Reigate-based kitchens and interiors specialist Nathan Kingsbury places the client at the centre of his approach, producing designs that are truly personal to them – Tim Wallace hears more.
Q: Tell us about your design philosophy
A: We do a lot of patinated metal work, particularly brass, but I don’t tend to focus on trends. I focus on what’s interesting to me about the house, the room or the client. I work closely with them from concept to completion and beyond. For the last project I just put together lots of materials and fabric but we didn’t look at any pictures of kitchens or interiors. That would lead things to become more prescriptive. Instead, I often ask about people’s favourite piece of art, or what they have in their house. You see what connects with them and wind it into the design.
Q: So the end goal is to produce something unique?
A: Yes, the clients don’t always give me a lot of direction but on one occasion they mentioned they quite liked the rock formations in Dawlish, down in Devon. I looked at some photos of the way it appeared from the side with lots of horizontal lines. So I started sketching them, then introducing fabrics and materials they liked, then colours. I was just messing around with chalk and pencil; it’s all quite free flowing until something drops into my mind that fits. Then I put it all together.
Q: So it’s a different approach to most showrooms?
A: Yes, in the end something kind of happens and it’s always unexpected, which is why I quite like it. It’s not like them showing me a picture of a kitchen they like and me creating it. If you do that you come up with something that’s already been done. Clients want inspiration. By working together with the client you can do something more interesting that they haven’t even thought of. Not every project is like that though; some people want something more traditional or maybe Art Deco, but that’s also really exciting.
Q: What’s your background?
A: I studied furniture design at university and had a really good teacher. Some of the things he taught me are still central to my design process. I worked closely with a wonderful carpenter for many years before setting up on my own, so I’m also quite heavily involved in the installation side. That gives me a solid connection with clients, which is part of our appeal. People are parting with lots of money and our offering pushes them into the frame of mind to go ahead.
Q: Tell us more about the business
A: My wife, Amber, and I run the business; she’s currently redesigning the website. We have a small installation team including specialists in tiling, electrics and decorating. It can be challenging when you’re working with your wife and you’ve got a new baby. The lines between work and play get blurred, but they’ve been the driving force to help me think about things differently.
Q: What materials do you most like working with?
A: I’ve just found some reclaimed oak flooring from Domus called Docks Herringbone. Oddly enough I started with a material this time but it’s not being used on the floor, it’s being laid in flat planks on an island unit. I really like brass and patination.
I also like using glass and I’m thinking about more traditional elements like glazing bars on doors. Also, if you look at the Clapham kitchen on the front page of the website with the wild island unit, I renovated the staircase, exchanged all the spindles for glass and painted the handrail in a punchy high gloss colour. Then we used silver leaf on the mule post. All the original features are there but it’s unique to them.
Q: Do you charge for your designs?
A: Yes, because my design process and designs are completely unique each time. However, the design fee gets deducted from the kitchen or furniture price when client goes to the next stage.
Q: What’s your average order value?
A: It’s hard to say. For the kitchen part alone, a smaller kitchen may be £80,000 but can go up to £120,000. With the entire refurb – utility room, new floors and lighting – it may be £200,000. Our prices reflect the uniqueness, level of involvement and the service.
Q: What have been some of your most memorable projects?
A: We did a very high-end project in Provence during Covid. Part of that has been shortlisted for 2 awards. It was so complicated and challenging. The plan to take a small team wasn’t possible due to the Covid restrictions so my wife and I went together and stayed for 3 months instead of a few weeks, with one installer flying over for a brief period. The experience was wonderful and the furniture is beautiful.
Q: Any expansion plans?
A: My designs could often be a piece of art, a sculpture, rather than a piece of furniture, so I’ve wondered about having art for sale on our website. Of course we’d like to be doing more projects, but I wouldn’t let go of the design aspect and the level of involvement in the whole process. I’d like to have more installers on site and outsource things we could pay someone else to do like the admin. It would create more time without removing the joy as we really love what we do.
