Essential Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom – July 2019

There’s something about this time of year that makes you want to gather friends and family together and raise a glass to the long, balmy evenings. Once upon a time the living room was the place for guests to congregate but those days are long gone. Instead, the kitchen is now the ultimate multipurpose place where everyone wants to be. With such a big role to play in everyday life, the design has to work exceptionally hard whilst looking simply amazing, so we’ve put together a super handy guide to both open plan and broken plan layouts. To decide which works best for your lifestyle and space, turn to Make or Break on page 75. After last year’s searingly hot summer, you could go one (albeit it rather large) step further and embrace the outdoors fully – forget barbecues, kitchens in the garden are the next big thing, with all your creature comforts, cabinetry and appliances installed al fresco. Flick to The Great Outdoors on page 84 and you’ll be re-evaluating your garden space in no time. Our real-life kitchens this issue are as stunningly impressive and informative as ever, full of clever ideas and designer advice to help with your own project planning. In Brighter Outlook on page 22, you’ll find out how a derelict Edwardian property was transformed into a modern family home that’s now so gorgeous, it’s gracing our cover this issue. Bold colour lifts a classic kitchen to new heights in Louise and Adam’s barn conversion – to learn about their renovation journey, turn to Modern Country on page 34. Someone who took summer living to the absolute extreme is Amanda Neilson, who built her own Italian escape in Puglia and kitted out the kitchen with an ingenious pocketdoor pod design – see The Simple Life on page 46 for more. Meanwhile, in Turn Up The Contrast on page 56, Peter Jenkins looked beyond the everyday for solutions when it came to his art gallery-inspired kitchen extension.