A ground floor redesign has allowed Alana Jackman and Anthony Davey to create a house perfectly suited to their lifestyle. Fancy a tour?

Although their new five-bedroom home was spacious, Alana Jackman and husband Anthony Davey felt that there was an opportunity to significantly improve the ease of movement around the ground floor. KBB journo Amelia Thorpe finds out all about the kitchen and wine room transformation…

“The house was built 20 years ago and hadn’t been decorated since, and some of it wasn’t to our taste,” recalls Alana. “We wanted to give the house a refresh and to improve its sense of flow.”

The ground floor redesign

Alana, who is a consultant in consumer behaviour, and Anthony, a company chairman, have a 12-year-old daughter, Ella. Life is busy and sociable, so the ground floor, in particular, needed to work for welcoming friends, hosting parties and relaxing as a family.

“The entrance hall had five doors and two sets of double doors leading from it, so it felt rather like a hotel lobby,” says Alana. Their solution was to block off some of the doors and replace others with barn-style sliding doors, which take up much less space since they do not project into the rooms. “When the sliding doors are open, there is an easy sense of movement and flow around the entire ground floor,” she adds.

The kitchen design

Alana and Anthony commissioned The Main Company to create the new doors, plus a new kitchen and wine room. “The team had created the kitchen in our previous home. So we knew the breadth of offering, from bespoke kitchens to unique furniture,” explains Alana. “We didn’t hesitate to contact the company again.”

Working with Camille Galloway, senior designer and London showroom manager for The Main Company, and Alana’s interior designer Annemarie Adriaanse, together they began to assemble the plans.

A new kitchen was a priority, as Alana explains. “The existing room had lots of oak wall cabinets. It felt closed in with very little space to hang paintings or anything decorative,” she says. “I also wanted a more considered and practical layout. So, I suggested to Camille that we start with a blank slate.”

The kitchen layout

The new design centres around a large and multi-purpose island. “It is the hub of the room, with space for socialising at one end with preparation surface and a sink at the other,” says Camille. “There’s even a champagne trough near the bar stools to keep bottles cool.”

Around the island, an L-shaped sweep of cabinetry frames the fridge, main sink and range cooker, all in easy reach of each other, with drawers and cupboards for storage – with more in the dresser cabinets on the walls close to the utility room. “Each zone is carefully planned so that there is masses of storage in the room, without the need for wall cabinets,” explains Camille.

The colour palette

To accentuate the light and spacious feel of the design and its views of the garden, the cabinetry is painted in a gentle shade of green. The island is painted in a darker hue to underline its role as the focal point of the room. The chimney hood above the range cooker is painted to match for some punch. “It’s good to include some deeper tones to ground the design and add definition, while brass details lift the overall look,” notes Camille.

The dining area

Next to the green kitchen was once a formal dining room. “We knew we’d probably use it only about twice a year,” says Alana. “So instead, we decided to create a more casual dining space in the orangery area of the kitchen, which we knew we’d use every day.” Complete with an extendable dining table, the light-filled orangery makes an inviting space for the family to enjoy meals with friends.

The wine room

And what to do with the former dining room? Alana and Anthony turned it into a wine room with soft seating and music, much more suited to the casual way they like to spend time with friends and celebrate their enjoyment of wine. “We lived in Geneva for a long time and acquired our wine collection. There, every house has a basement, but here it was a challenge to know how to store it,” explains Alana. “We decided to introduce the wine wall to make it a wonderful feature.”

This bespoke furniture is framed in dark-stained timber with back-lit feature wall, rack and shelf storage and a climate control system; a bar and a vinyl zone complete the wall. Deep, rich colours and subtle lighting contribute to the glamorous mood.

“Now we are able to use the whole ground floor effectively,” says Alana. “It works well when it’s just the three of us. Equally, we have plenty of space when a crowd is expected.”

As originally told to: Amelia Thorpe | Photography: Chris Snook

This house tour was featured in the March 2025 issue of Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms magazine.

Enjoyed this post? Click here to discover a kitchen design with mixed marbles and metals

About Post Author