A Shaker Kitchen with Prep Pantry, Breakfast Bar Seating & Bootility Space
This modern in-frame shaker kitchen was created as part of a substantial double-storey side and rear extension to a much-loved village home. The existing kitchen no longer supported the needs of a growing family. It felt too small, lacked meaningful storage, and offered little opportunity for social interaction.
Committed to the location and planning to remain long-term, the family chose to extend rather than relocate. The new home extension was designed to create a generous, open-plan kitchen, social breakfast seating, a bar pantry, and a well-planned bootility room. The extension was designed to ensure that the spaces would work together to properly support everyday family life.
Our brief was to design a kitchen and adjoining utility space that felt bold and impressive yet sympathetic to the property’s character. The finished scheme needed to deliver presence and personality, while remaining warm, practical and enduring.
The new home extension creates a spacious open-plan kitchen with sliding doors that open directly onto the garden. Natural light now moves freely through the room, softening the painted cabinetry and highlighting the layered material palette.
A substantial island anchors the space. Finished in botanical green in-frame cabinetry, it contrasts with the limestone perimeter units and establishes the kitchen as a confident focal point within the room. The island incorporates a raised timber breakfast bar, introducing warmth and tactility against the painted furniture. This detail gives the island a dual purpose. During the week, it provides relaxed seating for informal family meals. When entertaining, it becomes a natural gathering point where guests can sit comfortably without interrupting the preparation space.
Generous worktop areas ensure the island performs as well as it looks. Sightlines remain open across the room, reinforcing the kitchen’s role as a sociable and connected living space.
The clients were clear that they wanted a modern in-frame shaker kitchen that felt contemporary yet grounded within their village setting.
We specified furniture from our Mackintosh collection in a painted-in-frame style, finished in limestone and botanical green. The neutral limestone tones keep the room feeling light and refined, while the deeper green introduces contrast and a subtle connection to the surrounding landscape.
Brick slips form a distinctive feature wall behind the main run of cabinetry and continue into the pantry. This architectural detail draws the exterior character of the property inside, giving the kitchen a sense of permanence and cohesion.
Open oak shelving with a natural raw edge adds craftsmanship and texture, preventing the scheme from feeling overly polished. Brass cup and knob handles provide a warm, understated finishing touch.
Walk-In Pantry Kitchen
Storage was one of our client’s main frustrations in their original kitchen. The introduction of a walk-in working pantry allowed us to dramatically increase food and appliance storage while creating a highly functional secondary preparation space.
Designed to accommodate small appliances, breakfast preparation and baking, the pantry provides a generous additional worktop area and open shelving. Everyday tasks can now take place independently from the main kitchen, helping to keep the primary space calm and uncluttered, particularly during busy mornings.
Concealed Pantry Bar
Alongside the working pantry, we incorporated a concealed bar area within the main entertaining zone of the kitchen. Positioned within the principal cabinetry run, it allows the room’s social zone to function independently of the more practical preparation areas.
Bi-fold doors enable the bar to be neatly closed when not in use, maintaining clean and uninterrupted lines across the elevation. When opened, it becomes an inviting focal point for hosting, enhanced by integrated lighting that introduces warmth and atmosphere in the evening.
A built-in wine rack above the American-style fridge-freezer further supports our client’s love of entertaining. The glazed wall cabinetry with internal lighting adds depth and subtle variation to the design for a more modern look and feel.
The Bootility Room
Equally important to the project’s overall success was the inclusion of a dedicated bootility room. In a family home, this space plays a crucial role in maintaining order within an open-plan layout. Rather than designing it as a purely functional utility room, we ensured it felt like a considered continuation of the kitchen. The cabinetry reflects the same in-frame style, maintaining visual consistency, while durable surfaces and thoughtful storage solutions make it highly practical.
The bootility accommodates laundry, coats, footwear and school bags, helping to prevent clutter from entering the main living area. Additional worktop space supports everyday household tasks, and its position creates a natural transition between the garden and the kitchen.
By relocating these practical elements away from the primary social space, the kitchen remains calm, organised and ready for both family life and entertaining. This separation is particularly valuable in open-plan homes where visual balance contributes significantly to the overall atmosphere.
This project demonstrates how considered design across multiple connected spaces can transform the way a home feels and functions.
The extension provided the opportunity. Thoughtful layout planning, layered materials and carefully integrated storage ensured the result delivers both impact and longevity.
The finished kitchen is a confident yet timeless, modern in-frame Shaker design that feels social, practical, and deeply connected to its setting. Most importantly, it provides a space that this family can enjoy for many years to come in the home they intend to stay in for good.
