,â€� adds Nerine, ‘as it was an evolving renovation project with complexities like the under-stair area. But it all came together well. We treated the Henley island like a separate piece of furniture which complemented the rest of the space.â€� Ìę

With finishing touches like the robust worktop, the patinated brass tap and antiqued brass handles adding depth to walls painted in Salt, cabinetry painted in Suffolk’s standard Driftwood shade and the utility cabinetry accented in French Grey, the space feels cohesive and complete. Just as Rosanna and Kydd envisioned it.

Rosanna’s top tips for a kitchen renovation

1.

±őłÙ’s tempting in the design phase to romanticise aesthetics, but domestic joy also comes from practicality. We toyed with having a marble worktop, but with so much activity around the island, ·É±đ’r±đ grateful we chose a durable composite instead.

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Consider how you like to socialise. For us, sharing a glass of wine while cooking family meals was key, which gave us the confidence to choose an oversized island and a smaller kitchen table. The opposite choice might make more sense for families who love sitting down for a full three-course meal.

3.

Don’t be afraid to be particular. Aside from our home itself, the kitchen is our biggest investment, so we had many discussions with Nerine on the design. We were met with flexibility and quality â€� we couldn’t be happier with the result.

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To begin your kitchen journey, book your free design consultation today or visit your nearest store.Ìę

Inside the walls of a pink 20th Century Maison, Oxford the family dog nuzzles up to the in search of warmth. ‘It was my non-negotiable when moving out of our Paris apartment, I longed for a traditional Aga and an English kitchen to complement it,â€� MaĂŻ, of online store , explains. And what started as reclaiming a childhood memory of cooking with her mother around the Aga, evolved to creating a kitchen that exudes English charm within the surrounding French countryside.Ìę

When MaĂŻ and her husband Henri moved into their home in 2018 they were already a family of five, and a little later Basile joined, bringing the household to an energetic four boys, plus Oxford. ‘I always wanted a kitchen where I could watch over the boys and for it to be the heart of our home, and this is it,â€� says MaĂŻ. Before moving in the couple revised the floor plan to make use of the larger dining room at the back of the house, removing a fireplace and replacing with a window out to the garden â€� where MaĂŻ could watch the boys play â€� and opening up a large kitchen-dining space, which leads to a functional boot room. Opting not to add a kitchen island and instead have one wall of fitted worksurfaces and a double-door Suffolk larder to the side, the new kitchen footprint provided plenty of room for the boys to run around, too. ‘They sometimes play football in here which drives me mad but I do love having the large open space,â€� MaĂŻ chuckles.ÌęÌę

It was decided early on that the interior would reflect a traditional English kitchen, and working with Pierre, owner and designer of the Paris store, helped MaĂŻ bring her vision to life. â€�I’d originally seen a Neptune kitchen in my cousinâ€�s home in London many years ago and I loved the charm and character. To discover that Paris had a store and I could see the collections for myself, it made the process so easy.â€� MaĂŻ was instantly drawn to the classic design of Suffolk, ‘I liked the solid oak drawers which for me are much more functional than cabinets as I can easily see everything, and the simple decorative cornicing which felt like a classic style that can cross the ages. Something I noticed is that the British really consider functionality and storage, and it was obvious to me that Neptune was doing this best in their designs.â€� And because the Pearl AgaÌęwas already decided on, Pierre suggested a customised cooker hood to match the Suffolk cabinetry details, tying the whole room together.Ìę

Looking to keep the space feeling warm and making use of the original wooden floors, MaĂŻ introduced colour to the drawers and cabinets. ‘All the walls are white but I wanted a kitchen with character, so together Pierre helped us choose the dark Navy as I found it very warm and it complemented the Aga. I then added green through striped cushions on the bench and curtains,â€� says MaĂŻ. Character was also considered through the fitted bench seating and antique table and chairs that MaĂŻ has collected as part of her passion curating unique finds for her online store, Cherished Corner, and to display lovingly throughout the home.ÌęÌę

Today the family kitchen is a hub of activity, but still MaĂŻ finds time to reclaim the space, ‘this is the place where I like to wake up, have my first cup of tea and check my emails or read a magazine.â€� One of the hero pieces in the kitchen, other than the Aga, was the Suffolk double door larder. â€�±őłÙ’s like a pantry! ±őłÙ’s nice to have space to put everything inside hidden away; food, toaster, microwave, everything. There are many drawers and door racks, Ÿ±łÙ’s just a brilliant piece of storage,â€� exclaims MaĂŻ. A tidy kitchen is what MaĂŻ covets but she admits she loves it most when Ÿ±łÙ’s filled with her family, cooking a meal while the boys huddle together to do their homework, or sharing dinner with friends who visit and remark on her enviable â€�British styleâ€�.ÌęÌę

