The Downend Kitchen and Walk in Wine Room

Downend is a stylish, bright kitchen designed for entertaining, and its centrepiece is a walk in wine room set behind black steel glazed doors. The glass lets the wine room be seen, while the doors close it off as a room of its own.

Entertaining shaped the storage as well. A drinks larder keeps everything for serving drinks together, larder cupboards add storage for food and everyday things, and a glazed dresser gives the room a place to display pieces behind glass. Giving wine and drinks places of their own leaves the main kitchen clear for cooking when guests arrive.

Dressers have long been part of the traditional kitchen, and a glazed one lets the things inside be seen while keeping them protected from dust, which suits a kitchen used for entertaining.

The cabinetry is painted in two Farrow & Ball colours, Downpipe and Pavilion Grey. Downpipe is the darker of the two and Pavilion Grey the lighter, so together they give the kitchen depth and contrast within one calm family of greys.

Open the cabinetry and the painted finish gives way to American black walnut interiors. Walnut is a rich, dark timber valued by cabinet makers for its colour and grain, and using it inside the cabinetry means the quality of the kitchen is as clear with the doors open as with them closed.

Classic Quartz San Vincente work surfaces complete the scheme, and together with the walnut they offset the painted cabinetry. Quartz is a practical surface for a kitchen that hosts, as it stands up well to spills and everyday preparation.

The Downend kitchen was designed and made by Sylvan Design, a maker of bespoke and luxury kitchens based in Horsham, West Sussex. Every Sylvan kitchen is designed around how the room will be used, and at Downend that meant planning for guests as much as for everyday cooking.