Venture back 100 years ago the kitchen was a very much utilitarian space that existed solely to cook and prepare food in, and little else.

In many ways, the kitchen was the beating heart of any large home with staff whose only job was to ensure the front of house and its residents and guests had all that they desired.

The kitchen was very much a service area tucked away in the basement never to be seen by anyone other than the staff.

This was a functional room with a large fire stove that was used for everything from boiling water to baking bread.

The room consisted of simple storage and a large central kitchen table that most of the food preparation would take place on.

Once the needs of the residents were all taken care of, then, and only then, the staff would all sit and have their meals around the kitchen table.

As the years and decades have passed, and the size of houses declined, households and kitchens have evolved.

No longer is the kitchen out of sight and out of mind, far from it!

It would be fair to say that the kitchen is arguably the most important room in any modern house.

If there is an important discussion to be made, it will almost certainly take place in the kitchen… still the heart of the home but now very much front of house.

The large kitchen table has been replaced with an island that friends can congregate around, and enjoy a nice glass of wine while the host wows their guests with their cooking skills.

The island allows for lots of nice, spacious storage such as wide deep pan drawers set on soft close runners, with a silky-smooth action and a luxury feel, never again struggle to get the wok out from under the pans inside a small cupboard door opening.