â€�I often think that the house is a mirror to a person. It's a reflection of what you are, and this kitchen is it for me,â€� MaĂŻ muses. The contrast of calm and cosy, with the comforting noise and chaos of family life, Ÿ±łÙ’s a kitchen łÙłóČčłÙ’s truly lived in.Ìę

To begin your kitchen journey, book your free consultation today or visit your nearest store.Ìę

Nigel is something of a Neptune kitchen aficionado, having installed four other Neptune kitchens in previous homes (you might recall the Chichester kitchen in his Ealing home, with its foxed glass and Morris & Co. wallpaper, which is also on our journal). Each somewhat unexpected yet completely in keeping with the setting, and this project was no different: a galley kitchen for a bijoux Cotswolds retreat, which Nigel shares with his partner, David. ‘While this is a beamed country cottage, I didn’t want it to feel predictably chintzy,â€� explains Nigel. ‘Instead, I wanted to create an elevated, elegant space infused with rustic charm.â€�Ìę

Nigel turned to our Suffolk collection to achieve his vision ‘because it transitions very easily from a country look to a sophisticated vibe.â€� While the cottage is Grade II-listed, he was able to make a few structural changes that allowed for the best use of the long, narrow space. ‘The original kitchen had a woodstore at one end, so we opened up the doorway and now rather grandly call it the boot room,â€� he tells us, laughing. ‘We also positioned the full-sized fridge there as it was too big to fit into the main kitchen space.â€�Ìę

An unused, low doorway to the garden was an original structure and couldn’t be removed, so the couple ingeniously turned it into a coffee station-meets-cocktail bar, fitting a shallow Suffolk wall cabinet at floor level, and installing underlit shelves into the nook created by the doorframe.Ìę

Elsewhere, they introduced various space-saving techniques to open up the two-and-a-half by four-and-a-half metre room. The rectangular Belfast sink was flipped sideways to fit the tight space, and the taps positioned at the side rather than behind the sink; an integrated bin was essential to streamline the L-shaped kitchen and the long, nine-hundred millimetre drawers were ‘a god-send: they fit all the pans and crockery and work incredibly hard.â€� While the pedestal legs (rather than skirting) were a deliberate decision: ‘They make the cabinets look like pieces of furniture rather than a sleek fitted kitchen, which works in a property of this age,â€� adds Nigel.ÌęÌęÌę

When it came to decoration, Nigel wanted something that would work with the beige and creamy tones of the heavily veined Arabescato marble work surface. The floor was a simple reclaimed pine from with a light wash applied, and the cabinets, walls and timber cladding were finally painted in .

And so, with the cottage project completed, the couple are enjoying weekends in the country in their thoroughly elegant home with a dash of rustic charm, just as Nigel envisaged they would.Ìę

No matter how big or small your space, our designers can help you make the most of it. Find out more and book your first, free consultation here.Ìę

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Moving into a new property is exciting but there can be a temptation to make quick decisions. A few years on however and that earlier vision can change. That was the situation commercial director Debbie Harris found herself in, seven years after moving into her forever home and installing her much anticipated Neptune kitchen.

“I’d been obsessed with Neptune kitchens for ages as I’d seen advertisements for them in magazines,â€� she recalls. “When I moved into my house, Neptune Canterbury was just opening so I went to the launch day and quickly got to work with the design team on creating my dream kitchen.â€�

Debbie, who channels her creative passion for interiors into the Instagram site , was clear that she wanted in-frame, painted cabinetry and was drawn to the simplicity of the Suffolk collection. “I loved the idea that I’d have the ability to change the look in the future whilst having a kitchen that was guaranteed to last a lifetime.â€� Her Suffolk kitchen was duly fitted, and Debbie settled into life in her detached 1930s Kent house with her two growing children and Alfie the cockerpoo.

Roll on six years and Debbie was ready for change but not for the cost of a new kitchen. She admits: “I didn’t live in the house long enough to see how I’d use it. There were areas that always bothered me.â€� An existing partition wall between the kitchen and eating area, where the island was situated, made the space feel enclosed. Debbie wanted a better sense of connection and wanted her island to be a social place for friends and family to gather. But her Suffolk cabinetry was robust and so she was keen to find a way to reconfigure the space to suit her new vision.

