The kitchen at Lundies House, blending practicality, beauty and history

published 5 June 2020

When planning this kitchen at remote Lundies House in Sutherland, on the northernmost extremes of the British mainland, the aim for Plain English was to create as much clear work-surface space as the room allowed, with deep painted shelves on brass brackets for easily accessible crockery storage, a system of hooks for pans and plenty of drawer space for cutlery.

With this in mind, sinks, fridges, pantry and dishwashers are all in rooms that lead from the kitchen. A small integrated fridge for milk, eggs and cheese was fitted close to the Molteni cooker, with a sink and integrated bin on its right-hand side.

A painted window seat was fitted over a radiator to create a cosy nook that offers scenic views over the surrounding landscape.

The colour palette is soft and natural, in keeping with the setting, with the walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s Off-White and painted with tongue-and-groove beaded wall cladding in Farrow & Ball’s Mouse’s Back. The painted splashback is in Off-White gloss.

This Plain English Spitalfields kitchen is fitted with a Derbyshire fossil-stone worktop from Mandale Stone and brass taps by Officine Gullo that complement the handcrafted shelf brackets and cupboard knobs. A bespoke extractor is concealed within the custom-made cooker hood and the floor is laid in local Caithness limestone flags.

Plain English — 020–7486 2674; www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk

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Giles Kime is Country Life's Executive and Interiors Editor, an expert in interior design with decades of experience since starting his career at The World of Interiors magazine. Giles joined Country Life in 2016, introducing new weekly interiors features, bridging the gap between our coverage of architecture and gardening. He previously launched a design section in The Telegraph and spent over a decade at Homes & Gardens magazine (launched by Country Life's founder Edward Hudson in 1919). A regular host of events at London Craft Week, Focus, Decorex and the V&A, he has interviewed leading design figures, including Kit Kemp, Tricia Guild, Mary Fox Linton, Chester Jones, Barbara Barry and Lord Snowdon. He has written a number of books on interior design, property and wine, the most recent of which is on the legendary interior designer Nina Campbell who last year celebrated her fiftieth year in business. This Autumn sees the publication of his book on the work of the interior designer, Emma Sims-Hilditch. He has also written widely on wine and at 26, was the youngest ever editor of Decanter Magazine. Having spent ten years restoring an Arts & Crafts house on the banks of the Itchen, he and his wife, Kate, are breathing life into a 16th-century cottage near Alresford that has remained untouched for almost half a century.