Sourdough workshop

This weekend we fired up the aga to host our first bread-making workshop in our Muswell Hill kitchen showroom.

The  course provides an intensive, hands-on introduction to the alchemy of sourdough baking.

Lawrence Leason our instructor took our small group through the entire bread-making process: how to make and care for your sourdough starter, working with wet and stiff doughs, and guided us in the art of kneading – demonstrating how to gently (much more so then you’d think!) coax the few simple ingredients into beautiful, elastic battards and boules ready for the oven.

The course includes a delicious lunch and the chance to sample Lawrence’s ready-made loaves along with some fine cheese, a freshly made soup and a glass or two of wine.

Participants leave with a bag of glorious warm loaves (ciabattas and sourdough boules in our case), a bread-makers’ kit (which includes recipe and instruction sheets, proving baskets, scrapers and a pot of sourdough starter), and the ambition to get into some serious baking at home.

The small class size and individual instruction make the course perfect for those wanting to explore the fascinating world of sourdough baking. Look out for our next course, coming soon.

Neolith Porcelain Worktop

We have just had our new Neolith porcelain worktop installed and it looks beautiful. It is Basalt Grey and perfectly compliments the natural oak and matt white lacquered doors of the kitchen as it 'floats' above the island. The splash back, being in the same material, brings a sense of unity and quality.

12mm Neolith Basalt Grey ceramic worktop with draining grooves

Neolith is the largest high-tech porcelain slab, which offers the most efficient solutions for the most demanding architectural projects, as well as an extensive combination of colours and finishes, making it a designer product that can be used in numerous applications for interiors, exteriors and furnishings.

It is the natural choice as it is 100% eco-friendly, using natural materials and technologies that respect the environment.

Neolith poeclain is the perfect material for worktop, splashbacks and sinks

NEOLITH is a high performance material ideal for applications such as kitchen coverings. It does not scratch, does not stain, is heat and fire resistant and, thanks to the extremely low absorption rate of technical porcelain, ideal for food contact and processing. It doesn't even need sealing or oiling as it is totally non porous.

Please drop into our North London showroom to have a look at this lovely material and let us know what you think.

The festive hub - Kitchens come into their own at Christmas, so what’s hot right now? Acclaimed designer Tim Moss tells Olivia Hubbard it’s all about creating space

The festivities are fast approaching, meaning we are eagerly composing our Christmas food lists and preparing for hibernation in our functional kitchens. A man who knows all about just that is North Londoner Tim Moss. Inside Tim’s stylish showroom, contemporary clean lines mimic absolute style, where he creates kitchens that will stand the test of time: think cutting edge storage solutions and spaces that generate utter calm.

Cyma Reversa moulding on the doors for a traditional manor style

On the subject of current trends, Tim says bespoke contemporary design is the fresh approach to traditional living. ‘Customers are becoming more aware of the less fitted kitchen trend,’ he explains. Tim uses earthy tones of a soothing palette depending on the light, explaining the importance of space. ‘You really need to consider the room as a whole,’ he begins.

‘So many homes and gardens are now designed to “flow” together. An important and often overlooked detail is the colour of any framework between house and garden. Choosing an earthy toned green/grey can have an enormous effect in the grander scheme of things, softening the boundary between inside and out,’ he says.

Savoy Cabbage painted by Jane Wormell

By way of example, Tim’s kitchen boasts an innovative gold footed ‘Savoy Cabbage’ cabinet. His artist wife, Jane Wormell, paints the striking images featured on the cabinet, creating its unique charm. Talking of family, how does he approach Christmas? ‘Traditionally,’ he smiles, saying holly and ivy are the preferred house decoration of choice. ‘My son tries to place cannonball sized baubles at the front of our tree each year,’ he adds with a laugh. ‘Then small ones hang in annoying places like the kitchen cupboard doors!’ Lucky, then, that Tim and his family have plenty of space in that part of the house.

