PRODUCTS | Added value: Kitchens
1.
Once you’ve taken on a project, and are planning on offering an interior design service, complete with all the above-mentioned products, DeVol’s Helen Parker has some advice. “We like to look at the house, its age, its style, what original features it has and work to enhance and allow the beauty of the room to shine through. Be sympathetic to the building rather than just fi tting a kitchen that has no regard for the actual room it is going in. A furnished room always feels more authentic if this is considered. That’s not to say you have to keep to the same style as the property, it just means bear it in mind. A beautiful old Georgian home with high ceilings and big windows can take a traditional or super-modern look as long as it’s done with care.
Quality over quantity “Always choose quality over quantity. A few simple, beautifully made pieces of furniture will always, without exception, look better than a room crammed with cheap cupboards,” adds Parker. “Don’t just think about what you need and how, if you don’t have it, your kitchen will not be right. Try to think how your kitchen could be enhanced and make the most of your surroundings. You may have to lose a bit of clutter, but the feeling of space in a subtle, beautiful room is a much better thing to get used to.” When it comes to services, there are several things you can do that would be fairly straightforward and hassle-free. Firstly, you could consider teaming up with an interior designer and respected tradespeople that you trust and have perhaps worked with before. You could subcontract electricians, plumbers as well as the fi tters you currently work with and hire an interior designer on a freelance basis. Just as with the fi tters you subcontract, you would only have to call in other tradesmen as and when you need them, so you wouldn’t face extra expense in terms of payroll. On teaming up with an interior designer, Bell’s Ferris adds: “The retailer would need to agree a rate card with the designer and decide on the nature of the set-up – does the client deal directly with the designer or through the retailer? Either way, you will be offering a real value added service to your customers that the competition may not be offering.
“An interior designer will be able to introduce you to brands and suppliers that you can use to enhance your showroom and sell from, and your showroom will look great.”
Think big
On the topic of adding extra practical services, such as electrics, plumbing and building work, Connolly has the last word: “Anything can be done! I think people think too small sometimes and are too scared to move the electrics or lay down fl oors, but these things are fairly simple, providing you use trusted tradesmen and are confi dent in your design. “In our fi tting teams we have electricians, gas fi tters, plumbers and joiners and many of these will have links to good quality builders who we can call on to carry out the building work. “The key is. Don’t think small. Think big.”
kbbr Four point guide to growth 1
2 3 4
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Carefully consider your product range and services and make choices based on market research.
Hire a freelance interior designer and subcontract local, trusted tradespeople.
Consider the age and style of the property you’re working in. Enhance its features rather than imposing your own style.
Don’t be afraid to take on big jobs, providing you have the right team of tradesmen behind you and can confidently manage the whole project.
kbbreview · September 2019
2.
We care about good design and we would like every DeVol kitchen to meet the client’s brief and uphold our own principles, without having to sweep aside aesthetics
Helen Parker, creative director, DeVol, Loughborough
1. DeVol’s Haberdasher’s kitchen at its Cotes Mill showroom features a glazed wall of doors and windows fi tted with heritage glass
3.
2. Hamilton Litestat’s quality range of switch plates and sockets includes 17 unique designer collections, available in 11 fi nishes
3. The Zirconia Crystal Cone Pendant Light from Sensio features a clear base laced with light refl ecting fl oating crystals for a sparkling effect
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