The Kitchen & Bathroom Design Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Do kitchen and bathroom designers sometimes play it too safe when it comes to the architecture of the space?

Is putting a farmhouse-style kitchen in a quaint cottage - or indeed an ultra-contemporary kitchen in a brand new apartment - the path of least resistance?

Is it a designer’s job to challenge these kind of conventions and produce the project that will come up with something that meets the client’s brief but also surprises them, in the best possible way, with something unexpected?

This all came out of a blog written by designer Keith Myers, from The Myers Touch in Winchester. In it he challenges this idea of ‘Safe Design’ and, put simply, asks whether or not your kitchen should match your house. 

So we sat down with Keith to find out more about what he feels ‘safe design’ is, and I roped in another great designer Graham Robinson from Halcyon Interiors based in Wigmore Street in London to get his perspective.

You can get in touch with host Andy Davies via email andrewdavies@taylistmedia.com

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Welcome to Episode 3 or Season 2 of the Kitchen & Bathrooms Design Podcast from Taylist Media.

The ease of the lockdown is turning many people in the kitchen and bathroom retail sector towards  reopening their showrooms and, with that in mind, we thought it was a great time to put out this episode all about showroom design.

Specifically, we’re looking at showroom design that really works not just as a fantastic gallery for products and design, but also as means to pulls in the customer and inspire them to seriously talk about getting you to do their project.

We’ve got some great guests together to talk about this…

Angus Kerr, sales director of The Bathroom Company in Scotland, Jim Gibson, the managing director of Stone & Chrome in Surrey and all the way from Auckland, New Zealand,  Xanthe Whiteley, retail experience designer for Fisher & Paykel 

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This is officially a special bonus episode! We’re looking at the role product innovation plays in advancing the art of kitchen and bathroom design and what exactly constitutes innovation in the first place.

We are, as you know, supported in this season of the podcast by kbb 2020 - the biggest kitchen, bedroom and bathroom trade show in the UK - and a big part of that show is the Innovation Awards.

These are product awards that look at new developments and creative ideas in the sector and our very own managing editor Andy Davies was part of the judging panel that came up with the shortlist. At the show, which runs from March 1-4 at the NEC, the shortlist will be on display and visitors will vote on their favourites.

So the judging day seemed like a good excuse to have a chat about product innovation in general and its importance to kitchen and bathroom designers.

Along with Andy there are kitchen and bathroom designers Richard Hibbert (kslsudbury.co.uk ) and Colin Wong (developmentdirect.co.uk), as well as Amanda Hughes from Blum (https://www.blum.com/gb/en/)

Don’t forget to subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you never miss an episode and we’ll see you next time for the last episode before the kbb show!

Quick confession -  one of the reasons why this a bonus is because the sound quality is not as good as our usual episodes. We had some technical gremlins and so this is actually our back-up recording rather than the main recording. But there’s a lot of really good stuff in here so we thought it would be a real shame not to put it up so bear with the sound, it's worth it!

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This week we’re looking at how to design spa-like bathrooms.

Bathrooms are so often described as being a sanctuary, a haven and a place to relax, and this catch-all phrase of ‘spa-like’ seems to come up all the time in client briefs.

But what does it really mean? How do you as designers give the client what they want? And how do you transform a day-to-day family bathroom into this spa-like experience and back again?

And what is a ‘Netflix Shelf’?

We met up with a couple of fantastic designers recently to talk all this through – Kia Stanford (kiadesigns.co.uk) and Sam Watkins McRae (samwatkinsmcrae.co.uk), who both have eponymous design studios here in London.

Don’t forget, we’re now just over a week away from kbb Birmingham – which runs from March 1-4 at the NEC – and we’re recording LIVE episodes of this podcast every day at 2pm in the main bar so come along and see us!

To find out more about kbb 200 go to kbb.co.uk

Don’t forget to subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss new episodes and feel free to rate and review us too.

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This week as we look at designing kitchens for entertaining. 

The open plan nature of modern kitchens means that having guests, family and friends round for get togethers has become a prime function of the space and is top of the list of requirements in most briefs.

But how do you balance what the client wants with what they need? What are the essential elements that make it work and how can you balance the desire to entertain with the day-to-day needs of a family kitchen?

We met up recently with a couple of excellent designers to discuss these very questions - Daniele Brutto from Onesta in Battersea (we actually met in their very nice showroom) and Katie Malik, who is a very accomplished interior designer based in Cambridge.

But before we get stuck into that, we are just a couple of weeks away from kbb Birmingham 2020, they’re our very kind supporters in this podcast, and it is, of course, the biggest kitchen, bedroom and bathroom show in the UK.

It runs from Sunday March 1st to Wednesday March 4th and we’ll be recording LIVE episodes of the podcast everyday at 2pm in The Bar – there’s only one bar so you can’t miss us.

