The brief was short: we want to see the garden while we cook, and we don't want it to look like an extension.

The existing kitchen was a classic Victorian galley, one window at the far end and a door to the side return that nobody used. We proposed taking the whole rear wall out rather than just widening the opening, and pushing the kitchen into the side return so the room read as one width from front to back.

Behind the plaster we found the usual: a lintel that was doing less than it should and a soil stack in exactly the wrong place. Moving the stack added four days and about £1,800, which we had allowed for in the contingency. The clients knew by lunchtime the day we found it.

The kitchen itself is painted in-frame shaker units from our workshop, with a quartz top and a run of oak open shelving where the old chimney breast was. We set the worktop height and the pendant heights on site, with the clients standing at the sink, rather than from the drawing.

Programme · 11 weeks

Strip-out and groundworks2 weeks

Steel and structure2 weeks

Roof, glazing, first fix3 weeks

Plaster and second fix2 weeks

Kitchen fit and decoration2 weeks

Where the money went · £68k incl. kitchen

Structure and shell£26k · 38%

Plumbing and electrics£10k · 15%

Kitchen and joinery£19k · 28%

Finishes and decoration£8k · 12%

Contingency used£5k · 7%

Milestones · 11 weeks on site

Week 0Call, survey and fixed priceDrawings agreed, price fixed before anyone starts
Weeks 1–2Strip-out and groundworks2 weeks on site
Weeks 3–4Steel and structure2 weeks on site
Weeks 5–7Roof, glazing, first fix3 weeks on site
Weeks 8–9Plaster and second fix2 weeks on site
Weeks 10–11Kitchen fit and decoration2 weeks on site
Week 11HandoverClean, paperwork handed over, keys back
Week 17Snagging visitWe come back and put right anything on the list

Before and after

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After: A dark galley kitchen, opened to the garden

Before: A dark galley kitchen, opened to the garden

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BeforeAfter

Walkthrough

01The finished run, looking to the garden. The worktop sits 20mm higher than standard for a tall client.

02The larder: shelves on the doors as well as the carcass, so nothing ends up behind anything else.

03From the garden: white render on the new work, original brick left alone.

04Breakfast bar detail: quartz top, painted in-frame doors from our workshop.

05Full-height cupboards taken to the ceiling and painted to match the run, so the room reads as one piece.

“They treated our little terrace like it was a magazine job. Every skirting, every hinge. And it came in on the number Colin gave us in week one.”

Sarah & Dev · the owners

What we'd tell you before starting one of these

Decide where you want to stand when you wash up before you decide anything else. Everything in a kitchen plan follows from that spot and the light that falls on it.

Talk to us about yours Estimate a similar project

The official guidance for this kind of job

Planning Portal: Internal walls
Taking out an internal wall rarely needs planning permission, but structural work needs Building Regulations approval.
GOV.UK: Electrical safety: Approved Document P
The Building Regulations guidance on electrical safety in homes, including special locations such as bathrooms.
GOV.UK: Ventilation: Approved Document F
The Building Regulations guidance on ventilation, including extraction from kitchens and bathrooms.
Planning Portal: Extensions
When a rear or side extension can go ahead under permitted development, and when it needs permission.

A dark galley kitchen, opened to the garden

The official guidance for this kind of job