Rosemary’s ambition is to create amazing kitchens that are totally accessible to everybody and that will be functional and ergonomically designed. Within the design of her own kitchen Rosemary incorporated loved items she has had in the family for many years including a piece of Georgian marble she collected from a bathroom over 40 years ago! The marble has been lovingly adapted to create a side table using the same units as the kitchen and it blends in perfectly. She wants others to be able to benefit from this experience and incorporate valued family items within their kitchen design to create that truly eclectic look which is totally personal to you!
How it began...
It was vital when designing Rosemary’s kitchen that we perfectly understood her unique requirements for her kitchen space. Our design specialist, Steve, sat with Rosemary and talked through each element of her needs and wants with the help of our Kitchen Think form. This gave us an insight into how she wanted her space to work and how it had to suit her lifestyle, not only based around the look and style but it had to be a practical and functional space too. Rosemary recently started a new project of Cook alongs from home and she wanted these to be filmed in her very own kitchen.
Believe it or not the kitchen design started with a piece of marble. Rosemary had a slab of veined Georgian marble, which had been part of her father’s home in Cornwall, and she wanted to integrate this into her new kitchen. Steve Fury, (who Rosemary refers to as “the best ever”), decided to incorporate the design of the Georgian marble into the kitchen scheme by sourcing a marble worktop that matched the original perfectly. The matt dust grey cabinets were used to compliment the veining in the original material.
The neutral-coloured cabinetry beautifully blended with the worktop, and the original piece of marble was included in the scheme as the finishing touch on a sideboard. Rosemary was delighted with this, “What [the designer] did was, he took something really important to me in my life, and my kitchen life, took it and transferred it into this contemporary kitchen. It is a workable piece of art.”
“ I have this Georgian piece of marble that I got from Cornwall 45 years ago can you believe it, it’s been coming around with me, I always put it on top of a chest of drawers and I said to Steve is there any way we can incorporate this piece of marble that came from a bathroom in Truro, he said no problem we can do that so we incorporated it on a side table using the same units as the kitchen so it’s all one kitchen and that really made me happy. We had to cut off a strip and that strip now has become a cheeseboard. So not only have we used the actual lovely beautiful piece of old Georgian marble but we have another cheeseboard. So all these things are incredibly important within the kitchen you’ve got to make it work. “
Rosemary Shrager
Her now famous 1950's shelves
Rosemary also has some 1950’s shelves that have been in her family for a very long time and she still has them today. She says; “I’ve still got them today and they are like the first of the build it yourself shelves they are beautiful and so modern and easily something you could have bought today and I had dream thinking what can I do with the shelf I don’t want to put my books on them again, I want to have them with my jars. So there was no problem so we made a space for shelves and all my jars where I put all my things and I have to tell you it works like a dream.”
And what about the cabinets?
Rosemary commented that “handles would have looked too bitty”, so we pulled the whole kitchen scheme together with handleless cabinetry, to achieve a clean and fresh look. “I feel like I’m walking into my dreamland,”
The sink area
As a Chef Rosemary also requires a large hardwearing stainless steel sink for all of her larger pots and pans and a 3 in 1 hot tap for easy filling of her vases and instant hot water for cooking pasta. Again it was functionality and usability that led the design of the sink area.
As you would expect from a chef, Rosemary has a lot of chopping boards so, as pictured to the left, our designer included a specific section solely for storing all of her chopping boards and trays.
Rosemary designed her perfect kitchen with us to use for entertaining her friends, filming her new TV shows and for everyday living.
Why not get in touch to see how we can help you create an affordable, functional and stylish kitchen for your home. We will design, manage and install your kitchen project from start to finish, with you, for you, around you.