The mother of this young family described her kitchen as ‘very awkward’, with a door in the middle of every single wall. “I’d been agonising over the right place to put the Aga,” she says, “because people wouldn’t be able to walk through easily without getting in each other’s way.”

She also knew that you usually only get one chance to design a kitchen, and wanted it to be perfect, so got in touch with Countryside Kitchens and brought in interior designer Shona. Shona has an amazing knack for visualising space potential, and she immediately spotted the solution – placing the Aga against the opposite wall.

“It was a wall I hadn’t considered,” admits the owner. ”But it was a compromise that really worked. Everything fell into place after that.”

Countryside Kitchens came up with a design that completely reversed the kitchen to give access through French doors onto the garden and patio, with the main sink now also facing the lovely garden view.

“The flow of the kitchen is so much better now,” says the owner. “We’ve arranged it so that we can have five of us round the breakfast bar, and the children love to sit and have some squash and chat while I’m cooking, so it’s a very sociable place.”