For The Love Of Kitchens – A Chef’s Kitchen
7th December 2021
Gosh, have we reached the final episode already, how did that happen? It’s amazing to think that over two and a half years of filming was so beautifully condensed into only eight episodes! We definitely finished on a high, and I can’t wait to get into it.
This week, our kitchen project was very close to our home at Cotes Mill, in the neighbouring county of Rutland. Rutland is actually the smallest county in the whole of the UK, and it’s shaped a little like a doughnut, with a big lake in the centre. It’s a conservation area full of beautiful old homes in tiny villages, which whilst picturesque, can make building projects a little tricky. This was definitely the case for our customers Rebecca and Matt, who decided to take on a home which hadn’t really been looked after in 25 years, and had ivy growing in through the windows and walls! The original kitchen was so tiny and dark that they decided to rip it out immediately to give themselves a better idea of what the future space could look like. The only problem with this plan was that Rebecca, Matt, and their two children, were then left with a house without a kitchen or any lighting! Cue a few rather hilarious scenes of the family trying to cook by the light of head-torches!
With the old kitchen out, and an extension built to house the new deVOL cupboards, the next challenge was for our designers to create a space that would work both as a family kitchen, but also as a room where Rebecca, a professional chef, could host her cooking classes.
Paul discusses creating a show kitchen.
Perhaps the greatest joy of inviting cameras into deVOL has been showing off the skills and talents of all our incredible craftspeople. Hiring young artistic individuals is a great passion of Paul’s, and it feels really special to be part of a company that is so committed to continuing, and putting a value on, British crafts and traditional skills. A lot of our makers study these crafts at university, but what you might not know is that much of our team actually learn these skills here at deVOL, something we’re pretty proud of!
Paul discusses how we keep our furniture of the highest quality whilst expanding as a business.
Of course, we couldn’t talk about our favourite parts of ‘For The Love Of Kitchens’ without mentioning Paul and Helen. They really are quite an iconic duo, and it’s been so lovely to see everyone falling in love with them and their unique artistic relationship.
Helen describes her working relationship with Paul.
Paul discusses the mutual respect between him and Helen.
As you can see from this last clip, Paul and Helen decided to take on another passion project this episode, creating their own food truck! You might have gathered from the last few episodes that Paul loves to collect rather quirky vintage pieces (does anyone remember the old TV from the St. Ives Kitchen?) but he has a particular fondness for vintage vehicles. Helen meanwhile loves nothing more than cooking and serving her own deliciously prepared food. These two interests converged when they had the opportunity to buy an original Californian VW split screen pickup. With a hand from our ironmonger, Alun, and groundskeeper, Phill, the VW was transformed into our tiniest ever kitchen, and renamed ‘The deVOLkswagen’! As you can see from the next clip, Paul and Helen then had rather a bit too much fun designing the canvas for the food truck on a mini replica!
Helen and Paul, paint the canvas for the mini deVOLkswagen.
With the canvas finally decided on, Paul and Helen threw a party for all the staff at Cotes Mill, and the deVOLkswagen took centre stage, serving up delicious crêpes!
Helen and Paul put the finishing touches on the deVOLkswagen.
We then took a trip to North London to visit Jodie’s Kitchen. Like Rebecca and Matt, Jodie’s kitchen is in a new build, and so she had to tackle the challenge of bringing soul and character and warmth to what was essentially a white box. Whilst a blank canvas can be exciting, having endless possibilities is also quite overwhelming, and Jodie agonised over every decision, softening the walls with a gorgeous expanse of creamy metro tiles and sourcing the most incredible vintage island for the centre of the kitchen. The end result was a space that doesn’t feel new at all, but perfectly lived in and cosy.
Jodie’s new-build kitchen (copyright belonging to the Magnolia Network and discovery+).
But before leaving Jodie’s we also got a little insight into one of our most iconic pieces of furniture, the ‘Bum Stool’!
Paul chats about designing the Bum Stool.
And with that, it was time for the final reveal! After 5 months living in a house without a kitchen, and seeing Matt and Rebecca do almost all the work themselves, I couldn’t help but feel proud of everything they had accomplished. It’s clear how much joy this space brought to their family, and I can definitely see why Matt said they wouldn’t be going out to eat ever again!
It really is hard to believe that this kitchen is in a new build, the whole space feels so cosy and lived in! If you’d like to steal some ideas for your own home, here’s a full breakdown of everything you’ll need…
S W A N C O T T A G E D I R E C T O R Y
deVOL Kitchen Range – The Real Shaker Kitchen
Cupboard Colour – ‘Pantry Blue’ by deVOL with ‘The Botanical’ pattern on the Curiosity Cupboard
Worktops – Hand aged copper (on the cooker run) and suede ‘Lagoon’ Silestone (island)
Handles – deVOL’s Bella Brass, knobs, handles, cupboard catches and cup handles
Tap – deVOL Aged Brass ‘Mayan’ taps and deVOL Aged Brass Basket Strainer Waste & Overflow Kit
Range Cooker – Everhot120i
Hanging Rail – Aged Brass Hanging Rail by deVOL
Shelf Brackets – deVOL Aged Brass Classic Shelf Brackets
Wow, can you believe it, that’s the final episode done! We’re still pinching ourselves that we made a TV show, let alone one that has been so well received in both the US and the UK and now Canada and The Philippines too. It has been amazing to connect with so many new design lovers and hear about all your favourite moments, kitchen designs and accessories. Please do keep chatting to us, there’s nothing we love more than obsessing over kitchens together! As always, you can watch the show on discovery+ or the Magnolia Network, and if you need help streaming the episodes, do check out my blog, where I take you step-by-step through the process. Now I’m off to start the series all over again!
