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THE ROOM STUDY · ROOMS

Kitchens with room for character.

A kitchen earns its place through daily use, but its practical decisions also shape the room. An island can gather people or obstruct a route; timber can warm a bank of painted cupboards. These studies explore bold red, quieter natural materials and clear working layouts, explaining what gives each kitchen its character.

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17 room studies

Deep red kitchen with an open stone-topped breakfast island, three timber stools, brass-and-wood pendants, silver fridge and sunflower art beside a round dining table.ROOM 03 · Kitchen

A red kitchen that doesn’t shout

Breakfast needs somewhere for knees as well as bowls. The open island supplies both, breaking up the deep red cabinetry with a lighter timber structure. A sunflower print beside the dining table gives the kitchen a yellow accent worth looking at over coffee.

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Warm modern walnut kitchen with an open stone breakfast worktable, three cane-backed stools, glass pendants, silver fridge and Mid-Century White artwork.ROOM 14 · Kitchen

Breakfast at the open island

Pull a stool up to the breakfast surface and there is actually somewhere for your knees. Keeping the base open makes a generous walnut kitchen easier to cross and sit in. The cupboards do the storage work around the edges.

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Bright minimalist family kitchen with pale oak and muted green cabinetry, a silver Haier fridge freezer, two round timber stools, clear glass pendants and a board with bread.ROOM 43 · Kitchen

The kitchen with room to cook

There is a stretch of worktop ready for the groceries. Keeping it available is the point of the cupboards around it, and a better test of this kitchen than an empty surface in a photograph.

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Tomato-red fronts, pink walls and cool steel give an ordinary L-shaped kitchen a clear character. The rear window and familiar working arrangement remain the anchors.ROOM 47 · Kitchen

The red kitchen with pink walls

The sink stays beneath the window and the breakfast ledge keeps its place. Tomato-red fronts change the experience of this ordinary kitchen without requiring a different floor plan.

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Stone-cottage kitchen with low timber beams, mushroom cabinets, a pale wooden dining table, black spindle chairs, red woven pendant and California Lemon artwork.ROOM 64 · Kitchen

The cottage kitchen that keeps the table

A small table does something an island cannot quite copy: it lets everyone sit down together. Mushroom cabinetry, black spindle chairs and a red pendant give this cottage kitchen a sociable centre beneath its low beams.

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Pistachio Parisian kitchen seen from a dining area with a white round pedestal table, two natural cane chairs, a small brown fluted cabinet and colourful lemon artwork.ROOM 68 · Kitchen

The Parisian kitchen from the dining end

Pistachio joinery carries the eye from a round dining table into a compact kitchen. Cane chairs, a small fluted cabinet and a vivid citrus print connect the two spaces while allowing each to keep its own job.

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Brick warehouse kitchen with stainless-steel preparation counter, long grey-topped timber-pedestal dining table, tan leather and cane chairs, two woven pendants and monochrome dancer artwork.ROOM 72 · Kitchen

The warehouse kitchen for long suppers

The cook should not have to cross a warehouse to join dinner. A long table sits near the working surface, with room for conversation on either side of the aisle.

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A narrow galley kitchen with tomato-red cabinets and stainless worktops on the right, shallow chalk cupboards on the left, clear glass pendants and a framed cereal photograph.ROOM 76 · Kitchen

The kitchen takes the narrow route

A narrow kitchen can afford strong colour. What it cannot afford is space spent on cupboards that are deeper than they need to be. This galley puts tomato red and stainless on the working side, with a slimmer chalk run opposite.

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A mustard-yellow kitchen bay with checked bench seating, a round oak-and-ivory pedestal table, two beech spindle chairs and a wooden-bead pendant.ROOM 83 · Kitchen

Breakfast moves into the bay

Breakfast has a habit of spreading into the busiest part of the kitchen. A fitted window seat and round pedestal table give it a place in the bay, away from the cooking aisle.

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A view from a stocked pantry into a chocolate-brown barn kitchen, with terracotta flooring, an oak table, cream leather chairs and orange abstract art on a dry side wall.ROOM 90 · Kitchen

A kitchen built around the pantry

Even a large kitchen can run out of clear worktop. Here, pantry shelves and stored equipment sit beside the main room, leaving a chocolate kitchen, an oak table and a straightforward route between them.

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Black kitchen viewed square-on, with a maple island parallel to the rear cabinets, three grey stools and two white pendant lights beside garden glazing.ROOM 110 · Kitchen

The black kitchen that is not severe

Black cupboards are not the difficult part. The difficult part is keeping a dark kitchen useful, bright enough to work in and pleasant to sit beside. Broad garden glazing, pale maple and a little pistachio do that work here.

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Primrose kitchen and powder-blue breakfast banquette with an oak table, linen dining chairs and blue-patterned breakfast ceramics.ROOM 111 · Kitchen

The primrose kitchen for grey days

Some kitchens wait for sunshine to look cheerful. This one uses primrose cupboards and a powder-blue breakfast corner to make an ordinary grey morning feel rather better.

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Green kitchen against an old brick wall with a red pantry door, oak dining table, cane-backed chairs and a cream reading chair beside garden glazing.ROOM 177 · Kitchen

The kitchen opens its doors

The chair by the glass changes the way this kitchen feels. Someone can sit with a book while supper is prepared, without taking an island stool or clearing a place at the table. Green cupboards, old brick and a dark red pantry door give the room enough character to carry that quieter use.

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Butter-yellow country kitchen with an ink-blue island, round marble table, pale wooden cane chairs, checked bench and a large roof lantern.ROOM 178 · Kitchen

A table under the rooflight

The marble table catches the best of the light. Its pale surface sits below the roof lantern, with cane-backed chairs drawn close and a checked bench along the stone wall. Butter-yellow cupboards keep the kitchen gentle; the ink-blue island gives all that pale material a firmer centre.

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Pennsylvania-inspired farmhouse kitchen with a red island, long weathered table, eight honey wicker chairs, old beams and tall garden windows.ROOM 179 · Kitchen

Everyone ends up here

The table is the first thing you notice, and the place this room gives most generously to. Eight woven chairs sit around weathered timber, with the kitchen within easy reach behind. A red island and old beams supply the stronger notes; the garden windows bring enough light for the room to carry them.

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Birch kitchen with a cobalt island, terracotta tiles, grey upholstered dining chairs, rooflights and a pink blind above the sink.ROOM 180 · Kitchen

The garden beyond the sink

The blue island is the boldest thing in the room, but the terracotta floor does much of the warming. Pale birch cupboards keep the working wall light, with a high strip of glass bringing daylight over their tops. At the table, grey upholstered chairs make a comfortable place for more than a quick meal.

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Dusty-blue kitchen with an oak island, round timber dining table, woven chairs and a separate pair of lounge chairs beside tall garden windows.ROOM 181 · Kitchen

Room for the whole evening

Two reading chairs make the difference here. They sit at the garden end of a kitchen with a round dining table beyond, giving someone a comfortable place to spend the evening without occupying the cook's working space. Dusty blue cupboards and oak keep the broad room calm; woven seats give it some texture.

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