Martin and Shirlie Kemp's beautiful new kitchen combines timeless charm with sleek modern details

Martin and Shirlie Kemp's recently renovated kitchen is a sophisticated space, designed around the family's love of entertaining and bringing everyone together.

The new kitchen beautifully embodies classic country style with a muted colour palette and period design details. In contrast, an expansive kitchen island and smart appliances help future-proof the space and ensure it caters to the demands of busy family life.

Much like the couple's cottage-style garden, the space is a vision of vintage-inspired charm and character. Shirlie's love of timeless, heritage style has clearly influenced key design choices.

"I'm naturally a bit of a vintage person," Shirlie reveals. "I'm a really big fan of the old-fashioned Butler style sink, and I went for a vintage-style tap."

"Welcome to our gorgeous, brand-new kitchen, designed by Howdens," Shirlie beams. The couple worked closely with the expert design team to ensure their new-look kitchen retained the timeless charm of their Victorian property while still feeling contemporary and relevant.

As a result, they chose the classic Shaker-style Elmbridge kitchen, with solid wood cabinets and beaded detailing."They wanted their design to have a country aesthetic that would stand the test of time while making it fit for modern living and entertaining," as quoted by the experts at Howdens.

"I love all the features, the decorative plinths. The kitchen tops are Calacatta gold quartz, which I absolutely love. The curved island, which is gorgeous, is solid wood," Shirlie exclaims. Every one of these charming design details feels intentional in making the kitchen look expensive.

In keeping with Shirlie's love of heritage style, she chose on-trend brass hardware, which effortlessly adds a sophisticated touch to the off-white cabinetry.

While the overarching theme is antique brass, the couple have created an eclectic look by choosing different styles of knobs, latches and handles to dress different cabinets. Design tip: changing hardware for something more striking is a budget-friendly update to elevate existing kitchen cabinets.

Speaking of the island, it was clearly an intentional focal point, ensuring the couple have plenty of dedicated space for entertaining and hosting.

"Family is a big priority for Martin and Shirlie, so an island format was a must-have to bring everyone together in one space," say the design team at Howdens.

"This is the centre of our house," says Martin, gesturing towards the generously sized kitchen island, which sits proudly in the centre of the room. "It always has been the island. This is where people come round for Sunday dinner, or your friends come round in the evening."

"Every great kitchen needs a great oven," Shirlie explains. True to her word, the couple chose one of the greatest ovens, a RangeMaster. A fan favourite in many country homes for good reason, the powerful model with its multiple ovens is ideal for those who love to cook lots and host dinner parties.

While Shirlie openly declares her love of all things vintage, Martin hilariously points out that the integrated coffee machine is his favourite design aspect because it's connected to the WIFI.

He explains: "So when you're in bed in the morning, you can switch it on using the app, and you can say I want my coffee ready at 10 o'clock and it comes on." Let's be honest, that is the dream for any home; I'm fully supporting Martin on that.

"Another important aspect of the kitchen was to add the utility room," Shirlie explains. "The nicest thing about the utility is that when you come out of the kitchen, you still feel like you're in the kitchen because I carried on the same cabinets." Continuity in design helps one space seamlessly flow into the other, a great way to make a small space feel bigger.