HAWK K&B


2019 Kitchen Trends

Tag: kitchen design

2019 Kitchen Trends

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

DARK COLOURS

The all white kitchen is becoming a thing of the past with people wanting to put their own personal stamp on their kitchens. Not only are dark coloured kitchens increasing but also matte black fixtures and hardware are growing in popularity. This client opted for matte black handles to add a contrasting industrial edge to their traditional Shaker style kitchens.

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Image via Quooker

Following this trend, tap manufacturers are also having to re-think their offering. Quooker are the most recent brand to have also tapped into this trend and released a black version of its fusion tap earlier this month.

TWO TONE KITCHENS

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Image via Hawk K&B

Continuing from last year we are still designing lots of kitchens with two different cabinet colours. Not only two different colours but also different textures and finishes too such as wood effect cabinets next to gloss painted cabinets as seen here.

CLEVER & CLEAN STORAGE

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Images via Masterclass

As our kitchens become ever more the heart of the home, a place where we eat, cook, entertain and spend a lot of time, the storage needs also increase. It is for this reason that people are seeking kitchens with maximised clever storage solutions.

Masterclass have a variety of kitchen storage solutions for even the smallest of kitchens. From their signature corner pantry that makes the most of awkward corner spaces to pull out larders available in a range of widths and heights to suit many different spaces and lifestyles.

OPEN SHELVING

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Images via Hawk K&B

As well as more integrated storage, more open storage such as open shelving is also becoming more popular, giving the kitchen a more personalised, lived in feel in keeping with the rest of the home. It also opens up the kitchen, as lots of wall cabinets can often make a kitchen feel enclosed.

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Image via Masterclass

Similarly we are also seeing an increase in open freestanding units such as the Neptune Potboard or the Masterclass open ended island ‘Chef’s table’ both shown above.

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Image via Siemens

SMART STREAMLINED APPLIANCES

We will continue to see integrated appliances become more streamlined and seamless but also more smart too. Induction hobs continue to be popular and now come alongside downdraft extractors that are set into the worktop behind the hob, hidden from view, emerging only when needed.

Appliances from Siemens (and later this year, Neff), can also now be voice controlled through Amazon Alexa with their Home Connect function, allowing you to send recipes to your oven and coffee requests to your coffee machine with the appliances alerting you when the task is complete.

The Kitchen at Christmas

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

For many, the most important part of the festive period is the entertaining. From a lavish family Christmas dinner to canapes and cocktails with friends, the kitchen becomes the focus. Creating the correct atmosphere in your home will make your guests feel immediately welcome and with the right space to do so, you can put on a party that everyone will enjoy, including you, the host.

An open-plan living and dining area works wonderfully for entertaining, creating a space that achieves the perfect balance of socialising and cooking. A spectacularly laid dining table is essential for a family Christmas dinner and in an open-plan setting, the guests and hosts can intermingle, creating the perfect social atmosphere. Coupling your dining area alongside a cosy seating area means guests will also have somewhere to relax and recline after dinner.

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Image via Hawk K&B

For evening entertaining, an informal seating area, on an island or breakfast bar is great. An island can act as a great focus in a room, particularly when laden with beautiful food and drink. People will congregate around it and any high stools will allow guests to take a seat without feeling left out.

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Image via NEFF

Finally, the addition of good quality appliances is vital when it comes to the cooking itself. Integrated double ovens will give you plenty of cooking space and details such as Circotherm on NEFF ovens allows you to cook on up to 4 levels at the same time without any flavours intermingling, not to mention the Slide & Hide door meaning you won’t be getting in the way of guests when tending to things in the oven. Alternatively leave the cooking entirely up to the oven by opting for a Siemens oven with Home Connect. Just can send all your recipes and cooking instructions straight to your oven from your phone and receive notifications when the cooking is finished via your phone or Amazon Alexa, allowing you to sit back and enjoy entertaining.

How to Achieve a Great British Bake Off Kitchen

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

As the new season of The Great British Bake off gets underway, we find ourselves not only drooling over the baked goods emerging from the ovens, but also lusting after that great British kitchen look. We’ve put together our tips on achieving a showstopper kitchen in your own home.

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Image via NEFF
  • NEFF SLIDE & HIDE OVEN

There would be no baking without it, the NEFF Slide and Hide oven is one of a kind, with its door that neatly slides back underneath for easy access. It is also packed full of features and functions such as bread baking, dough proving, bottom heat (no more soggy bottoms!) and surface grilling alongside NEFF’s famous CircoTherm fan technology.

Positioned within the island unit in the Bake Off tent and paired with a NEFF proving drawer it can also be built into a tall wall cabinet meaning you can get even closer to your bakes. As a NEFF master partner, we champion this oven as a star baker.

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Image via Hawk K&B
  • SHAKER STYLE

Nothing says British kitchen like a shaker style with its elegant simplicity. Our array of suppliers from Neptune to Masterclass and even our own bespoke shaker kitchens will be perfect for achieving this look. Also, Neptune and our own range can be hand painted in any colour of your choosing, meaning you can even have the perfect bake off blue if you so wish.

