The Design Column – June/July 2009

For some people choosing a luxury kitchen designer can be a longer part of the project than designing and installing the bespoke kitchen itself.

I’ve met enough people over the years to recognise that choosing the designer who is going to create the luxury bespoke kitchen to transform your home can be an exciting time – but it can also be a time when you feel anxious, worried and maybe even a little intimidated.

There can be many different reasons for this: you might be worried that you will lose control over your project; you might be anxious that the finished result doesn’t live up to the image you have in your mind; you may have concerns about delivering everything you want within the budget or on schedule; or you simply might have some niggling doubt about whether the designer and his or her team are people you will be able to work with.

I’m often asked by friends what is the key factor by which clients choose me as their luxury kitchen designer and I believe it all boils down to one simple thing; trust. Because every kitchen we design at Simon Bray is bespoke, our clients are not able to see a range in a brochure. They can’t simply pick an off-the-shelf package or select a series of units, doors, work surfaces or accessories. The need to trust in me and what I can deliver for them is therefore paramount.

Of course what they can view is our advertising and editorial articles in leading kitchen, interiors and design magazines. They can browse our website and find out more about the luxury bespoke kitchens we have designed for clients across the country. They can come and see our showroom and talk to me about my design philosophy and principles. But even after doing all that they still need to be able to trust me and my team of designers and craftsmen, that we can deliver the idea, the feeling, the lifestyle and the room they dream off.

When faced with a blank sheet of paper, or in my clients’ cases a blank room, some people do seem to freeze or be unable to visualise how their room might look. In order to help and guide people through the initial meetings and process when designing a bespoke kitchen, we have developed a series of colour palettes that clients can refer to as a starting point. Each colour palette takes a mixture of natural woods, materials and colours that we know work beautifully together. Clients can use this to start to define how they want their room to look, which greatly aids the design process and gives them greater insight into visualising their new room. It helps engender and build up that all important trust which is crucial in any design project between the client and supplier. Of course, as a bespoke designer, even though we use this colour palette method, we retain the flexibility and freedom for clients to specify their exact furniture and fittings requirements, as well as add to or adapt the colour palette depending on their personal preferences, lifestyle or character of home.

Within the luxury kitchen industry, what we are doing at Simon Bray is truly unique. Our modern English kitchens take traditional qualities such as warmth, luxury and longevity and combine these with the practicalities and functionality of modern furniture. The result is a kitchen where curves, a mix of materials and connected freestanding furniture delivers a luxurious aesthetic and contemporary style that retains a wow factor long after it has been installed.

Because of such a unique approach, it can be harder for some clients to see that a Simon Bray kitchen delivers everything they want, and often much, much more. In order to help people understand the difference between us and other luxury kitchen designers, I often compare the process of buying a Simon Bray kitchen to that of buying a new car. When buying a car we have a short list of makes and models, and once we’ve narrowed that down to one the fun begins! We can personalise and make it uniquely our own car by choosing the finishes and additional fittings so that it looks, feels and drives exactly as we want it to. It is still obviously an Audi A6, a BMW 7 series or a Mercedes ML – but it’s definitely built to our personal style and taste.

Our clients go through a similar process. We involve them and listen to what they want their new room to achieve. This goes beyond simple specifying the number of ovens or worktops, but gets to understand the fundamentals of how they want to live, work and relax in their room. Because of such involvement, it enables our clients to personalise their kitchens so once we have decided on an overall scheme and colour palette they can specify exactly the finishes they want.

Our customers therefore come from across the UK. They don’t want to restrict their search for a luxury kitchen designer to just the local showrooms within a 30 minute drive of their home. Usually because they are looking for something that their local suppliers cannot deliver. Indeed some of my clients have never been to my showroom in Bedfordshire. Having seen our work in kitchen and interior design magazines, having visited our website and having received our brochure they automatically get what we are all about and, in doing so, have taken that leap of faith and have already bought in to, and trust, our approach to create the unique, bespoke, luxury room they dream off.

It’s a trust that in almost twenty years of business we’ve never broken.

In the next issue I shall be talking about our unique colour palette system in more detail. Until then, enjoy the first few months of the summer!