jcbuysandsells' ideas
Here’s a twist on the norm: Making Spaces installed wall units horizontally instead of vertically, giving floor-to-ceiling units a different feel. They are fitted in a double layer, so not a centimetre is wasted. Beneath the closed units, there are open ones for quick-access storage, just where you need it by the hob. Doors like this typically open upwards; make sure your kitchen fitter uses hinges that will prop them open while you browse the contents.
Ceiling
Corner shelving in shower
Tuck storage into dead space Often, there will be a narrow gap between the end of a bath and the wall. It could be tiled over and used as a small, extra surface, but if more storage is required, how about this clever idea, created by Best Builders? The very slim space is fully maximised with storage that goes up to the ceiling. The pull-out function also makes it easy to access everything inside, leaving no wasted space.
Dressing room
Dressing room
The space-saving pocket door at the foot of the bed leads into the en suite. The space to the left is an open-plan dressing room. The wall between the two spaces is not structural, but the clients felt its presence would help to maximise the dressing room’s storage capacity. A letterbox-shaped niche in the wall provides a handy shelf.
Add interest high and low Sometimes it’s all about the art of distraction. This stunning entrance hall boasts a striking tiled floor that immediately grabs your attention as you walk through the door, making you forget about the narrowness of the space. And the beautiful ceiling lights and mirror draw the eye up, so that you’re looking up rather than side to side.
Colour
Floor, layout, shampoo basket/holder thing
Shelf under units
Futility room
Futility room
Kitchen colour
Bathroom
Bridging units
Paper over it The redesign of this kitchen was more of a facelift than a total redo, but designer Karen Knox of Making Spaces came up with lots of touches to make it feel like a brand-new room. One big one was this wallpaper, which came about after Karen suggested removing the wall units. The paper has the space to take centre stage and extends down to the worktops to double as a splashback. To protect the paper and create a wipeable surface, the area that runs behind the hob is half-clad in iron-free glass (which means there’s no blue-green tint that might otherwise affect the wallpaper colour). If you’re considering something similar, bear in mind that the glass will also need to be tough enough and suitable for use next to a hob.
“By the end of a project, you’ve often made some really nice glazing, and then blinds or curtains seem incongruous,” Mike says. So here, he designed a small trough in which to conceal blinds. “It’s the sort of thing architects love,” he laughs.
Vanity. Towel rail
Colours. Labelling.
Never underestimate the amount of fridge and freezer space you might need,” Simon says. “One of the most important storage areas in a kitchen is the fridge, yet most people settle for a 70/30 fridge-freezer. This amount of fridge space is generally never enough for more than two people in a household. A full-height fridge will cope with fluctuations in shopping, such as at Christmas, but also hold beer, wine and so on all year round, as well as ‘the big shop’. “If the Covid-19 lockdown has taught us anything, it’s that there’s still a demand to freeze,” he continues. “A full-height freezer enables homeowners to store batch cooking, but also to be very organised – you can even label the contents of your drawers with whiteboard markers.”
Pull-out shelves or shallow drawers are ideal at the lower levels,” Odile continues, “especially if the cupboard is deep, so you don’t have to kneel down and reach for the items at the back.” She suggests that pull-outs above the worktop in a larder, where you may not be able to see inside them, are less practical, though. Instead, she advises shallower shelves in this position and adding a rack on the back of the door “for condiments, spices or – if you have enough cupboard depth – larger items such as pasta packets”.
The designers at Run for the Hills have laid standard white metro tiles in a herringbone pattern and left the edge uneven.
Dark sitting room walls. The north-facing room receives less light than the rear of the home, so Lucy decided to embrace this by painting the walls a darker tone.
Diagonal make it look wider
The tree is underplanted with Hakonechloa macra – a Japanese forest grass. “It’s really soft and will completely fill out that space and spill onto the paving,” Simon says. “It turns a nice orange in late autumn and is fantastic when you get the wind through it – it’s almost like water rippling.”
Hall floor and console
Plan b
Hanging rail above machine and cupboards above
Rail and cupboards above machines
Hanging rail above machines. Cupboard above.
fence
Q