'Fun tiles bring in plenty of personality'

Ryan Hirst and Rob Field's bold, design-led transformation perfectly captures their love of Japandi style, striking textures and curated colour

- Feature Karen Wilson

After Ryan Hirst and his fiancé, Rob Field, moved from Essex to a three-bed Victorian terrace in Leeds, they knew it had the potential to become their dream home. 'After Covid, we reassessed what we really wanted,' says Ryan. 'Moving back north, where I'm from, felt like a natural step, and we instantly fell for this house, especially the spiral staircase going up to the attic and the characterful Yorkshire stonework.' With Hector, their whippet-cross, in tow, the couple set out to inject style, soul and functionality into every room. The kitchen was the final - and biggest - piece of the puzzle.

THE PROJECT

After tackling the rest of the house, Ryan and Rob revamped their kitchen in spring 2023.

'It's such a big job, and we wanted to get it right,' says Ryan. 'Our neighbours said it used to have a gorgeous bespoke wooden kitchen made by the carpenter who lived here, but the owners before us ripped it out in favour of a much cheaper kitchen. By the time we moved in, the doors were falling off, the cream gloss vinyl wrap had burst, and the clashing mint wall washed out the whole room.'