Businesses

When Lewis and Kylie Furse embarked on a complete redesign of their home in St Austell, they wanted their kitchen to be the focal point, somewhere that looked amazing and where family and friends could all come together. Step into their home, and it’s safe to say they’ve succeeded!

The front door leads directly into the kitchen, which is at the heart of their open plan home, with the lounge area and dining room to the left as you walk in, and the rest of the accommodation to the right. 

With their requirement for something completely bespoke, and following recommendations from other family members, they went to independent Plymouth firm KF Kitchens to help them create their stunning kitchen. When they first visited the showroom at Faraday Mill, their home – which was previously owned by Lewis’ parents and was a single-storey bungalow with rooms in the roof – had just been redesigned with a new mezzanine and high, vaulted ceilings with natural oak beams.

“We needed our new kitchen to be built around the vaulted ceiling,” explained Kylie. “Design-wise, my idea was for a light, bright, Scandinavian look and an inviting, sociable space. In addition to this, we wanted it to look eye-catching, because it’s the first thing you see when you come in through the door.”

Lewis and Kylie chatted through their ideas at the showroom with the owners of KF Kitchens, Nathan and Derinda Damarell, before Nathan visited the property to discuss the plans further. Lewis said: “It was a bit of a wreck here at the time! One of the design issues was that the kitchen is big and it’s long, so we wanted to break things up and give it a bit of character. We went back and forward quite a bit, but they were very flexible and gave us the time to make our decisions.”

The couple chose a classy Burbidge kitchen from the Chartwell range, with an island in the middle. At one end of the room is the integrated oven and concealed fridge freezer appliances; at the other end is a bar area which links seamlessly to the lounge. The long wall has distinct features, to offer style and character, including a glass cabinet next to the bar, an alcove with lighting for the Rangemaster, and lit shelving. The cupboards above the sink are at a higher level, providing an additional aesthetic feature, while the low-level cupboards include two dishwashers.

Most of the kitchen is in the subtle shade of putty, but Lewis and Kylie were unsure which colour would work best for the island: “I wanted something timeless,” explained Kylie, “and after considering hues of green, blue and grey, Derinda suggested having the island cupboards done in a bespoke shade of black. It works really well. She also came up with the idea of the brass handles on the black section to create a better contrast. We were impressed with those bits of attention to detail.”

KF Kitchens supplied and installed the kitchen, with Neff and Liebherr appliances, a Quooker Flex tap and a Rangemaster Belfast Sink. They also installed the Rangemaster cooker, and recommended the Silestone worktop, which was supplied and installed by Plymouth company, Mayflower Stone. 

The oak elements of the bar, shelving and island were hand-crafted by Lewis, who also did the natural stone walls using TIER Standard Wall Cladding in Rustic Granite from his family-owned stone company Contec Southwest in St Austell. 

In fact, much of the home refurbishment is a family affair, because Kylie’s long standing family firm (Green Circle Bespoke Glazing in Plymouth, founded 1975) did all of the external aluminium windows, sliders and entrance doors. These were selected in a Smooth Jet Black (RAL9005M) to tie in with the interior design throughout the home.

Before the house was refurbished, the new kitchen area had been the dining room. The new dining room is where the old kitchen used to be, and KF Kitchens supplied and fitted a feature cabinet in that room. They also supplied and fitted a new utility room.