Elly Simmons 20/04/2015 Elly Simmons 20/04/2015

Make a Day Out of Visiting Our Kitchen Showroom in Canterbury

When visiting our kitchen showroom in Canterbury, why not make a day out of visiting the rest of Canterbury?

To help, we have put together a couple of ideas for your day in Canterbury.

1. The Cathedral

Situated a 3 minute walk from us is one of the most famous and the oldest Christian structure in England- with its overwhelming beauty, stunning artifacts and steeped history it is a real treat to visit. Once there we can ensure you that your experience will be one not to forget.

2. Historic River Boat Tour

Located just a 4 minute walk from our studio, is multi award winning truly entertaining experience. It is the perfect way to relax, away for the busy cobbled streets here in the city. Your guides give you a historical tour around the city by river boat telling you all Canterbury's fascinating stories whilst you witness the true beauty of Canterbury, which only can be witnessed by the river tour.

3. The Beaney House of Arts and Knowledge

Buying a kitchen can make your dreams come true, but obviously we know it costs you - so when your visiting us, why not save your money with a free, yet state-of-the-art central museum, library and art gallery, just a 3 minute walk away from us. Taken from a review on TripAdvisor it states that "The Beaney is like a giant curiosity box, full of natural little wonders and anthropological items from all over the world, with gallerias of paintings from local artists and of local interest".

4. The Lilford Gallery

Just a couple of doors down from us is the Lilford Gallery, a leading art gallery in the South East. Which exhibit work by established artists including Tracey Emin, Banksy and Chagall, as well as finding new and exciting talents.

5. Just grab some food!

We are located on the Kings Miles which is the nestling streets beneath the walls of Canterbury. If you don't fancy an activity, why not add to your visit to us by a spot of lunch here in the Kings Miles - where there is many unique, quality places for food and drink. Which ever of these take your fancy, when your hear with us we will send you in the right direction of where you want to go. Above is a snap shot of what is on offer for food on the beautiful Kings Miles.

And there is so much more that Canterbury has to offer! If you would like some more ideas on what to do whilst seeing us, we will happily send you in the right direction to make you make the most of your visit.

Elly Simmons 25/03/2015 Elly Simmons 25/03/2015

Recently Completed Charcoal Shaker Kitchen

We have decided to do a new series to highlight our recently completed kitchens. Below is the first in the series, please let us know your thoughts and what you would like to see included in these posts.

When the lovely and energetic couple Eddie and Lorna came to visit Herringbone Kitchens they had loads of ideas on the type of kitchen they wanted for their first home together. Lorna knew she wanted a shaker style painted kitchen, while Eddie has always wanted an American fridge freezer. Will showed them the many different ranges of shaker kitchens on display in the studio and talked through some design options. They both fell in love with the dark charcoal dresser on display in the showroom so to help them decide if the charcoal would be the right colour for them, Will gave them samples for the worktop and cabinets to look at in the light of their kitchen.

Will used our computer program to design the kitchen so that Eddie and Lorna could better imagine the space and look of the kitchen. Together they made adjustments to the kitchen until Eddie and Lorna were happy with the final result. You can see from the below photos how similar the final kitchen is to the design.

The couple chose the dark charcoal colour and we are all so pleased with the results. Lorna has this to say about their experience with Herringbone Kitchens

"We can't stop looking at our kitchen! We are so happy with the finished product. Herringbone kitchens were not only professional and creative but also really supported us through the whole project. The design is perfect, as we wanted a social space where we could entertain. William was faced with the problem of being able to fit our big kitchen table into the design. He created a fantastic design to meet all of our needs. Highly recommend."

Click on the below gallery to see the design and pictures of the final completed kitchen.

Elly Simmons 17/01/2015 Elly Simmons 17/01/2015

Flooring in the Kitchen

Flooring is an important aspect to the overall look of any kitchen, but one not everyone thinks about when kitchen shopping. We've had clients who have designed their entire kitchen around the floor, while others have found the flooring harder to choose than the kitchen. To help, we've put together a couple of things to think about when choosing the flooring for your kitchen. In general there are 3 main types of flooring available, natural stone, wood and vinyl.