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Image via Hawk K&B
  • FEATURE KITCHEN ISLAND

The bake off islands are in fact the only workspace the contestants have to work off so they are well equipped with an oven, sink and hob, however in a larger kitchen your island won’t need quite as much. If the iconic Bake Off green, blue and purple palette isn’t to your taste either, pick an alternative colour, but ensure your island will stand out as the feature piece in your kitchen.

  • INDUCTION HOB

Featuring a small domino hob on each island, these are perfect for island cooking. Induction hobs are easy to clean and only require electric so no gas supply is needed. A larger hob can also be used on a larger island but whichever you opt for will maintain a sleek workspace.

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Image via Hawk K&B
  • OPEN SHELVING

At the back of the Bake Off Tent you will spy lots of open shelving, filled with jugs and jars. Displaying your crockery collections and mason jars filled with flours and spices add to the homely, lived in feel of a kitchen and having your ingredients on display will inspire lots more baking!

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Image via Hawk K&B
  • A DRESSER

Often at the back of the judges tent you will see a beautifully filled dresser. Perfect for displaying pretty crockery but also practical for storing cutlery and your larger pieces of crockery, a dresser is a wonderful addition to a kitchen if you have the space. It also makes a perfect spot to display your recent bakes.

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Image via Hawk K&B
  • WOODEN WORKTOPS

Wooden worktops add the perfect natural warmth to a British kitchen however they are often hard to keep in good condition. Instead, opt for natural wood on areas that are less likely to sustain water or heat damage such as on an island and your wood will stay wonderful for longer.

In short, a Great British Bake Off kitchen is achieved through traditional British kitchen design and traditional materials with the added extra of contemporary, state-of-the-art appliances for the perfect cooking experience. With Amazon Alexa sponsoring the show this year, next year we may even see the bakers using Home Connect and Alexa to tell their ovens when and what temperature to heat up to!

Mixing Materials In The Kitchen

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

When choosing a new kitchen, people usually have one cabinet colour and one type of worktop in mind; however you don’t have to have a uniform or matching look throughout your kitchen. We have been mixing cabinet colours in our kitchens for a while, often with islands in a different colour, allowing it to become the focal point of the space, and now we are beginning to mix materials too.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Using different worktops for different zones in the kitchen is not only practical but also adds interest to the space visually. Wood has always been a brilliantly warm and tactile material for kitchen worktops, however it’s just not practical with heat and moisture. Above we mixed worktop materials and used a Silestone quartz by the sink and cooker with wood for the breakfast bar. The juxtaposing result looks stunning and also adds texture to the space.

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Image via Franke

Stainless steel is also another material that has entered the kitchen worktop market recently, with Franke launching theirs later this year. This is supremely practical in a kitchen as for one thing, it’s stainless, so no tea, coffee or red wine marks and it’s great with hot or cold temperatures as well as being antibacterial. Being the worktop choice of chefs, people’s immediate thoughts on stainless steel worktops are that they are the preserve of clinical kitchens however just looking above, the Franke stainless steel worktop adds a brilliant contrasting texture against the natural wood.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Mixing materials on cabinets is another way to introduce contrast and texture to your kitchen as well as zoning the space. In contemporary kitchens, mix wood effect laminate doors with solid colour doors and in a traditional setting mix painted cabinets with natural wood such as this walnut island and mantle we did above.

Gone are the days when it was a standard fit throughout – now it’s about thinking what you are doing and when you are doing it so that we can then work out what you need in a particular zone and design a kitchen that works for you.

Neptune Suffolk Spring Update

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

This spring sees an update to Neptune’s Suffolk Kitchen. It has now been pared back even more so it’s minimal the whole way through – as Shaker designs should be.

Ticking boxes for both form and function, changes have been made on every level, right down to the finest details. Below are our three favourite elements of the updated Suffolk:

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Images via Neptune

Larder Concepts

Suffolk is the only Neptune collection with a double-door larder and due to their growing appeal, it now has some more larder-style cabinets. Perfect if you’re looking for something slightly smaller, the countertop bi-fold unit can pair with a drawer base to create a deconstructed larder. The full-height piece can then be used either as a mini pantry or a broom cupboard.

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Images via Neptune

Drawer Details

In Suffolk, any cabinet with a drawer will come empty but with a new collection of drawer accessories and inserts, you can organise your drawers perfectly. Oak storage boxes can be configured to feature spice inserts or a wet store for sponges, while tan leather and black rods will protect drawer bases from pan scuffs.

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Image via Neptune

Freestanding Island

The latest kitchen island from Neptune is freestanding and combines both storage and seating space. It can be configured to be as small or as large as your space can take, topped with your choice of work surface, and painted to match or contrast with your core cabinetry.

If you like the look of the new Neptune Suffolk kitchen, pop into one of our showrooms for a discussion.

Pantone Colour of The Year 2018 – Ultra Violet

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Pantone’s colour of the year for 2018 is vibrant and bold and through careful and considered design, ultra violet can be a colour that will bring energy and freshness to your interior scheme in 2018.

