A Kitchen That Cooks With Color and Creativity

It’s not often a bright yellow oven is the starting point for a kitchen design, but an artist and her partner were determined to include one in their Somerset, England, cottage. “The kitchen grew from [her] choice of range and her ideas for storage, much of which now contains her art and crafting materials,” says Sam Shaw of Sustainable Kitchens, who designed the space. Additional color was added with blue painted cabinets, and Shaw brought to life the owner’s sketches for a unique cabinet of drawers and cupboards with a mix of interesting woods. The kitchen is now both functional and personal. And despite sitting within a 19th-century cottage, it is about as far from a typical country kitchen in style as it’s possible to imagine. “It’s colorful, playful and just so much fun,” Shaw says.

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of 4
Location: Long Ashton, Somerset, England
Size: 17 by 11 feet (5.1 by 3.3 meters)
Designer: Sam Shaw of Sustainable Kitchens

The exposed stone walls of this cottage kitchen contribute heaps of character; against them, painted cabinets, a superbright range and solid oak countertops stand out handsomely. All the cabinets have oak fronts and frames, with birch interiors.

“The cabinets are sprayed first in our workshop to get a good base shade, then we install them and finish off by hand painting them,” Shaw says. “The great thing about using oak is you can still see the grain through the paint.”

Cabinet paint: Stone Blue in estate eggshell, Farrow & Ball


The owners had this Bertazzoni oven in mind when they first chatted to Shaw about the kitchen design. “They had it spray painted at the Ferrari factory in Italy,” he says, “in [custom] Ferrari yellow!” The pendant light over the island was also colored in this way.

One half of the couple who live in the house is a metalworker, and made the France-shaped backsplash from stainless steel. “The couple love France and go there every year,” says Shaw. “It’s beautifully made … [and] fits perfectly.”

Oven: Bertazzoni



The yellow oven and pendant light create bright focal points, complemented by the blue cabinets. “It’s quite unusual for clients to suggest this much color, but since we’ve had this kitchen on our website, it’s made a big impact,” Shaw says. “It’s just so much fun!”

To make use of vertical space, Shaw created the pot rack over the oven using metal bars and oak brackets.


Fitting in the solid oak countertops and backsplashes against the uneven stone walls was a big challenge. “We scribed them in, which means cutting the wood by hand so it fits perfectly,” Shaw says. “It was a huge job for our installation team.”

Wall paint: All White in estate emulsion, Farrow & Ball


Space was tight in this cottage kitchen, so Shaw designed a small-scale island for the center of the room. “There was a little table in the middle before, which one of the couple loved to work at and so really wanted an island in the same spot, but it had to be small,” Shaw says. “Now this area is used a lot for food prep.”


The cabinet built into the alcove at the far end of the room was designed by the homeowners. “We all call it the ‘bonkers cabinet!’” Shaw says. “It’s a random mix of drawers and doors, and we built it exactly according to their sketch.”

It’s fitted with sliding doors at the base to make efficient use of space. “The dining table is right next to it, and there wasn’t enough room to open doors outward,” Shaw says. “We wanted to cram as much storage into this small room as we could.”


The drawers in the bonkers cabinet are all made from different British hardwoods. “We have an agreement with a sawmill in Somerset called Interesting Timbers,” Shaw says. “They take down trees that are overhanging people’s homes, and we buy the offcuts and make them into drawers.”

The bottom drawers seen here are made of (from left to right): ash, walnut, beech and yew. “This arrangement gives us access to all kinds of interesting hardwoods, and it fits with our sustainable ethic, too,” he adds.


The owners found the kitchen faucet on a Swedish website and imported it. “It’s self-color brass, so it looks quite muted,” Shaw says. “It can be hard to find brass that hasn’t been polished and made to look bling.”

The cabinet knobs are made from turned mild steel. “It has a nice dull color,” Shaw says.

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URL: A Kitchen That Cooks With Color and Creativity http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-26220.html