I often sit in the office and talk about kitchens with our expert and the owner of Lacewood Designs, Graham Hooper.
This week I found myself wondering – having designed and fitted HUNDREDS of kitchens and knowing the benefits of different styles, worktops etc, what would Graham’s dream kitchen look like?
So I asked him…
“Oooh, wow, that is hard. It’s a hard question to answer because you have to design a kitchen for the house you are in. You can’t just have a ‘favourite’ kitchen. It has to fit the house and it has to look right. However, if I had to choose…..I think I’ve come full circle actually. I used to like heavy oak kitchens, French doors, much like the collections from Hardy Inside who we used to sell lots of. Now I really like modern kitchens like the handleless one on our website. I just love the cleanness and simplicity of the look and the contrast in colours between the units and worktops.”
So, what colours would your dream kitchen be? Doors? Worktops?
“I think I’d go for brown and cream contrasting units and doors. I also like greys. I love green, but I’m not sure that would work. Green isn’t a popular colour for kitchen units as there are a limited number of shades that seem to work. You can create an amazing worktop out of Westmoreland Green Slate though and that looks fantastic.”
What would be your ideal worktop material then?
“It would be Boira leather finish dark brown granite – it’s the nicest granite I have ever seen. I love the texture and the shadings within the stone are really attractive. It has an almost ‘matte’ effect to it.”
What gadgets or appliances would you have in your dream kitchen Graham?
“Well, I would have two ovens. One would be a steam combi oven from Siemens. It works like a giant steamer (with up to 70 minutes steam cooking time) or a normal oven if used separately, but if you use the 2 options together, you can steam cook food but still brown it. Meat stays moist and tender because of the steaming, but is browned beautifully because of the traditional hot air cooking. The second oven would be a pyroclean oven. This basically heats the oven to such a temperature that any food residue is burned off and you are only left with a little dust at the bottom. It costs a lot less than an oven cleaner and works brilliantly.
I’d also have a Gutmann extractor. They work so well and really are the absolute best extractors. I’d have a downdraught extractor built into the kitchen island. These just pop up when you need them and pop right back down again when you are finished. Discreet and powerful!
Finally I would want a white undermount silestone sink to contrast with the worktop and an instant hot water tap.”