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Purple patch

Style knows no boundaries. You don’t have to live in a London penthouse to enjoy a super-chic kitchen! Upper Denby lies on the high rolling pastures of the Pennines, close to the Derbyshire-Yorkshire boundary; there, Julian Kynaston and partner, Joanne, with Jo’s children Francesca (six) and Alexander (seven), occupy a 150-year-old farmhouse set in seven acres of its own land. “It came off the back of a succession of moves and we bought the house two years ago from people we knew. He’s in construction and had refurbished the property, doing a great job, but it was the original kitchen that actually closed the deal for me. It’s a large room, and we saw the potential,” explains Julian. “It was traditional with panelling and a stone sink etc., but a great space into which we could bring our own ideas,” adds Jo.

 The couple have an interest in all things Goth, which underscores their approach to remodelling the area. For those who imagine it to be nothing more than a teenage subculture, the thought that went into their design is a revelation. Julian expands on this, “It is not a superficial fondness for skulls, black and so on; it’s a little more complex. We love light and the way that it can be used dramatically.”

But, how did they incorporate this within the new zone? “With the richness of the décor and the way that we’ve not gone for an ultra-airy scheme that’s most popular for today! Ours is the opposite of the modern ‘all white’ look,” Julian emphasises.

What happened at the consultation? “We worked with Daval in advance, and later with the kitchen fitters during installation. Instead of just sitting down with colour charts, we showed them clips from Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, etchings from old books and played tracks from CDs. We wanted them to see our inspirations,” he explains.
Then it came to the design. “It’s hard for me to let others make creative decisions, since, as the head of a marketing agency, that’s my thing. It would’ve been easy for me to hijack the plans and impose my own ideas, but, I let Daval do their job and they were brilliant. I’d have gone too far and specified a black worktop, but they knew it would be dark. So, they suggested we celebrate the aubergine hue by using pale granite to accentuate it,” Julian smiles. “We
gave them free rein, after explaining just what mattered to us: the children, a need for a breakfast bar, plentiful storage, a kitchen TV etc.,” Jo adds.

So why that particular shade? It’s striking and attractive, but very different, and one can imagine many people thinking it a bit extreme. “Our cook zone has been styled explicitly for the evening and the night. However, it still looks good during the day. I have a cosmetics brand that caters specifically for after-dark make-up. It’s called Illamasqua, and Courtney Love is a big fan. I think this underscores our attachment to the twilight feel,” explains Jo. The Gothic connection applies here too: just think of a hue apart from black that typifies the trend. Which would come to mind? Purple, of course!

Julian and Jo now have an area exemplifying modish living; the combination of the formal, the informal and the functional. “We love the property and its gardens. It’s probably the first time that I’ve moved into a house without considering how long it might be before we get itchy feet. It’s our place, where we live, where all the children will hopefully happily grow-up, and we can’t imagine leaving. This explains why we were keen to create such an individual kitchen that is timeless,” says Julian.

“I don’t believe most people are going to walk in and instantly exclaim, ‘Wow, how very Gothic!’ But, I hope they think it’s beautiful and also carefully thought-out. They might drive home saying we’ve ruined a perfectly good farmhouse, but it’s better to be liked by few than sort-of-liked by the many. We’re the ones staying here, so the most important thing is that we all totally adore it!” Jo concludes.