If you haven’t registered your place yet go to kbb.co.uk

Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss any future episodes – including the ones we’re recording at kbb – and please rate and review us as it really helps others find us.

See you next time!

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It’s the turn of bathroom design as we continue our look at the finalists in the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2020. All the finalists came to present their projects to the panel of judges at the amazing Fulham showroom of our Bathroom Design Judging Partner Roca, and we were there to chat with them and find out more about their shortlisted designs.

To see them simply go to kbbreview.com/podcast and click on this episode.

Don’t forget, we’re just a few weeks away now from kbb Birmingham, the biggest kitchen, bedroom and bathroom show in the UK. They’re supporting us in this podcast and we’ll be there recording episodes everyday at 2pm in the Central Bar. Find out more about the show at kbb.co.uk.

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A very special episode this week as we meet the kitchen design finalists in the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2020.

The Awards are the biggest kitchen and bathroom competition in the U.K. & Ireland.

All the finalists came to London to present their projects to the panel of judges in person so we caught up with them as they came out to find out more about their shortlisted designs.

To see the designs go to kbbreview.com/podcast and click on this episode.

A huge thanks to Smeg, our Kitchen Judging Partner, for hosting us at their flagship showroom in Regent Street.

And, as always, thanks to kbb Birmingham for supporting us. It’s the biggest kitchen, bedroom and bathroom show in the UK and it’s taking place March 1-4 at the NEC in Birmingham. Find out more at kbb.co.uk

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The editors of kbbreview, Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms and Studio are back and we're looking at what we really know about how people use their kitchens and bathrooms in the real world and what that means for the pre-conceptions of designers and, we admit it, journalists.

And because it's his default position for tackling most subjects, Andy does it all in the form of a quiz. For example....

• What's the average cost of a kitchen?
• How often do people clean their bathrooms?
• What's the most popular shape of kitchen?
• How many new projects include a bath?
• How many kitchens have a warming drawer?
• How often do we flush the toilet?

And much, much more.

The quiz questions are courtesy of market researchers Trend Monitor and you can find out more about them at www.trend-monitor.co.uk

The Kitchen & Bathroom Design Podcast is brought to you with the help of kbb Birmingham and we'll be doing LIVE versions of this podcast at the show that runs from March 1-4. Find out more about the event, including who's exhibiting, at www.kbb.co.uk

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We’re back! It’s a new year and new decade so we’re kicking off the 2020 run of episodes with an exclusive interview with proper design royalty - product and interiors superstar Marcel Wanders.

His studio has worked with the likes of Alessi, Baccarat, KLM, Hyatt Hotels, Louis Vuitton, Puma, Swarovski and many other design-lead brands. But in the KBB world he’s done fantastic work with the likes of Boffi, Bisazza and Laufen.

His New Classic Collection for is available now and Studio magazine editor Elspeth Pridham caught up with him on recent visit to London.

They talk about the new collection as well as the relationship between brands and design studios, his design philosophy and process, how he approaches bathroom projects and whether he is or isn’t - as the New York Times described him -  ‘The Lady Gaga of Design’.

Find out more about Marcel at www.marcelwanders.com

The Kitchen & Bathroom Design Podcast is brought to you with the help of our very good friends at kbb Birmingham 2020. It’s on from March 2-4 2020, find out more about the show at www.kbb.co.uk

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts.

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This is our last episode before Christmas, so we’ve decided to see out 2019 with a very special interview with architectural designer and TV presenter Charlie Luxton.

You may know Charlie from his TV presenting shows Modern British Architects, Build a New Life In The Country, Homes by the Sea, and Building the Dream. But he is also a very accomplished designer and his company specialises predominantly in sustainable living projects around the UK.

As you’ll hear, he’s a fascinating guy, very knowledgeable, very good company and absolutely passionate about the part the design industry can and must play in tackling climate change.

We talk about:

• How he first discovered a love for design
• Where kitchens and bathrooms fit into his design process
• How his designs fit and blend into their environment
• How sustainability needs to be the single biggest driver in design projects
• How he designed his own home – including the kitchen and bathrooms

We also talk about Kitchen George and his tractor collection, his love of imported Japanese pencils, and how no client would want monkey death on their conscience…

Go and check out his website – charlieluxtondesign.com - to see some of the projects he’s been involved with including, of course, the kitchens and bathrooms they contain.

That’s it for 2019 though, I hope you’ve enjoyed this first run of the Kitchen & Bathroom Design Podcast, we’ll be back in January 2020. Please subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don’t miss that first episode of 2020 when it comes out.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone here at Taylist Media, see you in 2020.

The Kitchen & Bathroom Design Podcast is brought to you with the help of our very good friends at kbb Birmingham 2020. It’s on from March 2-4 2020, find out more about the show at www.kbb.co.uk

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