Autumn Fun

If you are looking for a little light relief from all that is happening in the world how about a spot of Halloween fun? These activities are a sure way to keep your little ones (or just you!) entertained during half term. Who says Autumn decor needs to be bright orange pumpkins and fake cobwebs, try our pumpkin painting activity to create your very own elegant autumn decorations.

Painted pumpkins

Head down to your local pumpkin picking spot (another great way to entertain the kids) and pick out a host of different sized pumpkins. If you have lots of tester pots of paint leftover from any room renovations this is a great way to use them up. Paint the pumpkins in an array of colours or stick to a particular palette that matches your interior. We love all white pumpkins with painted spots or drips on. Arrange at your front door with faux candles or use as a beautiful Halloween tablescape ready for a spooky family feast.

Halloween Bakes

From ghostly biscuits to a spiders nest cake there are plenty of ways to bring the some spookiness to your half term bakes. Why not create lots of Halloween party food so you can host your own family scarefest? One of our favourite & easiest recipes are spider cupcakes. Simply make a batch of your favourite cupcakes, when cooled spoon over smooth white icing then with a black (or chocolate icing) pipe on 3 circles, carefully run a toothpick from the centre of the cake to outerconer to create a cobweb effect.

5 Reasons to choose your local kitchen retailer

2020 has been a strange year to say the least and as a small local business we are thankful more than ever for all your support, it really does mean the world to us.

We feel so lucky that we continue to be so busy creating such beautiful spaces for all our lovely customers, we think all that time spent in lockdown has made people look at their homes and how they use them in a whole new light!

If you are looking to transform your kitchen this year we are sharing 5 reasons why we think you should choose us your local independent retailer….

1.      You are supporting the local economy

Did you know for every £10 you spend with an independent retailer means £50 towards the local economy? Your kitchen is not only supporting us its also helping our trusted traders, our suppliers, delivery drivers and Helen’s baking skills! The list is endless meaning your kitchen is making a huge impact on the local economy.

2.      You are getting a truly bespoke kitchen, tailored to you

When choosing IDEAS to design your kitchen, you are getting one of our dedicated designers who will listen to all your likes, dislikes, wants and needs to come up with a design that’s truly bespoke to you. There is no ‘standard’ design here, whatever your heart desires we can make happen.

3.      A full turn-key service

We not only design and fit your kitchen we can also help with everything from recommending a builder, plumber, electrician to helping you choose matching paint and accessories leaving you more time to think about the small details rather than the bigger picture.

4.      No gimmicks or ‘sales’

As a small business we never have ‘sales’ but aim to provide fair and decent prices all year round, we know sometimes larger retailers can appear cheaper but we offer a higher quality product with the peace of mind of being local if you have any questions during your job.

5.      Local recommendations

Word of mouth is our biggest source of new business and we love that so many of you recommend us to your friends and family. We go above and beyond to ensure you have a positive kitchen buying experience and in turn hopefully you spread the word

Sophisticated Shaker Kitchens

Classic, timeless and so elegant, the Shaker style kitchen has been a go to for decades but for a short time went out of style with high gloss, handless ranges taking centre stage. However in the last year or so we have seen a peak in shaker popularity with our customers looking for a more classic kitchen with contemporary detailing such as quartz worktops and ironmongery in golds and rose gold.

Depending on your individual style and house look and feel we can adapt the shaker kitchen to match your lifestyle perfectly, whether that’s a country style kitchen with classic details like Corbels underneath open shelving to a more contemporary feel with matt black handles. One of the best things about all these finishes are they are changeable, so if in 5 years you decide rose gold is no longer your thing simply change the handles and accessories.

We offer a vast range of styles and colours in our Shaker doors to accommodate all budgets and individual tastes. Pop in to see us today to create your dream kitchen or contact us via the link below.

Moodboard Fun!

If you are starting to think about designing your new kitchen it can feel like a very daunting and at times overwhelming task that can often put people off for years, but there are a few key things you can start to do that can make your experience a whole lot less stressful and enjoyable!

Your Wish List

We always start by asking our customers how the space needs to work for them, their needs and how they operate in the kitchen. Some of you absolutely love nothing more than cooking everyday, baking and having large family gatherings others simply want to hear the ping of a microwave and the speed of a boiling water tap, talking through these factors are vital to getting the design of your kitchen working for you. With that in mind between you and your family start jotting down your ‘wish list’, what are the things you couldn’t live without and what are the things that you would dream of having in your kitchen? This could be anything from an under cabinet dog bed (yes we can do this for your furry friend!) to quartz worktops.

Moodboarding

Traditional moodboarding comprises of a physical board of ideas comprising of an overall interiors theme, this could include fabric, flooring and paint samples along with inspirational imagery that you may of seen in a magazine or online. This is a really fun way of getting your creative ideas flowing, you could do several to see which theme you are gravitating towards the most. Even better get the children to do their own for a fun summer activity and see who’s you all love the best or take elements from a few.

Pinterest

Oh Pinterest how we love you but how you play with our minds! Pinterest is the easiest, quickest and simplest way to create an online moodboard of all your favourite looks and likes. But beware with pinterest that your head can be turned easily, one minute you see a beautiful shaker style white kitchen the next a charcoal grey handless that equally fills your designer heart with joy, both completely opposite both you love, so which to choose? We have this a lot with customers who just find the choice overwhelming, our advice? Stop pinning so much! Go back to your first love, which scheme do you time and time keep going back to? This is the one you will most likely be able to live with in the long term. We love Pinterest and its really helpful when customers come in with their online boards but just vigilant of getting into a Pinterest rabbit hole!

