Until well into the 19th century, most of mainland Europe was predominantly rural, and most people's roots are in the countryside.

Even in our speeded up technological era, the memories of traditional rural way of life remains strong. So a modern country-style interior, though emphatically of the 21st century, is still based on that rural tradition. Lightness of living is important - an understanding of the things that make life pleasant, such as family and friends, comfort and ease, food and drink.

Cooking and dining in the same space

Cooking and eating in the countryside should be a relaxing pastime, and for many households, the easiest way of ensuring this is to unite the two activities in one area - a space that will be designed to combine a measurable degree of efficiency with an appreciable degree of comfort. It is an agreeable conundrum, and many modern country dwellers solve it by creating a working area that is often frighteningly fit for purpose, coupled with a more relaxed neighbouring eating area that includes a table big enough to use for preparation, as well as to accommodate as many or as few diners as the occasion demands.

The concept of the fitted kitchen is one that has not always found favour in traditional country homes, which have often been better suited to a more informal arrangement. But in today's country kitchen there is a place for contemporary fitted design - particularly when combined with a more traditional eating space. Many of the most successful combinations in this genre rely on the choice of strongly contrasting materials - austere, almost industrial-looking work surfaces and cabinets, coupled with deliberately traditional, often antique, dining tables and chairs.

Making country contemporary

The modern country kitchen is no longer a place of distressed or painted pine with bunches of dried flowers hanging from the ceiling and copper pots gleaming on the walls. Not that there is anything wrong with any of the above, it is just that the all-clumped-together look now feels a little cluttered and, dare one say it, old-fashioned. Today, there may be a beautiful antique table or chairs perhaps, and when a traditional kitchen is already in situ, it is often brought up to date with small, telling additions, such as contemporary light fittings or seating.

Country kitchens today are certainly informal, and perhaps not as hard-edged and sleek as they might be in a city, but they are very much fit for purpose - easy to use and, importantly, easy to keep clean. They often have within them, or very close to hand, a large family table where food preparation and eating takes place, and chairs that are easily moved around the larger space. The working area may be designed around one or two walls, or it may have a free-standing counter or island unit.

Although natural materials, particularly wood and stone, are deservedly popular in this type of country kitchen, metal and glass are also often brought into play. But whatever the material and design of the modern country kitchen, in one respect it is like every other room in a country house - designed to connect, in every respect, as closely as possible with the closer and greater outdoors beyond.

Extracted from: Modern Country: Inspiring Interiors for Contemporary Country Living by Caroline Clifton-Mogg. Published by Jacqui Small, £30.

Photography copyright © 2014 Group Express-Roularta