Majjie's Blog

No, I haven't gone mad - I know the Grand Designs Show at the NEC was last October - but going to the Homebuilding and Renovating Show there yesterday, reminded me that I never finished telling you about the displays that caught my eye last October.

The kitchen supplier that was going to be my Grand Designs Kitchens 3 - was also at yesterday's show - so I'll come back to him later. But before I go on to tell you about the interesting things I saw yesterday, I just want to catch up with one company from the Grand Designs Show.

Ascot Bespoke Kitchens (or ABK Manufacturing) are actually, in spite of the name, based in Derby. And they also have a showroom in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicestershire (which, incidentally, I used to run for them a few years ago). Their main base was originally on Ascot Drive in Derby (hence the name) but they've since moved to Babington Lane.

Their stand at the Grand Designs show was mainly dedicated to their high gloss finished doors.

Here's a white, handleless display with white Corian worktops, including an integral sink:

ABK have moved on a lot, since I worked for them, and have invested in some very sophisticated machinery. The high gloss doors have been developed exclusively by the company and are available in entirely bespoke sizes - including curved doors of any radius. They're made from highly sanded MDF, coated with polyurethane (PU) and then polished. The finishing of high gloss doors - even those with a tough PU finish (similar to that used on car bodies) - can be a problem (as I've mentioned in my free "Before You Start" Kitchen Design Guide) ... but these looked pretty good to me.

The bespoke sizes mean that you can have full height larder doors without having to worry about lining up all your different small door sizes:

The appliances were V-ZUG, which I've mentioned before, as being very impressive ... so the whole stand looked very smart, indeed.

The different lighting effects, with changing colours, were a noticeable feature of the displays. As well as lights above the larders (in the photo above) and plinth lights (below right) there were also internal lights within the larders (although it's difficult to photograph them well). The internal fittings were all by Hettich.

The company is now run by Ian Pipes (my old boss - and sparring partner!) and his two sons Matt and Nick ... although Ian's wife Christine had also been roped in, at the Grand Designs Show, and was doing some cooking demonstrations in those V-ZUG ovens. Typical huh! Can none of those men work an oven? (There were male representatives for V-ZUG and Hettich there too). Although I have to say, the results were very delicious.

Ascot Bespoke Kitchens work all over the country. I wouldn't call them cheap ... but neither are they astronomically expensive ... and they are going for a very high quality product. Click on the link to visit their website and get contact details.