Why interior designers are bringing back the Downton-era kitchen

Telegraph

3 days ago

It was Downton Abbey that sparked the current revival in traditional, country-house kitchen design, and as the period drama's grand finale hits cinemas in September, our fascination with 'back of house' kitchenalia continues.
Tile-lined larders and housekeeper's windows, cook's tables, glazed cabinets, floor-swishing door curtains, serving hatches, baize doors and even serving hatches are back, bringing an aura of below-stairs Edwardiana to modern kitchens.
As Chloe Willis, the associate director of interior-design firm Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, puts it: 'There's an appealing honesty to the hard-working, back-of-house kitchen where everything looks collected rather than designed. It's a celebration of utility, patina and texture. Everything is in its place… it's orderly, but not minimal.'
But it's not all about nostalgia. There are practical reasons for turning back the culinary clock.
An antique armoire or robust cook's table is just as useful as fitted MDF joinery or a built-in island, and you can take them with you when you move.
A door curtain provides insulation; a cool, slate-lined larder year-round storage. Throw in punchy modern fabrics, vibrant colours and reclaimed materials and you have a kitchen that feels familiar but not frumpy.
Here is our pick of the kitchen throwbacks worth investing in.
The serving hatch
As we fall out of love with open-plan living, separate cooking and dining areas are resurfacing on floor plans. So, too, is the serving hatch. Once a byword for naffness, these nifty portals make sense: you can close the doors for privacy while you're toiling puce-faced over saucepans, and open them – ta-dah! – to pass plates through to expectant guests.
For a Gloucestershire barn conversion, designer Amy Dalrymple made a hatch out of reclaimed timber, with folding doors that echo the rustic architecture and a deep shelf for serving plates.
And a hatch is not just for dining rooms. Designer Sarah Peake installed a glazed window, set into a bookcase, in one of her projects, which allows her client to keep an eye on the children in the adjacent playroom as she works at her desk in the kitchen.
'It's practical and a fun way of communicating,' says Peake.
The cook's table
Before the kitchen island, there was the workaday cook's table (think Mrs Patmore kneading the dough).
For her London kitchen, designer Sarah Brown eschewed the ubiquitous island in favour of a free-standing piece of furniture from Plain English: 'I call it my chop-and-chat table; I use it for cooking and socialising,' says Brown.
The sturdy cook's tables by Wiltshire-based kitchen company Guild Anderson are based on examples at National Trust houses and made using traditional estate joinery techniques, with storage drawers and wooden worktops with marble inserts. Use it for prepping and breadmaking – or working from home.
The housekeeper's window (or glazed partition)
The Edwardian housekeeper kept a gimlet eye on her underlings through the internal window that separated her office from the kitchen. Today, a glass partition offers both practical and aesthetic appeal. In furniture maker Patrick Williams's Bath home, a screen of handmade 'wibbly' glass masks culinary clutter – the mixer, bowls, storage boxes – from the main kitchen.
'Things can be fairly chaotic, but if you hide them behind a screen, there's an order to them,' says Williams, who runs the interiors practice Berdoulat.
In a terraced London house, designer Laura Stephens chose not to knock through the kitchen and family area to create a single open-plan space. Instead, a new internal window above the kitchen sink offers a glimpse into the sitting room at the back.
'I've always loved that historic reference [of a housekeeper's window] – they feel architectural and full of character,' she says. It's also, she notes, a more layered and lasting alternative to open-plan living.
The hotplate
Synonymous with robust country-house breakfasts ('More kedgeree, madam?'), the hotplate is having a moment.
Think of it as the modern incarnation of the 1970s hostess trolley. The sine qua non of food-warming implements – favoured by designers such as Beata Heuman and Sarah Vanrenen – is the claw-footed Wembury Warmer, a 1930s-inspired piece created by interiors stylist Emma Hanbury. Production is currently paused while a new manufacturer is sourced, but you can still join the waiting list.
In the meantime, British maker Kaymet offers a palatable alternative with its retro bronze-glass top.
The pantry
Classical kitchen maker Plain English has transformed the pantry – once a utilitarian store for tins and dry goods – into an object of desire. Today, it's as much about display as storage.
Think carefully curated shelves of mugs, jams or cookbooks; freestanding or built-in units that double as stations for coffee makers, toasters or wine fridges, set beneath elegant marble shelves.
'It can be incredibly functional and beautiful,' says Merlin Wright, the design director at Plain English.
Where pantries were once lined in plain pine or linoleum, they have since become a canvas for colour and pattern. Interior designer Tiffany Duggan used deep crimson shelves and emerald-and-white tiles to bring joy to a pantry in an Edwardian home.
Designer Isabella Worsley gave a seaside pantry flair with blush-pink tiles and walnut shelving edged in brass studs.
Lisa Mehydene, the founder of homewares brand Edit 58, indulged her 'back-of-house yearnings' in a compact pantry nook, also by Plain English, in her London kitchen. Walls in Farrow & Ball's St Giles Blue – 'like a burst of summer on a winter morning' – are paired with cheerful Wayne Pate tiles. Beneath the worktop, skirted cubbies house pasta, baking staples and 'grabbable' snacks for the children.
'It works for all of us,' she says.
The glazed cabinet
Once the pinnacle of dining room elegance, the glass-fronted cabinet fell from grace after years of displaying sporting trophies, porcelain knick-knacks and fussy sherry glasses. Now, says antique cabinet specialist Valerie Perkins, it's time to reassess this maligned classic.
Her mainly 19th and early 20th-century pieces – originally made for schools and libraries in oak or mahogany – are beautifully constructed and can be customised with vibrant wallpapers or contrasting paint, inside and out.
'I tell people not to play it safe,' says Perkins, who scours salerooms and markets for the right examples. Some clients build entire kitchens around a cabinet; others top them with deep marble to create bars.
'It's the cherry on the cake – a talking point,' she says.
The portière or door curtain
Attached to a sturdy curtain rod, a floor-sweeping door curtain adds both insulation and drama.
Fabric designer Tori Murphy is a fan of the portière: 'They bring softness and comfort… a sense of cosiness,' she says.
And it's not just doors getting the treatment – curtains are creeping beneath worktops and shelves too. They can even serve as a pet-friendly way to disguise a dog or cat basket – ideally in matching fabric, as seen in designer Laura Stephens's co-ordinated home.
There are no rules: sturdy wools, practical oilcloths or light cottons will all do the trick.
The baize door
Traditionally, a door lined in forest-green baize and pinned with brass tacks marked the boundary between the main house and the servants' quarters. It muffled noise, absorbed cooking smells and helped insulate draughty halls.
Now, baize is making a quiet return – for more democratic reasons, says designer Octavia Dickinson.
'A baize door offers a sense of quiet separation, but I love using it as a decorative element in its own right.'
And it's not all snooker-table green. In her own home, Dickinson chose burgundy on one side of her kitchen door and soft sage on the other.
Made from merino wool, the fabric feels 'soft and luxurious', and the studwork, she says, can be applied in 'wonderfully inventive ways'.