Kitchen of the Week: A Tiny Reclaimed Kitchen, Designed in a Wink
Justine Cook of Harp Studio is deft at imbuing spaces with what she calls “detailed minimalism”—so much so that she designed her own kitchen in half an hour.
“We had to unexpectedly remove an 1980s kitchen we were going to ‘make do and mend’ with during renovation,” she says of that project. “So it was all using materials we had.”
The result was so appealing that, when it came time to design the kitchen at one of her rental properties, called Mole Cottage—a diminutive holiday let in Wales—Justine looked at back at that thirty-minute kitchen: “I was happy with the look, so I transferred the style to the cottage,” she says.
Once again, Justine worked within tight restraints—a small space; only reclaimed and secondhand materials—yet the limitations led to a kitchen that’s poetic yet efficient.
Have a look around:
Photographs by Harry Crowder, courtesy of Harp Studio, except where noted.
Above: “Mole Cottage is medieval, with solid stone walls,” says Justine (hence the “super deep ledge” on the kitchen window). When she first bought it, it was “very floral, very 1980s,” she told us in our original post on the place. Photograph by Harry Crowder.
Above: The kitchen design hinged on a bit of happenstance. “A few years earlier we’d sourced a zinc sink for a client, but it had to be rejected due to its size,” Justine says. “We were gutted, as it’s gorgeous, and I wished I could buy it on spec anyway. Years later, when planning for Mole Cottage, I was searching for oddities and saw a corner of a similar zinc sink in a reclamation yard and grabbed it. Later I went through photos that showed it was actually the same sink. I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been sold.”
(“It’s way oversized,” Justine says of the sink, “but that’s what makes it magical.”)
Above: “The 1950s French Anglepoise wall light means light wherever you need it, as it can be used over the zinc sink or the work top,” says Justine. The light sockets and switches are from Corston. Photograph by Justyna Kulam.
Above: “The rest of the kitchen was then made around the sink,” says Justine. “Scaffold boards were used for shelving and worktops as I wanted a chunky profile on a tight budget. The kitchen has an induction hob and a hide-and-slide door that conceals a combination oven/grill/microwave. A small cupboard disguises pipework over the hob and provides extra storage and adds depth to the quirky space.”
Above: In a small space, even the storage containers are attractive. “Baskets and old drawers hold pans and baking trays,” Justine says; earthenware pots corral cutlery; bread boards are displayed out in the open. Photograph at right by Justyna Kulam.
Above: Justine fitted an existing alcove with reclaimed scaffolding, which now holds crockery.
Above: Note the cabinet cut-outs, a no-fuss solution for a tiny space. Photograph by Justyna Kulam.
The cottage is currently available to rent on weekends through summer. To book a stay, email stay@harp-studio.com, and to take a full (virtual) tour, see Mole Cottage in Wales: A Calm, Creative Holiday House.
More tiny kitchens:
* 10 Petite Paris Kitchens by Marianne Evennou, Master of the Bite-Size Design
* Reader Rehab: An NYC Restaurateur’s DIY Pegboard for His Compact Kitchen
* Kitchen of the Week: Colorful and Custom—With a Tight Budget and Even Tighter Footprint
N.B.: This story originally ran on February 1, 2024 and has been updated. | bit.ly/3XLoEJb
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