Kayleigh Rey and her husband, Seb, bought their 1930s house with a view to starting a family, but the dark, cramped galley kitchen was far from family-friendly. ‘The kitchen was one of the worst rooms in the house and hadn’t been touched since the Seventies: there was dated pine panelling, orange laminate cupboards and broken patterned tiles,’ says Kayleigh. ‘The boiler had also leaked at some stage and the area around it was covered in mould.’
The couple lost no time in getting to grips with the dated interior. Within days of picking up the keys, Seb and Kayleigh’s dad had gutted the room and knocked through two walls to create one large open-plan space.
After scouring numerous kitchen companies, the couple settled upon Wren Kitchens who helped Kayleigh to design a light-filled contemporary space, with a central island as a focal point. ‘I had quite a strong vision of what I wanted to create: something traditional, but with a modern twist,’ says Kayleigh, who gave birth to son Emilio, now 10 months old, shortly after work was completed. Cream Shaker cabinets with pewter-effect cup handles are paired with a white quartz worktop, shimmering sage-green metro tiles and limewashed oakeffect flooring. A well-priced range cooker, which Kayleigh sourced via the internet, is one of the couple’s best buys. ‘I’ve always wanted one and was delighted to be able to find one within budget,’ she says.