Debbie reached out to Lauren Jennings at whose design work she’d long admired. “I had a good idea of what I was looking for this time around,â€� she says, “I wanted a marble worktop and splashback and was impressed how Calacatta Viola marble can warm up the look of a kitchen.â€�

“Debbie loved a previous project of mine with a tall stone splashback and stone shelves,â€� explains Lauren, “so weÌęknewÌęfrom the outset this was something we wanted to add. I came up with a brief for new stone worktops in a bold marble and suggested the island be painted a green/brown shade with an oak worktop. Debbie wasn’t initially thinking of a wooden worktop but after some consideration was happy to go with it.â€�

Lauren helped Debbie source the stone though “the process is very different to man-made alternatives. There’s so much variety and you can’t choose from a sample cut, it is advisable to view the slabs in person,â€� says Lauren. “This can be a slow and sometimes painful process as slabs you travel to see, may not always be right for the project. It is good to be aware of the slower pace and enjoy the experience of seeing so many beautiful stones. I always find Ÿ±łÙ’s worth it in the end.”Ì�

Lauren also came up with a solution for some awkward boxed-in piping. “We used a pantry cupboard to hide the pipes,â€� says Debbie, “and it also proved useful for tucking away the kettle and toaster. The previous cooker hood was replaced by a bespoke, more discreet version and the sink was realigned with the kitchen window â€� swapping out one base cabinet for a slimmer wine rack.

Debbie opted for the colour update and had the cabinetry repainted from Cobble to Snow, while the new oak island worktop was extended to offer a better seating arrangement and repainted in Mylands� Artillery Ground shade.

ÌęDebbie’s new-not-new kitchen is a remarkable makeover. While she splashed out on the marble surfaces, the rest of her new kitchen was more cosmetic yet she’s left feeling as if Ÿ±łÙ’s a whole new space. “The project has given the room a new lease of life without the expense of a new kitchen,â€� says Debbie, “and I’ve fallen in love with it all over again.â€�

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When Irish food author and TV cook Donal Skehan set out to create a kitchen for his new home, it would be fair to say his list of requirements were longer than average. For not only did he need a smart, functional kitchen for his young family to enjoy, but it also needed to be photogenic “from 360 degreesâ€� for all the food and recipe ideas he films in the space.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, this new kitchen would be a stepping stone towards a more substantial cook space that he and his wife Sofie planned as part of major renovation and extension works on the 1930s cottage. “So, I was sold the minute the Neptune design teamÌętold me that the cabinets are individual pieces of furniture and could be repurposed at a later date,â€� says Donal. “It felt really sustainable.â€�

It was the property’s jaw-dropping coastal location just outside Dublin (the sand dunes come up to the garden wall) that first attracted the couple to the cottage. And while they had begun discussions with architects about how they might eventually create their dream family home, while respecting the legacy of the original building, they also needed a workable kitchen for the foreseeable future. That was when they turned to Neptune.

“I was very clear that I didn’t want to put in a new kitchen only to rip it out again when we did the extension,â€� says Donal, “and not many kitchen companies could offer me that surety. To add to this, we needed a kitchen that would cater for family life in the morning, and then could be cleaned down for recipe testing or filming for the rest of the day. I needed a workhorse kitchen!â€�

Useability and spatial planning â€� right down to the well laid out spice drawers â€� was also important for Donal, so he was attracted to the adaptability of the Suffolk collection as well as its meticulous details such as the concealed bins, the backlit cupboards which “help when I’m digging around for ingredientsâ€� and the pantry cabinet with its adjustable shelves, “useful, depending on what equipment I’m working with, such asÌę a microwave or slow cookerâ€�.

