Kitchen

Matt Graphite Galley

Beneath an ornate plaster ceiling, a floor-to-ceiling run of matt graphite cabinetry holds a bank of integrated ovens behind handleless fronts. A low island with a polished anthracite face carries the working surface, and a solid walnut table extends from it — turning the kitchen’s quietest corner into a place to cook, sit and talk.

The project

The brief here was restraint in a room that already speaks. Rather than compete with the carved and painted ceiling, the cabinetry was kept deliberately quiet: one uninterrupted plane of matt graphite, its doors meeting in fine shadow gaps, stopping short of the cornice so the period plasterwork keeps the upper register to itself. Stainless-steel ovens sit flush within the run, their fascias the only interruption, and the pale walls carry the daylight around them.

Two finishes carry the scheme. The tall cabinetry is a deep, matt ebony that absorbs the light; the island base answers it in polished anthracite, catching reflections from the dark parquet below. Against both, the table is warm, open-grained walnut on slender square legs. Wire-framed stools gather along its length, a brass task lamp angles over the far counter, and open shelving keeps glass and ceramics to hand — a kitchen made for lingering as much as for cooking.

Finishes in this project