A galley kitchen reborn in deep-green lacquer and unlacquered brass, this Notting Hill project proves that a narrow plan can carry more character and drama than a sprawling open layout ever could.
Embracing the Corridor
Most designers would have knocked through the wall to merge this kitchen with the dining room. The Calloways wanted the opposite: a kitchen with the intimacy and efficiency of a ship’s galley, separate from the social rooms, where cooking could be a meditative act rather than a performance. We leaned into the narrow proportions rather than fighting them.
The cabinetry is spray-finished in a proprietary dark-green lacquer — a colour we mixed to sit between British racing green and the inside of a yew hedge. At close range the depth of the gloss reveals the grain of the underlying tulipwood substrate; from the doorway the cabinets read as a single enveloping surface, cool and immersive.
Living Finishes
Every piece of hardware — cup pulls, knobs, the cremone bolt on the window — is unlacquered brass, chosen specifically because it will change. Within weeks of installation the most-touched pulls had begun to darken; in a year they will carry the particular patina of this household’s hands. The Carrara marble countertops will do the same, absorbing the faint ghost of a coffee ring, the shadow of a lemon slice. These are not flaws but signatures.
- Bespoke spray-lacquered cabinetry in proprietary dark green
- Unlacquered solid brass hardware developing natural patina
- Honed Carrara marble countertops with eased edge profile
- Reclaimed terracotta herringbone floor tiles
- Fully integrated appliances behind panel-matched doors
They understood that we did not want a showroom. We wanted a kitchen that would grow old with us, beautifully and without apology.
Rachel Calloway