Essential Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Magazine August 2013 Back Issue

Keep an open mind. That is my new motto. This month, I spent a day in North London shooting our leading real kitchen story, Into The Deep (p24), and it changed my vision of a perfect home lifestyle. I’m always looking forward, dreaming of the next house move or home project I can undertake and had always thought my ideal was of far reaching country views from my kitchen window. Stepping in from the hot dusty city through a low key front door into a modern vestibule that marked the entrance to a quite remarkable self-build – and my vision of perfection instantly transformed. What marks this project out as different for me is that the owner’s vision encompassed everything needed for a really easy-living, practical and enjoyable family lifestyle. As impressive as this home is, it still embodies what it means to be relaxed. I felt instantly comfortable, like I was on holiday, more as if I had just arrived at a friend’s house in the Hollywood hills, not meeting new people in a North London suburb. Everything had been considered, and remarkably the main living area didn’t look out onto a view at all - but a slate wall created as the backdrop to a 14 metre lap pool. What this wall formed was an outdoor room that was wonderfully protected from the outside world, with just the tops of ancient oak trees poking out from above. The design of this home made me stop and think about what was possible. Everything was to hand, and yet the owner’s had selected to have no run of worktops at all – instead the preparation and cooking area is on the top of a large island, where the entire family mill around. This allowed the space to feel adaptable. Perhaps the incredible amount of storage in the kitchen scheme helped the ordered ambience. Of course, when in our next issue we will be featuring a special section on Country Kitchens I shall probably change my mind, but for now I am dreaming of a perfect three-storey city self-build on a hillside. Enjoy the issue!