HAWK K&B


Neptune Autumn Winter 2017

Author: katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Neptune Autumn Winter 2017

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Last week we attended the launch of Neptune’s AW17 collection and although outside was bright and sunny, once inside we were transported into a cosy, warming environment filled with deep colours and rich metallics reminiscent of winter woodland tones.

neptune-aw17-teal
Image via Hawk K&B

Teal was the colour of the moment, bringing drama to a space but also a sense of calm. Paired with warming tones in, aptly named, ‘fox’ and ‘chestnut’ immediately evoking images of crackling open fires. The overall feel is very British heritage and could be seen and felt through all of Neptune’s Autumn Winter additions.

neptune-barlow

In kitchens it was in the details with black, bronze and leather handles transforming not only the cabinets themselves but the entire room. The new Barlow range of hardware features a simple handle in a black bronze finish, something we have seen creeping into hardware across both kitchens and bathrooms this year. The matt texture means that it will age gracefully and creates a beautiful contrast with oak and painted finished.

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Image via Neptune

The Dylan handle however is a favourite of mine. The addition of this leather toggle handle on dark kitchen cabinetry creates a striking appearance that allows the tan hues to shine, not to mention the texture it brings to the room, a texture and colour that will change and age gently over time.

neptune-edinburgh
Image via Hawk K&B

For bathrooms, Neptune has introduced a brand new range of vanity units, completely different to their existing range but complimentary and just as beautiful. The Edinburgh unit comes in a natural oak with louvered doors and a marble top offering a characterful mix of textures and finishes to your bathroom space. Coming in three sizes, including an open shelf version, the Edinburgh will be a unique addition to any bathroom, small or large.

To compliment the new and existing bathroom collections, Neptune have also introduced the Bamburgh range of accessories. From simple towel rings to taps each has form and function in equal measure.

We are looking forward to introducing these elements into our upcoming kitchen and bathroom designs for next season.

Black & White Bathrooms

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Black and white is a classic colour combination that can produce a stunning effect in interiors, particularly bathrooms. The bathroom has never been the place to really show off interior trends, styles and colours however black and white in the bathroom can produce both beautiful classic and contemporary schemes that will remain timeless.

The reason black and white is so effective in bathrooms is due to the impact the colour combination can make, particularly in a small space such as a bathroom. Black absorbs light, whilst white reflects it. The fact that bathrooms are often full of clean lines and bold angles lends itself further to these contrasting tones.

traditional-black-and-white-bathroom
Image Via Decoist

When we think of a monochrome bathroom we usually imagine a classic, traditional style bathroom with a black toilet seat, white metro tiles with black borders and a roll top bath resting on black ornate feet. However recently, black and white has come to the forefront of contemporary bathroom design too.

bette-black-bath-design
Image via Hawk K&B

Luxury bathroom suppliers are now introducing black sanitaryware, with the Bette Loft Bath having launched in black at Ish earlier this year and Villeroy & Boch offering another contemporary bath in a combination of black on the outside and white on the inside.

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Image via Hawk K&B

However if you want to achieve the ultimate in contemporary monochrome bathrooms, choose black furniture such as the Villeroy & Boch Finion range with its matt black finish.

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Image via Hawk K&B

The bathroom set at this year’s Ideal Home Show also demonstrated how a black and white bathroom can produce a beautiful classic contemporary look. Classic chequerboard tiles combined with a contemporary freestanding bath and black countertop sinks create a bathroom that oozes design. The addition of natural materials and textures throughout from the wooden stool, wicker basket and foliage, bring in a softer element and warmer tones to reduce the harsh contrast of the black and white.

black-white-monochrome-bathroom
Images via Hawk K&B

Another element to consider when going monochrome is pattern. With such high contrast, a black and white pattern can really complete your bathroom, particularly a patterned tile. However if you’re looking for something more subtle, choose a dark stone with a natural pattern or inject it through soft furnishings such as curtains or towels like this bathroom above.