While Donal had precise cabinetry specifications, he and Sofie also had an idea of how they wanted the layout to work. “We had planned to position the kitchen table centrally in the room, but the design team suggested flowing it out from the kitchen with a fitted Buckland bench seat which has been much more successful,â€� says Donal. “It made the space feel more welcoming.â€�

Deciding on a colour scheme proved harder, however, not least because the kitchen would be featuring regularly on Donal’s video stream. The couple initially toyed with the idea of Burnt Sienna painted cabinetry before finally plumping for Cactus which proved “a game-changer, it fits so well with the cottage aesthetic.â€�

Luckily, the installation process was less arduous. “As a new homeowner, going into these projects with builders and decorators can be daunting,â€� admits Donal, “but we had an exceptional experience with the Neptune team. Everything we wanted was discussed and translated into what we see now.â€�

ÌęA few months on and the family are enjoying their new kitchen, gradually adding personal touches as they settle in. “I have great intentions to be more modern, but at my core, I love vintage pieces,â€� says Donal who collects Irish ceramics by and antique tableware. “I bought the kitchen table at an auction 15 years ago, so to see it make it to our final home and fit in so well is really pleasing.â€� But for this busy working cook, it is the Suffolk kitchen’s tried and tested useability that wins out. “All the functional details in the kitchen have made life easier, and you don’t get to experience that until you are in the space and using it.â€�

A kitchen that resonated with the natural world. One that was humble, and felt organic. And one that could meet the needs of a family in the countryside. These were the qualities that Ben and Marina Fogle were set on bringing to their Neptune kitchen.

Home profile

Built in the early twentieth century from brick and flint, this former gatehouse in the Chilterns is home to broadcaster and modern-day explorer Ben, his wife Marina, a podcaster and antenatal educator, their children Ludo and Iona, and dogs Storm and Swift. Their home â€� a rural spot, surrounded by woodland and a ‘big, beautiful and wildâ€� garden â€� is situated in an area of particularly personal significance. ‘My grandparents bought a house in the village here in the forties,â€� explains Marina. ‘±őłÙ’s where my father grew up, and later met and married my mother. And my sisters live nearby too. ±őłÙ’s a close community where families have known each other for generations.â€� For Ben, who began visiting the area some fifteen years ago when he first met Marina, there was never any doubt about where the couple would put down roots: ‘The more time you spend here, the more you come to understand how special it is.â€�

The project

When Ben and Marina bought their home in 2018, they set about transforming it into something truly special. An ‘outside-inâ€� house that responded to the seasons, and a one that celebrated ‘beautiful, modern functionality.â€� Perhaps unsurprisingly, the kitchen was an integral part of the redesign. Intent on creating a room that could bend and stretch to fit family life, space and durability were absolute necessities. ‘±őłÙ’s rarely just us. We’re very sociable and love an open door policy, so we wanted a room that was perfect for plenty of people and pets,â€� says Ben. ‘We needed to know it could withstand spills and bumps too. The more marks the better, I say â€� Ÿ±łÙ’s reflective of fun, life and chaos!â€� Marina adds.

Both agreed the design should complement the architecture and style of the property. ‘The house is 120 years old, and humble. We didn’t want anything too shiny, but favoured a pared back timber kitchen that felt organic. And something that would still work in twenty years,â€� explains Ben. So, with timeless simplicity in mind, the couple paid a visit to Neptune Chiswick to explore the ideas for their new space further. ‘We’re both big devourers of magazines, and have long noticed Neptune adverts. I love that the pieces are beautiful but robust,â€� Marina explains.

With strengthened notions of what they hoped to achieve, Ben and Marina then turned to designer Kelly at our Wiltshire HQ for help with putting the pieces together. ‘We felt really confident that she appreciated what we wanted, as well as what was sensible,â€� Marina continues. Must-haves for the kitchen included plenty of work surfaces and a generous island, two dishwashers and a ‘hugeâ€� fridge. Following in the path of her mother’s ‘the more the merrierâ€� approach to entertaining â€� ‘if it was suddenly a dinner for twenty people at home, it was nothing but a bonusâ€� â€� Marina knew that this was a kitchen that needed to be practical enough, and large enough, to stand up to the task.

When it came to choosing the right cabinetry, it was Shaker-inspired Suffolk that prevailed. ‘We really liked the simplicity of it. It has clean lines, and felt like the right thing for the house,â€� Ben explains. But it was also important that the kitchen didn’t feel too homogenous. ‘We wanted the design to look like three separate components â€� the breakfast larder, the island and the cabinets â€� and not like a matching ‘suite’â€�.

Accordingly, the couple turned to colour, as well as an approach to decorating that blended old and new (something they’ve carried throughout their whole home), to create the kitchen’s distinct look and feel.

‘We love to collect anything unusual or unique from fayres and online. With the nature Ben’s work, it just fits,â€� Marina muses, smiling. ‘And the colours, like Farrow and Ball’s Duck Green, are shades we’ve loved ever since we’ve been decorating our homes together,' adds Ben. 'They’re a real celebration of the garden, wildlife and surrounding countryside. We really liked that we could introduce them to the different parts of the cabinetry to really make it our own.'

