Ey up my faithful blogworms just to warn you, this weeks is a long one, so if you're sitting comfortably then I'll begin !
My feature this week is a recently completed kitchen that represents each and every discipline we strive for in a Kitchen Of Recycled Content. Recycle and re-use being the key !
The cabinets and doors are from our recycled content Eco2 range, customisable with soft close everything.
Recycled content stainless steel handles
The worktops are: Sustainable Solid Oak prepared and finished properly according to our developed system
A peninsular unit topped with a 100% recycled Yoghurt Pot worktop.
Some re-used appliances from the existing kitchen where their sizes are still currently to make replacement easy, a principle often overlooked when getting a new kitchen.
So without further ado, here's the pics to illustrate the principle ......
Starting here with benefit of custom making base units. We were able to sneak a small base unit in between the peninsular unit and the tall housings to usefully fill a space allowing us continuity of cabinets. The housings themselves are reduced depth to hug the angle of the wall and provide a home for a microwave & loads of dry goods storage. The mainstay of most good kitchens.
A picture showing how the base units run into the larder cupboards around a corner, illustrating the home for the microwave.
Placed at worktop height with the worktop just to the right, it's an ideal spot for the microwave for ease of use, off the main worktop run and can be used without getting under each others feet in the kitchen.
Base and walls going in now with the corner wall unit having a reduced leg on one side to make it tuck in nicely at the right hand side of the window, maximising use of the wall corner.
Most of the units in now and starting Oak worktop machining. The wall unit in the top left of this pic is 540mm wide to ensure we tuck up to the side of the beam running across the ceiling without compromising the rest of the run of units, isn't bespoking wonderful ??
Peninsular unit in place on the left, showing the run towards the fridge / freezer housing on the far end. Small drawer pack to the right with the dishwasher to the right of that.
Using Solid Hardwood for worktops has many benefits, not least of which is that you don't have to buy overwide worktop to create corner solutions and pay the premium that goes with it !
You simply join an offcut onto the back, cut it to shape, glue and bolt it into place and no-one will ever know !!
This next little group of three pics, above, I had to include as they are a personal joke between ourselves and the proud owners of the new kitchen, they'll know what I mean !!
Oak worktops machining nearing completion, all cut outs in place, sections glued and bolted together, all the backs have had 3 coats of oil, the sections joined together and ready for oiling the top surface.
First coat of oil now on the top, allowing sufficient time to dry before applying more coats. Minimum 3 coats needed but sometimes we'll give them 4 if the oil soaks in really quickly. This really is now to give the desired appearance as the real work is done by the first three.
My God ! it's starting to actually look like a kitchen, Getting goosebumps now as standing here and thinking " I don't care who you are, no-one could have planned this kitchen any better that this " We've maximised the storage while making it easy to work in .... what more could you want ?
Recycled Yoghurt Pot ! ..... Recycled Coffee Cups' often forgotten companion, which is a real shame as Yoghurt Pot has just as valuable part to play as it's more popular sister.
It looks fabulous on here, adds interest in aesthetics and textures. Blending in with the colour scheme perfectly !
So design friendly, very tactile and, as with the Oak, can all be cut and shaped on site without paying any template and installation costs like you do with granite.
Both the Oak and the Yog Pot are practical, long term worktop solutions and by following the common sense instructions we provide will last for 'donkeys years'
Doesn't this look fab ?? .... a damn good practical, well designed kitchen that's just such as nice place to be !
Efficient to work in, everything to hand and top of the tree in Eco credentials .... Sometimes, I love my job !!!
Needs tiling and flooring but with loads of Eco choices now for these elements, this should turn out to be a real Eco showcase, it not often we get so many eco and sustainable elements together in one kitchen. Needless to say, all the lighting is energy efficient aswell, all based on the new generation low energy / high light output, Cob lighting.
What more can I say other than all this could be yours too. As the proud new owners of this kitchen will testify .... it doesn't need to cost a fortune either !!
All you need to do is give us a call !
Jules.
Ey up, my faithful blogworms, update time on our voyage of discovery with ... Dekton
We've been trying everything to ruin our samples but without success, this stuff really does what it says on the tin !!
So far:
We've put it in the freezer, taken it out and warmed it up with a blowlamp ! Not a mark, that's got to be the ultimate thermal shock test and it passed with flying colours !!
Poured white spirit over it and set it on fire, used gloss paint and burned it off with same blowlamp, poured battery acid on it, poured brake fluid on it, .... shrugged it off like we weren't even trying !
In the kitchen we've tried:
Red wine, beetroot, bleach, cumin, vinegar, toothpaste, coffee, tea, hot fat, olive oil, food colouring and curry .... no effect whatsoever, dammit ! we can't seem to do any damage at all.
All this does is grow my confidence with the product massively, I do like to try stuff at home where possible if I'm going to recommend it to our customers to be sure it's right for them.
