Maidstone Bespoke Kitchen & Utility

The Design

We recently finished this stunning kitchen for a lovely family in Maidstone.

The bespoke cabinetry is in our Rye style and the design consists of a glorious, long run of cabinetry including a stunning Belfast sink and a Bora hob. On one end of this run are a double stacked oven unit as well as a double fridge freezer, while on the other end a breakfast station behind a smart bi fold door cabinet!

A large kitchen island sits across from the main cabinetry run, with enough seating space for four, plenty of drawer space and a wine fridge saving space in the main fridge and making hosting a lot easier.

We asked our clients why they wanted a bespoke kitchen and what was something they were certain they wanted from the very beginning, they said:

“The space that our kitchen is in was originally two rooms that we knocked into one large room, as a result we have two slightly different ceiling heights and needed to work with a company that could tailor the kitchen to our exact needs. After our first visit with David at Herringbone we knew that they could help us achieve the exact kitchen we had in mind. Due to our house being a period property we felt that a more classic design would work well. We had always liked the idea of having a black kitchen but were unsure if it would work due to light, we didn’t want the space to feel dark.”

“As soon as we knocked down the internal wall between the two rooms we felt happy that there was more than enough light to go ahead with this idea. During our first visit to the showroom we fell in love with the Sparkbrook brass handles - so we decided to go for a brass theme across the kitchen using Tom Dixon pendant lights above the island and also the Brass Quooker tap.”

A really unique larder unit was built in a small alcove in the room, with tongue and groove back panelling painted in a contrasting colour and reeded glass doors, making the perfect little space for cookbooks to be stored, some additional food storage drawers as well as another work surface for potential baking with the clients lovely stand mixer.

The Workshop

Last year we opened our very own workshop in Canterbury! It is based less than 10 minutes from the studio and surrounded by farmland. It’s open to all, and something we hope our clients want to pop in to watch their kitchen be made. This is where your kitchen is made by the most hard working and dedicated team of carpenters and painters.

The Details: Colours, Hardware, Worktops

This project’s colour palette is an elegant, dark scheme with brass tones bringing warmth and the lightly veined, white worktops keeping the space feeling light. The cabinetry is all painted in Mylands’ “Blackout”, a blue-toned black colour, while the inside of the smaller larder unit is painted in “Ludgate Circus”, again by Mylands an almost muted green-grey.

We asked our clients about their process of choosing colours & hardware, they said:

“We ordered some samples from Mylands to help us choose the paint. We painted the colours around different areas of the room and made sure to check them at different times of the day. The thing we love about the colour Blackout is that it has so many different layers and can look totally different from morning to evening depending on the light.

With the worktops we had an idea of the type of material we wanted to use after seeing samples in the showroom however as we felt it was such a big decision we decided to visit the showroom – we visited Nile Stone at their distribution centre where we could see the quartz in a large format. We then purchased through Herringbone and they used a fantastic local supplier who helped us choose exactly what would work for the space. 

Regarding the hardware - we let David lead us on what he felt would work for each different cabinet. What I really love is that we have a real mix of handles, knobs and cups - each one has been thoroughly thought out based on the use of the cupboard and they all work really well. “

For their hardware, our clients choose a combination of pull handles, knobs and cup pulls for some of their drawers, all in a beautiful satin brass finish.

The Larders

This project features two larder units; a smaller one in the alcove and a larger, double larder unit with shelves and coat hooks for the family’s coats, bags and shoes. This is an excellent way to store these things which can often get thrown on the floor by your front door! This is what our clients had to say about their bespoke larders:

“In the design process we decided to change the space we previously used to house our coats and shoes and turn this into a larder. It was important for us to have a new area to house all the coats and shoes - especially as we have 2 young children which in hand brings lots of coats, shoes, bags etc. David came up with the idea of using a large larder space as a coat cupboard, it’s actually now one of my favourite spaces as there is so much room to keep everything tidy and organised...no more panicking to find a lost shoe in the mornings last minute as everything is clearly visible.”

“Our pantry has a false back behind the panelling - this area houses our fuse board, electricity meter and WiFi box etc. As a result we weren’t able to have shelves on this space as we need to remove now and again to be able to access this space. We collect cooking books and felt this would be the perfect area to house part of our collection as well as our beloved Kitchen Aid and Coffee machine. We have plenty of space to store things in the drawers below too; they are deceptively big!”

The Utility

Just off the kitchen, a small utility room was included in the design, with a single larder unit for storage and a stacked washer and dryer, saving a significant amount of space. Keeping the colour palette and hardware the same in here creates continuity and adds a touch of glamour to this space.

Our Clients Top 5 Favourite Parts of their New Kitchen

“1. The Quooker tap - I don’t know how I coped without before and can’t recommend it enough! 

2. The Bora hob - it’s amazing - so easy to use, efficient and we haven’t had a single cooking smell in the kitchen since it’s been fitted.

3. The Spice Cupboard - We have a huge collection of different spices and ingredients from so many cuisines. I’ve lost count of the amount of time I spent searching out a particular spice in our old kitchen. Now everything is completely visible and there is just so much space! 

4. The Utility room - we cannot recommend having the washing machine and tumble dryer stacked enough. It’s given us so much extra space and makes doing the laundry so much easier.

5. The Large coat cupboard I mentioned earlier - it’s amazing.”

On Using Herringbone

We are very lucky to receive all of the lovely feedback that we do from our clients. Here is what they had to say this time:

“The Herringbone team have exceeded every expectation at every step of our process. James and Mark who fitted our kitchen were amazing, so polite, respectful and hard working. They made sure they cleaned up every evening and always went the extra mile to ensure everything was completed to the highest possible standard. We appreciated William visiting to check everything was running smoothly.

David went above and beyond for the whole process and we cannot thank him enough. We made so many changes during the design process and he never complained and was always on hand to discuss things. His ideas and planning are incredible; he considers every tiny detail and as a result we now have a kitchen we have always dreamed of. Thank you very much Herringbone.” 

-Mark, Maidstone

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