Guest Blog by Davonport Kitchens: Kitchens in Garden Rooms

Kitchen extensions built into a garden room creates a bright, airy space to cook and eat with the family. It's one of the most important rooms in the house, so choosing the right aesthetic is a key decision.

A kitchen is arguably the most important part of a house; it’s the space where people come together, for everyday occasions and special events alike, making the kitchen the busiest room in the home. Therefore it is important that your kitchen is designed to accommodate all aspects of your lifestyle. Positioning your kitchen in a garden room will make it light and airy; a truly beautiful space to cook and relax with your family. It will also blur the distinction between inside and outside, encouraging a constant flow between the house and garden. As much as a garden room is a beautiful addition to any home, in order to get the best results, there are a few points to consider when looking at putting your kitchen in a conservatory.

The fundamental benefit of a garden room is the light it encourages into the building. Natural light pouring into a room immediately creates a sense of stunning spaciousness. A high level of natural light is the perfect balance for a bespoke kitchen. Lots of natural light in the kitchen will enhance the beauty of the cabinetry as well as create a more inviting area to spend time with friends or family. If your existing kitchen is north-east facing and is currently lacking natural light then relocating the kitchen into your new glazed extension is a good way of ensuring that much needed natural light is brought in.

Conservatories and garden rooms are also a good way of adding character to a kitchen, especially in a new property which might lack the charm of a building with a long heritage. Rather than plain walls the distinctive look of a garden room provides a more characterful space in which to build the kitchen or living space. Because all Davonport furniture is bespoke; tailor made for each client and home, the feel of the kitchen design will echo and enhance the general character of a bespoke garden room such as a Westbury.

At Davonport we would advise against adding a conservatory to your kitchen if it is south facing, as this will mean it is direct sunlight for much of the day. However, this doesn’t mean you have to totally rethink relocating your kitchen; if you are fixed upon placing your south facing kitchen in a garden room, incorporating a tiled roof can help to reduce the potential solar rise in temperature. Alternatively we would advise adding folding doors or a lantern. Both a lantern and folding doors encourage light into the space and make temperature easy to control.

Examples of these include the Audley and Kensington collections by Davonport, below, which both incorporate lanterns. These illuminate the space and add an interesting aesthetic to the design. Automatic opening windows and vents in a lantern also help to regulate temperature. In addition, the chandelier hung from the lantern in the Audley kitchen enriches the sense of grandeur that the room commands.

Audley Kitchen

Kensington Kitchen

Below, the Grosvenor and Canterbury kitchens both incorporate folding doors into their designs. Using folding doors to open the kitchen onto a garden / decking area achieves all the benefits of the natural flow between kitchen and garden that is so frequently requested by our clients. This seamless flow from inside to outside is a wonderful benefit of a garden room and is especially nice when applied to the kitchen. An outside seating area that is easily connected to the main kitchen makes al fresco dining very easy. The Kensington kitchen featured has an outside cooking area immediately beyond the French doors onto the garden. This makes the line between kitchen and garden beautifully discrete.

Grosvenor Kitchen

Canterbury Kitchen

If you are south facing or feel your kitchen won’t work in a garden room perhaps incorporating an adjoined living/dining space into a garden room would be more suitable. Davonport’s Orford kitchen is a good example of this; the garden room is joined to the kitchen but features a living area with a sofa, perfect for relaxed entertaining. A conservatory like this would maintain all the positives of light, air and spaciousness whilst the kitchen itself is kept in a cooler environment. A good quality air conditioning system is another solution to potential issues with heat.

Orford Kitchen

Bespoke kitchens by Davonport are tailor-made to suit the style of each individual home. Therefore the inviting character that your garden room can add to your home will be complemented by the kitchen furniture itself. Whether you want to echo the classic elegance of the conservatory with a stunning country style kitchen, or perhaps you would rather juxtapose a country garden room with a striking contemporary kitchen, at Davonport we will create the perfect kitchen for your space. Whether you choose to introduce a lantern, folding doors or a garden room, Davonport will design and create a magnificent bespoke kitchen to beautifully enhance the light and airy space.

If you’re thinking of extending and relocating your kitchen, take a look at Davonport’s collections for inspiration at www.davonport.com or give them a call on 01206 760800

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I put a kitchen in a garden room?

Yes, it’s one of the most common uses of a garden room. However, if your garden room is designed for a kitchen, it will need the right structure to accommodate the heat and moisture.

Do I need a different type of structure for a south-facing kitchen extension?

Usually, yes. A south-facing kitchen with a lot of glazing can overheat due to cooking in the room. A garden room with a solid, insulated tiled roof and glazing concentrated at the walls and gables will be able to cope with the heat better. An opening roof lantern or automatic vents would also be a good addition to help keep the room well-regulated and ventilated.

Will a garden room extension overheat in summer?

As long as the garden room is well-specified, it shouldn’t overheat. You can choose solar-reflective glass, or have an opening roof section with a vent or an automatic system on a thermostat and rain sensor. Glazing will help control how much heat comes into the garden room, and ventilation controls how it escapes, which a kitchen extension needs to control the temperature all year-round.

Can a garden room kitchen extension open onto the garden?

Yes, and it’s one of the more popular options for garden rooms. Large timber bifold or sliding doors across the back of a garden room allows a kitchen to open onto a garden or terrace. This makes cooking and eating blend into an outdoor space, which can be good in the warmer months of the year.