For our latest renovation project we need to keep a reign on the budget for the kitchen and bathrooms, so I’m currently sourcing fittings to give these rooms some wow factor.

First off is metal work. It’s easy to spend a fortune on taps, and this is definitely an area where I would advise pushing the budget to get lasting quality. However, even high end products can often lack any real character.

For the ground floor I’ve settled on an aged brass look, and have managed to find some gorgeous reclaimed taps for both the kitchen and cloakroom. They look great just laid on my worktop so I’m really excited to see them in situ! Taps like these can be sourced from reclamation yards, antique fairs or Ebay, but do ensure they have been professionally restored.

For the utility room we really are going utilitarian and using some garden taps with copper piping. These ones are actually from Amazon and cost just £15 each.

The other metallic feature of the kitchen will be the door knobs. A few years back I stumbled on some beautiful handmade brass fittings and I’ve used them a few times since. These aren’t the cheapest, but they look fabulous and you couldn’t recreate the authenticity with something machine made. These are three variations I’ve used on kitchens and wardrobes.