With this being Katie and Nick’s fifth project together, we find out all about their latest renovating adventure, and if it will be their final one…

“We are quite addicted to moving house – this being the fifth property we have bought – but hopefully the last for a while, as it is rather tiring constantly moving and renovating,” laughs homeowner Katie, who has lived with husband Nick, son Max and daughter Minnie in their detached Victorian house in Sydenham Hill for the last two years. “The house had amazing potential when we moved in; great-sized rooms and no extending or structural work needed. The kitchen had already been extended with floor-to-ceiling glazing, making the most of garden views (we can’t take credit for the garden itself, as the previous owner was a garden designer).”

When the family moved in, the kitchen was tired and ‘clearly designed for just two people’, according to Katie. “It was the first space we chose to renovate, since we considered it the heart of the home,” she explains. “At the time, the kitchen was squeezed into a dark corner of a generously sized room, while the rest of the space served as an additional sitting area.”

The kitchen reconfiguration

Despite the room’s size, the kitchen felt cramped and inefficient. There were wall cupboards, which the couple felt didn’t work in the room, making it feel dark and more enclosed. “We hosted Christmas here in our first year, before the renovation, and there were 12 guests. It took some creative problem-solving to make it work, as the single oven was barely big enough to fit a chicken, let alone a giant turkey.

“We relied on the Big Green Egg BBQ, a slow cooker, and hot plates to pull it off. Not long after the holidays, we reached out to kitchen cabinet and furniture makers Herringbone House to start designing a new layout.”

The brief

The couple had a clear brief. With their shared love of cooking and entertaining, and with a family of four, their vision was to create a functional, warm, and welcoming kitchen.

“Our goal was to open up the space, bring the kitchen into the heart of the room, and make it ideal for hosting. It also had to have good flow around the island, masses of storage, and solid wood for durability and the ability to repaint in the future. Style-wise, we wanted to balance functional and classical; not too urban but also not too country. One that hopefully we will still love in 20 years time. I think we achieved everything on our wishlist.”

The kitchen layout

With all that said, it was actually one appliance that mostly influenced the kitchen layout – their range cooker. “From the outset, we knew we wanted the Bertazzoni. As soon as we saw it, we knew it was the one. The dimensions of the entire kitchen were designed around it.”

To keep the space open, a bank of cabinets sits along the darkest wall at the back of the kitchen. A generous pantry cupboard and deep drawers throughout maximise storage.

“One of Herringbone’s smartest suggestions was the ‘appliance garage’, something we hadn’t considered but now absolutely love. It keeps everyday gadgets tucked away behind bi-fold doors, neatly plugged in and ready to use, without any visual clutter.”

The kitchen island design

When it came to the island, it was created to not feel overly ‘kitcheny’. “We wanted it to feel more like a piece of furniture, so raising it on legs gave it a lighter, more elegant presence and helped avoid that bulky, built-in look,” continues Katie.

“I’ve never liked having cookers or sinks on islands; they tend to look messy and cluttered. Since I often work on upholstery projects from home, the island was tailored to double as my fabric cutting table, with the exact dimensions I needed. It’s also become the heart of daily life. The kids eat most of their meals there, and during parties, it transforms into a brilliant bar.”

The finishing touches

As for the tones and finishing touches, the couple wanted warm but relatively neutral colours on the kitchen cabinetry. So, they decided to go with Herringbone’s own paints. The main units are painted in a fresh green, with a much darker green on the island.

“We chose these shades to reflect the garden and complement the warm tones of the existing solid wood parquet floor. Initially, we were considering a wooden island but, on reflection, it would all look a bit too ‘woody’. We finished off this space with a light pink zellige tile along the length of the kitchen wall, and brass fittings and lights throughout,” she says.

Looking back…

Now that the family has been enjoying this latest renovating adventure, how do they feel about the process as well as the outcome? “It’s been great. It holds up well to the day-to-day bashings of family life, and is perfect for parties and entertaining. Other than that, there’s nothing we’d change. I’m sure we’ll update the cabinet colours in a few years, which is another great advantage of choosing a solid wood kitchen.”

That is, of course, unless a new renovation adventure calls to them in the meantime. I suggest as much, to which Katie replies, “I think we’ll be here quite long term; the kids are settled in their schools, and my sister lives on the street, too. But I’m pretty sure we’ll be on the move again one day… I have a dream to live by the sea. We still have lots of rooms to renovate. Next year, it’s the bathrooms and potentially the basement, so we have enough to keep us busy… for now.”

Photography: Anna Stathaki | Styling: Becca Cullum-Green

This house tour was featured in the August 2025 issue of Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms magazine.

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