The striking design you see at the top of this page was created by a company called deVOL, and was intended to complement a house full of much-loved antiques.
The company’s founders, Philip de Vries and Paul O’Leary – deVOL is an amalgamation of their surnames – initially renovated antique furniture and designed various one-off pieces from a small rented workshop. When their first range of free-standing kitchen furniture was displayed at premises on the high street in Quorn, near Loughborough, word of their craftsmanship got out.
Today, everything is hand-made by the team, which is based in a 16th-century water mill on the banks of the River Soar.
The kitchen at the top of the page, which is in a Victorian house in Peckham Rye, London SE15, is from the Classic English Kitchen range.
The homeowner came with a strong vision for this project: her father was an antiques collector and the aim was to create a design that would create a fitting backdrop to antiques and collected pieces.
With that in mind, the cabinetry was painted in a bespoke colour – a mix of emerald and racing green. This was then contrasted with the company’s own Bella Brass door furniture and a marble so deeply veined it lends the kitchen a sort of graffiti chic.
The taps are made in collaboration with Perrin & Rowe and the flooring is hand-aged oak.
The wall lights are original vintage items sourced from the architectural salvage business Retrouvius and the pendant lights were made by the client from old cloches using bespoke metal frames.
deVOL, Cotes Mill, Nottingham Road, Cotes, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5TL (01509 261000; www.devolkitchens.co.uk)
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