Kitchen of the Week: Stardust in North West London (Remodelista: Sourcebook for the Considered Home)

What happens when two friends from the music industry try their hand at interior design? If this North West London kitchen is anything to go by, they come at it with personality and flair. Toni Halliday, lead vocalist and lyricist for alternative rock group Curve, initially hired former music friend turned interior designer Rachel Aspland of RZ Living to help with refurbishing her home in the London neighborhood of Queens Park. A few years later, the pair decided to collaborate and design Aspland’s Victorian terraced house in neighboring Kensal Rise.

Anything but timid and understated, the kitchen is an unusual mix of color, materials and lighting. The designers describe it as a “blend of contemporary Victoriana mixed with flashes of Williamsburg industrial chic.” We say “cozy family kitchen by day and fantastic party space by night.” Looking forward to the invite.

Photographs courtesy of British Standard Cupboards.

Above: The kitchen consists of one long space with an island for cooking and gathering in the middle. Natural light floods through large skylights and tall, metal-framed glazed doors, which lead out to the garden. The doors are a custom design and were manufactured by Mosterd Sierhekwerk, who are based in the Netherlands.

Above: Fifty bulbs dangle from the exposed ceiling joists above and add softness to the polished concrete floor. See Remodeling 101: Polished Concrete Floors for more.

Above: The designers used British Standard Cupboards to run the entire length of one wall in the kitchen.

Above: India Yellow and Pointing by Farrow and Ball were used to create the two-tone paint scheme. Carrying the India Yellow above the work top creates a visual and graphic datum line across the working side of the kitchen.

Above: Aspland integrated a free-standing open Fruit and Vegetable Pantry with Pull-out Racks into the British Standard cabinets by removing the top of the existing unit so that it could fit under the worktops of the kitchen.

Above: The vintage graphics on the rustic racks bring tactility and visual interest into the kitchen.

Above: A modern Commercial-Style Kitchen Faucet contrasts with classic brass bin cabinet pulls. See more styles in 10 Easy Pieces: Bin Pulls in Brass.

Above: The cabinet counter tops are Reclaimed Iroko Hardwood Laboratory Tops salvaged from schools and supplied by Retrouvius.

Above: The horizontal effect created by the two-tone paint scheme breaks up the scale of the wall and provides a framed background for artwork and objects.

Above: "At nighttime when all of these 50 lights are dimmed, the room becomes a very special, magical place," Aspland says. "The lights give flexibility to the space. Large parties and small intimate dinners work equally well." The Made For You Simple Light fittings are from Urban Cottage Industries and the Grey Cables and Edison Teardrop Filament Bulbs are from Mullan Lighting.

Above L and R: The reclaimed laboratory tops come with a texture of scratch marks and a history of grafitti.

Above: A Vintage Coat Rack/Bench creates a practical mud room like space just outside the kitchen.

For more kitchens with British Standard Cupboards, see:

Christine is also the writer of the new lifestyle and wellness blog My Contents Have Shifted—A Fabster's Musings on being Fifty And Beyond.

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Remodelista Editor

Kitchen of the Week: Stardust in North West London