In their 1914 fixer-upper in Richmond Park of southwest London, Alexandra Evans and her husband, Tom, did a full kitchen remodel, managing to spend under £12,500 (or $16,000) with an additional £5,000 ($6,367) of carpentry and fitting costs. Evans kept within her budget by selecting Smeg appliances, vintage fittings, and cabinets by British Standard, the lower-priced offshoot of kitchen company Plain English. Here’s a closer look.
Above: Electric blue cabinets and a painted backsplash. See more in our post Kitchen of the Week: A Brightly Colored (and Cost Conscious) London Kitchen.
Above: A retro-styled Smeg refrigerator adds an unexpected dash of red to the blue-and-white palette.
Above: The kitchen is furnished with antique finds collected over time.
Materials
Above: The Illusion Feature Grey Ceramic Tiles are £3.55 ($4.28) per tile or £32.59 ($39) per square meter at Tons of Tiles.
Above: The backsplash is painted in Deep Space Blue Paint from Little Greene; €39.50.
Above: Alexandra and Tom opted for iroko wood countertops. For more on wood countertops, see our post Remodeling 101: Butcher Block Countertops. Photograph via Wood Workers Source.
Above: The couple finished the countertops with a clear Danish oil to bring out the grain of the iroko wood. Shown here is Danish Oil Finish by Tried & True; $21.99 for a quart at Woodcraft.
Appliances
Above: The Smeg Wall Mount Chimney Range Hood is $1,299 for the 36-inch size at AJ Madison.
Above: The Smeg 36-Inch Freestanding Dual Fuel Range with five sealed burners and a 4.4-cubic-foot convection oven is $2,299 from AJ Madison. For more, see our post 10 Easy Pieces: Freestanding 36-Inch Kitchen Ranges.
Above: The Smeg 50’s Retro Design Freezer Refrigerator in red is $2,999 at AJ Madison.
Faucets & Fixtures
Above: The Villeroy & Boch Farmhouse Single Bowl 60 Kitchen Sink is £266.66 ($321) at Sinks.co.uk. (Alexandra and Tom found theirs on eBay.)
Above: The brass bridge faucet was sourced from architectural salvage company Cox’s Yard. The 1/4 Turn Ceramic Kitchen Bridge Mixer Tap Brass seen here is £199 ($240).
Lighting
Above: The White Enamel Lampshade from Labour and Wait is £48 ($58).
Above: NUD Collection Porcelain Pendant Lights are €36 ($40) each.
Furniture
Above: Vintage French School Chairs can be sourced through Factory 20 and on Etsy.
Accessories
Above: Alexandra and Tom sourced all their antique cabinet hardware from Silbury Antiques. For a modern version of the bin pulls they found, the Half Round Bin Pulls, shown in polished nickel, are $28.64 at Whitechapel LTD.
Above: The Le Creuset Classic Tea Kettle in Lapis is $100 at Williams-Sonoma.
Above: A Set of 6 Picardie Glass Tumblers is $21 at Williams-Sonoma.
Above: Ikea’s Tekla Dish Towels in white with red stripes are $0.79 each.
Above: Source an antique French Enamelware Pitcher like this one for $86.10 on Etsy.
Above: The Goodmans Oxford Retro 60’s DAB Radio in White is £65 ($78) at Grattan.
For more budget kitchens, see our posts:
- Steal This Look: A Sunny Ikea Kitchen in the Marais
- Steal This Look: A Scandi-Style Kitchen in a Canadian Cabin
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