deVOL Directory: The Cattle Shed Kitchen, North Norfolk
22nd February 2019
Imagine stumbling across a bunch of ramshackled old cattle sheds in North Norfolk with zero renovation experience and having the imagination and conviction to take on the challenge of totally transforming them. Well, that’s exactly what this couple did, creating a family hangout for the weekends and a retreat for paying customers too. It must have been daunting and probably a little bit scary!! to furnish and decorate a room so huge, that takes guts. So before I share the beautiful photos of the finished kitchen and lots of little details on this project, just check out what this place used to look like…
The ramshackled cow shed before the renovations began! Photo courtesy of the lovely owners.
With help from our London Showroom Manager, Paul, a natural hunch for things that just look good and a lot of hard work, the owners of @thecattleshedwighton have created one of our all-time favourite deVOL Kitchens. A space that feels both big and open and communal yet perfectly cosy for a family too. How lucky are we to visit homes like this and meet people who make our cupboards look so cool!!
From a derelict cow shed to this!! A dream deVOL Kitchen in North Norfolk.
1. THE PAINT COLOURS AND HARDWARE
Colours are the most defining part of a new kitchen, so we pick our deVOL paint colours very carefully, we want a sense of now in our choices but we also want a sense of history and authenticity. It’s lovely to see our customers take care when choosing shades for their kitchen too, and it’s no wonder they often have trouble picking just one!! The Cattle Shed Kitchen is a perfect example of how great it can look to use two contrasting paint colours – dark ‘Pantry Blue’ on the perimeter cabinets and pale ‘Linen’ on the island. Remember, trends come and go but as long as you pick something you truly love, you can’t go wrong. Bella Brass hardware dressed the Shaker cupboards, lovely and warm and a little aged – these knobs and handles and catches sat so happily with the old wooden beams and rich worktops.
– The Bella Brass range is exclusive to kitchen customers, but our handcrafted handles are available separately www.devolkitchens.co.uk
A big central island with breakfast bar seating is the perfect spot for perching and hanging around.
2. THE WORKTOPS
This Shaker kitchen has iroko worktops, an incredibly strong hardwood. This one has simply been sealed with Danish oil but iroko can be stained to intensify its naturally dark tones and add a little extra drama. We love wooden worktops, tactile and strong, each piece of wood is different and so it seems to have a character which always makes a room feel more honest – a good option too if you’re looking to save a bit of money on your new kitchen. Wood does need care, it needs feeding to keep it supple and strong. It needs to be kept dry and oiled once in a while – this is a lovely job though, and much less of a chore than it sounds! A freshly oiled top can give a whole new lease of life to your kitchen. And remember, if you go for wood, we will deliver the tops with your kitchen and they can be fitted straight away on site.
– We only supply and fit worktops as part of a deVOL Kitchen.
Polished concrete floors are beautifully softened by warm iroko worktops and original wooden beams.
3. THE BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK
I admire anybody who can master the time-consuming, frustrating and pretty tricky art of buying paintings!! Not only do you want to find something aesthetically pleasing and well executed but it also has to fit with the style and character of the room and most importantly you have to love it too. If you’ve got the knack then incorporating artwork into your interiors is a sure-fire way of creating something beautiful, memorable and classic with a real sense of identity too. A few huge original canvases by Debra Royston were propped up around the Cattle Shed Kitchen, they looked gorgeous and natural and gave the feeling of being outside in the wilds or by the sea.
– Follow the very talented Debra Royston on Instagram @debraroystonartist and check out her website here.
Original artwork by Debra Royston brings a little bit of the outside in.
4. THE APPLIANCES
I’m sure by now you know just how much we love Smeg appliances here at deVOL, we supply them with our kitchens, they’re well-priced and stylish. It’s a nice change to see a ‘Victoria’ range cooker by Smeg here, it’s domesticated and a little more traditional in design than the stainless steel ranges we so often use in our designs. Check out the big industrial style extractor above too, a clever contrast and not too predictable. At the end of this long L-shaped run was one of our favourite freestanding Smeg FAB fridges. A fridge is always a tricky appliance to fit nicely into a kitchen design, but with a Smeg FAB it’s easy, they always look good, no matter the style of room. We sell them to so many of our customers and even have a couple in our showrooms here at Cotes Mill.
– The range cooker www.smeguk.com – The fridge www.smeguk.com
The walls have simply been painted white here, nothing to distract from the handmade cabinetry and fabulous styling.
5. THE SINKS AND TAPS
Isn’t it the dream, to have a couple of sinks for different jobs. A place to prep, a place to wash up, a place to keep dirty dishes out of sight, maybe even a place dedicated to drinks. The Cattle Shed had a big Double Shaker Sink on the main run, paired with a deVOL Aged Brass mixer tap and then the island had a little integrated copper sink with a set of twin brass taps – sheer luxury! Water and sink areas are always a bit of a worry when you’re going for wooden worktops, so we’d recommend liberally oiling your surfaces every few months and always going for a stone tap insert. This small slab of stone prevents water damage at the very base of your taps, not to mention it looks the part too. And to make this sink and tap set up even better, the owners opted for one of our grand pot filler taps above the range cooker. A luxury? definitely! But it makes cooking a little easier and more fun. Whether it’s filling up a big pasta pot, adding water to make a stock or simply just putting the kettle on – you’ll probably use this handy little tap more than you think.
– Check out deVOL’s full range of sinks and taps here.
A whole wall of tongue and groove panelling looked really impressive, hand-painted in Pantry Blue.
6. THE FLOORING AND LIGHTING
This Shaker kitchen has the clever ability to feel both industrial and a little bit country chic. The flooring is polished concrete and runs throughout the whole of this huge room and some simple light bulbs on cable hang quite inconspicuously from the vaulted ceiling. Avoiding statement, fashionable lighting is always a sensible idea, there’s nothing to get bored or fed up of here!! Shaker cupboards have an amazing chameleon-like quality in their simplicity and they’re pretty easy to style in your own way – mix them with concrete floors or worktops and your room becomes a bit more industrial, mix them with wooden worktops or floors and it becomes more country and cosy, or in this case, go for a bit of both – if done thoughtfully, the result can be a kitchen with bags of personality, rather than a room designed and styled to copy a certain look.
– The owners sourced their polished concrete flooring from a local supplier – Check out these lights at www.creative-cables.co.uk
A couple of open cupboards to display your favourite and most beautiful things.
7. THE SEATING
Most of the kitchens we design and make have an island within the room, and many of them have a breakfast bar or overhang on the end or the side of the island – so more often than not, there is a need for some beautiful stools!! It’s hard to find stools at a sensible price, lovely to look at and comfy too – so we decided to make a collection of our own and they’ve become so popular and quite a staple for our customers. The Cattle Shed Kitchen features Helen’s Stool, a simple, timeless and quiet design. The legs and top of this stool are made from strong oak with an aged dark finish and a little hand-aged brass footrest is the finishing touch.
– Helen’s Stool by deVOL www.devolkitchens.co.uk
The original cobbled wall adds so much charm and authenticity to this kitchen.
Well I think that’s all the main bits covered but as always, do let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to know. Don’t forget we offer a free design service – designing kitchens is our favourite thing to do and our Kitchen Designers are pretty great at it too!! Check out our design service page for a bit more information.
– Be sure to follow @thecattleshedwighton on Instagram to see the rest of this incredible place and lots more ‘before’ shots.
– Check out the Cattle Shed Kitchen project page here.
