Mounts Hill

I have had a lovely morning strolling down memory lane through our archives.  It’s funny how clearly some kitchens are imprinted in my mind, and others I barely remember.  But I have found some lovely, lovely kitchens.

We have painted kitchens in Indian White, Swedish White and Wiltshire White all from the Dulux Heritage Range.  We’ve painted them in Farrow & Ball’s Wimborne White (that’s a popular one) James White, Shaded White, Strong White (another popular shade), in

Old White (which isn’t really white at all) and Off White.

Mostly they are very classic in design.  Quite a few of them have beautiful warm Iroko worktops, which we don’t do quite as often as we used to, but do look lovely and are extremely hardwearing.  They don’t need as much looking after as people fear, I have some at home and I’m really very unkind to them, and they still look fab!  Others have been paired up with black granite, both polished and honed, which give them more of a contemporary look, but still with a classic twist.

The handles make a big difference too.  In one of the photos, which I’ll share with you in a minute, there are some gorgeous beehive bronze knobs which I love.  Other kitchens have the long, thin bar handles and there’s one, which again, I will show you, that has oversized Iroko knobs.  I remember not liking that idea, but they work and the whole kitchen still looks very modern.

The beauty of a white kitchen is that you can paint the walls any colour you like, and of course you can change that more easily than the colour of the cabinets.  Or you can keep it all very neutral and bring colour in with accessories, pictures, cushions or small appliances, which again, you can change when you’re bored.  I bought the most fabulous bright striped material from The Stripes Company and made cushions for my kitchen chairs.

Have a look at the pictures and see what you think.  I’ve really enjoyed going back through some of our previous work.  I’ll show you the new one when it’s finished.

Our friends at Cranbrook Iron and Hi-flight Aerospace created this extraordinary 8 metre rocket for the local Apple Fair this year, the theme of the day being Cowboys and Aliens!  But now it’s taking up space in an already overcrowded workshop at Cranbrook Iron and it needs to go.

The Ebay description reads as follows:

SPACE, THE FINAL FRONTIER…

  FOR SALE – APPLEO 11

  An unmissable opportunity to join the space race!  This is the rocket you were looking for!

A highly illogical Christmas present for any local rocket-less astronaut… 

  Currently stored at CASA – Cranbrook Aeronautics and Space Administration, after its first and only successful unmanned mission to boldly go where quite a few men have gone before.  

  Constructed in mild steel band with box section laterals to handle warp speeds of up to 13 light years per 13 light years!

It measures 8.5m high by 700mm in diameter

Covering is painted Proplux material.

Comes with own plinth and A frame launching dock.

  It’s a rocket, Jim, but not as we know it!  

It is a complete, single component and therefore cannot be taken apart.  However, it can be transported on a car roof rack from our CASA vehicle assembly building (shed) to your launch complex if your Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities are otherwise engaged.  

  The rocket has no nuclear capabilities and we will not take bids from Dictators, or any derivation of that word, either Far Eastern or Western!  We will gladly accept any questions from anyone by the name of Scotty, Buzz, Han or Jean-Luc.  We have interpreters at the ready, fluent in Klingon, Ferengi and Romulan.

  Live Long and Prosper!

Unfortunately the listing finishes today and while there have been over 200 views and a number of watchers it hasn’t sold.  So, if you can think of any astronauts that are looking for a bespoke rocket to add to their collection, let me know!

I’ve been reading about a study by Houzz UK that they carried out earlier this year.  They asked people who had recently updated their kitchens what style they’d gone for, and over half went for the sleek and handleless look while only 10% went for something more traditional.

While I know every kitchen company will have their own take on this evidence what is now very clear is that the kitchen is most definitely seen as the most important room in the house.

The study also found that consumers were increasing the size of their kitchens by an average of a huge 63% and that that average spend on a new kitchen was between £10,000 and £25,000.

I hate the phrase “hub of the home” and “open plan living” sounds very 1970′s but it is now very true that the kitchen is not just a cooking area now, but also a place to relax and to socialise.

It’s not just Houzz who have noticed this change.  I read in the KBB review that contemporary designs account for over 50% of products sold by German kitchen manufacturers.  

Here at Mounts Hill we have certainly noticed more interest in contemporary designs.  As we are a truly bespoke company, making everything from scratch in our workshop here on site in Cranbrook, we are probably slower than the larger companies to follow this trend.  However, with the launch of our new bought-in kitchen ranges we are now able to offer contemporary, handleless, clean lined kitchen designs whilst also being able to make transitional or new classic blends of both styles within our bespoke in-house kitchens.

I’m sitting in the office looking out on a pretty miserable day.  Can’t believe that this time last week was the hottest June day since 1976 - I hope that wasn’t THE summer!!

We made this table for a local pub, The Milkhouse, in Sissinghurst, two years ago.  It was created using one single tree trunk of a Douglas Fir and is over 7 metres long.  It seats 35 people and sits on the patio in the garden of this lovely country pub.  

