The idea for Justine Barker’s kitchen renovation began, improbably, with a pair of enormous vintage timber doors. ‘They were a gift of a find,’ she says. It was the start of a transformation that turned the dowdy kitchen in her 1930s chalet bungalow into something magical.
When she first began house-hunting around Tunbridge Wells in 2019, the interior designer had her heart set on one of those low-slung, mid-century properties. ‘But as soon as I stepped inside this house,’ she says, ‘I knew instantly what I’d do.’
Now, the open-plan kitchen and dining area is unfailingly cool, largely due to Justine’s gift for discovery – her strip lights came from a Polish vodka factory, and the bar stools from an iconic advert with Joan Collins.
This isn’t a kitchen built on quirks alone, but one designed with real generosity and perfectly tuned to family life – with plenty of room, a huge dining table for entertaining and an easy flow between cooking, dining, living and outdoor spaces.
The before
‘This wasn’t the cool 1960s space I had been searching for, but it had just enough potential to get my teeth into.’
The inspiration
‘The starting point for the design was the oversized vintage doors I sourced from salvage. We restructured the entire ground floor around them.’
The plan
Justine approached the renovation with all the diligence you’d expect of a pro. ‘Working with a structural engineer helped us allocate our budget,’ she explains. ‘I drew up plans and created 3D visuals, which made it much easier to problem-solve and amend as we went along, and it speeded up the decision-making process.’
A new layout entailed knocking through from the dining room into the living area, then opening that up to the garden beyond, flooding the space with natural light. ‘It created a much better flow,’ adds Justine, ‘turning the garden into an extension of the living space – it’s the perfect spot to sit after dinner.’
The process
Local joinery company Boffe Design helped Justine to realise her plans for a simple, contemporary run of custom-made units under the window and a vintage-inspired central island. The details were carefully considered, with soft-close drawers, dovetail hinges, hidden spice racks, space-enhancing pull-outs and underlit shelving.
For a better view into the garden and dining area, the hob and oven were moved to the kitchen island, creating what Justine now calls a ‘real cook’s kitchen’.
For the decoration, Justine wanted to capture the cool mid-century spirit that had evaded her during the property hunt. ‘I’ve used a lot of pieces from the 1930s to the 1970s that have been given a bit of TLC or reupholstered to suit the scheme – so I didn’t have to give up on my mid-century dream altogether!’
The vintage strip light above the island came from a vodka factory in Warsaw and the dresser was salvaged from a haberdashery store in Sweden. Justine sourced affordable materials wherever she could, choosing terrazzo-style porcelain tiles for the floors.
Get the look: The designer's cool vintage kitchen
Design hero
‘The eclectic mix of pieces from different eras. The 1980s bar stools were used in a Cinzano ad with Joan Collins!’
Biggest challenge
‘I ended up planning the exterior levels and landscaping at the same time, which requires a totally different skill set. Hats off to all those garden designers out there!’
Biggest splurge
‘The 1950s pendant lights by Swedish designers and brothers Uno & Östen Kristiansson. I bought one 10 years ago and managed to track down another to hang over the table.’
Best bargain
‘The dining table. It was sourced in parts; the iron legs came from an antiques market in France and the top is a piece of chestnut my joiner found at a timber yard.’
Sourcebook
- Design Barker Design
- Bespoke units Boffe Design
- Bar stools Vintage Pieff Eleganza; try Ebay
- Dining chairs Eames DSS Vitra
- Pendant lights Vintage Uno & Östen Kristiansson for Luxus; try Vinterior
