Client: Mr and Mrs Buchan
Location: Oldmeldrum
Highlights:
Transfer the kitchen from the back of the house to the front
Create a light and airy space that suited the couple’s lifestyle
Incorporate a touch of colour and fun to a traditional and functional kitchen
The brief
After moving into a ‘doer-upper’, the Buchan’s realised how urgently they needed to fit a new kitchen that was both stylish and functional. Their old kitchen was not in the best condition, with minimal natural light and was far too small to get daily tasks done.
With a keen interest in cooking, baking and spending quality time together in the kitchen, the couple were set on creating a space big enough to suit their lifestyles and was in keeping with the size of the rest of the house. It soon became clear that the best option was to transfer the kitchen to the front of the house where the original living room was.
They knew they wanted a range cooker, space to sit for socialising and a sizable kitchen island and worktops. In terms of overall style, they weren’t afraid to be a little daring in terms of colour and were looking for something that added a bit of character to the home, combined with a traditional feel overall.
The process
As this was a lockdown project, the majority of the design process was conducted over email and phone calls. We weren’t able to visit the house due to restrictions, but managed to work from images and dimensions supplied by the Buchans. Once we were all happy with the initial design and layout, we arranged for a sample box to be collected by the customer so they could create mood boards at home and choose the colours that best suited their personal style and lighting conditions.
The result
The final result is a bright and fresh space which is just as practical as it is aesthetically pleasing, with ample work top space and storage. There is a great mix of modern and traditional elements in the design, opting for green units and a wooden worktop effect, which the Buchan’s are delighted with...
“Our new kitchen is all we dreamed of and more, it is even bigger than we expected. We now spend far more time in the kitchen than before, well beyond eating and cooking. From entertaining, cooking curries and bread and relaxing listening to music, which is more than we could have ever imagined doing with our original kitchen. I love to paint but as it gets chiller outside I have been able to do so on our island which is just great.
“All of our new appliances are fantastic, especially the wine fridge, my only complaint is trying to keep it filled! Nothing in the kitchen looks cluttered with the amount of storage we now have.
“Working with the NEI team was just brilliant, they were very professional, polite and most importantly, great with our dogs! They kept us well informed throughout and answered all our questions no matter how silly! We had discovered several existing issues such as lead pipes in the property and a fuse box in need of replacement, the team at NEI were very understanding and great at finding solutions, we would totally recommend them.”
Julie Buchan
