Downton Abbey's culinary realm — Edwardian kitchens modernised

The Downton Abbey kitchen captured a particular romance — the Edwardian working room. Tall, scrubbed, deeply storied. Some of what it shows is worth borrowing for a modern bespoke kitchen. Some of it is not.

**The pantry.** Cool, ventilated, dry. The Edwardian pantry was a room not a cupboard. The reason it is back is the same reason it was there: a kitchen functions better if dry goods, glass, and china live in their own space.

**The scrubbed timber.** A solid oak or beech worktop, oiled not lacquered, gets better with use. The Downton refectory table is a daily-use surface dressed up for the camera.

**The standalone range.** The big freestanding cooker reads as the focus of the room because it is the focus of the room. Modern bespoke kitchens have brought it back. Lacanche, Rangemaster, La Cornue.

**The dresser.** A tall, glass-fronted display piece, free of the cabinet line. We design ours bespoke so the proportions fit the room, but the move is straight out of an Edwardian plan.

**The single function.** The Edwardian kitchen was for the staff. The modern kitchen is for the family, the dinner, the homework, and the breakfast that runs over. The layout has to support all four.

**The dark colours, top to bottom.** The Downton kitchen photographs beautifully in candlelight. It is gloomy at 7am. Modern bespoke kitchens balance the deep cabinet colour with lighter walls, larger windows, and proper artificial light.

**The visible service.** The bell push system was Edwardian. The modern equivalent is the smartphone, and it lives in your pocket.

The best of period kitchen design — the pantry, the scrubbed surfaces, the standalone range — is back because it works. The rest is best left to the costume drama.