Oh I do like to be beside the seaside !

 Ey up my faithful blogworms, 

"Oh I do like to be beside the seaside", ring any bells ?

An increasing amount of us do, it would appear, ourselves included.
Now we may be equidistant between the west and east coast here in sunny little Ilkley in Yorkshire but that gives us easy access to both of them within a couple of hours and we love days or weeks out at the coast.

For the second of our "idea funding" topics we look to Seaside inspired kitchens. Light, airy, welcoming, sunny places to be be giving us a permanent reminder of balmy days on the beach. Cheers you up in the depths of winter and keeps you going 'til the summer comes round. The splashback in the picture shows a seaside scene and is something we can reproduce using our fabulous recycled roadstone splashbacks from your own photos. 

We know from various magazines that seaside themes are very much in vogue at the moment and lots of people embrace the concept. If you're one of them and would like to have your concepts brought to life in our showroom, then the idea funding process could well be for you. Let your 'inner designer' loose and contact us for your moment of fame !!

We find that light and airy kitchens are always talked about, certainly where natural light is not great if your kitchen faces that wrong way to take advantage of it.

Light colours, white, pale blues and Aqua colours always work well contrasted with darker floors and worktops as seen in this picture.

This image is one we couldn't resist, that floor looks awesome !! How weird would it be to walk around your kitchen on your own 'beach' ??

It's a little bit like these trick pavement artists that you see where their work really blows your mind creating images that you can't quite get your head round !!

Our 'idea funding' seems also to have captured your imagination, although no-one has yet to be brave enough to approach us with a view to working with their ideas. Don't forget that this is a huge opportunity to make money from your ideas and have your name promoted as the concept designer !!

I can't believe that we are a nation who would rather say 'we can't find what we like' rather than do something about it !  This is your chance .... don't waste it !

I will cover another topic next week and judge whether I'm barking up the wrong tree ... or pier !

Let me know your thoughts. Jules.

Steampunk: Future & Past at the same time !

Ey up my faithful blogworms,

 My "off the wall idea" about idea funding seems to have struck a chord with a lot of people, so here goes for a suggestion:

Steampunk Kitchens ! .... What the hell are you talking about ? I here you say.

For those of you not familiar with " The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" I will explain. 

Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.

Steampunk seems to have spawned a whole new genre of fashion, furniture, gadgets and even beer !  It's certainly inspired the movie industry with it's creative use of reclaimed materials and metals set against new technology and modern thinking.



The concept of using reclaimed materials in a way not before associated with furniture certainly fits with our thinking about Eco friendly materials being used in kitchens.

To produce a kitchen in this style would be brave, innovative, complex and probably, a hell of a lot of fun !!

 

 We have used odd choices of materials before and this would really stretch our creative ability. We are, however, extremely confident that this could be made to work with input from some of you out there who are already embracing Steampunk as a way of life. 

It's potentially the most interesting concept I've come across in years and one that, with your help and design input, would be something we'd be really excited to consider. 

The thing is .... we're brave enough to tackle it .... are you ???

With this being so diverse a subject, we'd be looking for part funding from anyone wanting to join us and participation in ongoing design with commission based rewards on every kitchen sold.

This could be a massive first for you and us together and very probably the first ever Steampunk display in a any kitchen showroom in the the whole country. !!!!!

Wow ! .... Who's up for it ???

Jules .... ( as in Jules Verne .... maybe ? )

A 'Radical' approach: Idea funding !

Ey up my faithful blogworms, I need your help this week, with an idea I've had kicking around in my head for a while.  I know there are a lot of you out there that read my mutterings from week to week I would value your opinions, so here goes !!

I read about several 'crowd funding' projects lately and while we're all familiar with how that works, I'm looking at it from a different viewpoint.

Below you will see examples of different styles and colours of kitchens to study.

Coloured kitchen

 My different slant on crowd funding, for a start, it costs you no money. Well how is it funding, I hear you ask ??

OK, we're 'idea funding' instead...... What ??

Here's how I see it working. Have a think about your ideal kitchen in terms of colour, style, door design, worktop choices. All the things you would think about when choosing your new kitchen, it helps if you're thinking about a new kitchen anyway !!


Submit your ideas to us as if you are an outside freelance designer, looking to design showroom displays. This is the object of the exercise. You don't have to draw the kitchen or plan it in any way, just 'storyboard' it to show us your concept, if chosen, we'll plan a display around it and give you the final say on how it looks.

A lot of you out there, we know, are talented people in terms of design and style and now is your chance to show what you can do to the general public at large. We will choose the design we feel has the most merit and is in tune with todays times, put it on display and tell people, with your permission of course, who is the creative designer who came up with the idea.

Grey kitchen

It's your chance for your '15 minutes of fame' so to speak.

This will cost you nothing and if you are thinking about a new kitchen for yourselves, we will provide you with the kitchen itself at cost price !!

You will then have access to the display to show it to your friends, family, relatives, in fact anyone you want to bring along to look at your masterpiece. Show off a little, you will have earned it !!

Country kitchen

Our showroom will become "your showroom". You will get the chance to talk about your inspiration, how you came up with it, why you made the choices you did etc. AND for all the people who buy into your design, we will produce their kitchen for them on your behalf .... and ... give you a commission on every one sold, just as any freelance designer would expect !!

White kitchen

This a very radical approach to the way showrooms are run. Designed by kitchen buyers for kitchen buyers where we do all the technical bit in the middle and you potentially reap some of the benefits. 

We will give you access to all our product choices here in the showroom, if you wish, and we need you to think about 5 elements for your concept:

(1) Cabinet choice and colour
(2) Door colour and style, to use seperate handles or not ?
(3) Worktop choice, material and colour
(4) Tile or wall clad colour and materials
(5) Flooring type, colour and materials.

Now with this being so radical an approach, we don't even know if it will work but if you are serious about giving it a try and using it to earn some extra income, then get in touch and let us know your thoughts. 

We will need quite a few people to get creative for it to work and give us the ability to decide on the merits of one concept against another. So the opportunity is there for as many people as possible, you will all have an equal chance of fame !!

It's over to you now to get in touch to see if this idea has a merit at all. It's never been done before and even I don't know if it will work.

I'll keep you posted as to how this progresses week to week. 

Thinking radical thoughts. Jules