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Image via Hawk K&B

A black and white bathroom is easy to achieve with the majority of sanitaryware being white, the success of the design comes down to where you will inject the black. From going all out and painting a wall black or choosing a contemporary black cabinet to simply adding in black details through your choice of towels and accessories, such as this bold black mirror above, a monochrome bathroom will always make a statement that will stand the test of time.

Larder Love

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

In recent years, larders have become more popular and are seen as an integral part of a kitchen design. With the kitchen now the heart of the home more than ever before and people focussing on home cooking and entertaining, it needs to be a space that inspires and works around you and your cooking habits.

Larders were originally a way of extending the shelf life of food by placing it on a cooler north facing wall and ventilating it top and bottom. However, when refrigerators became more available in the 60’s wall units became the place to put your cans and dried goods. But things have now changed and as people spend more time cooking, the larder has become the ultimate storage solution that keeps all ingredients on hand and at the right temperature.

Luxury-kitchen-larder
Image via Hawk K&B

A well designed larder allows for everything to have a place and be accessible at all times. Nowadays it’s not unusual to have large quantities of different herbs, spices, oils etc. that often get lost at the back of cupboards. However with racks on the back of doors, adjustable deep shelves, internal accessories for storage, generous tall doors allowing plenty of access and a clear view of what you have, a larder is the perfect solution.

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Image via Hawk K&B

It is also no longer something reserved for traditional kitchens. Today contemporary kitchens are perfectly designed to cater for a larder, hidden behind sleek full height units.

Putting thought into your food storage system is important when planning your kitchen design. Having your larder next to your fridge is often a good choice, meaning that all of your food storage is in one area of the kitchen which works not only for practicality, increasing the effectiveness of the kitchen work triangle, but will also create a seamless appearance. With everything all on one wall, the remaining kitchen space is freed up from wall units, allowing a more streamlined, less cluttered and overall more contemporary look and feel.

Ultimately a kitchen should be designed around you and the way you cook but there is no denying that a well-stocked larder is an inspiration to cook!

Outdoor Kitchens

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Now that summer is starting to creep up on us, the scent of barbecues has been filling the warm evening air as people begin to move their cooking and dining outdoors.

As a result of the ever growing trend for entertaining at home and wining and dining our guests, we are also seeing a trend towards bringing interior elements outside, essentially extending the living, and ultimately the entertaining space, into the garden. This new found penchant for outdoor living spaces also extends to the kitchen with outdoor kitchens and bars becoming ever popular. Once the preserve of the super-rich, outdoor kitchens are now considered a little added luxury extension to the living spaces of homeowners.

big-green-egg-outdoor-kitchen
Image via Archi Expo

As outdoor entertaining has increased, so has the range and extent of outdoor cooking equipment as people begin to experiment with outdoor cooking, going beyond sausages and burgers and buying smokers and outdoor ovens for slow cooking. Last year saw sales of the designer Big Green Egg ceramic charcoal cooker rocket.

Dekton-outdoor-kitchen-surface
Image via Consetino

Also with advances in surface technology, worktops are no longer an issue, with Dekton demonstrating high resistance to UV rays, low water absorption and great colour stability in outdoor kitchens. It was even chosen as the worktop for the outdoor kitchen at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show.

beau-house-outdoor-kitchen
Image via Rightmove

The range of outdoor kitchen equipment is vastly increasing, from a simple built in gas barbecue to fully working kitchens with with integrated grills, ovens, sinks and fridges. At the very top end of the market, outdoor entertaining areas are now becoming standard with the recently completed Beau House Brummel Penthouse in St James offering an outdoor kitchen, bar with wine chiller, fridge and barbecue alongside a dining area, living area with outdoor fire and TV all complete with underfloor heating.

However, further down the scale, the new modestly priced Olympic Park Chobham Manor maisonettes also come with outdoor sinks, work surfaces and electric sockets. Even John Lewis have said last month that they are ‘selling 47 per cent more garden furniture than this time last year and 79 per cent more barbecues’, proving that the trend for alfresco eating and entertaining is increasing across all areas of the market.

