Improving the flow of this large Victorian house with a side extension built in the 1980s was the main aim of this project and the kitchen needed to be orientated around modern family life. The island is the main preparation and cooking zone in the room, with a bridge at one end for the bar stools in an entertaining area for guests. A simple shelf is positioned above the splashback and can be used by the owners to display their favourite accessories, such as glassware, artwork or recipe books. The extraction above the island posed one of the challenges in this kitchen because of the extra high ceiling, however an elegant recirculating model, hung on long fine cables, was chosen as an efficient solution that doesn’t look too heavy or block out the light.