A Curvy Kitchen in Muswell Hill

Curves and stainless steel mesh are trademarks of Tim Moss kitchens

Nicola Peters dreamed of a bespoke kitchen design that wrapped around her. She spends most days at home and loves cooking, so she wanted something really functional. Oh, and she wanted it in pink. Well, two out of three ain’t bad!

A palette of subtle muted colours gives a calming feel to the kitchen

North London based kitchen designer, Tim Moss says, “Nicola’s brief was for a traditional kitchen, but brought forward in time. She wanted all the mod cons, but didn’t like the sleek modern style of so many of today’s kitchens.” The old kitchen was a galley style, which had a lot of workspace, but because of wall-hung cupboards, much of it was unusable. The layout also left Nicola carrying pans of boiling water from the hob at one end of the kitchen to the sink at the other , which, with young children underfoot, was getting dangerous. And she hated the pebble-effect flooring.

Gentle curves give the kitchen an organic feel

So she knew what she didn’t want, but what did she want? She saw it as soon as she walked into Tim’s showroom. Tim says, “It was very fortunate that when Nicola came into look at our showroom, the kitchen we have on display perfectly illustrated what she wanted.” Happy she’d found her man, Nicola handed the design process entirely over to Tim. Reassured that he used to be a chef, she left everything, right to to the choice of handles, to Tim.

Kohler stainless steel sinks

The result is an understated timeless kitchen that works, even when Nicola and her children are cooking together – there’s space for everyone and she feels it’s standing the test of time. Discrete Gaggenau appliances add a contemporary look, a wine cooler provides space for husband Philip’s passion and Nicola got the coffee machine she was desperate for. The only compromise was having to forego an instant hot water tap to leave space for a dishwasher, but with an induction hob that boils water in no time at all, it’s a compromise everyone’s happy to have made.

Cupboard interiors are beech veneered blockboard

Inox cutlery tray

A glass extension floods the space with light and the curved edges mean moving around in the space is easy. Plenty of storage space including a large coat cupboard for all the children’s school things keeps it tidy. A breakfast bar means it’s a room where the whole family can spend time together, instead of Nicola being locked away cooking and then presenting finished meals.

Gaggenau appliances

Tim says he created a “ traditionally made kitchen given a very contemporary look by the choice of appliances, handles and the colour.” So what about that pink? Nicola was set on Farrow & Ball’s Smoked Trout or Dead Salmon until Tim sent her home with some colour samples hoping she’d change her mind. He suggested Light Blue by Farrow & Ball instead and that’s what they ended up with. A calm colour that looks green, grey or blue depending on the light, it provides a perfect background to the appliances and creates a restful space that Nicola now loves spending time in.

Choosing A Quality Kitchen

The kitchen really is the heart of the home – it probably seems like a cliché as the expression is somewhat overused but nevertheless in most households, it’s true.

With this in mind it’s worth investing in a good quality kitchen that comes in at the top end of your budget. Not only is it the social hub for most families but it is also a key selling point when looking to move on.

Small but beautifully formed kitchen

Bespoke is best

Tim Moss is a sought after kitchen and furniture designer and he recommends choosing a bespoke kitchen when looking for real quality. ‘With total freedom from the restraints of mass production, the design is tailor made for the space and to exacting standards of craftsmanship,’ he says. ‘When buying a genuinely bespoke kitchen the overall quality of design and build should be of the highest standard. A badly designed kitchen will not look nice, feel nice or work well.’

Choose materials that last

Quartz is a popular material choice for Moss but when it comes to the carcasses he uses veneered blockboards as he says this is a far superior material to MDF or chipboard. For door frames and framing however he prefers to use solid wood (usually Liriodendron tulipifera) and says that if you use good quality wood you can expect the kitchen to last a lifetime.