As I said last time, I've been doing this for over 25 years now and finally I've found a worktop product that actually ticks more boxes than I need to tick and that only happens once a lifetime if you're lucky.
I want to rip out every set of quatrz or granite tops I've ever fitted and put this in straight away. Clearly that's not going happen but it gives you an idea of how convinced that this material is so the way forward for kitchen surfaces to go
DEKTON .. It's a name to get used to looking for, it's what all the clever kitchens will be wearing sometime soon, trust me ! I'm going to do my bit to make it happen.
Contact me to learn more and get a price, even if you don't contact me .... contact someone or even Google it to start with, just do something to learn more about Dekton.
Why are you still reading this ?, DO IT , NOW !
Jules.
Ey up my faithful blogworms, We are slowly restoring badly installed timber tops and restoring peoples faith in them.
Timber tops are a fabulous, practical, long lasting and gorgeous set of worktops but keep getting bad press because 'muppets' install them with no understanding of exactly how they should be treated, this puts people off owning them and THAT'S WRONG !!
Here's another set we've brought back from the brink :
2 runs, Hob side and Sink side, hob side badly grease marked and dented, some splits and cracks caused by lack of know ledge and maintenance
What misguided fool stuck this obscene mass of tarred paper underneath this one ?
It was only over a fridge and freezer ! not as if it's gonna get damp ... is it ?
This mess took some getting off for us to thoroughly sand it back and prep it properly. You can't sand it back and oil it as it should be with this crap stuck all over it ...and they'd stapled it for good measure !!!!
The sink side had to come off too with even more of the tarred crap all over it .... for God's sake !! That's it flipped over sitting on the left after we'd got it back to bare wood.
Sink run, sanded and prepped and with it's first of three coats of oil on the back. As important to treat the back just as much as the front to create a moisture balance between the two. This prevents drying out and warping of the timber
Diligent and thorough oiling all all surfaces puts all the hard work in at the installation stage to make maintaining the timber later a doddle. We even provide full instruction sheets on how to machine & install with how to look after your tops when we've finished printed on the back.
2 pages, in simple English that anyone can understand that ensures the long term success and durability of these fantastic worksurfaces.
Both sets fully restored and being re-installed. Leaving the last oil coat until everything's back in to give us that final flourish in the finish. Look at picture 1 and then this last picture ..... the results speak for themselves !!
A bit of TLC and careful attention to detail and these worktops will live on for many years to come.
DO NOT be influenced by negative people when looking to buy hardwood worktops !
They ARE brilliant and they WILL last for years if installed by people who understand what they're doing !!
Any doubts, contact me, if we can't install for you for whatever reason, I will still happily email our 2 page guide to make sure that whoever fits for you does it properly and you will have worktops that you love and will serve you well for years to come !
I LOVE HARDWOOD WORKTOPS AND YOU CAN TOO !
Contact me before it's too late. Jules
Ey up my faithful blogworms, been out a lot lately with working away and holidays, you know what it's like, but anyway back now on following a Yorkshire theme this week.
Our area, Yorkshire, as any local will tell you is 'Gods Own County' in England. Getting around our county there are some spectacular sights to be seen. A lot of people do, believe it or not choose public transport !!
Which brings me too todays topic ..... Bus Blinds !!,, what's a bus blind I here you ask ?
A bus blind is the fabric roller that revolves in the front of bus, above the windscreen, showing the different destinations that route goes to.
See pics below:
We've managed to get hold of a genuine late 1970's, early 1980's Bus Blind complete, coming off a Leeds 'First Bus' route, it has dozens of well known Yorkshire destinations on it and we are slicing them off and framing them up as great nostalgia pieces to grace any home.
The destinations are too many to mention here but go as far east as Skipton and as far west as York, Wakefield, out to Bradford area and over to Wetherby, Boston Spa and loads around the main Leeds area.
We also have blinds which are non geographic such as : Park & Ride, University, Private and Out of Service.
The top blind is framed in Leeds 'First Bus' colours as an upgrade to the basic ones shown below framed in black.
Unless we have ones framed up and in stock already, as these 3 are, you can order and have your favourite destination framed up either way to suit your preferences.
Some of you may have seen these framed mainly of London area destinations but why should Yorkshire be left out ???
Many, many people have fantastic memories of holidays spent in our humble county and why shouldn't we celebrate that with Yorkshire Bus Blinds as reminders (or even Milestones) for happy times spent here.
As I said, we have dozens on the complete blind so why not contact us to see if we have your favourite location available ???
To grab hold of your fabulous Yorkshire Bus Blind, email me on: julian@milestone.uk.net or go to our facebook page and message me: www.facebook.com/MilestoneEcoKitchens
Your favourite is within your grasp but bear in mind ! ... we only have one of each, so it's first come, first served !!!1
All aboard ! Jules