Life in their new kitchen

How do you feel about the space now?
±őłÙ’s everything we wanted. What’s so beautiful about living in an outside-in house is that Ÿ±łÙ’s constantly changing with each season. There’s nothing nicer than drinking coffee in the kitchen to birdsong. And we have a fabulous Esse range cooker. During winter, it makes the room even more of a warm family hub.

What’s your favourite design element?
The dog food drawer â€� Ÿ±łÙ’s genius! We wanted a bespoke drawer designed specifically for storing dry dog food. ±őłÙ’s the perfect height, and within reach of the sink. The corner cupboard with the carousel is so well used too. And Kelly’s suggestion that we have the cabinets with the chopping boards and trays either side of the range was brilliant.

To start designing your Neptune kitchen, simply get in touch with usÌęhereÌęto book your first, free consultation. Or stop by and see us at your nearestÌęNeptune storeÌęto explore our collections.

There are three pretty special things about this Suffolk kitchen. One, Ÿ±łÙ’s the smallest kitchen we’ve ever created. Two, every single component is made-to-measure. And three, it belongs to the interiors oracle that is Susan Crewe (who also goes by Sue) â€� who edited leading homes magazine House & Garden for over two decades.

When Sue moved into her London home, it was in fact 35 years ago. Throughout her years here, she’s lived on each floor, though she now rents out the upper two levels, choosing to live in her ground floor garden flat â€� she splits her time between here and her Cumbrian house. “I’m actually about to build a cabin in the grounds there for the grandchildren to make mayhem and have fun,â€� she tells us.

Last year, she decided to renovate her entire flat. Enlisting the help of her son-in-law James of James Gorst Architects to reconfigure the layout, her cousin Jane Ormsby Gore of as the decorator, and as the kitchen designers, together they set about transforming this home into something very different to what it had been before. Though small, the kitchen was an integral part of the whole redesign.

“I knew from the beginning that I wished to have a kitchen that was closeted somewhere separate from my dining space. I’ve grown somewhat tired of open-plan kitchen-diners and longed for some segregation between the two. And from my dining room, I wished to have a table that would accommodate more than a few friends or family members. I said this knowing that it would mean I should lose space elsewhere in the flat, and it was the kitchen where that space was stolen. It left me with this slither of a thing and I wondered to myself, ‘how on earth will I make something of this?â€� It was this fear that lead me straight to Neptune and Sims Hilditch,â€� Sue explained.

Sue had known Neptune for some time, but it was at the launch of the Limehouse kitchen collection in 2014 that she really got to know what Neptune kitchens were all about. “I quite vividly recall the long conversations that myself and John [Sims-Hilditch] shared at the launch event, fittingly in London’s Limehouse area. He spoke to me in such great detail about a hinge that had been specifically developed for all these extraordinary mechanical and aesthetic reasons. I remember thinking to myself, this is a man and this is a company who care so incredibly about every last detail and who get it. Who really get it. ±őłÙ’s quite rare also to have a co-founder so very involved in, quite literally, the nuts and bolts of every design. I just loved it,â€� Sue continued. When asked what helped her to decide on a Neptune kitchen she replied, “I admired their design philosophy. And that of Sims Hilditch also. They take the trouble to design as things should be, deeply considering the perfect position for when one wants to reach for this and that when cooking, or when tidying away. They have this way of knowing exactly what one wants. Neptune kitchens, importantly, look good and they have integrity. And, honestly, I liked them.â€� We asked who she meant by that. The kitchens or John and Emma [Neptune’s creative director and founder of Sims Hilditch]. “Both!â€� she replied. “It can be very difficult to find a brand that you like and that you trust. The relationship should be a joy as opposed to a trial.â€� She paused. “Am I garbling? [She wasn’t.] In brief I suppose, I had such a matchbox space, the design detail was paramount or my kitchen would’ve been a veritable failure. It was obvious then to me who I needed to work with to create my adorable kitchen.â€�

Sue passed the reigns onto the team at the Sims Hilditch studio, explaining exactly what she was looking for â€� a kitchen that wasn’t folksy nor too clean-lined, a single butler’s sink in which she could fit her roasting tin, and a palette and style of kitchen that would work with her Bert & May geometric floor tiles. They advised a calming palette of Neptune’s shades Lily and Fog on the cabinets and walls â€� two tones that they assured Sue would suit the space and the light, as well as providing the perfect contrast to her bold and beautiful red dining room that adjoins the kitchen. They also advised that the Suffolk collection would match her brief best of all, but, to make it work, it would need the help of Neptune’s Bespoke Workshop in Wiltshire. Here, they could take the ‘standardâ€� cabinetry and make necessary alterations â€� from the dimensions to extra features and even new cabinetry ideas altogether. “It was rather like being at the tailors!â€� Sue joked.