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Image via Berkeley

Seen as a way of extending the living space, outdoor spaces are also getting zoned into dedicated living, dining and cooking areas. Above you can see each area has been sectioned off, including a cover over the dining and cooking areas, as if they were rooms in themselves.

small-outdoor-kitchen
Image via Inspired Garden Design

Even in the smallest homes and gardens, extending out like this is a great way of increasing the usable footprint of your living space and can make the best use of the space through outdoor kitchen cupboard storage.

As this trend continues we can see more outdoor kitchens, with appliances and finishes that match their indoor counterparts and we’re eagerly awaiting our first outdoor kitchen design!

We’re Turning Ten!

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

A milestone is fast approaching for Hawk K&B as we reach our 10 year anniversary this summer. In celebration of this, our 4000sqft Gaddesden Row showroom will play host to our 10th Birthday Party on Saturday 1st July.

Utilising the beautiful kitchen displays within the showroom will be a talented chocolatier, tempering and making chocolate truffles and caramels whilst a Siemens Home Economist will be demonstrating the fantastic Siemens appliances on display and creating and cooking dishes throughout the day for guests to taste and try.

Set within the showroom’s beautiful rural farm location, with Pimm’s and ice cold beer on tap, a mouth-watering hog roast and a talented face painter for both young and old, this will be an event for all the family to enjoy.

Saturday 1st July

11.30am – 3.30pm

Hawk K&B, Bradden Lane, Gaddesden Row, HP2 6JB

For more information and to register your attendance, see our Facebook event page here

Bathroom Trends & Themes – ISH 2017

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Last week Frankfurt welcomed around 200,000 visitors, including ourselves, to ISH, The World’s Leading Trade Fair for The Bathroom Experience.  The trade show invited design experts to experience and view some of the most impressive collections from around the world alongside the latest products, technologies and solutions launching onto the market.

This year’s themes for the bathroom were ‘health’, ‘comfort’, ‘individual’, ‘digital’ and ‘responsible’ and these themes certainly ticked all the boxes for us.

However, the theme that really resonated with us was ‘The Individual Bathroom’. Designing a personalised bathroom, individual to the client is essential to what we do. This doesn’t mean extravagant furnishings or particularly original ideas, but a bathroom that is tailored around the needs and wants of the client.

Grohe-rainshower-smartcontrol
Image via Grohe

The Grohe Rainshower SmartControl 360 shower system offers the most personalised shower experience yet. Remembering your personalised shower patterns and water temperatures, whether it’s a blood pumping cold blast after a hot gym session or a comfortably warm, massaging spray after a long day at work; with one push of a button your personalised shower is ready and waiting for you.

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Image via Bette

On the bathing front, the BetteLoft built-in bath is perfectly designed with precise contours to fit into the tapered surfaces of a loft space. This means it can offer a more comfortable soak for those with smaller loft bathrooms, making use of the limited space.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Brass was, once again, a key look with copper and gold also making appearances, particularly in brassware. These warm metallics naturally then paired with darker bathroom settings, creating a moody look. A bold step away from the traditional light, white bathrooms we are used to seeing.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Villeroy & Boch’s new collection ‘Finion’ highlighted exactly this, with its black furniture with gold niches and brassware and a holistic lighting concept to create a harmonious light stage. This indirect lighting of the shelves as well as backlighting of the cabinets and mirrors creates a different, softer light not often seen in bathrooms, right down to the elegant mirror light with surrounding LED lighting. All controlled by remote control.

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Image via Villeroy & Boch

For a more personalised experience, a mobile phone charging station for smartphones can be integrated into the side cabinet and shelves or an optional Bluetooth sound system can be built into the mirror.

The variety of individualisation options in Finion are designed to meet the growing demands of a modern lifestyle in every single detail.

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Image via Hawk K&B

It wasn’t just colour either, textured surfaces made a striking appearance across brassware and sanitaryware. These Gessi taps offer a variety of tactile finishes from dimples to quilting, offering the ultimate in bathroom personalisation.

