When Melinda and Jarrod invited us over, we all sat around their big dining table and discussed the kind of kitchen they wanted for their growing family over a cuppa. Having grown up in the country, they both wanted a modern take on the farmhouse kitchen where meals, homework and family life all come together. As they talked about what they had in mind, it became clear that this table was the hub of their lives and needed to be the centerpiece of our design.

So, our challenge was to model a new shaker-style kitchen around the existing dining table and a massive, old fireplace that was taking up a lot of useful space, yet make it function like a 21st-century kitchen. Busy and gregarious Melinda loves to cook and to entertain, and they wanted this space to be a family hub where everyone can interact. That meant it had to flow freely and have ample space for lots of big and little feet.

Both were very specific about what they wanted – and expected – and sweated over the details with us on the design and individual product selections. And Nathan is absolutely fine with that because he’s very inclusive with our clients, anyway.

To give us one little extra headache, however, when we measured up, we discovered the whole room was out of square. As Tom Jones put it so nicely all those years ago, it’s not unusual.

First things first: to create more space, we recommended removing the unused and imposing fireplace. Then the design could take shape with a sizeable walk-in pantry becoming one of the key elements. We placed the microwave in here to hide it out of the way without making it inconvenient. The pantry also linked to a window seat with push-to-open drawers hidden underneath, which could house Melinda’s large Tupperware collection. Next, we added a small preparation bench with lots of useful shallow shelving.

Above the stone tops, we created floating timber shelves to display Melinda’s favourite pieces of crockery. Behind the rangehood, subway tiles rose all the way to the ceiling to stop the overall design looking piecemeal. We also used these tall ceilings to maximise the storage potential by building cupboards most of the way up them.

Behind the scenes, we used our old trick of creating voids on the back of all the carcasses to allow us to trim on site and overcome the out-of-square dilemma. You’d never know now and the whole kitchen is, at last, plumb.

Of course, finally, the family table could take pride of place in the middle of this space: the ultimate link of old and new, family and friends, history and future. The perfect place for us to sit down at last with a couple of happy clients and share a celebratory drink.