Featured in Ideal Home Magazine!
From our tiny hideaway in Northumberland, the “Nationals” are finding us! Following on from having one of our handmade, bespoke kitchens featured on The Home Channel, being referenced recently in Real Home magazines for our work, we were thrilled to have a 4 page article in The Ideal Home magazine (ref and link below)in March (I have tried to be grown up about this, not blown our own trumpet and bore friends and neighbours, but a little secret, slightly over excited ‘tra la la’ may have slipped out!)
The article in Ideal Home, features a kitchen that we designed and built (you realise I use ‘we’ loosely here!) for Michelle and Jamie, great clients, who have a stunning home set in a very beautiful location outside Corbridge, Northumberland.
The Plan
The existing kitchen was small and didn’t work for family life, in dialogue with Peter, the couple knocked through two living rooms, one for the kitchen and one for an open living space. Having thoroughly researched brochures and magazines for ideas, Michelle and Jamie knew that they wanted a traditional style painted kitchen with a modern twist that would be sympathetic to the period and overall feel of the house.
“Smart Choice”
Like it! The article states how by going for a painted kitchen, the room has both longevity and flexibility as it can be repainted (easily!) when the client’s fancy a change.
“The Hub of the House…Light and Spacious”
A high proportion of our work at Dunham Fitted Furniture comes via recommendation from previous clients, and this was no exception, as a friend recommended our work to Michelle and Jamie. In conversation with Peter Dunham (Mr D to me!), the design was drawn up and made good use of the existing pieces of furniture that the couple wanted to incorporate into the kitchen. The design is classically Peter! Almost Shaker in it’s simple straightforward style, with clean lines, great use of space and light , and a cool, calming colour palette. From the article
‘So how has the new room worked for the family? “It’s now the hub of the house and is so light and spacious we hardly use our other rooms!” ‘
“Neat Solutions”
I’m pleased too, alongside the fitted kitchen cupboards and island unit, the article mentions other details that we don’t always highlight, such as the mantle surround Peter made for the old inglenook that now creates a “wonderful focal point” for the room, the handmade oak stools to go under the island unit designed specifically to complement the existing dining table. It’s gratifying to know that items that are quite routine for us to make, make such a difference to client’s homes.
Recommedation and Our Pricing
In the Ideal Home Magazine, the article mentions that the couple were amazed at our prices for a bespoke kitchen, costing less than they thought.
Not the first time we’ve been told this, probably because firstly as part of our ethos, we like to think we are reasonable folk charging sensible prices . Our work is all individual, bespoke design, hand crafted furniture, fitted with every bit of attention to detail that the making as required, we won’t pretend that it isn’t hard work. It is. But we are of the honest wage for an honest days work school of thought. As our daughter would say, that’s how we roll!
Secondly, much of work is by word of mouth, recommendation, return clients and folk just seeing and admiring our furniture in their friends and families’ homes. This of course means that we don’t really have need of an expensive showroom…that’s not to say that we won’t spend alot of time talking things through with you, looking at designs and photos but this is actually with Mr Dunham, designer and maker, rather than with a sales person. Start to finish you are talking to the same small team of people, you get a personal, focussed service we you and your home at the centre of it, and we strive to keep our overheads as low as possible.
So yes, maybe our prices are pleasantly surprising!
We, whilst perhaps should take it all in our stride, are of course humble souls, pleasantly surprised to find ourselves featured in Ideal Home!
Credit: Ideal Home magazine, as featured in March 2015 website www.housetohome.co.uk/idealhomemagazine.
