This showstopping kitchen was once an old swimming pool – 6 design tricks that turned the vast space into the cosy heart of the home

Ochre and black kitchen with black kitchen island with white worktops, parquet flooring with coir rugs, plates on shelf .

When Lorna and Phil saw the location of this house, they fell in love with it. Called 'Woodlands', it is surrounded by trees – in fact, you can see them from every window.

'We love wood; it’s natural beauty, versatility, and the warmth that it brings to a home,' says Lorna. However, it came with one eye-watering challenge, the space where the kitchen was due to go...

'The kitchen was originally a large vaulted room that contained a swimming pool and a hot tub! We knew from our first viewing of the house that this was not something that we wanted to retain. We saw beyond the blue swimming pool and could see how it could become a kitchen, albeit with a lot of work!' explains Lorna of her kitchen renovation ideas.