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Image via Hawk K&B

This BetteLoft Ornament bath in enamelled steel not only looks stunning but also demonstrates the tremendous adaptability of glazed titanium steel.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Bette definitely excelled with the textures on their sanitaryware with their Lux Oval Couture range. Upholstered in a comfortable, durable fabric in three colour options, comfort and personalisation define this collection.

It’s clear to see that the bathroom has become a room that is now treasured within the home, a place that is to be designed and personalised around the client. Consistent with our approach to designing bathrooms, we are looking forward to having some of these new collections in our new St Albans showroom opening later this year.

Meet Our New Carpenters

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

To strengthen our growing team, we are pleased to welcome two new carpenters to Hawk K&B. Rob Clarke, started his career as an apprentice for The National Trust, conserving traditional buildings. He has since been involved in a variety of projects, working on a number of ecclesiastical buildings as well as working for several private clients involving producing and fitting a range of bespoke joinery products. Rob also has extensive experience with some of the UK’s best independent kitchen companies, fitting them into some of London’s top luxury homes.

Dan Miles brings with him over 12 years of professional experience in carpentry and joinery across various private and corporate projects, delivering creative and individual designs with flair and sensitivity. Dan has a particular interest in private projects, working with individuals to help them achieve their exact vision. However, one of his best achievements was transforming a double decker bus into a library for a local primary school.

Both Rob and Dan bring with them a wealth of experience and with Dan’s great personable approach to private projects and Rob’s work in the heritage sector setting him apart, we are very pleased to have their fantastic skills on our team.

Go Bold with Brassware

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Bathrooms are no longer a room that is simply ‘updated’ every few years, bathrooms are now something to be thoughtfully designed and delivered to perfection, right down to the brassware. Because of this, there are now so many more luxurious, colourful and interesting options to bring your bathroom to life.

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Image via Grohe

Finishes are key. Colour but also a mix of textures; polished, matt, brushed or tarnished, and a mix of materials and detailing too are what people are looking to achieve in luxury bathroom design. Grohe have recently extended their range of colours in their brassware to include ‘Warm Sunset, Cool Sunrise, Hard Graphite and Soft Graphite’. The addition of not only colour, but also texture, allows much further individualisation in bathroom design than ever before.

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Image via Grohe

Warm brass, coppers and rose gold tones have been reigning across bathroom brassware recently. The beautiful thing about opting for these warmer colours is the instant luxury they will add to the space and they are a perfect fit for any style of bathroom from light to dark and traditional to contemporary.

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Images via Ann Sacks & Heritage

In a darker room, they add warmth and opulence to create a moody, relaxing room whereas in an all-white bathroom, a copper or rose gold brassware introduces a pop of colour.

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Images via Heritage & Grohe

However if you’re looking for something a little more subtle, mixing metals can also create an added design element to elevate your bathroom design. These Heritage Lymington basin taps in chrome are finished with an inlaid lace detail in gold or for a more contemporary look, Grohe have introduced a flash of gold into their Grandera Mixer taps.

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Image via Perrin & Rowe

For an extra special finish, Perrin & Rowe also offer a 24k gold finish alongside, English bronze, aged, polished and satin brass. Epitomising true luxury, Gold by Perrin & Rowe is pure yellow in colour all thanks to the 24 carat gold plating process and hand polished high shine finish. Each high-quality finish brings a touch of class, sophistication and character to any bathroom: whether that’s traditional or contemporary in style.

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Image via Heritage

Beyond brassware, think about incorporating different metal tones into basins and sanitaryware too. This beautiful Abingdon wash stand from Heritage Bathrooms comes in a rose gold finish and they have also extended their rose gold collection to WC hinges, cistern levers, taps and showers so you can complete your bathroom with this luxurious look.

This is a trend that can be easily added and adapted to any bathroom. With either a selection of warm metallic accents, complete bathroom sets or metallic accessories, you can make your bathroom more luxurious, colourful and interesting.

