The designer and owner for this 1930’s family home in Bucks spent nine months extending & renovating, with the vision of re-injecting period charm back into the property. Taking inspiration from the era, they combined a mid-century aesthetic with a modern edge – influenced from past travels from work & some gorgeous locations they had the pleasure of staying in.
When they bought the house the kitchen was modern & perfectly functional with a peninsula, small dining space & bifolds. The area had already been extended out to the side but the extension was split up into a series of dark little rooms which backed on to the garage including a utility, WC, pantry & small office space.
They knocked down the extension’s internal walls & opened up the whole space. A pantry was lost entirely, an office moved upstairs & the utility & WC were re-located between the kitchen & garage. It gave them a great square space to create a large kitchen with central island, a run of larder cabinets to one wall & a small seating area to make it a real social hub in the house and an excellent one at that to finish with a wall of Fabco Black Steel windows and doors.
The designer believes that the design of a period home should reflect its origins & be sympathetic to them. Leaning into a mid century modern aesthetic for the house felt completely natural. It suited the age of the house to a tee & incorporating black frame steel doors across the back of the property helped to connect the kitchen & dining areas, creating symmetry & a striking focal point. The doors were a key design choice for them to really evoke the mid century sensibility & the use of black to ground colour schemes throughout the house is a continual reference back to them, providing a comforting cohesion.
They also chose to add another interior architectural element by incorporating a black steel room divider between the dining space & family living space. It’s proved a great combination of form & function that looks beautiful closed or slid open to leave two striking side panels. A perfect mirroring of the steel doors set just beyond in the dining space.
We asked the designer to describe how the black steel doors complement the overall design of the project, this was their response
“The thin, slimline frames have a lightness about them that was so important to the design given we have such an expanse of glass across the back of the house – the last thing we wanted was for the black frames to overpower the space & Fabco’s doors were the perfect option to achieve this. Incorporating two set of double doors, plus two floor to ceiling windows with beautiful pivot openings, means our north facing kitchen & dining area is now bathed in natural light all day long – a far cry from the dark little spaces we inherited from the previous owners.
We positioned skylights to complement the Fabco door & window openings, creating sight lines through the kitchen that really appeal to the eye & enhance the overall feel of the design. It’s considered details like this that in my opinion, really make all the difference in a project”
We asked the designers a few more questions about their project,
– Why did you choose steel windows/doors over other materials?
Steel doors were the only choice for us given our vision to bring authenticity back to this 1930’s house. We wanted to reintroduce that heritage feel & add character – there’s just something so elegant about the smooth swing of the hinged doors & the way they sit back against the fixed side leaves, really framing the view out to the garden.
– Why did you choose Fabco over other suppliers?
We didn’t want to compromise on quality & durability so when we visited the Fabco showroom we were blown away by the attention to design detail coupled with the manufacturing accuracy & longevity. The slim line frames were the best we’d seen & the end to end service, from consultation & bespoke design to manufacture & install was second to none.
– What have the Fabco Steel doors added to your house/life as part of your renovation/project?
The doors have been pivotal in providing a seamless flow from the interior to the garden. This was such a critical element for us – connecting the indoor & outdoor living spaces. We purposely chose a light engineered oak flooring that conveyed an uninterrupted transition & echoed the sandstone paving found outside to further enhance this. The black steel has a beautiful way of framing the view to the garden & even when closed, provide the perfect little vignettes thanks to the panes of the window bars.
The room divider not only adds style to the design of our family living room but also serves a great functional purpose allowing us to pivot between open plan living & zoning areas more effectively if we want to close off the space from the dining & kitchen areas. Something that is key to harmonious family living!
Technical details
Colour: RAL 9004 Signal Black