Room reveal: our minimalist cottage kitchen
It’s time to share another completed room in the ongoing renovation of our little 19th-century cottage, and this is one I’m particularly proud of: the kitchen.
Redoing the kitchen was high on our priority list, as the one we inherited when we bought the house – a tired and tatty 1980s design that didn’t suit the cottage or our taste – was barely useable. The unit fronts were paper-thin, cracked and broken; the laminate on the worktop was chipped and peeling away; the lino on the floor was scuffed and ripped; and neither the oven nor the extractor fan worked. In fact we had to rely on an air fryer alone for cooking for several months after moving in, and we couldn’t wait to get started on the makeover.
We were also very excited about the prospect of having a sociable, functional space designed with the way we live in mind. It’s not a particularly large room (3.4 x 3.2m), but it is roughly square – a big change from the narrow galley-style kitchens that we had in all our previous homes, where we had to shuffle around each to other to cook and where we never wanted to spend much time.
Our overall aim for this kitchen was to create a beautiful yet practical place to linger and gather. We wanted to bring together the cottage’s past, present and future – to reflect its evolving story and historic character, while channelling the soft, rustic-minimalist style that we’re going for across the renovation. It was therefore important to us to choose a timeless aesthetic rather than anything too trend-led, with warm neutral colours and enduring materials that will look good for decades to come. After all, a kitchen is a big investment, and we don’t want to have to redo it every few years!
Here are a couple of ‘before’ snaps of how the kitchen used to look:
Here’s my mood board for the space:
And here’s what we’ve done…
The layout
We decided not to make any major changes to the overall layout of the kitchen, as it worked well – and keeping large appliances in roughly the same positions meant we didn’t have to spend money moving services around and could instead focus our budget on the units themselves. We did forgo upper cupboards, though, opting instead for an open shelf along the entire length of one wall. It makes the space feel much larger and airier, and I love using it to display a few favourite ceramics and accessories.
The cottage’s boiler is in one corner of the kitchen, so we decided to conceal this inside a worktop-mounted cupboard. Beneath it, in what was a void, we now have a water softener – like Bristol, this area has VERY hard water, and I got sick of fighting a losing battle against limescale!
We also added floor-to-ceiling cabinets housing an integrated fridge-freezer and more storage on the other side of the room, where there had previously been a freestanding fridge-freezer and a massive radiator. This necessitated swapping the radiator for a much smaller one, but we were in the process of changing all the radiators in the house anyway – and they’re a lot more efficient than they used to be, so reducing the size didn’t mean massively reducing the heat output.
The units
I’d had Swedish company Nordiska Kök’s in-frame Shaker units in mind for the kitchen ever since we first viewed the house. They’re perfect for the timeless, understated look we were aiming for – they’re based on a classic design, but their slimmer panel edges have a lighter and more elegant expression that suits our minimalist style. What’s more, everything Nordiska Kök makes is bespoke, meaning we could maximise every centimetre of space rather than trying to shoe-horn standard-sized cabinets into the room.
After looking at samples in different lights and at different times of day (always important!), we settled on a colourway called ‘Soft Linen’ – a gentle beige with similar undertones to the Bath stone that the cottage is built from. We’ve combined it with white-pigmented oak interiors (including a drawer with a bespoke cutlery insert), which add a lovely warmth while also echoing the oak flooring that we’re using throughout the cottage. Choosing oak interiors over the standard plain white of course entailed an extra spend, but we reduced this a little by not using them in the cupboard that hides the boiler or in the one beneath the sink, which is largely full of pipework.
The pocket-door cabinet
The other area where we splashed out a little more than we’d first intended is the full-height double-door cupboard next to the fridge-freezer. We’d originally planned to have normal doors here, but then we came across Nordiska Kök’s pocket doors, which slide back into the frame when open. This means they don’t impede circulation around the room, improving the kitchen’s overall flow and allowing us to add a fully usable section of worktop inside the cupboard itself.
The additional cost of the pocket doors means we’ll now have to put some other projects on hold for a while, but we’re so pleased we decided to go for them. They’re one of our favourite features and have made a massive difference to how we use the kitchen, giving us valuable prep and storage space that we can open up or hide away as needed.
The worktops, splashbacks & open shelf
For the worktops, we opted for a stone-and-resin quartz called ‘Staturario White’. It resembles marble in both look and feel, with subtle veining that picks out the colour of the units, but it’s much more durable and hard-wearing. The same material then extends up the wall to form the splashbacks, the open shelf (supported by hidden brackets for a seamless look) and the windowsill above the sink, creating visual impact without visual clutter.
The freestanding island unit
We knew the kitchen wouldn’t be large enough to accommodate a proper built-in island unit, but adding the pocket doors freed up enough floor space in the centre of the room for a small freestanding one. I liked the idea of something rustic made from gnarled wood, to reflect the countryside setting and provide an element of contrast with the smooth units and worktops. It took a lot of internet searching, but eventually I found a salvaged prep table that’s exactly the right size. We’re planning to add a couple of stools where we can sit down with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, but we haven’t found the right ones yet.
The fixtures, fittings & finishing touches
We’re using bronze accents as a recurring thread throughout the house, and the kitchen is no exception. The cupboard and drawer knobs, light switches and plug sockets are all made from bronze, which shares the same warm undertones as the unit colour and will develop a wonderful patina over time.
Like the Shaker units, the sink is a twist on a classic. It’s a ceramic Belfast style that suits a cottage kitchen, but unlike most Belfast sinks it’s overmounted rather than undermounted beneath the worktops. We like the neat look this creates, and it gives us a little bit more space in the cupboard below it. We were fairly limited with our choice of tap, as the water softener meant we needed a three-way model. I couldn’t find a suitable bronze one in stock anywhere, but I did eventually come across a brushed-gunmetal one that’s a pretty close match.
The lighting
Bronze also appears in the lighting – a pair of understated wall lamps above the main length of worktop, and a pendant light with a scalloped porcelain shade that forms an elegant focal point over the island. We thought about adding ceiling spotlights, too, but decided against it – partly because of cost, and partly because we don’t really like the stark light they produce. We rarely switched them on in our previous kitchen, and even when cooking we prefer a soft, cosy mood. If we ever need more task lighting over the worktops, there’s a bright light on the extractor fan.
So there you go: our minimalist cottage kitchen with timeless Shaker units. It’s the kitchen we’d always dreamed of, and the kitchen this little old house deserves. It’s a joy to cook and spend time in, and I’m looking forward to the many meals and memories that are going to unfold in it over the years to come.
All photography by Abi Dare