Choosing a Kitchen Worktop

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Kitchen worktops are one of the key elements that will bring your new kitchen together. Choosing the correct colour, material and finish can be a hard decision to make and whatever you choose needs to fit into your lifestyle and the way you use your kitchen.

Durability and low maintenance are often high up on the list of must haves for a kitchen worktop but style also needs to be considered. Here at Hawk K&B there are various worktop styles that we use to provide a solution to meet these expectations.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Our most popular choice of worktop is Silestone. Made of 94% natural quartz, it is extremely hard and resilient, making it excellent for kitchen worktops. The non-porous surface means it’s highly resistant to kitchen spills and stains and won’t allow any bacteria to grow.

The addition of small amounts of glass allows Silestone to come in more than 90 different colours and with three different textured finishes; it gives a refined and polished look to any new kitchen.

kitchen-worktops
Image via Hawk K&B

You can also cover not only worktops but also floors, walls or the front or downstand of your worktop with absolutely no joins, creating a beautifully seamless appearance. The addition of built in integrity sinks this year has added even more appeal to those wanting complete continuity in their kitchen.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Another material that is widely appreciated in kitchen worktops is granite. This natural rock is cut in its natural state and then polished for use in the home, making every piece unique. Being such a strong material also means it is able to resist temperature changes and is difficult to scratch, however it isn’t completely maintenance free and requires careful cleaning to keep it in pristine condition.

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Image sourced via Hawk K&B

One of the latest worktop surfaces is Dekton. A sophisticated blend of the raw materials used in glass, porcelain and quartz surface production makes it a unique material that has endless potential for kitchen surfaces, not just worktops but outdoor surfaces too. Due to its construction, Dekton comes with all the properties we all want and need in a kitchen worktop. Among many other benefits, it’s highly scratch resistant, withstands high temperatures without burning, scorching or cracking (meaning hot pots can be placed directly onto it) and it’s completely stain proof.

Again coming in many colours and finishes, if offers lots of potential for mixing textures as we have done in the kitchen above to create a dynamic and striking space.

Green for 2017 – Pantone Colour of the Year

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

The announcement in December of ‘Greenery’ as the Pantone colour of the year for 2017 is a strong departure from the soft and calming hues of ‘Rose Quartz’ and ‘Serenity’ seen in 2016.

However ‘Greenery’ brings an alternative relaxation, the type induced by the calmness of nature, light green grass and sunlit leaves, adding an optimistic touch to the natural relaxing quality of green.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Such a fresh and vibrant colour is perfect for kitchens as there are so many different surfaces to inject colour onto. Walls, splashbacks, cabinetry and doors are great places to go green. Here the client chose a green glass splashback to make a bold statement in this kitchen.

Combined with neutral colours, the green becomes an accent colour, adding subtle drama without dominating the space. When used as the main hue throughout the scheme, it is best not to introduce too many other colours to ensure the most elegant and timeless execution.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Greenery is perfect for prints too and we have seen jungle prints in a mix of green florals and foliage flooding interiors over the past few seasons. In this project above, the greenery from the feature wall is accented on the walls throughout this kitchen and as described as ‘natures neutral’ by Pantone, it’s a shade that can be paired with neutrals, brights, deeper shades, pastels and metallics – all of which can be seen above to create a beautiful vibrant space.

When executed properly green can enhance the core whites and earth tones in your design. A touch of Greenery in wall colour beautifully accents the core neutrals.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Don’t forget to include natural green elements too. Incorporate fresh floral sprays, vegetables, leafy arrangements and ferns in your kitchen and bath designs. Even subtle injections of green through crockery, table linen or towels will instantly invigorate the space.

Image via Hawk K&B
Image via Hawk K&B

Pantone also notes that “Greenery is nature’s neutral.” It’s a lively hue that can’t help but channel exploration, innovation, health and more, making it a natural fit for the kitchen and dining room for the New Year.