Blackheath Bespoke Kitchen & Banquette Seating

We recently completed this bespoke kitchen project for a lovely family in Blackheath!

The Design

Our lovely clients, Anna & Peter chose their bespoke cabinetry from our Westgate range, painted in an off-white and a dark blue for the island. The Westgate is a contemporary take on the traditional Shaker style kitchen, with a T- bar panel separating each unit and much thinner shaker panel. The Westgate is designed after Westgate Towers in Canterbury, and built to stand the test of time. Often paired with brass and rippled glass, this kitchen range can look very art deco with specific styling.

We asked our clients why they wanted a bespoke kitchen, this is what they had to say:

“We'd lived with a small, dark, narrow galley kitchen since we had moved into the house nearly 15 years ago. With two small children that were quickly growing bigger we urgently needed more space. Having waited so long, we didn't want to compromise on the new kitchen refurb - we wanted it to be the heart of our house. It needed to be beautiful, hard-wearing and functional. It needed to be a room that we wanted to spend lots of time in.”

“We had an idea of what we were after but David really brought it to life for us. Settling on the kitchen style itself was relatively easy, and spending time in the studio talking through options with David for handles etc made the process much easier. Making a final decision on the colours was harder - mainly because I couldn't make up my mind! - but we got there in the end, and we're really happy with our choice.”

The run of wall units features beautiful reeded glass doors, which keep the space feeling open and light, while giving a bit of a hint to what’s inside each cabinet. There are glass shelves inside the cabinets, which have LED downlights fit inside them, these do require a little more maintenance but the warm glow inside the units when the lights go on in the evening will make this all worth the effort. We love the details of the little cabinets above the American fridge / freezer for storing alcoholic drinks!

When we asked the clients what their favourite part of their new kitchen was, they said:

“The whole space! It is just so beautiful to be in. The design is perfect, everything is where it needs to be. The beaded glass cupboards are a thing of beauty, as are the brass handles. But I guess my most favourite part is the island: during the week at breakfast time with the kids; when we are entertaining (it was important to me to be able to face the table and seating area while preparing food); and when I'm working from home, sitting at it with my laptop.”

The kitchen island, painted in a beautiful dark blue, features a gas hob on the top, open shelving for displaying cookbooks and the children’s dinnerware, two additional cupboards under the overhang for maximum storage and two sets of three drawers on the other side. The placements of the hob and stools are an excellent way to make this space an even more social area.

The double larder behind the hob has 5 beautiful oak shelves, two painted spice racks on each door and three drawers below, perfect for pots and pans. This is a lovely way to maximise storage space and is a convenient location by the hob so you can grab spices quickly while cooking!

Making The Kitchen

The Details: Hardware & Decorative Tiles

The clients chose a combination of Sparkbrook Pull Handles for their kitchen cabinetry and Sparkbrook Knobs on the top of their banquette seating, a clever way to attach bench seat cushions! These solid-brass cabinet pull handles have a precision engineered diamond knurl which creates an industrial look. The Sparkbrook is a versatile design, we have used it on traditional shaker doors and contemporary flat doors!

Shop The Sparkbrook Collection

For their splashback, our clients chose the Carter Ceramic Tile in the colour ‘Rose’ and arranged them in a half-offset subway tile pattern. These beautifully mirror the exposed brick directly opposite the kitchen run and add a bright and cheery element to the space. These are available to buy from our Pantry in 6 colours and can be arranged in many different fun patterns.

The Bespoke Banquette Seating

One of the best parts of being bespoke is that we get to create one of a kind pieces for each client to suit their style and needs. We have seen a lot more requests for banquette seating recently and it’s obviously why. As well as being a beautiful, social piece of furniture, they are also incredibly practical by creating additional storage underneath.

We asked our clients how they came to the decision to add banquette seating and they said:

“The banquette was suggested to us by our architect as a way to use the space along the wall, and give us flexibility with the table seating. The genius of the design is the additional storage that it gives us as well, which is incredibly helpful.” 

On Using Herringbone

“Lovely, professional and thorough. David was incredibly collaborative and patient, especially with my many wobbles and indecisiveness. I really appreciated his reassurance, especially during the installation process. We have also been very impressed with how the Herringbone team have followed up post-installation. We now have the kitchen we always wanted, the beautiful heart of our home.”

-Anna & Peter, Blackheath

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