The Magenta Cabinets Stayed, But This Kitchen Looks Brand-New After a Artsy Remodel

PublishedJan 6, 2025 1:45 AM EST

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.

Domino Reno: Before + Afters, DIYs, and Advice From the Pros

Subscribe now to get our newsletter in your inbox.

By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to ourTerms of Useand acknowledge the data practices in ourPrivacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

“Blingy” is honestly the perfect word designer Leo Wood uses for the old kitchen in this south London townhouse—and once you hear what was there, you’ll get it. We’re talking textured magenta cabinets, mock-Roman mosaic floors, and more recessed lighting than anyone could ever need. The whole vibe was, well, a little confused. Wood, the founder of Kinder Design, was brought in by the new homeowner to make the house work better and feel better. The brief included softening up the kitchen—but ripping everything out was never on the table. “The client is a climate-change scientist, and if there’s a more sustainable, unique, and exciting option, then she’ll go for it,” says Wood. Love that.

Working with the existing millwork—magenta paint and all!—was a fun little challenge for the designer. But honestly? It was made way easier by the client’s obsession with pink and all things maximalist. “She couldn’t bear anything that wasn’t a vibrant color,” explains Wood. Here, she walks us through the changes they did make, and trust me, those thoughtful little tweaks took this space from flashy to cozy in the best way.

When Wood got the green light to swap those sleek white countertops for butcher block, she headed straight to reclamation specialist Retrouvius’ yard in north London—and struck gold. She found slabs of painted teak salvaged from a school science lab (how cool is that?). Stripping and sanding them back revealed a warm, reddish tone that plays perfectly with the cabinets. And the unwanted marble? Naturally, it didn’t go to waste—they had it picked up by a local salvage company, paying it forward to someone else’s reno. We love a sustainable queen.

With her creative juices fully flowing, Wood was inspired by a reference image of a space where every single wall tile was different. “I knew that if the idea was quirky and zany, then the client would gravitate to it,” she says. Enter Charlotte Moore—architect by day, budding ceramicist by night. Moore’s concept was a distortion of pollen under the microscope in saturated color, and she handmade and triple-glazed each of the 1,200 tiles. Yes, 1,200. “It was a labor of love,” says Wood, who decided to really show off the work by opting for a smaller vent hood to maximize the wall space. Honestly obsessed.

Not only were the old recessed bulbs distracting, they added zero personality to the open-concept kitchen. “Because of the client’s character, at every turn I wanted to do something fun,” explains the designer. So Wood fixed it by hanging a pair of simple pendants from Fritz Fryer above the island, plus a cluster of wicker shades over the dining table made by Chimbarongo—a Chilean enterprise where local artisans weave onto discarded plastic bottles. Sustainable and gorgeous? Yes please.

Wood decided to draw attention away from the glass pane by peeling off the transparent tree sticker that was there before and painting the frame White Tie by Farrow & Ball. Such a simple move, but it brought all the focus back to those gorgeous tiles. “It’s a soft, yellow-white, which we continued over the ceiling and proved really transformative,” says the designer. Trust me on this—sometimes it’s the quietest moves that change everything.

The last thing Wood tackled was the flooring. “Because of the wooden worktop and crazy colors in the tiles, I felt it should be a single, pale surface,” she explains. If the owners hadn’t hit construction fatigue by this point (relatable), she would’ve gone with rubber. But for a quick fix, she painted the existing planks and tiles to unify them. “It’s a small move, but the duck-egg blue really makes the kitchen pop. It has this lightness, which almost makes it feel like an art studio,” says Wood. An art studio kitchen? Sign me up.

Olivia Lidbury is a freelance writer based in the U.K. She has been regularly contributing to Domino since 2021, pitching charming British houses, whimsical apartments and must-see vacation stays. Olivia also regularly writes for a number of national U.K. titles such asThe TimesandThe Sunday Times Stylemagazine. She lives just outside of London in Kent.

Learn more about Domino.comEditorial Standards