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Adrian and Melanie renovated the narrow galley kitchen in their Shoreham-by-Sea home as part of a £60,000 whole-house project. Their design combines oak and plywood, black-stained cabinetry, a west-facing window and a curved end cupboard; the owners say the added natural light allowed them to use darker finishes.
Adrian and Melanie renovated the narrow galley kitchen in their Shoreham-by-Sea home as part of a £60,000 whole-house makeover, using oak, plywood, dark-stained cabinetry and an enlarged west-facing window to address limited space and light. Their project, reported by Ideal Home, shows how the couple and bespoke kitchen company Wood Works Brighton adapted a compact layout without adding tall cupboards that would reduce its width.
The couple live in the West Sussex seaside home with their two children. They bought a property Adrian described as a “doer–upper,” with what he called “strange 1970s architecture” throughout. The kitchen was one part of a wider effort to create a brighter, more natural-feeling interior.
Although the family considered where to position the kitchen to make the most of daylight, they ultimately kept its original configuration. They opened up a window to the west and changed the access, according to Adrian. The kitchen remains a narrow galley, which made it difficult to fit tall cabinets without constricting the passage.
Adrian sketched design ideas before the couple worked with Wood Works Brighton. Their materials include oak and plywood, with fluted timber and black-stained oak providing contrasting finishes. Oak window frames match the cabinetry, while a curved-door end cupboard and shelves soften the unit run. The couple also reused leather bar stools from their previous home.
Design Choices for a Narrow Galley
The project offers a specific example of how a small kitchen can be planned around its constraints rather than treated as a blank canvas. The couple retained the existing configuration and addressed the room’s practical limitations through changes to light, access and storage, rather than fitting tall cupboards that Adrian said would reduce the available width.
Its material choices also show how contrasting finishes can be used in a compact room. The black-stained oak might have made the kitchen feel darker, but the owners say the added window gave them confidence to use it. That is their account of the design decision, not a measured assessment of the room’s brightness or performance.
For readers planning a renovation, the reported cost provides a reference point but not a standard price: £60,000 covered the whole-house makeover, not just the kitchen. The report does not break down the kitchen’s share, so the figure should not be treated as a kitchen-only budget.
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From 1970s Interior to Japandi Kitchen
Ideal Home’s account places the kitchen within a larger renovation of the family’s seaside home in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex. Adrian and Melanie wanted a brighter, organic-looking space and spent time considering how the kitchen could receive more natural light. They chose to retain the room’s original configuration after weighing possible positions.
The couple’s preferred aesthetic draws on Japanese style and natural materials. Adrian said Melanie was interested in Japanese design and that both of them liked mixing textures. The resulting scheme uses pale and dark wood, fluting, matching window frames and reused seating. The report describes the look as Japandi, but does not provide a detailed design specification or measurements for the room.
““The kitchen is quite narrow, and it has a galley layout, so it was hard to fit tall cupboards in without reducing the width.””
— Adrian, as quoted by Ideal Home
Project Costs and Room Details
The reported £60,000 total applies to the whole-house makeover. Ideal Home’s account does not state how much was spent on the kitchen alone, when the work was completed, or how long the renovation took.
The report also gives no floor-plan dimensions, cabinetry measurements, lighting readings or itemised costs. It is not possible from the published details to compare the kitchen’s usable storage before and after the renovation or to establish how much the window work changed daylight levels. The design choices and their effects are described mainly by Adrian, rather than through independent performance measurements.
No Further Project Milestone Reported
Ideal Home’s report presents the renovation as a completed project and does not identify a further construction phase, planned update or upcoming milestone. Readers seeking to reproduce the look can use the described elements—natural wood, contrasting dark cabinetry, carefully considered access and a softened cabinet end—as inspiration, but the article does not provide full plans or a kitchen-specific cost estimate.
Any future reporting would need additional details, such as the room’s dimensions, the kitchen’s share of the total budget and the exact work involved in enlarging the west-facing window, to support more direct comparisons with other renovations.
Key Questions
Where is the renovated kitchen?
It is in Adrian and Melanie’s home in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, where the couple live with their two children.
How much did the project cost?
The reported total was £60,000 for a whole-house makeover. Ideal Home does not give a separate cost for the kitchen.
What was changed to bring more light into the kitchen?
The couple kept the original kitchen configuration, opened up a west-facing window and changed the access, according to Adrian’s account in Ideal Home.
Which materials and finishes feature in the design?
The kitchen uses oak and plywood, fluted wood, black-stained oak, matching oak window frames and a curved-door end cupboard. Leather bar stools were brought from the couple’s previous home.
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