When we delivered it we had to use our old classic tractor and trailer.  The journey only takes about three minutes in a car, but this delivery took most of the morning.  We were to blame for a fairly large traffic snarl up too, and unloading it took most of our staff and most of the staff from the pub!  

Since then we’ve created two other, smaller tables in the same design for private clients and have had lots of positive comments from the pub and from their customers as it truly is a great talking point and the perfect place to spend a summer afternoon - if we get any more!.  

One of our new MH Style kitchen ranges is called Virginia.  It’s a modern take on a classic Shaker style with flat fronted drawers but shaker panelled doors.  It comes in eight beautiful colours but you can also buy it “in the white”  - primed and ready to paint any colour you choose.  

In this room it’s been designed with a traditional over mantle which ties in with the panels on the ceiling and internal door.  The open storage and the beautiful glazed wall cabinet with mirrored back prevent it from being bland.  The wicker baskets provide storage and individuality.

My only problem is that every time I have a conversation with a customer about The Virginia, I come away with Billy Joel’s “Only The Good Die Young” running around and around in my head!  I’m now interested to know whether all our new kitchen ranges will have a theme tune!?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BijbQua4nHE  Click on here to have a listen!

We’ve had a Lurcher now for six years.  We rescued her as a puppy, she was all legs, worms and fleas, but she’s turned into the gentlest, easy dog imaginable.  She runs like the wind but then spends most of her hours laid out on an old sofa in the kitchen.  She is ease itself, undemanding and soppy. The whole family adore her.

So, why is it then, that we have spent the best part of two years contemplating another dog?  Why is it that now we have gone through the puppy years, the crate is in the shed, nothing’s been chewed for years, do we decide to go and meet another one this weekend?

My son has had a very firm idea of how this second dog is to look, he has had a name sorted for him for almost two years too.  So, when I happened to see this scruffy black and white dog online last week I took leave of my senses and firstly, showed my children, and secondly, emailed the owner!!

And of course, he’s gorgeous!  He’s also a puppy, he’s also barely trained, he’s also very large - and he’s also coming on Thursday!!!  I spent most of last night awake wondering what on earth I was doing.  Where am I actually going to put him?  Will he get out of the garden?  What if he runs away?  What if my lovely dog doesn’t like him?  

I found some photos today of kitchens with built in dog feeding stations and even an integrated dog bed, which I like the idea of.  And of course I’m working in the right place - Mounts Hill can create all this easily, being a bespoke woodworking company.  We are in fact currently making a utility room for a customer with in built dog food storage in a pull out bin cabinet, which obviously I’m going to need too!   

I found an interesting article about what’s hot and what’s not this year in the kitchen world online this week.  

To be honest all the trends mentioned follow on from what started last year, our designs are already picking up on these ideas, especially the need for bespoke storage, uncluttered worktops and sleek, handleless doors.  

Quartz worktops have definitely been the favourite choice of our customers in the last six months or so and looking at our order book this looks definite to continue into this year.  

I’m excited about copper becoming more popular.  We have some stunning sample handles in our showroom, both in bright and American copper, but so far haven’t had anybody take us up on them.  Copper is supposed to be able to kill bacteria isn’t it?  It’s a brilliant material to use in the kitchen and ties in well with the trend for earth tones and natural products within a kitchen design.

I’m pleased to say that our customers are right on the button with their choices of appliances.  Range cookers are listed here and we certainly provide many of these, or build our kitchens around existing ones.  Gadgets are also proving popular.  We have built in a number of pop up bluetooth speakers and fold down tv screens but the most requested now is a hot water tap, which I have to say I couldn’t live without!

Mounts Hill have always been very good at designing and manufacturing bespoke larder cabinets, and have created a number of them, all slightly different, in the last year.  Some have been quite traditional in style, with basket storage rather than drawers underneath.  Others have been very contemporary with stainless steel grilles in the drawer fronts and push to open catches, and all have bottle and spice racks inside the doors.

Colour wise it seems we’re also ahead of the game, or at least our customers are!  Grey has been a very popular colour, although never the same shade twice.  To have the main kitchen in one colour and the island unit in a contrasting colour is current and we’ve also added a third, more vibrant colour to the insides of open shelving units and dresser cabinets in two kitchens this last year, which I think helps to make a real personal statement to the design.  The list suggests monochrome kitchens, grey, white and black are trending - I really hope our customers step outside the box on this one and continue to add flashes of purple, orange or pink to their colour schemes!  

A stunning oak kitchen with custom veneered cluster oak panels in a town house in Royal Tunbridge Wells.  The building is Grade II listed and our design brief was to respect it’s heritage and take inspiration from the original Georgian details within the house.

A minimalist style vanity unit for an en-suite in a newly built Eco55 house near us.

Black walnut interior contrasts with the white exterior.

Lots of storage is available with the ash drawer boxes providing towel space.

The 12mm Corian worktops are perfect for the bathroom and the undermounted sink keeps the sleek lines.

Scarlet Dresser.