In the end, all but the integrated fridge cabinet and the sink base cabinet were made-to-measure in Wiltshire. They shrunk down each of the three pan drawers, and even reconfigured the solid oak cutlery insert to work in the top drawer. They also altered the wall cabinets to sit higher but to be smaller in size so they didn’t overwhelm the room nor rid Sue of extra storage space. One was even made to fit a discreet extractor fan.

One year on, we asked Sue how was she finding life with her new kitchen? Was there anything she’d want to tweak or add? “I love it all. Truly. I wouldn’t change a thing because we were so obsessive about the detail in the design process, and every bespoke element was made just for me and my little kitchen. ±őłÙ’s simply perfect. I had misgivings about whether I could fit in all of my gubbins, but I find people are inclined to have too much stuff. My hob has four rings, so I only need four pans at most, or casserole pots. In a perfect world I might have a microwave to warm up coffee, but łÙłóČčłÙ’s hardly essential. I’ve found out that a few things are now essential to me though. My tap that delivers me boiling water. I love it so much I could kiss it! ±őłÙ’s a joy for my morning hot water and lemon and my evening hot water bottle. I also get excited by my warming drawer, which came with the oven Neptune recommended to me and made part of my kitchen design. I’ve never cooked using it, but I warm my plates like mad. I plan to use it for summer meringues very soon. I honestly smile every time I get my chopping board and tray out â€� what a delightful cabinet it is. And when I put them away I say, yippee! And my little nooks and crannies make me laugh. What fun we had together deciding how to use those best. I delight in filling my spice shelf with yellow jars from The Spice Shop on the Portobello Road, and my pocket doors mean that I can shut away the mess when I’m hosting so we feel calm and contained in my dining area. Then there’s my cubby hole, which was destined for cookbooks but has become the most valuable spot for all of the stuff that I don’t wish anybody to see!

“Yes. I just love it,â€� she said.

Looking to start your own kitchen design? Contact your local Neptune store to book your free design consultation here.

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This detached Edwardian property, located in Kent and built in 1904, has been home to Wendy and her family since 2016. Having made a few initial tweaks early on, they began a full renovation in earnest in 2019, tackling everything from a new roof and chimneys to the plumbing, electrics, kitchen and bathrooms and a layout reconfiguration at the rear of the house.

The project

From the first viewing, the potential in this family’s future home far outshone the work needed to restore it. Once the residence of a London timber merchant, his family and a small staff, over a century later, Wendy and her husband bought it from the Diocese of Rochester with the intention of converting it from a then bishop’s lodge back into a family home. Enchanted by its possibilities, generous proportions and myriad of original features (including sprung servantsâ€� bells in each room), it was love at first sight.

Following structural works to the back of the house to improve its flow and create access to the garden, the couple turned their attention to the kitchen. ‘Vicky, our Neptune kitchen designer from the Tonbridge store, looked closely at our architect’s drawings and was instrumental in helping to fine tune the space. She made sure we had the kitchen ‘triangleâ€� in place and suggested a seat rather than a sink in the bay window. I also desperately wanted a wine fridge, but we couldn’t make it work in the utility room or in the island. Eventually, Vicky found the perfect nook for it nestled between one of the pillars and the doorframe. These were decisions that have helped to make the room a success,â€� she smiles.

An early visit to the Tonbridge store not only introduced the family to both Vicky and the Neptune kitchen design service, but also helped to inspire their vision â€� particularly when it came to the oven surround on display in store, which became a must-have feature from that point on. ‘The store is also where I set my heart on an Everhot range cooker and a Fisher & Paykel fridge,â€� explains Wendy.

