Saturday 14 May 2016

Milestone: re-defining kitchen space

Ey up my faithful blogworms,  believe it or not, this used to be a formal dining room with an old 1940's fireplace in it. 

The old kitchen used to be in the extension to the house behind me when I took these pics.

As is the case with so many old houses, they were designed and built for the way life used to be at the time and the way we use our space these days is so much different.

This is a perfect example of how to re-design rooms to suit a more contemporary way of life, opening up spaces and giving free movement around them. 

The amount of kitchen this provides and the associated storage suits the size of the house now, capable of supporting a growing family in a good sized family home.

There is a huge amount of room now for a decent sized dining table within the kitchen and the room part I'm stood in will now be given over to a snug / chill out space with a sofa or two, maybe a TV or whatever they choose. 

The whole concept makes for a more sociable use of the space with a more family orientated feel to it. 

Great for family gatherings / parties or just the family being together and reflects a more modern way of life. Obviously, it's not quite finished yet so be prepared very soon for Part Two when I can show you a more finished appearance. 

I thought I'd show you a "work in progress" giving ideas on how designing and installing a new kitchen is often not just about working within the old kitchen space but re-thinking the space you could have with a bit of modification to room use and room sets.

Hope this plants a few seeds if you're currently thinking about a new kitchen and  .... who knows ... we look forward to meeting you soon ! 

Jules







Saturday 7 May 2016

Doing what we do best !

 Ey up my faithful blogworms, Eco kitchens don't have to be big kitchens as this little gem proves.

Small cottage kitchen where our only brief was that the tiles were to be kept. An odd brief and not without it's limitations but .. so be it !

Eco Elite in English Ash was the choice married up to Sustainable Oak worktops. 2 timbers that live really well together in numerous combinations.

Our third timber choice for the Elite range is Walnut for the same reason and this is why these three timbers were chosen to form the basis for the Elite range. 
I can't explain why certain timbers live together happily and others don't but these really do work whichever way round you use them !



Small spaces are always a challenge and the requirements here were cooker, fridge, Belfast sink, a drawer for cutlery and try to maximise worktop space. 


 A narrow freestanding cooker helped with space being at a premium and gave us enough to sneak a base unit in to the left of the cooker providing a bit of balance and somewhere to put stuff down either side.

It was all going terribly well until we got to the sink !!!

Ah .... not enough space for a standard Belfast sink ... bugger ! now what do we do ?

Answer .... Make one !

The Belfast sink you see here is unique in many ways. 

One it's handmade from recycled yoghurt pot. 
Two, it's only 525mm wide.
Three, it's a custom depth to suit the client and stop them getting backache while washing up.
And Four, We built an integrated landing on to the back of the sink to position the tap, there was nowhere else for it to go.


Did I mention the ceiling was a funny shape too ??

As you can see .... it is !

We could only sensibly get one wall unit in and that was a custom size to suit the ceiling shape and sit just nicely on top of the existing tiling. Shelves cut the the wall angles were used to get the best out of the wall space for maximum storage.

Eco materials, creative thinking and a good "can do" attitude made this kitchen a joy to put together and I would challenge anybody to make a better job with better use of space than this.

Milestone : Doing what we do best !


What are you waiting for ? Contact us today if you need the impossible doing and doing well !

Jules