design et al are delighted to announce that Elizabeth Metcalfe Interiors & Design have been shortlisted for Kitchen over £100,000 Award in The International Design and Architecture Awards 2017
Avid cooks, the clients were in desperate need to update their 1980’s home including their very small and outdated kitchen. The client cooks on a daily basis and also loves to host cooking parties where they hire a renowned chef for the day to have a cooking lesson for their friends and family. The project included a complete gut and renovation to the entire main floor with a special focus on the new kitchen. Working closely with their clients, they began the design process and set forward to design the home of their clients’ dreams.
The homes previous layout presented structural challenges so they collaborated with their contractor and architect to perfect the new layout of the home that included taking down a structural wall and adding an LVL beam to enlarge the kitchen immensely. This first-floor renovation project was designed to create a large ‘cook’s’ kitchen that could accommodate three dishwashers, multiple sinks, a variety of ovens, a large fully integrated fridge, freezer, wine unit, two islands, a peninsula and beautiful finishes, lighting and pretty colour. A complete layout alteration resulted in tripling the square footage of the kitchen area and creating a multi-functional dining and living area right next to the kitchen. Adding luxurious finishes, including a lacquer ceiling treatment over the peninsula, softly coloured linen ombre sheers, beautiful lighting, and new furnishings added a sophisticated edge to this new state-of-the-art kitchen. It takes courage, conviction, and trust to push a home to its limit, but well worth the risk.
Appropriately scaled and carefully selected lighting can make a huge design impact. They kept the envelope very neutral and fresh and added wonderful pendants by Visual Comfort, large bronze and glass sconces flanking the range and an unexpected cut-crystal flush mount light hanging above the peninsula where the lacquered wallcovering shines. This design is a perfect example where beauty follows function. This kitchen was able to accommodate the long list of ‘must-haves’ from the client while still beautiful, unexpected and glamorous.