Back to Basics – The Freestanding Kitchen

27th September 2019

By Zoe Parker

Back to basics and back to where deVOL started 30 years ago and things would have pretty much looked the same as these beautiful new images taken by Helen and Tim just a couple of weeks ago. A freestanding Classic English Kitchen, handmade and hand-painted here in England, a kitchen to love forever. These cupboards have been here in this spot since the day we opened Cotes Mill over 6 and a half years ago and they’re looking lovelier than ever. The same cupboards, the same colours, the same worktops, the same hardware, all that’s changed is the addition of a little greenery and a couple of our treasured vintage finds.

A perfectly worn original floor, wobbly old walls and those ancient wood beams are the perfect backdrop for a Classic freestanding kitchen.

 

A very fitted look has been popular in kitchens for some time now and it’s a look we will always love here at deVOL, but it’s exciting to see a resurgence in the desire and appreciation for a classic freestanding kitchen and I hope this room at the Mill will give you lots of inspiration. There’s something about freestanding furniture that seems a little more grown-up and substantial. You can create a room that feels less like a kitchen and more like a living space, a room that’s just been really nicely and sensibly decorated. I suppose it’s funny that we’re a company who specialise in designing and making beautiful kitchens but always talk of our love for spaces that don’t really feel, or necessarily look, like a kitchen!! 

Artwork in a kitchen is one of my favourite things and this gentleman looks just perfect keeping an eye on the showroom!

 

There’s nothing better to create the freestanding look with than our Classic English Kitchen range. It’s essentially pieces of beautiful furniture with a function – a sink cabinet or a pantry cupboard or a prep table. Each piece is always based on traditional Irish Georgian designs, made to bespoke sizes and configured just as you like. This display at the Mill features one of our favourite Classic English prep tables, this one is just under three metres long and is painted in our Damask shade. Unlike an island, this piece is much more open and airy, the slatted shelves and big wide drawers make it great to look at, useful and like a proper piece of furniture. If you have a big room and you love to cook this is the piece for you. Imagine coming in from the garden arms laden with fresh produce, laying everything out on the rustic oak top and then setting to and making a family feast, what could be better… or sitting up at the prep table and chitter chattering away while somebody else does the hard work!! 

No prep table is complete without a Helen’s Stool or two for perching!!

 

Then you’ve got a Classic English pantry cupboard. This piece would always be at the top of my kitchen wish list, imagine how well-organised it would keep you. Beautiful on the outside but just as beautiful on the inside, it’s almost too lovely to stay behind closed doors! Tongue and groove back panels, solid hardwood drawers with dovetail joints, little brass label holders and a cool slab of Carrara marble. Luxury and necessity all rolled into one perfectly simple and practical cupboard that would be a joy to own. You could so easily repaint these solid wooden cupboards if you fancied a change and even take them from home to home with you and hand them down from generation to generation, how lovely is that.

We recently sanded back and refinished this oak worktop with a liberal coat of oil, it looks as good as new.

 

And last but not least, just out of shot, there’s a couple of pot cupboards either side of a huge and very impressive Wolf cooker, and of course a lovely big sink cabinet. One piece of furniture, made from solid wood and featuring a pull out bin, an integrated dishwasher and big Belfast sink with a set of our coveted aged brass taps. Hand-painted in Mushroom and topped with a piece of rich wood. Oh and thank you to the cutest dog in the world, Blue, for being the best model!! He belongs to our lovely Receptionist and Showroom Assistant, Emelie. Blue is a little Australian Shepherd and has been spending his days hanging out at the Mill and charming everybody who walks through the door. 

A freestanding prep table painted in Damask and sink cupboard in Mushroom, both simply finished with a couple of brass cup handles.

 

I love these new photos and hope you’ve enjoyed seeing them too but there’s absolutely no better way to see the impeccable quality and utter loveliness of these cupboards than to visit us in person!! You will find this Classic English freestanding kitchen display at our Cotes Mill showroom, and two quite bold and different displays at our St. John’s Square and New York City showrooms too. If you would like us to put a design and quotation together for you please do get in touch, our design service is free and our designers are total pros at creating authentic and dreamy kitchens, whether you want freestanding or prefer something a little more fitted.