Makeover: Jude's Glamorous Kitchen And Utility Room

An exciting first for AO Life, I recently had the opportunity to have a peek inside 1910 House to Home blogger Jude and husband Oly’s recently renovated Edwardian home in Leeds, where we were able to capture the stunning work they’ve done to both their kitchen and utility room.

Let’s start with the kitchen which used to house the old lounge and utility room. These two rooms were knocked through to create a lovely large and light-filled space.

Here’s what it looked like before the renovation took place…

And here’s the glorious light-filled room after…

Jude says, “I knew we could get away with a dark colour on the cabinets given the light in the room and we never really wanted to just have traditional cream or wood – it would have felt like too much of either! The dark grey welcomes pops of accent colours and it means we can change things up whenever we want.”

She added, “We also knew we wanted a lighter colour worktop – and the greys, again, work really well with it.”

And now, the utility room in what used to be the old kitchen. Here’s what the space looked like before and during the renovations…

And this is what the same space looks like now!

Jude laughs as she talks about her new appliances, “I never thought a washer and dryer could be sexy but these are the sexiest appliances I’ve ever had!”

The walls were painted in Farrow and Ball’s Pelt and they chose Matthew Williamson’s Sunbird wallpaper as a feature wall.

Jude says about her colour scheme, “The truth is, we loved the [Farrow and Ball] colour Pelt and we’d been wanting an excuse to use it somewhere in the house. When I happened upon the amazing Matthew Williamson wallpaper that complemented the Pelt, that was it – we were sold! Who wants a dull utility room, anyway?!”

Well it’s certainly the most glamorous utility room I’ve ever seen! The warm metallic copper of the paper marries perfectly with the deep plum of the walls and Jude has accessoried the room with copper accents and Chinoiserie style cabinet pulls.

When asked about any obstacles that had to be overcome in the remodel of her fabulous kitchen and diner, Jude replied, “Well, due to a misunderstanding with our contractor, we ended up painting the kitchen and dining room ourselves – 32 hours of back-breaking painting but we’re quite proud of our handywork now! And of course, ensuring we stayed within the budget – which I’m proud to say we did! It meant making a few sacrifices – for instance, we really wanted gloss units for the utility room but it would have cost us an additional £700 so we stuck with the plain white and just got sexy handles instead!”

Jude and Oly have done an amazing job on their kitchen and utility room, wouldn’t you agree? If you’d like to read more about Jude and Oly’s work across their entire home and their rather handsome and cheeky cat, Humph, do check out Jude’s blog 1910 House to Home.

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