A garden kitchen is a new genre on the cusp becoming a popular addition to a well-planned property. It provides a way of immersing oneself in the garden’s realm, an easy and continuous way of experiencing nature, sunlight, trees and sky while still being protected from the elements. An open shelter, perhaps housed in a conservatory, orangery, pergola, loggia or semi-open structure that opens and closes according to climatic requirements. Whatever cover is chosen, it acts like an environmental filter; the idea is to be comfortable but as open to nature as possible.

It is important to realize that it is not a replacement for a kitchen. It is an additional facility, a rough luxe version where you can forget worries about storage where the furniture is plants as well as functional pieces of the carpentered variety. The locus is maybe still cooking, ideally with an open fire or with a suitable appliance for barbecuing but its companion function, and perhaps most critical one, is its role for outdoor congregation, either around a fire or with a table – placed in the open or under shade or weather protection of some kind. The third use is a more private one – communing with nature, de-stressing and enjoying the garden’s poetic and aesthetic pleasures.

The gardens that surround our homes are often divorced from the rooms inside and out of sync with views from key windows. Kitchens and living rooms are often designed to promote internal priorities such as maximizing size, serious décor work, circulation or, historically, making a fireplace work. According to research, the average Westerner spends 80% of their time indoors. The expectation our bodies have accumulated through evolution is the reverse.

In our search for well-being we need to develop living habits that allow us to be outside for much longer. We are hard-wired, as neuroscientists such as John Zeisel tell us, for prolonged exposure to the flowers, plants, green space and sky. Access to nature, as well as exposure to long views and seasonal routines, keeps us calm. Part of my work at JG Studios has been to develop a concept I have termed “instinct-based design”.

Creating outdoor kitchens is part of that programme. By listening to our instincts we can make kitchens and gardens that work together and make us feel good. The effort, time and expenditure that people lavish on their gardens is often wasted as the rooms of the house where most of time is spent are not visible.

Without French doors, growing beautiful flowers, trimming hedges, mowing the lawn, filling pots, building ponds and construct rose arbors’ seem a little wasted. ‘You own what you see’ has been attributed to Capability Brown. How many of us have that pleasure in our gardens?

JG Studios have been asked recently to design a number of garden kitchens and will be exhibiting at the London Chelsea Flower Show (25th-29th May) with Alitex - makers of conservatories and greenhouses and endorsed by the National Trust. It will be a great opportunity to explore the new concept of the garden kitchen further.

Part of the conversation when we start working with new clients is to explain why a Johnny Grey kitchen isn’t just any old kitchen. Various adjectives (depending on which side of the Atlantic) can be used to describe our kitchens: high-end, custom, bespoke, top-of-the-line, premium, and of course, luxury. Luxury, in turn, comes with its own set of associations. One of our favorite approaches to luxury is “Rough Luxe,” a concept developed by designer Rabih Hage in his London hotel of the same name.

Our version of “Rough Luxe” uses design to hold together a series of very individual pieces of furniture, some of which are antiques, bric a brac and found pieces, combined with the application of principles based on neuroscience – you might call this instinct-based design. “Rough” in this context means a focus on texture, using solid, natural materials and finishes. Here you can see an example of a kitchen we designed for a family of six. They wanted something unostentatious that reflected their love of textures and colour.

The finishes in the cabinetry and furniture we used evoke texture and age. This is an example of how we celebrate wear and enjoyment of tear and embrace irregular and hand made imperfections in the construction of furniture and fittings.

The other component of “Rough Luxe” is of course luxury. Luxury means our bodies are quietly taken care of. In neuroscience terms, the design responds to our hard-wired needs. Elements of this include efficient but hidden ergonomics, long views, natural light and the relaxing effect of seeing nature and keeping in tune with the time of day. We also design to maximize ease of movement, ’soft geometry’ and other body support mechanisms like non-slip surfaces and worktops at the proper height.

Here you can see how we’ve applied some of these principles using freestanding furniture in the center of the kitchen.

The circular shape of the peninsula allows your body to move around without having to make sharp turns or walk at a specific angle to meet a straight line/edge. It also has no sharp corners so does not alert peripheral vision and its link with the brain’s fight and flight mechanism.

Finally, it’s also important that the space reflects the personalities of our clients. The incorporation of clutter and happiness-inducing objects allows one to feel at home. Here you can see how the client has used her own wallpaper and freestanding pieces and put her individual stamp upon the style and taste of the room.