1. Practicality

One of the most important aspects of kitchen flooring is how practical the flooring is for your lifestyle. We suggest taking in to account how easy the flooring is to clean and how often you will need to replace your flooring. For example, stone tiles can be more high maintenance with the grout lines, while vinyl flooring can give you the look of a tile without the need for grout lines. Wood flooring although easy to clean, will wear faster in high traffic areas, and will then start to look tired. Some materials are more forgiving than others, if you drop a plate on a vinyl floor there is less risk of it damaging the floor, than with a tile that may crack or chip.

Piccadilly Limestone Floor in Kitchen.jpg

2. Material

Natural stone flooring is beautiful and a timeless feature in any kitchen. Natural stones come in many shapes, sizes and colours. While Karndean is a vinyl tile that replicates the look of any material of flooring, from wood to natural stone. There are many types of wooden flooring that are appropriate for a kitchen (and some types that aren't). In a kitchen we would recommend a wooden floor that handles moisture well and is hard wearing enough to withstand the high traffic in a kitchen.

3. Comfort

Let's be honest, no one likes getting cold feet. If you are choosing a natural stone floor, consider installing under floor heating. Make sure to check which kind of under floor heating system will work best with your chosen floor. Karndean being a vinyl will not be as cold and still gives the option of under floor heating and finally, wooden flooring is warm and certain types of wooden flooring allow for under floor heating.

Natural Stone Floor in Kitchen Extension

4. Style

The look of your flooring is very important to the overall feel of the kitchen. Wooden flooring can create a warmer look, stone floors can be very impressive, but at the end of the day you will need to choose the flooring based on you, your family and your kitchen style.

All flooring in the above images are available to purchase from the Herringbone Pantry. Our Canterbury studio has a range of stone floor tiles on display. Feel free to pop in or give us a call if you need any advice choosing the right flooring for your project.

Elly Simmons 10/01/2015 Elly Simmons 10/01/2015

Kitchen Ideas for 2015

We hope you all had a very relaxing and happy holiday season. To our customers that received Herringbone Kitchens over the past year, we would like to thank you again and hope you enjoyed your first Christmas with your new kitchen.

Here at head office we've been researching all of the newest kitchen trends for 2015 and expect big changes in convenience in the kitchen. Every day suppliers have been showing us new designs, materials and appliances that are being produced to make life easier for the average family.

We're excited to show you some of these new products and how suppliers have updated traditional designs to become more economical and have higher durability. Below are some of our favourite new products and trends for 2015.

1. The Sweepovac

The Sweepovac is designed to make cleaning easier. It consists of a vacuum cleaner hidden away in the plinth under your cabinets. Simply sweep up to the vacuum in the plinth and the Sweepovac will suck up all your dirt, dust and fallen cheerios. The Sweepovac then has a bag that you can empty, making cleaning the floor of your kitchen that much easier. To us, this is one of the most convenient products for 2015.

2. Dekton AURA

The Dekton AURA is a worktop like no other. The design is book matched so that even if you have to use 10 pieces of worktop (for one very very big kitchen), the design or veins on the worktop, continue making separate pieces join up perfectly. The worktop is heat resistant, scratch proof and non-porous so it will not stain. This worktop is perfect for the busy perfectionist, someone who is worried about the look of their worktop, but wants the convenience of chopping or putting hot plates, directly on to the worktop.

3. Two Tone Cabinets

This is a trend that we anticipate to see more and more of in 2015 and one that some of our customers have already started to embrace. Two tone kitchen cabinets are great because they create a more custom and bespoke look to any kitchen and allow for greater versatility and warmth. Often times a darker colour is used for lower cabinets and a lighter colour on top, creating a look that makes your ceilings appear higher. The best thing about two tone kitchen cabinets is that it does not cost you any more to have great design, simply choose two (or more) different colours when you order your kitchen.

There are plenty more designs and trends for 2015 that we can show you in our Canterbury Studio.

Elly Simmons 17/11/2014 Elly Simmons 17/11/2014

Copper the new black?

Copper

We are starting to see the use of copper more and more in the house, especially in the kitchen and we couldn't be more pleased. Here at Herringbone Kitchens we love the use of copper, from hanging lights to kitchen handles and small appliances.