Considered details were high on Wendy’s list of wants, from an antique mirror splashback framed by the oven surround to an exposed wall directly opposite made from salvaged bricks from the rest of the house. ‘There’s even a tile from my husband’s family in Algeria included among the bricks,â€� she adds. ‘You can barely see it at first glance, but we know Ÿ±łÙ’s there and it means a lot. I also had a bespoke double-door larder built with additional glass-fronted cupboards and lighting on either side to work with the larger proportions of the room, and we fitted original swing doors from Liberty London that I bought from a reclamation yard â€� one leading to the utility and two to the games room.â€�

Over a year later, Wendy couldn’t be happier with the way the kitchen works as a functional family space but also continues to wow visitors. ‘I wouldn’t change a thing. It was such a well-considered project and Ÿ±łÙ’s truly the hub of the home. ±őłÙ’s only recently that we’ve been able to entertain in the space â€� Ÿ±łÙ’s so pleasing witnessing peoplesâ€� positive reactions.â€�

Life in her new kitchen

What’s your favourite thing to do in your kitchen?
‘Simply cooking supper for the family.â€�

What’s the best part?
‘Walking into the room, the light and spacious feel is so uplifting. The kitchen is the most modern room â€� the rest is done in keeping with the Edwardian style of the house â€� but the blend of old and new is so effective.â€�

What could you now not live without?
‘The larders! ±őłÙ’s unbelievable how much they can accommodate. I have one for baking and store cupboard items, and the other exclusively for everything and anything breakfast related.â€�

What’s next?
‘I would love to put in a garden room at the back of the house, first for things like table tennis and table football, but eventually to be turned into an art studio once the children are older.â€�

Explore our kitchen collections and find out more about the design process here or in any of our stores.

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Australian-born Nigel bought his one-bedroom flat in central London over twenty years ago, sold primarily on its location. Situated on the fourth floor of a prestigious Victorian mansion block which was once home to George Orwell, the flat is flooded with natural light and has ‘Mary Poppinsâ€� views across the red-tiled roofs and chimneys of Notting Hill and Kensington.

The project

For Nigel, the biggest challenge for this renovation was always going to be the flat’s size. Rather than reconfigure the floorplan to create a second bedroom and introduce an open-plan kitchen into the sitting room, Nigel opted to retain a separate eat-in kitchen. ‘The kitchen is actually large in proportion to the overall space,â€� he explains. ‘I wanted it to feel like a proper cook’s kitchen â€� a real luxury in a London pied-Ă -terre â€� so I kept the original floorplan and installed a full-size fridge and range stove.â€�

When it came to the design, Nigel chose the Suffolk collection in order to blend with the classic proportions and finishes of the historic building. ‘I kept the space pared-back, authentic to its origins, but with a few Victorian embellishments like plaster coving and panelling,â€� he says. The single run of cabinetry has been painted in Zoffany’s Bone Black (‘a gorgeous off-black with a red-pink baseâ€�) and the walls and tongue-and-groove panelling in Zoffany’s warm Tuscan Pink.

To retain a sense of openness, Nigel only installed one tall wall cabinet, tucking it into the corner by the window where it wouldn’t block any light. At the top of the panelling, a narrow shelf provides further storage, fitted with a pretty, slim brass rail sourced from a commercial display company.

On the empty, opposite wall, Nigel was keen to create more storage, but was nervous about the galley kitchen feeling cramped. A solution came during a trip to the , where he spotted a Suffolk floor cabinet without doors. ‘I combined it with a plate rack above to create a bespoke dresser,â€� says Nigel. ‘It turned out really well. A standard dresser would’ve felt too bulky and heavy, but by painting the cabinets the same colour as the walls and panelling, it feels light and open but gives some very useful extra storage.â€�

Nigel also knew that good lighting could make or break the feeling of space in the narrow kitchen. He installed smart recessed halogens in the ceiling but also introduced pretty, brass wall lights from Pooky, meanwhile ensuring the glazed wall cabinet had backlighting in it. Finally, he built an L-shaped seating area under the original sash window, big enough to host a cosy dinner party for six. ‘±őłÙ’s turned the flat from a bit of a crash pad into a lovely entertaining space,â€� adds Nigel.

To get started on your kitchen design project, arrange your initial, free consultation here.

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In the sleepy village of Birlingham (not to be confused with the city of Birmingham as it so often is), there was once a tiny school that consisted only of school hall, one large classroom and the headmistress’s quarters. Built in 1855, it was later closed as a school, and partially turned into a residential property before Pollyanna and her husband, Nick came along in 2018. They would go on to transform it into a sympathetically designed family home for them and Pollyanna’s two children, Amelia and Barney.

