would you install a really modern kitchen in a traditional style house?

[astridshouse]

Just that really.

Our house is a 1910 semi detached cottage with gorgeous sash windows, think typical terrace house layout 2 up 2 down with galley kitchen on the back. High ceilings & traditional fireplace, dipped doors & also has a large Victorian style UPVC conservatory on the back. Current kitchen is a timeless in-frame style in ivory, beautiful but very small.

Thinking of extending to create a new, much larger open plan kitchen diner, but dithering about what style to go for. DH would like to go really modern - I'm not opposed to the idea, & have seen a couple I quite like, but have some reservations about how it would look, given the rest of the house is a much more traditional style.

Looking at kitchen brochures, it seems most of the modern kitchens are in room sets with floor to ceiling windows/bifold doors, whereas the roomsets with sash windows & high ceilings (more like our house) have traditional kitchens. It kind of feels like a traditional kitchen is what you would expect to see if you went in our house, given its exterior, but does it really have to match?

Can anyone put my mind at rest? Would a modern kitchen look ok with sash windows and double doors through to a Victorian conservatory? Or is it just going to look out of place?

I've done just this. Reckoned it was better to go ultra modern than fake something traditional. Looks fine with the original traditional features. Kept it very clean though, white worktops on white handle-less units with an aluminium shadow gap. Quite sterile which is a nice contrast to the traditional windows, doors etc. I love it personally.

I'd go for whatever kitchen I liked.

A super modern extension with huge windows can look fantastic on an old cottage. Find a great architect...

We have an old house with a modern extension. House is from 1830 ish.... Beams low ceilings big fireplaces and wooden windows.
The previous owners put a massive extension on back with big kitchen diner in the 90's. We put a shiny gloss black/ white ikea kiyvhen in it when we moved in. I love it... The old traditional kitchen was dark and always seemed grubby. Our kitchen is a bit clinical but i think it looks great.The only tging i dont like is they put in new windows andfrench doors similar to the old part of the house... Ideally id have liked more modern ones ( big glass doors) , and when i win the lottery i will change them all!!!

It all depends on context. In a modern extension it would look great IMHO, whereas in my house (Georgian) it would look really out of place.

We're renovating a very old farm house and have ripped out the kitchen (think aga, stone floors, dark wooden work surfaces) and are putting in a super modern kitchen.

It is quite dark though, so even though t's already a good size, we're extending out so the front will be all glass, and the ceiling of the extension will be most sky light too.

yup

old family friends had a house that was a tudor cottage with a georgian facade and they stuck a 70's extension on the end and it was fab because they did it with awareness

Thanks for the views & opinions, interesting to read.

Have consulted with architect already, only place we can extend is out to the side - front aspect has to be in keeping with original house, can't do anything wow with glass due to existing conservatory & budget constraints, so we'd aim for a large window overlooking the garden instead. It may be something we'd look at doing in the future though.

Did any of you find you needed to replace existing fittings such as internal doors or skirtings with more modern styles? We have dipped doors with traditional knob handles, can't quite see them fitting with the modern design somehow?

Think we will get some layouts done anyway & see how it all looks & go from there.

Very separate styles are more difficult to carry off on a small scale. You need to emphasise the separateness of the extension by having much higher ceilings for example, or much more natural light than the original house. Basically it has to be out and proud about being an extension.