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english kitchens
The Simon Benjamin Christmas Countdown…
It’s here, it’s here! To mark the festive season we have decided to celebrate with a kitchen themed advent style countdown to christmas. So, without further ado we thought that we would start at the beginning…
Autumn Savings
I don’t know about you, but I always think that Autumn is the perfect time to nest at home, get cosy and cook big hearty meals for family and friends. It’s the perfect time to begin to enjoy cooking again, rustling up hearty stews and warming casseroles.
It’s also a great opportunity to start to consider your kitchen in the run up to Christmas. Particularly if you are planning a new one sometime soon, take this time to really think about how you use the space and what you need to make the experience a real pleasure.
With that in mind we thought that we might offer you Half Price installation as an early christmas present!
To Bead, or Not to Bead….
Firstly my apologies for the terrible pun, I realise that it’s neither big nor clever! However its a valid topic – as weather or not to opt for a bead is a question that often arrises when choosing your new kitchen cabinets.
The bead to frame is a neat cockbead that runs around the inner cabinet frame. It offers a smart and clean detail to a kitchen and suits a variety of house styles and tastes. A traditional joinery practice, cockbeading first began to appear in English work after 1730 and was used as both a decorative addition as well as a way of protecting rare and costly veneers used in door and drawer fronts.
Bead to Frame – An effective way of ‘framing’ your kitchen doors and drawers.
A very special curved feature Island with Bead to Frame that we completed last year.
Another option would be to opt for a bead to door. This neat little bead runs around the door panelling offering an attractive additional detail to your kitchen. This option when teamed with the bead to frame particularly suits character of period homes as it sits comfortably alongside Victorian, Georgian or Edwardian features to name but a few.
A quirky sideboard with bead to door in a Georgian townhouse.
The other option of course is to keep things simple and opt for a clean, crisp beadless kitchen. Having a simple shaker door can suit a wealth of different homes and properties and can offer a cool and contemporary finish to your home.
A contemporary take on our Classic Kitchen.
So, which will you choose?
Shades of Grey…
Grey… by far the most popular colour choice for 2015 so far.
Perhaps is the book or film that’s pushed grey into the spotlight (I have to admit I haven’t had much to do with either although I presume that it’s not a colour consultation guide!) but grey has certainly been fantastically popular over the last year or so.
I can certainly see why. Both timeless and classic grey can offer depth and drama to any room.
The Little Greene Company have responded to the popularity of grey by introducing their own ‘Grey’ collection. A whole booklet dedicated to the shade and there’s certainly something for everyone.
The Little Greene Companies ‘Grey’ Collection
French Grey ‘113’ from The Little Greene Company has been a solid favorite so far as it is the perfect balance between being warm and cool and subtly enough to work on a large-scale. We are currently installing a beautiful kitchen in three glorious and bold shades of grey and even black. Needless to say we can’t wait to take some shots when we’re all done and dusted!
A Classic kitchen finished in French Grey
Our beaded Classic in Inox
Thinking about a new kitchen next year?
We have had such a busy year this year and we have been extremely lucky to have worked with lots of lovely people to create their perfect new kitchen. We are now taking bookings for installations in January 2016 – so if you were considering contacting us for your new kitchen new year please do get in touch.
We are ever expanding our team and as a result slowly increasing the number of kitchens we make per year. Our main concern is ensuring that each of our customers receive the high level of service we pride ourselves on – personable, in-depth and supportive throughout every stage of the process.
We positively encourage our customers to come and see their kitchen being handmade and finished in our Mill workshop. We are very proud of our team, processes and responsibly sourced materials and love the opportunity to show them off!
If you’re seeking a beautifully handmade new kitchen in the new year then give our friendly designers a call for a complimentary design and quotation.
Victorian Subway Style
We absolutely love these images sent over to us from a recent customer. This beautiful kitchen extension in Surrey offered an amazing space with dramatic high ceilings, something that our clients were really keen to take full advantage of and really emphasise. Crisp, clean subway tiles really offer a classic vintage feel to this impressive room.
The cabinetry is painted in The Little Greene Companies Gauze- Dark and offers a lovely cool finish perfectly paired with smart polished chrome cup and knob handles and a traditional bead to frame.
This kitchen is testament to picking a couple of key elements and really sticking to your guns. The overall effect is simple, clean and calming. We can’t wait to come and take some more shots soon.
Revisiting a Beautiful Barn Conversion
We have just had the pleasure of visiting one of our previous customers and their kitchen. One year in and they have really grown into their new barn extension, using soft colours to bring plenty of light into the room and highlighting the original old rustic beams with industrial pieces such as their stained oak and metal bar stools.
We love revisiting our customers and taking some photos of their kitchen once they have had time to settle into their new home. We often bring a big box or two full of props to dress the kitchens for photo-shoots. But this time we hardly brought anything out as it was already so perfectly finished already. Just a few pieces from the cupboards, a couple of figs and a handful of turnips sufficed.
This happy customer picked a lovely soft off-white shade to offer a warm feel to this large room. The Little Greene Companies’ Tusk worked perfectly to throw light around the room without being cold or too contemporary.
They also picked out some gorgeous pewter handles to compliment and finish the cabinetry. These work wonders in marrying the industrial elements together within the room.
We can’t wait to pop by and visit again sometime soon!