Purple works particularly well in kitchens, as we have seen on some of our own projects. Whether through tile or splashback colour, soft furniture and furnishings or appliances, it will always create a focal point for the room.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Purple is a colour that blends well with soft, neutral tones. Here we injected violet into this room through a glass splashback behind the hob and by pairing it with a taupe/grey cabinetry, toned down this bright shade. Blending it with elegant fabrics, such as this floral blind, also softened the space.

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Image via Hawk K&B

Mixing ultra violet with metallics will bring out the warmth of the shade, especially the brassy gold tones we are seeing across kitchen brassware recently. However even the silver sheen on the wallpaper above and the brushed chrome appliances create a dramatic and glamorous pairing.

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Image via Hawk K&B

For more of a subtle nod to the tone, think about adding in some dining chairs in a violet hue or alternatively, for a real feature, add in coloured appliances such as a Smeg fridge or an Aga in heather or aubergine as shown above.

Ultra Violet can initially seem bold but purple has always been present in interiors in varying shades and tones and serves as an elegant backdrop for any interior scheme. Its versatility means it can be tailored to your design style, whether it’s modern or traditional, enriching your kitchen colour palette. Once again Pantone has chosen a fantastic colour to take us through 2018.

BUYING A BESPOKE BRITISH MADE KITCHEN

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

Bespoke is a word used frequently in the world of luxury design. Bespoke design is fundamentally about creating a product that is precise to a client’s brief or specification. When you have a vision of what you would like your kitchen to look like, your vision is what you expect; a design that is truly individual.

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At Hawk K&B we not only deal with luxury kitchen brands but we also offer our own bespoke, British handmade kitchens, meaning we can design exactly to your specification. Choosing Hawk K&B to design a bespoke kitchen for your home allows you to have a kitchen that perfectly fits the space and works within the interior. It also enables us to create a truly unique kitchen that is absolutely seamless and stunning without compromising on the layout.

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Offering various styles to suit every taste, for homes both large and small; our kitchens are built to last a lifetime. Whether you choose one of our contemporary handle-less kitchens or a timeless wooden shaker style, what we think is important is that each element within a space is looked at individually and considered carefully to meet your needs. This is part of our approach and we spend time understanding our client’s lifestyles and delivering the details that makes their kitchen unique.

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All of our bespoke kitchens are handmade by skilled British carpenters from their workshops in the heart of the Peak District, something we are very proud of. The fact our kitchens are made in Britain signifies their quality and timelessness. Every frame, shelf and door is hand crafted right down to the traditional joints that connect everything together and stabilise the wood.

We value the work and craftsmanship that goes into our designs, from the workshops in the Peak District where craftsmen hand craft the individual pieces, to our fitters who still use traditional techniques to ensure everything fits like a glove.

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Our bespoke service also extends beyond kitchens, meaning we can create furniture for anywhere in your home. From sideboards for the hallway and built-in shelving for the living room, to wardrobes for the bedroom and beyond; we can create something to fill any space to the millimetre. The perfect made-to-measure piece.

When it comes to designing beautiful bespoke kitchens for homes around Hertfordshire, going above and beyond comes as standard for us and is one of the many reasons that customers choose to come to Hawk K&B.

Dine With Us During St Albans Food & Drink Festival

Posted on by katy@hawkkb.co.uk

The St Albans Food & Drink Festival returns later this month to showcase the fantastic range of food and drink available throughout St Albans and to celebrate everything foodie.

As a result of the ever growing trend for cooking and entertaining at home, no dining experience is without a first class kitchen to create fabulous food and of course the skills to do so. Therefore as part of St Albans Food & Drink Festival, Hawk K&B will be hosting a live cooking demonstration in our new St Albans Showroom.

St Albans Showroom

The new kitchen and bathroom showroom on London Road features both contemporary kitchens from German manufacturer Rotpunkt alongside our own brand of classic solid wood kitchens. All kitchen displays have been fitted with top of the range appliances from Siemens and Neff, making it the perfect space for a live cookery demonstration.

All food will be created by Siemens Home Economist, Dawn Elsom, who will be utilising the beautiful kitchen displays within the showroom to prepare and cook dishes throughout the day for guests to taste and try.

Using the very latest intelligent and innovative Siemens appliances, Dawn will be demonstrating how to use steam within your cooking, when using the Siemens Steam Oven, to elevate your dishes to the next level. She will also be using the various integrated ovens and induction hob to cook a variety of different recipes from canapes to cakes, showing how versatile and efficient the ovens really are and demonstrating how to get the most out of your kitchen and cooking appliances.

The drop in event is open to anyone to get some handy cooking tips or just simply watch a talented chef at work whilst tucking into all the treats on offer in the gorgeous kitchen setting of our new showroom.

Join us on Saturday 7th October, 11am – 3pm at Hawk K&B, 70 London Road, St Albans, AL1 1NG.

More info can be found on the Facebook event page

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!