So when It comes to moodboarding, the first rule is to have fun! Go with all the crazy ideas your heart desires at first, colours, styles, fabrics or it may just start with a beautiful bar stool you just have to have and we can go from there. Then pop into the showroom here at IDEAS and we can help you consolidate all your wild kitchen fantasies into the beautiful and bespoke kitchen of your dreams. Contact us today to book your appointment and start your new kitchen journey.

IDEAS' moment in the spotlight

A big hello from us all at IDEAS kitchens, we have been a bit quiet on here of late as we have been so busy designing kitchens for you lovely lot! We found out recently that one of them has even made it into the national Interiors magazine HomeStyle Magazine in their August 2019 edition, which we are so proud of. A beautiful Remo gloss door finished in porcelain with marble white quartz worktop and NEFF appliances. We think it looks fab, what do you think?

A Kitchen Makeover

Having purchased their first home together Hope (who works for IDEAS) & Adam knew there was lot to do to renovate their dated 1930s house into a home fit for modern living.

“We are really lucky that our garden is south facing, which is where our kitchen and dining room are, so we really wanted to maximise the feeling of space in these rooms as we originally had a tiny galley kitchen and quite a dark feeling dining room”, explains Hope. The first thing they did was rip out the existing 1950’s kitchen and knock through the wall that separated the kitchen/dining room.

The original back door and window to the kitchen were blocked up to make way for a run of tall housings to maximise the feeling of a much larger space in what is still essentially a galley kitchen. They chose the Remo handless door in cashmere with a Marble white quartz worktop and large central peninsular to organically combine both the spaces. On the opposite walls to the kitchen in the dining room two of the walls are painted in a deep, rich navy blue which gives such a cosy and inviting feeling to a room which otherwise could feel quite clinical. “I had a lot of people comment that I was making a mistake with the blue, but I felt with an off white gloss kitchen, in a south facing room it was needed otherwise we were in danger of having a room which would feel cold”.

After the months of renovating it is so lovely to have all our friends and family over for dinner parties and BBQ’s, it is such a brilliant entertaining space and we could not be happier with how the kitchen works for us!

THE KITCHEN BEFORE

THE KITCHEN AFTER

THE DINING ROOM BEFORE

THE DINING ROOM AFTER

The Quooker Boiling Water Tap

The Quooker flex tap is one of the IDEAS’ teams favorite kitchen products, an innovative and clever tap which saves money, water and makes a cup of tea in record time! The flex is the newest addition to the Quooker range combining a boiling water tap with a flexible pull out hose for easy cleaning around the sink. Once you start using the Quooker tap it is hard to imagine a kitchen without one, it eliminates the need for a kettle, therefore freeing up valuable workspace as well as having the option to provide you with filtered tap water.

Features

Did you know that the Quooker Taps are the only boiling water taps on the market that deliver your water at 100°C.There is a tap on the worktop and a tank underneath your sink to deliver you that perfect cup of tea everytime! You can choose to either have a separate Quooker tap next to your usual mixer tap or the Quooker flex/fusion which is single tap for hot, cold and boiling water. There is also the option to have a filtered water tank installed alongside your boiling water tank.

Efficiency

If you are worried that the Quooker tap may be wasteful, think again! The high-vacuum insulation ensures that the Quookers standby usage is just 3 pence per day.  For an even more efficient tap choose a COMBI tank, an economical way to produce both hot and boiling water.

Safety

One of the questions about the Quooker is “Is it safe?”, the answer in short is extremely! Gone of the days of worrying about dropping the kettle, spilling it or scalding yourself with steam. The Quooker is fitted with a ‘push and twist’ child proof handle and insulated casing insuring it never feels hot to touch. The way the water is dispensed means the flow is more of a spray than a solid jet, giving you plenty of time to get your hands out of the way if the worst was to happen.

No kitchen is complete without its Quooker.

Pop into IDEAS Nottingham today to see how it works.

It's all about the Pantry

In the last year or so the we have had more and more requests for built in pantry or larder units on our customers kitchen Wishlist’s and we love them! They add another layer of interest to a kitchen and can include beautiful details both inside and out. They can either be built into an existing tall housing bank that includes your ovens/fridges etc or as a stand a lone centre piece in your kitchen space. Traditionally a pantry unit will accommodate beautiful solid oak side store units, which are useful for things such as spices/preserves or cereals and then inside a series of drawers and shelving units to house any other household food essentials. However, we are frequently being asked to re-think the traditional pantry to house a drinks station to include an integrated coffee machine, hot water tap or how about a cocktail pantry?! We have a few key considerations to think about if you are planning a built-in pantry:

· What appliances do you use in your kitchen the most that you would like to hide such as toasters, kettles etc, these can all be popped away in a cleverly designed pantry

· Would you make use of a spice racks and drawers?

· Solid worktop or wood inside? If you are wanting to use your pantry as a drinks station you will most probably need to have a solid worktop such as Quartz, if it is purely for food you will be fine with wood shelving, inserts and worktop

· Will you want little hands to be able to help themselves to snacks or will you want everything out of reach?

· Is there any integrated appliances you would love to have within the pantry, a microwave? Coffee machine? Hot water tap & small sink?