Although over recent years we have had reviews in several magazines, this is one about us written without our knowledge of its content. As such, we regard it as an open and honest opinion.
Article from "Build-It" magazine
While progress on the house has been slow since Christmas, we have started to look in greater detail at some of the finishing touches for the house. It is now approaching the end of March 2002 and we should be moving in some time between May and July 2002; this does not give us very long, and we need to get things organised. Our deal with Chris Foggett for the build of the house is that we will supply most of the material used in the house. Bella and I sit down and draw up a list of things that we will need to buy. Top of the list comes the kitchen, both for the main house and for the annexe.
We have to decide where we are going to source all of these, but the first thing that needs to be sorted out is the kitchen for the house. For the main house we have decided to go for a bespoke 'hand made' kitchen. The kitchen is the focal point of the house, and is a room where we will be spending much of our time; this needs to be right, and is something that we accept we probably need to spend quite a lot of money on. Bella has been dreaming of a 'semi fitted' solid wood kitchen with granite worktops for years, so here is her chance to get exactly that. We are blessed in Wiltshire that we have some of the highest profile kitchen makers in the UK very close to us. I won't name names, but they advertise in all of the glossy home magazines. We visit them and wonder at the beautiful kitchens that they have to offer us. The show rooms are very flashy and the young sales people very confident and assertive -they know just the sort of kitchen that we would need! We give them details of what we are looking for and sit back waiting for the final designs to be sent to us. We are blessed in Wiltshire that we have some of the highest profile kitchen makers in the UK very close to us. I won't name names, but they advertise in all of the glossy home magazines. We visit them and wonder at the beautiful kitchens that they have to offer us. The show rooms are very flashy and the young sales people very confident and assertive -they know just the sort of kitchen that we would need! We give them details of what we are looking for and sit back waiting for the final designs to be sent to us.
A few days later they arrive by post. The first thing that is obvious is that these specialist kitchen makers have stuffed the kitchen full of units and cupboards. We had explained to them that we have built a large pantry / larder which will be shelved and will keep most of our non-perishable food, other household products and all of the pots and pans, all hidden away out of view. We are looking for a kitchen with only a few wall cupboards and maybe a dresser unit against one wall. None of the specialist kitchen designers have interpreted our brief properly. Not only that, the cost is huge! They are looking for between £45,000 and £55,000 to build our kitchen for us! And that's just for the units and worktops, it does not include fitting, the appliances, or VAT! NO WAY!!
Friends of ours, Jon and Liz Clancy, had recently built their own home in Hullavington, a nearby village, and they had used a local chap to design and build their kitchen. This was made out of solid oak and cost a fraction of what we were being quoted, and it looks fantastic. They give us his name- Alan Smith from Calne in Wiltshire, a town just a few miles away from us.
Bella phones Alan, and immediately they hit it off. Alan agrees to come and see us in a few days. He arrives; dressed in his work overalls, sawdust in his hair, and calluses on his hands. He has a firm handshake and lots of grey hairs. He explains that he has been making wooden furniture all of his working life and has a small workshop with his son in Calne. We tell him of our experiences with the specialist kitchen designers and he promises us that he can make a very special, hand-made, solid wood kitchen for us with as good, or better, quality for a fraction of the price we were quoted.
The kitchen is very much Bella's project, and she and Alan quickly get down to the detail of the design and the choice
of materials. She explains to him that she wants a 'semi fitted look'. On one wall she wants a large dresser. Between the family room and the kitchen she wants the hob to be fitted, and she wants a large sink under the window with views to the garden. In the main kitchen she wants a small larder fridge, an integrated dishwasher and a double 'eye level' oven. At the 'back window' we want a built-in bench and a 'breakfast table'. In the utility room we want to have a tall built-in fridge, a tall freezer (which we already have and which needs to be hidden in a cupboard), a washing machine, a tumble drier (again to be hidden in cupboards), oh, and we want another sink. No problem, Alan says.
