TL;DR
Get home appliances delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
Adrian and Melanie renovated the narrow galley kitchen in their Shoreham-by-Sea home as part of a £60,000 whole-house project. Working with Wood Works Brighton, they kept the original kitchen configuration, added a west-facing window and used oak, plywood and dark-stained wood to shape a layered Japandi-inspired interior.
Adrian and Melanie have completed a narrow galley-kitchen renovation in their Shoreham-by-Sea home, using an added west-facing window, oak and dark-stained finishes to balance natural light, storage and a Japandi-inspired look. Ideal Home reports that the kitchen was part of a wider whole-house makeover costing £60,000.
The couple kept the kitchen in its original configuration after considering where to place it for better light. They opened up a window to the west and changed the access, according to Adrian’s account in Ideal Home. The resulting layout retained the narrow galley form, which posed a practical challenge: tall cupboards risked making the walkway feel tighter.
Adrian and Melanie first worked through design ideas themselves, then collaborated with Wood Works Brighton, a bespoke kitchen company. Their material palette includes oak and plywood, alongside fluted wood and a black-stained oak finish. Oak window frames were chosen to echo the cabinetry, while the darker finish was used on the opposite side of the kitchen.
The room also reuses leather bar stools from the couple’s previous home. A curved door and shelves on the end cupboard soften the fitted cabinetry, Adrian said. The couple’s stated aim was a mix of natural materials and textures rather than a uniformly polished finish; the report does not provide measured storage capacity or before-and-after dimensions.
Design Choices for a Narrow Galley
The project shows how a small kitchen’s constraints can shape the design rather than dictate a single finish. Instead of adding tall cupboards at the cost of a narrower passage, the couple and their designers used a combination of cabinetry, open shelves and a curved end unit. The report offers a specific example of how a compact room can mix storage with visual variation.
Light was another central consideration. The west-facing window was added while the kitchen remained in its existing position, and Adrian said this gave them confidence to use black-stained oak without making the space feel too dark. That is the couple’s explanation of the design decision, not a measured assessment of the room’s brightness.
For readers planning a renovation, the project also illustrates the trade-offs behind a striking small-space design: circulation, cupboard depth, daylight and materials all affect one another. Its £60,000 total covers a whole-house makeover, however, so the source does not identify the kitchen’s individual cost.
Products Worth Considering
Coway Airmega AP-1512HHS Smart Air Purifier, Black
Bose TV Speaker Compact Soundbar with Bluetooth and HDMI-ARC, Black
Sonos Arc Ultra Soundbar with Dolby Atmos, Black
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From a 1970s Doer-Upper
Adrian described the house as having “a lot of strange 1970s architecture throughout the interior” when the family bought it. He said it needed substantial work to achieve the bright, organic interior the couple wanted. The kitchen renovation therefore formed part of a broader home project, rather than a stand-alone refresh.
Melanie’s interest in Japanese style and the couple’s preference for natural elements informed the design direction. Adrian said the kitchen designers understood their vision, which combined Japanese-inspired simplicity with varied textures and finishes. The report uses the term Japandi for the resulting style; it does not describe a formal design specification or a certified style category.
“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
Costs and Layout Details Not Given
The reported £60,000 figure is for the whole-house makeover, and Ideal Home does not break out the kitchen’s share of that total. The report also gives no measurements, itemized materials costs, construction timeline or detailed account of how much storage the finished layout provides.
It is not clear whether the new west-facing window required structural alterations or what permissions were needed. The article describes the completed design and the owners’ reasoning, but does not include an independent evaluation of its performance, durability or value for money.
No Further Project Milestone Reported
Ideal Home’s report presents the renovation as completed and does not announce further work, a new project phase or a scheduled follow-up. The next useful details for readers would be an itemized kitchen budget, exact room dimensions and information about the products and finishes used; those details are not included in the source report.
Key Questions
Where is the renovated kitchen?
It is in Adrian and Melanie’s home in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex. The kitchen renovation was part of a whole-house makeover.
How much did the project cost?
Ideal Home reports a total cost of £60,000 for the whole-house project. It does not give a separate price for the kitchen.
What changed in the kitchen layout?
The couple kept the kitchen in its original configuration, opened up a west-facing window and changed the access. The room remains a narrow galley kitchen.
Which materials and finishes feature in the design?
The reported materials include oak, plywood, fluted wood and black-stained oak. Oak window frames match the cabinetry, and the couple reused leather bar stools from their previous home.
Source: rss
