The life-affirming joy of a brilliantly bold, yellow kitchen: 'As you walk into the room, you can’t help but smile'

After spotting a yellow-painted scullery in the London showroom of Plain English, a young couple asked senior designer Tracey Hyde to create a similar design in their Victorian home in north London. ‘They’re very cheery, warm people, so it didn’t surprise me that they wanted such a happy colour for their kitchen.’

To add a modern feel to the traditional cupboards for which Plain English is famous, Tracey created a scheme with walls, doors and woodwork painted in Boiled Egg from the company’s own collection.

‘By painting everything in the same colour, the cupboards retreat back into the walls to create the sense of a vibrant room with less of a kitchen feel,’ Tracey explains. An eggshell finish has been used for all the woodwork, with walls in satin emulsion, except for the splashback behind the sink and range cooker, which are finished in wipeable gloss.

Natural light is borrowed from the French doors in the anteroom beyond and from windows in the dining room behind: ‘With limited daylight, the yellow helps to create a bright mood in the space. The all-over colour creates more drama than if it were used only on individual pieces and becomes a canvas against which we were able to add contrast.’

Two runs of Spitalfields cupboards are combined with wall cabinets with fluted-glass panels, brass taps and a copper sink, with a range cooker by Lacanche in black used to break up the yellow. Teak countertops have been used throughout and the original floorboards re-sanded and sealed, both complementing the warm feel of the space. ‘As you walk into the room, you can’t help but smile.’

See more Plain English designs at www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk