Kitchen Trends for 2016

We've got the list of the biggest trend for kitchens in 2016, and you'll be glad to hear that the number one trend in kitchen design is no gadget, but utilises design in the best way possible to create a social room for the whole family.

1. Kitchens: the New Family Room

Most of our clients for 2016 are knocking down walls, adding extensions and putting in islands in order to make the kitchen the central space in the home. No longer is the kitchen solely an area devoted to cooking, it is now where we socialise with friends, hang out as a family and where children do homework. We have been helping families open up spaces so that the kitchen better fits in with their lifestyle and becomes a social space.  Building a social kitchen is helping families connect and spend time together at the end of the day. This is a trend we hope is here to stay.

2. Adding Seating

Penninsula's, islands and breakfast bars are becoming the norm. Again this trend is connected with desiging a social space. To accommodate this growing trend we have started to build and supply bar stools and chairs that perfectly match your kitchen.

3. Bold Colour

Going outside the norm and being bold with colour is very scary, but the results are beautiful. You an choose any colour you want with our kitchens, from mallard green to cobalt blue, there is something for everyone.

4. BrAss

We have been seeing brass taps, handles and backspashes and this is a trend we very much welcome. A touch of brass often softens a kitchen, depending on the style this can make the ktichen look more glamerous or traditional. It can also creatively make a feature of your handles or add a touch of colour to dark cabinets.

5. Islands Wrapped in worktop

We have been planning many islands covered in quartz, granite and silestone this January and are always blown away with how impressive they look. An island wrapped in a worktop creates a real feature in your kitchen

Recent kitchen plan

Now Open on Sundays!

January is undoubtedly one of the most popular periods for kitchen sales. The Christmas season passing inspires many to think about their kitchen dreams, making this as good a time as any to come and visit us in our showroom. To this end, Herringbone Kitchens is now open on Sundays, from 10:00 - 16:00, in order to make visiting us during the weekends easier. Many couples have been visiting, whether it be to book an appointment for a free measurement and quotes, or to simply browse and research their own ideas. A new kitchen always starts somewhere, and we are happy to try and help as much as we can. To facilitate this, we have decided to dedicate this to highlighting all the resources available to you on our website.

As you can see, we have a number of links in the information bar. Our Kitchens tab will lead you to explore the range of units and styles that we offer, with detailed images of the designs available to you. Our Accessories section is similar, dedicated to showing the range of stylish extras we stock, in order for you to furnish your kitchen, from taps to handles. If you wish to know more About us and our Sustainability, we have details available, or if you wanted to see our previous work, we have photos and Testimonials. Lastly, of course, we have our Blog, as well as our Contact page, where you can book an appointment online. 

We would absolutely love to hear as much from you as possible, but a visit to our showroom is always recommended, as we will be able to help you as best we can with our own personal advice. We hope that we can help you see your dream kitchen realised, and that you won't hesitate to contact us. 

New Year, New Kitchen

We at Herringbone would love to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and hope you have a wonderful holiday! Our showroom is closed from the 24th to the 1st, but will reopen on the 2nd, ready for the New Year. After the holidays, we would love to help you sort out a new kitchen, and give you ideas of how to go about the kitchen process.

Where to start is a difficult question. Do you have a particular design in mind for your new room? Are you knocking down a wall, or starting entirely from scratch?  There are so many things to consider, that it can seem daunting at first. Help is, fortunately, easy to find. Here at Herringbone Kitchens, our designs are made entirely with your input, and it is our pleasure to help you realise your dreams into reality. A bespoke service is absolutely the best way to go for a kitchen that ensures your design will be met, along with perfect use of space and every detail matching your vision. 

Our customers have endless amounts to say about our work, and can be read in full on our Testimonials page.  You can be safe in the knowledge that we "helped from everything, from design and layout, to colour and style",  and that Sasha "wouldn't use anyone else". 

We hope to see you all in the New Year, and wish you all well. Hopefully this will help you get started and thinking about your kitchen, and we will be happy to try and see that you get well on your way come January 2nd. Until then, Merry Christmas!

Preparing for Christmas!

It feels like the school term only just began, and yet here we find ourselves with lights in the streets, trees going up and Christmas tunes being played over and over on the radio. Christmas is undoubtedly one of the jolliest times of the year, and for good reason! Great food, fabulous company and decorations that make you smile just to look at. Like we did with our Halloween highlight, we thought we would look at some of the nicest Christmas decorations around, before going in to the greatest Christmas treat you can get yourself next week (spoiler: it's a new kitchen!!!)

The first, and perhaps most obvious, decoration that encompasses Christmas is the tree. Everyone has their own styles and decorations to hang when it comes to Christmas trees, so it becomes quite tricky to rank any design above another. One very clever idea, however, is Thyme Is Honey's beautiful design upon which you can hang your Christmas cards in the shape of a tree. This is such a wonderful idea, as the cards which may go unnoticed on a counter or shelf are now the centerpiece in  a beautiful take on the classic tree.

 

The next standard of Christmas is the lights. Fairy, LED, blinking or otherwise, Christmas lights are beautiful, and can be used to great effect, whether on a tree, wall or the outside of your house. One that really took our eye was Amanda's DIY lights in a wine bottle, which creates a beautiful, yet simple, decorative piece. 

Decorations are a great way to involve the family in preparing for Christmas. Whilst the card tree and wine bottle designs might be a tad tricky to get kids involved with, one easy design to complete with them is snowflakes. Everyone remembers making snowflakes out of paper or card, and with a little bit of internet know how, you can find really easy tutorials to help make beautiful looking snowflakes, which can then adjourn your wall. One very simple tutorial is by Sarah on Frugal Fun for Boys, and features great designs which you can easily follow. 

Hopefully, this may have given you some ideas for decorations that you can make and spread joy with this holiday season. We'll all be celebrating in our own way, so feel free to share with us your Christmas on our Facebook page, the comments of this blog, or simply tell us about it in our showroom, open Monday to Saturday, 9.30-5.

Trick or Treat on the Kings Mile Sat 31st

October is becoming more and more defined by the spookiness that comes with Halloween, and everyone knows and loves the joy of dressing up in wacky and wonderful costumes. Here at the Kings Mile, we celebrate by inviting children to trick or treat in our shops.  Last year we had over 300 children and had such a great time seeing all of the costumes and passing out candy. If you have a child, or the child in you would love to dress up- come join other trick or treaters between 1pm-3pm on the 31st at the Kings Mile!

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To get in the mood for the trick or treaters to come, this week we want highlight some of our favourite Halloween decorations, and good ideas for ways to turn your kitchen spooky, even for just a week. We know we will be decorating the showroom for the day.

Spiders webs and bats are Halloween classics, but there are more interesting alternatives to consider. A great tutorial by Melissa Mortenson on Polkadotchair shows how to make Floating Witch's Hats, but a similar effect could easily be done by simply adding the witch's hat to your lampshade! 

You could even try Matthew Ashman's great Cardboard Gravestones. Simple decorations are easy to make, and can really add flair to fit the festivities.

 

 

Food is another easy resource to use when decorating! Everyone knows carved pumpkins are great, but not many know how easy it is to find great designs for them! Pumpkin Pile is a great site which offers these designs for free - all you have to do is stick them on the pumpkin whilst you carve and carve through them! These can result in fantastic designs, like Randy Cox's Spiderman, or Elizabeth Noguera's Olaf from Frozen! For added flair, you could even try and turn the carving into a snack! Mom Shara made a Watermelon fruit monster for her daughter's birthday, featured on Heather Dalton's blog, which is just perfect for a Halloween party!

Having fun with Halloween decorations is a great thing to do, and can be especially fun to decorate with your kids, or even just for a party. Putting a little bit of effort in can be extremely rewarding. We hope to see you on the 31st!