A New Look For The Real Shaker Kitchen In Our NYC Showroom
10th June 2022
Long-lasting design is at the forefront of our minds with everything we do and we feel really proud to say that deVOL cupboards are forever. We don’t like to throw away, we think it is better to have a few pieces of true quality than lots of naff bits that will inevitably grow tired and tatty. Investing in things that have been made using the best materials by people with real skill and passion and love will always be a wise decision because they have been designed with care, they will last and age beautifully over time.
But this isn’t to say that investing in excellent craftsmanship means you are never able to mix things up. Change is good, we all know how pleasing it feels to have a big spring clean, to clear out your cupboards, to redecorate a room and start afresh. One of the best things about a painted kitchen is that five, ten, twenty years down the road, you can give it a new lick of colour and reward yourself with a completely different space.
When our Creative Director, Helen, first designed the Real Shaker Kitchen in our Bond Street showroom in Manhattan she went with mustard yellow walls and our classic ‘Lead’ grey paint on the cupboards. It was classic and elegant and worked beautifully with the Mediterranean feel we were going for. We opened our doors in April 2019 and everybody absolutely fell in love with this combination of warm and cool, it was actually really amazing to see so many people adopt the same unexpected pairing in their own homes. Take a look below…
At the beginning of 2020, we decided to add four new shades to our Real Shaker collection. This was a big thing for us! We are so, so careful with our colours and spend a very long time perfecting each and every hue, we’re really proud of our paint range – it’s a key part of deVOL. We have some understated neutrals, a few blues, that classic grey I mentioned above and a striking black for our bravest customers. After a lot of discussing and developing and refining, we decided to add a sumptuous ‘Scullery Yellow’, a super dark ‘Bakehouse Green’, a rich ‘Bond Street Blue’ named after our Manhattan showroom where we first used it and fell in love, and a deep and decadent ‘Refectory Red’.
These colours caught our customers’ eyes immediately. They are different but still classic, considered but a little bold, and they work with our Shaker furniture beautifully. By the winter of 2021, we decided it was time to show off another shade in our New York showroom and so our handmade Shaker cupboards got a whole new look using our opulent red colour. It looks even better than we could have imagined.
This hue adds grandeur to the kitchen, it’s actually quite a traditional choice but just not picked so much these days – although this is changing thanks to lots of our lovely customers deciding ‘Refectory Red’ is for them! The combination with the yellow is warm and with the addition of new handles in our latest ‘Heirloom Brass’ finish, it’s a kitchen that feels comforting and evocative.
We kept the grey inside the dresser, it seems right to retain something of the original shade and it shows how well this red works with all kinds of colours. It’s also a great pairing with the dark stone worktops, Belgian Blue limestone on the L run and honed black granite on the dresser.
Wonderful before and wonderful after, but with such a different feel. The effect colour has on a room is amazing, it can instantly make you feel a certain way, whether that’s cosy and calm or refreshed and ready to tackle every job on your to do list. Don’t underestimate the power of your favourite shade and most importantly, remember you can completely transform a room with something as simple as a pot of paint or a change of hardware.
– We’d love for you to come and see this kitchen in person and explore the rest of our NYC showroom, you’ll find us at 28 Bond Street, NY, NY 10012.
– You can now buy our paint separately in the UK, click here to have a look.
– See more of our favourite Shaker projects here.
