'The bold décor in here makes me smile every day!"

Not one to shy away from an interior design statement, Lois Connors chose a dramatic floral wallpaper and dark cabinets for her new kitchen scheme

- Lois Connors

'We bought this house from friends, so we knew exactly what we wanted from the kitchen 'W to make it suit us before we even moved in,' says Lois Connors. 'Our friends had already installed a small island, but it wasn't designed to sit around as they used a table next to the brick wall, whereas we wanted to create a more formal dining area. The position of the island and units worked well, but the design needed tweaking to create a more multifunctional space, so the couple decided to install a whole new kitchen.

THE PROJECT

'I wanted to increase the size of the island, mainly to include a breakfast bar as we like to congregate in the kitchen as a family,' says Lois, but I also needed lots of extra storage.

And, because we don't have a utility room, I wanted the island to house the washing machine as I didn't want it on show in a run of units.' Lois chose dark green cabinets because, she says, although it's a popular trend at the moment, green is a classic choice that will stand the test of time, and also in summer we have lots of plants outside by the doors and I wanted to feed into that.'

WHAT WE DID