Bespoke Kitchen Cabinet Professionals in Coalpit Heath, Gloucestershire

“Lindsay is so creative, her ideas on how to use space, light, and totally relate and understand how to make your home what you want it to be, she had helped us to create a home we just love and everyone else that visits us does too. I’d recommend her to anyone! Michelle Blake O’Brien”

“Gemma from Balance Interior Design has been wonderful at transforming spaces within our home. She has a calm, approachable manner and strives to create aesthetic and functional perfection, suited to her client. She worked with us on providing different options to suit our budget and needs, with lots of different recommendations on suppliers and materials, and worked with us throughout the whole process.”

“Vahena is a very professional, gifted and passionate interior architect. We needed to remodel an outdated 1960's house we had recently purchased to make it our home and Vahena provided great input as much in terms of spatial design and layout as in terms of kitchen or bathroom design. She provided concept boards, samples for all the materials she recommended, costing for all the furniture and fittings, from floorings to bathroom tiles, kitchen to bathroom furniture and fittings, light fixtures to window treatments. She challenged us to step out of our comfort zone on some aspects of the design and we are so happy we did: the bespoke staircase she designed for us is one of the most stunning elements of our new home. Vahena is truly easy to work with and made the project hassle and stress-free for us! I wish we had used her services with our previous property, it would have avoided us a lot of headaches and time spent working with the architect, sourcing and managing a builder - all that with both my husband and I having a very young family and 2 full-time jobs. I highly recommend Vahena for large property renovation projects. Ours simply would not have happened without her. If anyone living around Cheltenham (UK) is thinking about using her services and would like to see what was achieved with our house, get in touch!”

“I had moved into my new home, and the interior decor was neutral - but bland. I was, frankly, at a loss as to how to begin to make it work for me. Kay visited, listened to how I need my home to function, talked me through the possibilities and created several mood boards to enable me to visualise how it could look. She even sent me links to the products I needed, taking the angst out of shopping for the right items. My lovely new home now feels like my space - thanks so much, Kay, for working your magic and taking the fear out of introducing pattern, colour and texture.”

“Tailored to your budget and personality. Why waste money trying to get it right when you can hire this company and get it absolutely right " first time". Talented, personable and willing to go the extra mile to get it right. Really pleased, we would have spent the rest of our lives trying to achieve what they have achieved in five "lockdown" weeks.”

“Beth took real care to understand both the aesthetic and (multiple!) practical requirements of the changes we wanted to make to our house. She designed beautiful bespoke furniture that has solved our storage issues that were real pain points for us, and provided us with a design that provides us with the increased space we craved along with a fresh look that works with a young family and feels like home. We would certainly recommend Beth and her team of suppliers.”

“Professional, original, on budget beautiful customised interiors. Loates designs were efficient and thorough. They treated my penthouse design and fit out as a personal project and even helped manage trades that had nothing to do with them. A very reliable, warm and overall fantastic interior design firm, highly recommended.”