A few days later he calls us up. He has done the designs, would we like to see them? He calls around with samples of wood for the doors and examples of the different sort of door finishes we could go for. The basic design is drawn out by hand on a couple of pieces of paper. None of the fancy presentation that we got from the 'exclusive' kitchen makers’ showrooms, but Alan has managed to interpret our brief exactly the way we wanted.
We make some minor amendments, taking out the built-in bench and breakfast table and changing the layout of some cupboards, and then we brace ourselves for the price... ' Including VAT it works out at a shade under £12,000. We will be able to reclaim the VAT and so it will cost us a grand total of £ 10,202. OK, we need to add in the cost of granite worktops and all of the appliances, but this is still a big saving on the initial quotes we received. We decide to have the kitchen made from American White Oak, and pay Alan a deposit so that he can go and buy the wood. Alan gives us the name of a granite supplier in Trowbridge, Philip Bines, who will be able to offer a supply and fitting service for the granite work- tops that we want.
We call Phil and visit his workshop. This is no fancy showroom; it is clearly a place where real work is done. There are bits of granite and marble around and Phil shows us what choices we have. We narrow it down to three or four different types and give Phil our measurements, he sits at his desk and presses a few keys on his calculator and he gives us a price for the granite. As usual we seem to have selected the most expensive type, Blue Pearl. The price for our granite worktops delivered and fitted works out at £1,500. This includes rebating the hob into the surface to give a seamless join (Bella has seen a wonderful black 'gas on glass' hob that we just have to have), splash backs, granite window shelves
and a shelf between the kitchen and the family room. We are pleased and amazed at the price, as we had been quoted three times as much elsewhere!
A couple of weeks later, Alan Smith calls to tell us that work on the kitchen build is going really well, and invites us to visit to have a look at the progress. Alan's workshop is certainly not fancy, but the product they are producing looks amazing. Alan introduces us to his son Andrew who is doing most of the work, he shows Bella what he has done so far and explains what still needs to be done. They discuss the finish required and agree on some extra carving to give the kitchen a feeling of individuality. We leave Alan's workshop very pleased with our decision to buy the kitchen from him.
While progress on the house has been slow since Christmas, we have started to look in greater detail at some of the finishing touches for the house. It is now approaching the end of March 2002 and we should be moving in some time between May and July 2002; this does not give us very long, and we need to get things organised. Our deal with Chris Foggett for the build of the house is that we will supply most of the material used in the house. Bella and I sit down and draw up a list of things that we will need to buy. Top of the list comes the kitchen, both for the main house and for the annexe.
We have to decide where we are going to source all of these, but the first thing that needs to be sorted out is the kitchen for the house. For the main house we have decided to go for a bespoke 'hand made' kitchen. The kitchen is the focal point of the house, and is a room where we will be spending much of our time; this needs to be right, and is something that we accept we probably need to spend quite a lot of money on. Bella has been dreaming of a 'semi fitted' solid wood kitchen with granite worktops for years, so here is her chance to get exactly that. We are blessed in Wiltshire that we have some of the highest profile kitchen makers in the UK very close to us. I won't name names, but they advertise in all of the glossy home magazines. We visit them and wonder at the beautiful kitchens that they have to offer us. The show rooms are very flashy and the young sales people very confident and assertive -they know just the sort of kitchen that we would need! We give them details of what we are looking for and sit back waiting for the final designs to be sent to us. We are blessed in Wiltshire that we have some of the highest profile kitchen makers in the UK very close to us. I won't name names, but they advertise in all of the glossy home magazines. We visit them and wonder at the beautiful kitchens that they have to offer us. The show rooms are very flashy and the young sales people very confident and assertive -they know just the sort of kitchen that we would need! We give them details of what we are looking for and sit back waiting for the final designs to be sent to us.