The chimney breast works as the perfect housing for the cooker

Feel the quality

Most designers agree that you should not to be afraid to touch and feel the products that you are considering using. Interior designer Kia Sunda does this when choosing hardware. She says: ‘Firstly it is really important to make sure that draw box mechanisms work smoothly and consistently throughout the kitchen. My best way of checking this is to fiddle. I go through the showroom and open everything. I will close it roughly and pull it open quickly to find out if it still runs smoothly or if it slams.’ Moss agrees with the importance of touch and says: ‘There are nearly always cheap alternatives but when you hold the real thing and its cheap counterpart the choice becomes obvious.’

Light the space

Lighting should not be underestimated in the kitchen. ‘Lighting can make or break a design,’ says Moss, explaining that this is sometimes trickier in a kitchen where you need strong task lighting as well as softer ambient light. ‘It’s important to have directional lights in the ceiling and pendants above an island and dining table enhance the overall feel.’ 

There really is no substitute for quality and the only way to guarantee a well-crafted, long lasting and durable kitchen design is to invest wisely and choose the best components that your budget will allow.

Double larder cupboards are a great for storing dry foods, crockery, bottles etc

Feature in Art of Bespoke

When bespoke kitchen designer Tim Moss first discussed this kitchen project with his customer, he wasn’t convinced that he could make her dreams come true. But with some clever spatial evaluation and planning he was able to achieve the impossible.

This kitchen project in Holland Park was part of a much larger renovation project that encompassed the whole property. The brief was to create a unified space between the basement sitting area, the kitchen and the dining room, leading out to the garden.

‘The space was narrow and the client wished for an Island. I knew this would be difficult but after much consideration and experimenting I’m thrilled with the design I arrived at’ says Moss. Working from architect’s plans, he wrestled with various lay-outs, always conscious of the client’s requests.

Farrwow and Ball Downpipe and Strong White paint

A dark island combined with light wall cabinetry give drama and contrast

He had to work around the constraints of the certain structural elements that could not be removed, but eventually he came upon the idea of using all the available alcove and chimney breast depths to push the larger appliances far enough in to gain the extra space needed for the island. Moss adds: ‘The cupboards all vary in depth and width as they work their way around the supporting piers.’

The kitchen is located in the basement of the property which obviously throws up the additional challenge of creating a space that is sufficiently bright and airy. In order to ensure that this was the case, Moss carefully selected a colour scheme that would maximise all the available natural light.

The wall of cupboards was painted in Skimming Stone by Farrow and Ball which helped to keep the feeling of light, whilst the island was painted in Downpipe, also by Farrow and Ball, which created a feeling of solidity and added a bit of quiet drama. Moss also specified a paler fossilised limestone floor to add texture to the room and work surfaces in Caesarstone ‘Snow’ to lighten the whole area.

In-built wine cooler and elegant glazed display cupboard

When it came to choosing the appliances and kitchen brassware, Moss opted for brands that he knew well and had worked with before. ‘All appliances are Gaggenau, much loved by the client, both for style and quality. The tap is by Dornbracht, from its Elio range. Both are brands of such good quality and they are always a pleasure to fit,’ says Moss.

Both the client and Moss were extremely happy with the final result, but it did take some time to get there. ‘The schedule was quite long as the entire property was to be refurbished,’ explains Moss. ‘Once the design was finished and the drawings all ready for the builder, we had a wait of some five to six months.’ This, according to Moss, was down to the fact that the kitchen, as in any build, should go in as late as practically possible to avoid the chances of damage.

Elegant and highly functional bank of wall cupboards

However, despite this wait to get started there were no major hold-ups along the way. Moss says: ‘Having the builder on site everyday meant a tightly run job throughout, with the whole project being finished on time.’

The client was extremely happy with her new kitchen and Moss says that she has even shown some of his prospective clients around with much pleasure and very good results. Moss too was very satisfied with the way the project turned out. He says: ‘I am really pleased with the overall lay-out. Seeing the client’s face, her disbelief and joy, when I revealed we had met all her wishes was my personal highlight.’