A stone kitchen with the sun kept in it
This is a proper old Northumberland kitchen: thick stone walls, a flagged floor and a doorway straight out to the courtyard. We have warmed it from within, with an olive green on the cabinetry, ochre limewash on the plaster and terracotta underfoot, so that even on a grey Tyne Valley morning the room holds a memory of the sun.
Everything is chosen to earn its keep and age well. Scrubbed timber, aged brass, handmade ceramics on open shelves. A working kitchen that happens to be beautiful, not a beautiful kitchen that is frightened of being used.
Ochre, olive and old stone
Sunday mornings, slow ones
The owners' one rule: it has to be able to take muddy boots and a full house.
Made to be used daily
On the island and base units, a green that sits happily against warm stone.
Unlacquered, so it lives and mellows with the room rather than staying shiny.
For the window seat cushion, the one hit of true ochre in the room.
Old kitchens reward patience. I would paint the cabinetry and live with it for a fortnight before we commit to the ochre limewash, so we can read it in every light first.
Lauren, for Aubury & Co · July 2026