Decorating & Design
The Lakehouse: Lynda Reeves On Designing An English Country-Style Kitchen
Updated on November 28, 2023
This is my story of designing our renovation of a century-old lakehouse in Ontario. Each month, I’ll offer a new chapter on the challenges and solutions, and a peek at our progress. You’ll be able to see the actual house come together on new episodes of our video series The Lakehouse.
I first fell in love with the English country kitchen during long stays as a houseguest in Dorset in the south of England. My great friends had the quintessential country kitchen with the big Aga hob, larder, huge antique dresser filled with dishes and, of course, the country work tables where we sat shelling peas, rolling dough and chatting away the hours.
When it came time to design our lakehouse kitchen, my inspiration file of photos, plus those fond memories, were ready to go. First came the layout. For me, it’s always lower cabinets, sink wall, stove wall, and fridges around the perimeter of the room, leaving the center free for a farm-style work table. Add a separate pantry or larder for food and small appliances, plus a big glass-fronted cabinet for dishes and linens, and you have my perfect combo that I’ve had in every kitchen that I’ve loved best.
Next come the style details. I knew I wanted a classic painted kitchen with Shaker-style lower cabinet doors. A visit to the NYC Plain English showroom two years ago was so inspiring; I was instantly smitten. You have to go and see the quality of the cabinetry, the saturated hues in those drab English paint colors and the attention to detail — like the fridges that were totally hidden behind tall closet doors. I was familiar with “panel-ready” fridges, where cabinet panels are attached to the fronts of appliances. But “integrated,” I learned, is a different approach, where you build your “closet” and then hide your fridge in behind for a seamless look. In fact, in this style of kitchen, the stove is really the only appliance that’s featured front and center.
More inspiration came from deVOL Kitchens, another London-based custom shop whose Haberdashery line inspired the glass-fronted display cabinets I’ve planned to sit on our counters, flanking the kitchen sink.
Next, it was time to find a custom shop close to home that would be able to build what I wanted. I turned to Bloomsbury Fine Cabinetry to make our cabinets to my design specs. I can’t say enough about this company’s craftsmanship and expertise in making exactly this style of exquisite painted and natural wood cabinets. You might remember the emerald green kitchen from our March 2020 issue. That was a Bloomsbury kitchen.
What color would this kitchen be? The decision was largely based on sight lines. The kitchen and dining room are now one big room panelled in natural fir board-and-batten from the original circa-1920s summer house. For me, that meant that the kitchen cabinets must be dark and “furniture-like.” At night, when I viewed the kitchen from the dining table, I wanted it to disappear. The choice was Black Panther by Benjamin Moore, in a 20 per cent sheen level with visible brushstrokes.
Once the color and style of the lower cabinets (face frame, Shaker-style doors, flush to the floor) was resolved, it was time to focus on counters, backsplash, appliances and fixtures — and to plan the rest of the room. I found I had room for a separate coffee bar with space for a toaster and coffee machine, plus breakfast supplies and a drawer microwave. Hidden behind tall cabinet doors, this would be the place where houseguests could help themselves to their morning coffee and toast.
I’ve only ever had honed marble or granite counters, and I love both. For this house, I wanted to stick with natural stone, and I liked the luxe yet soulful look of soapstone, as well as its depth and warmth (the surface takes on the ambient temperature of the room). I turned to Peter Sellors of Greensville Soapstone Company in Burlington, Ontario, for his expertise and chose “Stormy Black.” This beautiful, dusky black soapstone comes from Brazil and has a faint gray veining. Greensville is making the counters, as well as the backsplash, high shelf, bar and custom sink.
For appliances, I stuck to what I’ve known and loved. This will be my fifth classic gas range with two ovens and eight burners. Simple and perfect. A pair of Sub-Zero fridges will be hidden behind tall cabinet doors. A freezer and wine fridge will be tucked into the adjoining mudroom. Finally, on the sink wall, we’ve placed two Cove dishwashers, side by side, beneath a pair of glass-fronted display cabinets — deVOL style. The fridge wall and coffee bar are in and looking exactly as I hoped they would.
How to light the combo dining-kitchen space was a challenge. The kitchen end would have task lighting over the counters, general lighting from small, recessed ceiling pot lights, plus some decorative wall sconces. The coffee bar would have its own interior lighting. But what about the dining end, which is open to the kitchen? Would there be pendants or some other kind of ceiling fixture? I opted to run a series of four pendants down the middle of the combined space. I don’t know where the dining table will end up exactly, so that wasn’t a consideration. And anyway, I like the idea of moving my table without having to worry about chandeliers that need to be centered.
As I write this, the lower cabinets are in and they look amazing. That happened just before Christmas, when the heat was finally installed! Being able to sit in our toasty-warm living room on a folding chair, contemplating the basket of fabric swatches before me as the snow fell outside the window was the best Christmas gift of all.
This week, the soapstone counters go in and I may be able to take a few photos in time to make it to press! That, plus the stove being hooked up and the water turned on will mean that I can even make a “cuppa” in our very British kitchen. I can hardly wait.
House & Home March 2021