A family kitchen where dreams are made
Our kitchen
Here I am sitting at the kitchen table bathed in August sunlight in the kitchen I had long imagined. Every morning, since last Christmas when it was finished, as I come downstairs to the kitchen my heart lifts, I feel happy in our kitchen.
Two years ago, while I was away on a work retreat, I wrote a letter to my husband explaining that I really did want a new kitchen. I’ve just found the letter again. It’s dated 9 June 2016. This is an extract:
“I want it because I’d like the kitchen to be light, for there to be enough room for a big table that we can all sit round without being cramped, to provide an easier flow round the kitchen and ground floor, to have a place where our family and friends congregate, and actually a place where I could learn to love to cook (like you do already). And to really bring the garden into the kitchen and to be the heart of the house, somewhere that we really enjoy and love being in”.
I’d written a letter because it was quite an emotional appeal that I found difficult to vocalise. There was a long running debate in our household about whether it would be practical or affordable or even responsible (we had a perfectly nice kitchen) to create a kitchen space that we would love out of the dark north facing Edwardian hotchpotch of small rooms that made up our kitchen, utility room and pantry. There were many thick walls and a huge old fireplace that supported three storeys of masonry. So it all seemed too difficult and had remained a pipe dream for years.
Literally a week later I met Helena and Keith at a conference for responsible leadership hosted by the Business Collective. We introduced ourselves. Keith explained they needed coaching support in the business, which I could provide (that story is amazing in itself and told elsewhere), and I said I need a kitchen, which the Myers Touch could provide. It was so timely for us all. By the end of the day we’d agreed that we’d start with the coaching and perhaps they’d take a look at our kitchen.
Well, they did take more than a look. They spent time with me and those of my family and their friends who happened to be at home. We sat at the table and talked about how our household works, who’s here, what our interests are, what we love to cook, how we share our lives.
Keith and Helena’s vision to create kitchen spaces where light, love and laughter are integral to the design that also reflects the integrity of the quality of materials and appliances literally summed up what we’d always talked about. We visited the Studio a couple of times and Keith’s designs helped us to visualise the kitchen fairly quickly. Helena guided us on the detail which avoided getting overwhelmed with options and too many possibilities. The kitchen I’m sitting in is exactly as we’d envisaged in those discussions.
It took a while to get planning permission and find the right builder but we finally signed contracts in July 2017 and the building took place in the autumn. One of the things I most appreciated was that the necessary detailed conversations happened with good will and ease between Keith and Helena, the architect, surveyor, builders, suppliers and trades people. That integrity needs to be evident right through the whole system and it was. I was also more than happy that I was able to sell our old kitchen, and keep bricks for future use, so very little went to landfill.
In August 2017 our daughter had returned to the UK with a vision for a business providing local seasonal food, offering choices that reflect variety and yet tread lightly on the environment. It was totally unexpected and quite amazing. A year later it's become a reality and her business is now thriving not least because she has been able to cook in our kitchen. This would not have been possible before. The dream I outlined in that letter is now every day life, we regularly have people gathered in the kitchen and we’ve hosted lots of occasions, both big and small, planned and spontaneous.
By stepping out in faith and trusting each other we have all benefited personally, we have found depths of friendship, and our businesses have become far more than they would have been otherwise.
I can’t thank you enough.
Best wishes Belinda
Here I am sitting at the kitchen table bathed in August sunlight in the kitchen I had long imagined. Every morning, since last Christmas when it was finished, as I come downstairs to the kitchen my heart lifts, I feel happy in our kitchen.
Two years ago, while I was away on a work retreat, I wrote a letter to my husband explaining that I really did want a new kitchen. I’ve just found the letter again. It’s dated 9 June 2016. This is an extract:
“I want it because I’d like the kitchen to be light, for there to be enough room for a big table that we can all sit round without being cramped, to provide an easier flow round the kitchen and ground floor, to have a place where our family and friends congregate, and actually a place where I could learn to love to cook (like you do already). And to really bring the garden into the kitchen and to be the heart of the house, somewhere that we really enjoy and love being in”.
I’d written a letter because it was quite an emotional appeal that I found difficult to vocalise. There was a long running debate in our household about whether it would be practical or affordable or even responsible (we had a perfectly nice kitchen) to create a kitchen space that we would love out of the dark north facing Edwardian hotchpotch of small rooms that made up our kitchen, utility room and pantry. There were many thick walls and a huge old fireplace that supported three storeys of masonry. So it all seemed too difficult and had remained a pipe dream for years.
Literally a week later I met Helena and Keith at a conference for responsible leadership hosted by the Business Collective. We introduced ourselves. Keith explained they needed coaching support in the business, which I could provide (that story is amazing in itself and told elsewhere), and I said I need a kitchen, which the Myers Touch could provide. It was so timely for us all. By the end of the day we’d agreed that we’d start with the coaching and perhaps they’d take a look at our kitchen.
Well, they did take more than a look. They spent time with me and those of my family and their friends who happened to be at home. We sat at the table and talked about how our household works, who’s here, what our interests are, what we love to cook, how we share our lives.
Keith and Helena’s vision to create kitchen spaces where light, love and laughter are integral to the design that also reflects the integrity of the quality of materials and appliances literally summed up what we’d always talked about. We visited the Studio a couple of times and Keith’s designs helped us to visualise the kitchen fairly quickly. Helena guided us on the detail which avoided getting overwhelmed with options and too many possibilities. The kitchen I’m sitting in is exactly as we’d envisaged in those discussions.
It took a while to get planning permission and find the right builder but we finally signed contracts in July 2017 and the building took place in the autumn. One of the things I most appreciated was that the necessary detailed conversations happened with good will and ease between Keith and Helena, the architect, surveyor, builders, suppliers and trades people. That integrity needs to be evident right through the whole system and it was. I was also more than happy that I was able to sell our old kitchen, and keep bricks for future use, so very little went to landfill.
In August 2017 our daughter had returned to the UK with a vision for a business providing local seasonal food, offering choices that reflect variety and yet tread lightly on the environment. It was totally unexpected and quite amazing. A year later it's become a reality and her business is now thriving not least because she has been able to cook in our kitchen. This would not have been possible before. The dream I outlined in that letter is now every day life, we regularly have people gathered in the kitchen and we’ve hosted lots of occasions, both big and small, planned and spontaneous.
By stepping out in faith and trusting each other we have all benefited personally, we have found depths of friendship, and our businesses have become far more than they would have been otherwise.
I can’t thank you enough.
Best wishes Belinda
Project Year: 2019
Project Cost: £50,001 - £75,000
