With a worktop and splashback that look this good, no wonder homeowners Eva and Alex used it as the starting point for their kitchen redesign. We paid a visit to this moody ‘farmhouse chic with a modern twist’ space to discover more…

When stepping inside this kitchen design, with dark green cabinetry and Calacatta Monet marble, you wouldn’t believe it used to be dated, with faded cream units and a closed-off layout. Here, we chat with Eva all about the striking transformation.

Eva, can you tell me about your home and what it looked like when you moved in?

Myself and my husband Alex bought the property after spending more than two years searching for the perfect house in London. It’s a five-bed, terraced house – and was in good condition when we purchased it, although the whole property needed updating and modernising throughout. But it didn’t require any structural building work, as a kitchen extension had already been completed by previous owners.

So, we decided to start renovating on the ground floor, with the kitchen and living room, which are currently the only rooms completed. We’ll eventually work our way through every bedroom and bathroom upstairs, too.

What have you changed in the kitchen?

When we first moved in, it was very dated – think faded cream cabinets, slightly orange, wooden handles, and wooden countertops, and a random black granite contrasting counter on an L-shaped jut-out that cut off the middle of the kitchen space. There were dated large, brown, stone floor tiles. The upside was an amazing, huge island, but otherwise the layout and design just wasn’t working and closed off the space.

Where is your kitchen from, and what was your brief to the company?

We knew from the beginning we wanted to include marble with lots of character and veining. I had a clear idea for what I wanted the kitchen to look like, and the main features we needed to include to make our lives easier. We took those ideas to Dan McClark (founder of McClark Joinery Ltd), and he helped us incorporate everything into a 3D render so we could visualise it.

We went to plenty of other kitchen designers first to compare, but we found Dan the easiest to work with. And for an entirely bespoke kitchen, it was considerably more affordable than some of the high-end brands. Once we told Dan what we wanted, he made some suggestions and designed something bespoke based on everything we wanted to include.

Did you have any musts and must nots?

Where did you get your inspiration and ideas from? Among our musts were a wine fridge, double-door American-style fridge-freezer, double pantry with breakfast bar inside, and boiling-water tap, alongside veiny stone countertops and gold hardware. What we didn’t want was a closed-off feel, or an impractical layout.

We had a very clear idea of what we wanted the kitchen to look like, and took loads of inspiration from social media pages to bring this to life when we were designing (@no.17 house, @millieturnerdesigns, @studiolink_), along with plenty other interior design pages we stumbled across.

Can you talk me through the layout and why you went for this arrangement?

We have a long kitchen extension with bi-fold doors leading to the garden. With this in mind, I wanted to keep the counter and storage all to one side of the room, so we maximised what we could fit in there and then kept a large 2.8m island in the centre, with space for stool seating and, again, plenty of storage. Everything was about getting as much from the space as possible without making it feel closed off or cramped.

How would you describe your kitchen? Do you have any favourite bits?

For me, it’s a moody mix of farmhouse chic with a modern twist. I am obsessed with the countertops and am so happy we used the marble for the splashback behind our range cooker, because it’s such a statement.

I love the double pantry with hidden power sockets for all our appliances, and Dan made every drawer and cupboard soft close, which didn’t even occur to me but is so satisfying. In our old flat, we had a single under-the-counter small fridge and had to keep a separate chest freezer and the microwave in the cupboard under the stairs down the corridor (so impractical), and we didn’t have anywhere near enough storage.

And when we bought this house, the bins were in a broken pull-out cupboard that had fallen off the hinges, the dishwasher leaked every time we turned it on, and the tap dripped constantly. Plus, we waited over a year before starting this build.

Now, there are so many simple things in this kitchen that are there to make our life easier and add a touch of luxury, which, in contrast to the spaces we’ve had before, feel like such a treat every day.

Can you tell me about the appliances?

We went for a Fisher & Paykel fridge because they’re simplistic and gorgeous on the outside and we didn’t want to panel cover our fridge. That matches our Bertazzoni stainless steel range which we went for because we wanted something of similar style to Lacanche without the price tag. We also added a Siemens wine fridge and Quooker cube tap to have still and sparkling filtered water as well as instant boiling.

Why did you go for these colours and materials? What were the finishing touches?

We tied everything into the marble. The first thing we did was pick the stone, which is Calacatta Monet. This has lots of dark green and purple veining throughout – Alex, my husband, found the paint colour for the cabinets on an interior design page on Instagram after we had spent months trying to find the perfect green. Dan was able to colour-match any paint to spray the cabinets so it was simple from there.

We went for Armac Martin handles in a gold brass finish that matched the tap and stood out against the green, and chose matching brass brackets to hold up marble shelves, continued on from the splashback which was a last-minute addition.

How do you find the space now? Anything you would do differently?

We love the space – we found it’s impossible to get everything you wish for, so you have to prioritise what you want the most, and work backwards from there. We love cooking and hosting in here, and the space is so much more enjoyable and practical than it was before.

The only thing we’d change is to have an integrated pull-out bin – we put bins behind faux cupboard-style doors, which means it’s a two-step opening process, so all we’d change is to make it one door that pulls out the bins at the same time. It’s the little things.

How did you find the experience of the project overall?

Renovating is stressful. We’re both so glad we didn’t need to include any structural building work in this project because, honestly, it was plenty chaotic without having to do that, too. It takes longer and costs more than you anticipate, but it’s so worth it in the end. I’m pretty sure everyone says the same thing, and it’s true of our experience, too.

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

Photography: Anna Stathaki | Styling: Georgina Townshend

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