A few days later they arrive by post. The first thing that is obvious is that these specialist kitchen makers have stuffed the kitchen full of units and cupboards. We had explained to them that we have built a large pantry / larder which will be shelved and will keep most of our non-perishable food, other household products and all of the pots and pans, all hidden away out of view. We are looking for a kitchen with only a few wall cupboards and maybe a dresser unit against one wall. None of the specialist kitchen designers have interpreted our brief properly. Not only that, the cost is huge! They are looking for between £45,000 and £55,000 to build our kitchen for us! And that's just for the units and worktops, it does not include fitting, the appliances, or VAT! NO WAY!!
Friends of ours, Jon and Liz Clancy, had recently built their own home in Hullavington, a nearby village, and they had used a local chap to design and build their kitchen. This was made out of solid oak and cost a fraction of what we were being quoted, and it looks fantastic. They give us his name- Alan Smith from Calne in Wiltshire, a town just a few miles away from us.
Bella phones Alan, and immediately they hit it off. Alan agrees to come and see us in a few days. He arrives; dressed in his work overalls, sawdust in his hair, and calluses on his hands. He has a firm handshake and lots of grey hairs. He explains that he has been making wooden furniture all of his working life and has a small workshop with his son in Calne. We tell him of our experiences with the specialist kitchen designers and he promises us that he can make a very special, hand-made, solid wood kitchen for us with as good, or better, quality for a fraction of the price we were quoted.
The kitchen is very much Bella's project, and she and Alan quickly get down to the detail of the design and the choice
of materials. She explains to him that she wants a 'semi fitted look'. On one wall she wants a large dresser. Between the family room and the kitchen she wants the hob to be fitted, and she wants a large sink under the window with views to the garden. In the main kitchen she wants a small larder fridge, an integrated dishwasher and a double 'eye level' oven. At the 'back window' we want a built-in bench and a 'breakfast table'. In the utility room we want to have a tall built-in fridge, a tall freezer (which we already have and which needs to be hidden in a cupboard), a washing machine, a tumble drier (again to be hidden in cupboards), oh, and we want another sink. No problem, Alan says.
A few days later he calls us up. He has done the designs, would we like to see them? He calls around with samples of wood for the doors and examples of the different sort of door finishes we could go for. The basic design is drawn out by hand on a couple of pieces of paper. None of the fancy presentation that we got from the 'exclusive' kitchen makers’ showrooms, but Alan has managed to interpret our brief exactly the way we wanted.
We make some minor amendments, taking out the built-in bench and breakfast table and changing the layout of some cupboards, and then we brace ourselves for the price... ' Including VAT it works out at a shade under £12,000. We will be able to reclaim the VAT and so it will cost us a grand total of £ 10,202. OK, we need to add in the cost of granite worktops and all of the appliances, but this is still a big saving on the initial quotes we received. We decide to have the kitchen made from American White Oak, and pay Alan a deposit so that he can go and buy the wood. Alan gives us the name of a granite supplier in Trowbridge, Philip Bines, who will be able to offer a supply and fitting service for the granite work- tops that we want.
We call Phil and visit his workshop. This is no fancy showroom; it is clearly a place where real work is done. There are bits of granite and marble around and Phil shows us what choices we have. We narrow it down to three or four different types and give Phil our measurements, he sits at his desk and presses a few keys on his calculator and he gives us a price for the granite. As usual we seem to have selected the most expensive type, Blue Pearl. The price for our granite worktops delivered and fitted works out at £1,500. This includes rebating the hob into the surface to give a seamless join (Bella has seen a wonderful black 'gas on glass' hob that we just have to have), splash backs, granite window shelvesand a shelf between the kitchen and the family room. We are pleased and amazed at the price, as we had been quoted three times as much elsewhere!
A couple of weeks later, Alan Smith calls to tell us that work on the kitchen build is going really well, and invites us to visit to have a look at the progress. Alan's workshop is certainly not fancy, but the product they are producing looks amazing. Alan introduces us to his son Andrew who is doing most of the work, he shows Bella what he has done so far and explains what still needs to be done. They discuss the finish required and agree on some extra carving to give the kitchen a feeling of individuality. We leave Alan's workshop very pleased with our decision to buy the kitchen from him.