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Adrian and Melanie renovated the narrow kitchen in their Shoreham-by-Sea home as part of a £60,000 whole-house makeover. They kept the galley layout, added a west-facing window and combined oak, plywood and black-stained oak to balance storage, natural light and a Japandi-inspired look.
Adrian and Melanie renovated the narrow galley kitchen in their Shoreham-by-Sea home, keeping its basic configuration while adding a west-facing window and mixing oak, plywood and black-stained finishes. The £60,000 project formed part of a broader whole-house makeover, and the design choices were intended to bring more light and practical storage to a compact space.
The couple moved into a house they described as a doer-upper, with what Adrian called “strange 1970s architecture” throughout the interior. They wanted a brighter, more organic home and spent time considering where to place the kitchen to make the most of available light. They ultimately kept the original kitchen configuration, opened a window to the west and changed the access.
The kitchen’s narrow footprint made tall cupboards difficult to fit without reducing the usable width. Adrian first mocked up design ideas, then worked with Wood Works Brighton on the bespoke kitchen. Oak and plywood feature alongside fluted wood and a dark stain, while oak window frames were chosen to match the cabinetry. The design retains the galley arrangement rather than attempting a full change of layout.
On the other side of the kitchen, the couple selected black-stained oak. Adrian said they felt the added window would allow the room to handle the darker finish. A curved door and shelves on an end cupboard soften the cabinetry, while leather bar stools from the couple’s previous home add a reused element. Ideal Home identifies the renovation’s total cost as £60,000, but does not break that figure down by room or item.
How the Design Addresses a Narrow Galley
The renovation shows how this household responded to a practical constraint without claiming to change the room’s footprint: the couple kept the galley plan and focused on light, materials and the placement of storage. Opening a west-facing window brought another source of daylight into the kitchen, while the oak frames tie that architectural change to the cabinetry.
For readers weighing a small-kitchen renovation, the reported choices offer concrete examples of trade-offs. Tall cupboards can provide storage but may make a narrow passage feel tighter; in this case, the couple and their designers worked around that limitation through a bespoke design. The mix of natural oak and darker stained wood also reflects the owners’ preference for a Japandi-inspired style, rather than a purely uniform finish.
The report gives a project-wide cost of £60,000, which helps establish the scale of the makeover but should not be read as the cost of the kitchen alone. No itemized budget or comparison with other renovations is supplied, so the figure does not show what a similar design would cost elsewhere.
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From 1970s Interior to Bespoke Kitchen
Adrian and Melanie live in the home with their two children. Their kitchen renovation was one part of a whole-house project in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, rather than a standalone redesign. The original house had features the owners wanted to change, and the kitchen’s narrow shape influenced the decisions they made about cabinets and circulation.
Adrian said the couple spent considerable time working out where the kitchen should sit to get more light. Despite that planning, they retained the existing configuration, choosing instead to alter the window and access. The final design grew from the couple’s ideas and a collaboration with Wood Works Brighton. The source describes the owners’ Japanese-style influence and preference for natural materials, but does not provide architectural drawings, measurements or a detailed account of the construction timeline.
“The kitchen is quite narrow, and it has a galley layout, so it was hard to fit tall cupboards in without reducing the width.”
— Adrian, speaking to Ideal Home
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What the Project Cost Covers
The report gives a £60,000 total for the whole-house makeover, but does not state how much was spent specifically on the kitchen, cabinetry, window work or labor. It also does not provide room dimensions, a full list of storage features, or technical details about the window alteration. The account reflects the homeowners’ experience and design preferences; it does not establish that the same choices or budget would suit other narrow kitchens.
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No Further Project Plans Reported
Ideal Home presents the kitchen renovation as a completed project and does not report further construction work, a future phase or a pending decision. The next development for readers is therefore the publication’s account of the finished space, rather than a scheduled project milestone. The report also lists some products for readers seeking a similar look, including a bar stool, glass storage jars and a bamboo pendant shade; it does not state that these items were all used in the renovated kitchen.
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Key Questions
Where is the renovated kitchen?
It is in Adrian and Melanie’s home in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex. They live there with their two children.
How much did the renovation cost?
Ideal Home reports a £60,000 total for the whole-house makeover. It does not give a separate kitchen-only cost or an itemized budget.
What changed in the kitchen layout?
The couple kept the original configuration and galley layout, opened a window to the west and changed the access. The report does not provide dimensions or construction specifications.
Which materials and finishes feature in the design?
The kitchen combines oak, plywood, fluted wood and black-stained oak. Matching oak window frames and a curved cupboard door are among the details described by Adrian.
Who designed the bespoke kitchen?
Adrian first mocked up ideas and then worked with Wood Works Brighton, a bespoke kitchen company, on the design.
Source: rss
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