“For some years, we had planned to extend our 3 bedroom, end-of-terrace property and already had plans drawn up and approved. However, with the passage of time, we wanted to be sure that these plans continued to suit our purposes. We invited Nick to review the proposals and he made a number of very useful observations. Importantly, he helped us to see that we could reconfigure the space and change our way of living to enjoy an improved view of the garden and across the valley in a light-filled, open-plan kitchen-diner with separate seating area. He also identified some simple changes to the layout to maximise functionality of the various new spaces, creating a separate utility room that we had always wanted, and an area for our pets. He also spotted a design simplification that would facilitate installation of a new kitchen. The proposed renovation would affect many of the spaces in the house, so Nick produced several 3D models of the whole property to help us to envisage optional layouts. His advice, supported by the different models and estimated costs, also identified elements that were not worth pursuing, releasing funds for other aspects that were more important to us. With the basic layout agreed, Nick worked with the architect, structural engineer, and Council planning officers to ensure that the agreed re-design would be approved. In parallel, he produced a very detailed specification with electrical and lighting layout and schematic for the TV, music and IT installation; this, together with architect’s drawings, formed the tender package against which 3 contractors bid a fixed price. We came to realise that this detailed document with specific references was critical to containing the price within defined limits; through the specification, the contractor was given very clear instructions on specific building works, plumbing and heating, joinery, lighting, flooring and other aspects of the project. Nick ran a competitive tender working closely with us and the 3 bidders. Together, we then selected the winning contractor and work started. In essence, whilst we lived with the building work, Nick was on site almost every day to keep an eye on developments and make decisions where required. Largely, we sat back and made cups of tea for the builders. If we spotted anything of concern, we generally raised this with Nick in the first instance and he would either explain the issue to us or, if some action was required, would address it with the contractor. Having established the principal price for the works, Nick was also keen to show us the total cost of the project including carpets, window dressings, audio equipment etc. He had also designed a number of bespoke storage units some of which were eventually fabricated and fitted. Early in the planning process we met to review decorative schemes with samples to show how each room would look and feel, along with the associated prices. He maintained a detailed spreadsheet, so that we could budget for furnishings over a timescale that suited us. The spreadsheet included a risk budget for identified risks, to help us understand the level of caution required as the project progressed. The value of the main contractor’s work was £120k + VAT (including kitchen) and the total project budgeted price was £150k + VAT (including furnishings etc). Nick oversaw the contractor’s implementation of the design. He also managed any interfaces between the contractor and other suppliers, and organised purchase of additional items such as the kitchen, carpets, blinds, and audio kit. He took us to view kitchens and appliances so that we could confirm our requirement. He then negotiated a good price for us which saved several £ks. This was another feature of working with Nick; not only did he negotiate good prices on our behalf, he also passed on elements of his trade discounts to us, and identified cost effective solutions which more than paid for his fees. We were particularly fascinated by Nick’s attention to detail and came to realise and appreciate its importance. For example, his insistence on the apparently small detail of aligning the floor level at the threshold to the French doors was simple to implement, but the contractors would have proceeded to fit a step over the threshold (because it was easy and what they always do) without Nick insisting otherwise. We now have no such trip-hazards. As the project proceeded, Nick spent more time with us and our teenagers, confirming styles and tastes, bringing samples and putting together schemes, before sourcing carpets and other fixtures and fittings. He introduced us to a number of new ideas: all of our friends marvel at our purple glass splashback and resin-worktop; the walk-in rain shower is fabulous; the music distribution system is fantastic, the wide floorboards are a real feature, and the look of our spacious, contemporary kitchen-diner is very special. He also future-proofed the property with an ethernet network in all key areas of the home. To manage cash-flow, the project was split into 2 phases. In planning for this, Nick ensured that all foundations, cabling, and pipes for phase 2 were installed during phase 1, negating the need for re-work or additional work later. In fact, during the 6 month break between phases, the contractor failed to record works already completed and paid for, and were preparing to escalate the ongoing price significantly (by approximately £8k, or 30% of the price remaining). However, Nick’s dogged determination and scrupulous record-keeping allowed us to maintain the project largely within the original price (allowing only for a legitimate inflationary increase in materials and labour). Throughout the project, we had every confidence that Nick would address any issue with the work. He produced a detailed snagging list at the end of each phase and ensured that all items were closed before the project was signed off. We are delighted with our “new” home and, having lived with it now for over a year, we find it practical as well as stylish, with plenty of functionality, space and light. Nick is a pleasure to work with. He offers fresh ideas and has opened our eyes to opportunities that we would otherwise have missed. Equally, he accepts respectfully that a client may not always be able to follow a particular recommendation. He is extraordinarily diligent and reliable and his involvement saved us money overall (to the tune of many £ks). We will certainly continue to use his services for future developments of our home and it gives us great pleasure to recommend him to others.”

“Had a fantastic experience working with Nina the last 5 months on a renovation project in central Bath. Nina did the initial concept for the whole project (90 sqm 2 bedrooms split level flat), paint colour consultation, sourced carpets, blinds, tiles, furniture and decorations. We also had a professional photoshoot which Nina acted as stylist for the day. Not only is Nina extremely knowledgeable, she also understands our requirements very well, she's conscious of our budget, and tries to add value where it created most impact. I'm sure we saved £££ due to her great furniture sourcing skills. She's also a lovely person, very approachable and friendly. It was honestly a pleasure to work with her. I'd recommend her to family and friends and will definitely work with her again.”

“I wanted to make over my bedroom to suit my new lifestyle. I gave Michelle an idea of what I wanted to use the room for and she transformed my expressed wishes into a workable design package that suited my budget. She also provided me with a very useful shopping list which included everything which I needed to buy in order to equip the room and links to the web pages. As a busy working mother I don’t have time to go around the shops so being able to order everything off the list in this way was a godsend. On a personal note Michelle has a real talent for translating your personality and emotional needs into a space which serves them. I would highly recommend her if you want to make over a space in your home.”