Take a Seat

2014-04-02T11:25:00

Like many Devon homes, ours is "blessed" with wonky walls, unusual alcoves and sloping window cills. Our dining area is particularly blighted, to the point where the walls pitch out so far that the dining furniture we brought from our old house was blocking the traffic flow to the living room beyond.

The solution of course is a bespoke banquette, which is scribed flush to the wall for a snug fit. They are very trendy right now, and we've made several for our customers recently. Now, just seven years after we moved in, Nick has finally found time to make one for us. We've painted it in Farrow & Ball's lovely Elephant's Breath, and installed lift-up seats with oodles of storage below (taking care to include soft close hinges and lots of hidden air holes should the children decide it's ideal for future games of hide and seek!).

The table folds out (doubling in size) to easily accommodate 10 or more for Sunday roast. Now we're just waiting for the squishy soft feather and foam cushion pads, currently being sewn by the lovely people at Perry Down (perrydown.co.uk) but already it's made a massive difference to the sense of space in our dining area and is proving the perfect place to stash baby clothes, extra glassware, wine, the 'good intentions' breadmaker we rarely use...the list is endless.

Published by Linda Clayton
March 28, 2017

Simple solutions

2014-04-07T12:00:00

It's an exciting week for us kitchen nerds as EuroCucina opens its doors in Milan, www.cosmit.it/en/eurocucina. Held biannually, this is basically a mahusive kitchen exhibition where the leading European manufacturers show off their latest designs. It’s THE place to go for kitchen trend inspiration in terms of new materials, colours and finishes but I particularly love seeking out new innovations behind closed doors. The last time I went, the focus was on electronic opening systems, which saw drawers and doors gliding open at the lightest touch. Brilliant for those seeking an ultra minimalist kitchen without handles, not to mention impressing guests. The only problem was that every time anyone leant up against a kitchen on display a drawer would pop open, generally freaking them out and making the exhibitors blush with embarrassment. Fortunately the technology has been refined and the pressure resistance adjusted to prevent accidental opening but it does make me wonder if such “innovations” are really necessary. What’s so difficult about opening a kitchen cabinet with a handle anyway (assuming you are not physically challenged of course)" And if it’s minimalism you seek, why not go for recessed handles that hide in the shadow-line of the door"

I prefer to live by the K.I.S.S acronym – Keep It Simple Stupid. One of my favourite working examples is the cling film drawer in our kitchen. When I realised that the new extra-long 10m tin foil I bought wouldn’t fit, Nick simply took the drawer out and cut a nice neat hole in the back, through which it slots. Since then many of our customers have requested a similar solution for their new kitchens. Best of all, as there’s no swishy technology or complicated storage system involved, it doesn’t cost a penny.

Published by Linda Clayton
April 7, 2014

Clayton Cabinet

Take a Seat

Simple solutions