The project

Like so many of your kitchen stories, Pollyanna’s was hardly a case of a simple kitchen spruce-up. The former owner had covered up many of the space’s period features and had left the school hall untouched, leaving it to become home to a family of bats â€� something that set back Pollyanna’s renovations by nine months or so because of their protected status. “Having lived in a pristine, new-build property before, it was a shock to the system to say the least. We’d always said we’d never take on a project property but we fell in love with it the moment we walked through its gorgeous Georgian front door. I’d filled our new-build with antiques and so an old home was always meant to be I think, but it wasn’t fit to live in and it took a while before it got to be the home we knew it could be,â€� Pollyanna explains.

Restoring whatever period features they could (like the stone mullions) and safeguarding those that had thankfully been left (like the sweet coat pegs the children would have once used), Pollyanna knew she wanted her interior to reflect its past but with modern elements woven in too. Having accidentally stumbled upon Neptune in an antiques emporium many years ago, she did some digging and saw that we have a base in Wiltshire. Promptly booking in a visit, she turned up and found it was our but was kindly shown around the showroom below our office and fell in love. “After that visit, I said, łÙłóČčłÙ’s it, I’m having a Neptune kitchen no matter what. It would be the kitchen of my dreams,â€� she remembers.

The original kitchen was a galley that the family turned into their pantry and built an extension that would be their new kitchen, or “her babyâ€� as Pollyanna calls it. She’d decided on the Suffolk collection, telling us that she wanted something that had no risk of going out of fashion â€� “I couldn’t afford to re-do the kitchen however many years down the line, so it needed to last the course,â€� she added. And at the top of her kitchen wishlist was a larder and the full-size pan drawers she’d seen in the showroom kitchen that she longed to have in her island. “The whole kitchen design revolved around those two aspects really. I couldn’t not have them,â€� Pollyanna added.

Being a four-person family, the kitchen needed to have ample storage, not least because Pollyanna is, in her words, a crockery hoarder, counting 20 or so full dinner services that needed stowing away. Nick is a trained chef, Milly loves to cook, and Pollyanna is a born entertainer who loves nothing more than having friends over for supper parties, and so this was to be a busy, bustling space. “Before lockdown, we had an Instagram party with 40 people here for drinks and 25 for a sit-down dinner at our great big farmhouse table. Then all through lockdown, we kept entertaining, albeit virtually. Every Friday on Instagram, I’d put together a menu and do a special table-lay â€� I have almost every version of Neptune table linen there is. It was such fun.â€�

But Ÿ±łÙ’s the little things as much as the larger aspects of her kitchen that Pollyanna appreciates, from the oak zigzag adjustable shelving to the pull-out oak tea towel rail: “No way did I want to see tea towels and oven mitts on the oven distracting from my beautiful kitchen!â€� She went on to have a Neptune utility room fitted too, also in Suffolk, because she knew that if she walked from her kitchen and into a room without Neptune in it, it’d feel less special and she wouldn’t enjoy being in there so much. Working with accredited Neptune kitchen fitters, , who were also working on other aspects of the home renovation, they installed both kitchen and utility room with absolute precision.

“My kitchen is, like I said, my baby. I’m in here all the time. My family take the mickey out of me for it because the first thing I do every day is come down to my green Neptune armchairs at the end of the kitchen, make a coffee and look out onto the garden. Then you’ll find me here throughout the day, whether Ÿ±łÙ’s listening to the radio or just having a moment to myself. ±őłÙ’s the heart of our home.â€�

Life in her new kitchen

What’s your favourite thing to do in your new kitchen?
“To sit and look at it. That’s a bit sad though isn’t it? I also love doing a lovely table-lay in here when ·É±đ’r±đ hosting. Though that also makes me sound like I need to get a life doesn’t it?â€�

What’s the best part?
“The drawers in the island because they fit all my plates in, and the Suffolk dresser at the end of the kitchen too. ±őłÙ’s incredible how much stuff you can fit into both. I feel like everything has its rightful place.â€�

What could you now not live without?
“My larder. I don’t have food in it though, but all my bits, my spices and the entire Sophie Conran collection!â€�

What’s next?
“I’m going to play with the paint colour on the walls. At first, I wanted a dark kitchen but then thought I’ll go light and then I can paint it later if I want and just experiment with the walls instead. I’m tempted by Olive but let’s see. We need to repaint the living room too. After that I need to stop, just in case Nick divorces me!â€�

To get started on your kitchen design project, arrange your initial, free consultation here.