Following my kitchen inspiration post last week, today is the big reveal!

Our house being a new build, we luckily had very little work to do in the kitchen. The style the developer fitted is modern and white, which I don’t love but don’t mind too much either. It is bright and not too much of a statement in our open plan living space.

We, however, had a few challenges to address, 1) the lack of storage, 2) creating an informal dining area where Andrew and I can casually have our meals without having to set our big dining table, and 3) keeping the kitchen area contained in a fully open plan space.

You will see below that when we moved in, all we had was that kitchen corner. Not bad, but knowing that one of the cabinets is the dishwasher and another one is the boiler, we ended up with a lot less storage than it first seems.

So how did we styled the kitchen to add extra storage and a sitting area? Ready for a kitchen tour? Let me show you!

One of the first things we bought for the kitchen was an island unit. It fits perfectly in the middle of the kitchen, it helps balance the area and extends the kitchen away from the corner while maximising and optimising the space we have.

The island is the Stenstorp from Ikea, and probably one of the best things we have ever bought for this house! Not only does it provides us with a dining area, but it also offers plenty of storage hidden away at the back, this is where all our pots and pans live without being a sore for the eyes.

I aligned the island with the central wall which I decorated with a gallery wall. I styled the top of the island with grey placemats from Ikea, a geometric teal fruit bowl from Flying Tiger, a cement flower vase from Zara Home, and I always have a scented candle on it which I change with the season.

I got the metallic industrial stools from Lakeland Furniture, in the medium-height size (unfortunately they are not available anymore but you can find similar ones here). It is good to note that the Ikea island is fairly low, so you need medium-height sits as the regular bar stools’ height doesn’t leave space for your legs to fit under the counter top.

On the right of the island, we have some additional kitchen cupboards. We got those installed as we were lacking closed storage and this area was just a wasted space. We could have installed a small sideboard, but making the investment and having real cabinets fitted gave us a pantry and baking tools storage while tying the space together with a uniform design.

On top of those additional cupboards we have some basic ingredients such as sugar and coffee, stored in jars from Flying Tiger. I also left on display my old Bialetti coffee maker from my student-years and my French press from Bodum. Being a coffee addict I find those aesthetically pleasing enough to use them as decoration.

On the other side of the countertop, you will find our little coffee station (we do really like coffee). We have the Nespresso Citiz coffee machine in cream, the Nespresso milk frother, some Monin syrups (salted caramel for him, pumpkin spice for me), and a capsules storage box. We use our Nespresso machine almost every single day so it definitely worth the investment!

Now let’s turn around and have a look at the kitchen that was fitted in the first place. We made sure to match the island and the new cupboards with the white cabinets and wood countertop that were already there, so from afar you would never be able to tell what was there when we moved in and what wasn’t.

On the left, we have our sink and dishwasher, with light bulbs pendant lights. We were very lucky enough that the developer had decent taste and fitted these! There are definitely lights I would have picked myself.

This is also where our De’Longhi kettle and toaster live. I love the vintage style, the texture and colour of these. Unfortunately, this is an old collection, but De’Longhi has another similar kettle and toaster.

I also purchased a fancy looking hand soap from the Galeries Lafayette in France, the smell is absolutely divine so make sure you grab one next time you visit ‘douce France’!

Then we have the hob area which is very conventional. Our appliances are all from Bosch and they work just fine. Our backsplash is made of seaweed coloured subway tiles.

On the right, we have our WMF knife block. I absolutely love WMF for kitchen stuff! All our pots are from there too, and everything they do is excellent quality. It is pricey but it will last you a good while! We also have our basic condiments next to the hob, nothing special here, just the regular olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

On the left of the hob, live our kitchen utensils, our microwave, Brita filter jug and the cat treats in a beautiful ‘cat’ jar from Alessi.

Finally, the most used, and the most important area of the kitchen, the cat dining space. Even for his area, I didn’t want to compromise on style, so his food is stored in a fancy Orla Kiely canister. His food bowls and his feeding mat are simple, grey and from Pets At Home.

That’s it folks! The kitchen tour is over. I hope you like what I have done with the space and if you made it here, well done! That was one long post, but I wanted to make sure to cover everything. Until next time!

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