Four years ago Miriam Peters, owner of the Dun Laoghaire interior store Crate & Barrel, left a fabric trade fair in Chelsea and, unable to get a taxi, began to walk. Suddenly she found her nose pressed against the window of a furniture shop displaying kitchen interiors.
"I had never seen anything like it, and knew there was nothing like it in Ireland," she says. The kitchens in question were designed and made by the British furniture firm, Chalon. It proved to be the first of many trips she made to Chalon in Somerset, culminating in her bringing Chalon furniture to Ireland. She first tested the market here by installing a show kitchen in a section of her Dun Laoghaire shop. The interest convinced her that Irish people were ready to invest the kind of sums in their kitchen unheard of even a decade ago. Last month Miriam Peters and Nigel Bray opened Chalon in Blackrock, Co Dublin. The kitchen furniture displayed is distinctive mainly because it is hand-crafted by cabinet makers. The core components, such as the work table, the housekeeper's cabinet and the sink dresser base are inspired by the large manor house kitchens to be found in 18th and 19th century Britain and Ireland. "This is bespoke furniture used for food preparation," says Nigel Bray. "It will be made to order in the colour, finish, size, and with the features you want." He worked with Chalon in London for four years and came to Ireland to oversee the project here. He has now made Ireland his home.
Chalon (whose range includes diningroom, drawingroom and bedroom furniture) evolved from antique furniture renovation, and its furniture evokes the solidity and durability of an earlier time. Unlike many modern kitchens composed of standard modular fitted units, each Chalon piece is free-standing. "You can take this kitchen with you if you move" says Miriam. "This is truly a kitchen for life."
Units are made in Canadian pine and customers can choose from a wood or painted finish, and from two traditional styles. Chelsea is the more ornate; Hambridge is a plainer, Shakerstyle look. Paint colours are drawn from a palette ranging from mellow pastels, ochre yellows and creams through to strong Mediterranean hues such as terracotta, purple and juniper green. Combining colours and mixing wood with painted finish works well. Another trademark is the distressed look which recreates the ageing effect on wood and paint - achieved, says Nigel, by eight different secret processes. The worktable with overhead hooked hanging rack is sufficiently striking to be the focal point of the kitchen; it comes in various sizes, and can integrate ovens, hobs, sinks as well as drawers.
The housekeeper's cupboard has pullout or standard drawers, as well as accommodating integrated appliances such as fridge freezers and microwave units. The sink/dresser base can integrate modern appliances behind its traditional door and drawer facade, and the wall cupboards offer features such as a plate rack, open shelving, cupboards or glazed display sections. The counter tops may be in maple, teak or choice of stone finishes.
Other furniture in the range includes a food storage cabinet, with the option of a cold slate shelf for fresh food storage, corner units, straight or bay-shaped buffet storage bases for either side of a cooker, and an American fridge housing unit. An item which looks like a traditional corn bin in aged wood is in fact a rubbish bin, and costs £750.
A Chalon kitchen starts at £20,000 for a semi-fitted design suitable for a smaller apartment. A version of this layout is on show on Blackrock's lower ground floor. A full free-standing kitchen costs from £30,000 excluding appliances. The two ground-floor kitchens in the Blackrock shop cost around £40,000 each, without appliances, and depending on design brief and special requirements. The prices of individual items are on a par with fine bespoke or antique furniture. Work tables cost from £4,000, a large two-door housekeeper's cupboard costs £6,500, and a 120-bottle wine rack costs £2,550. "Some people who say it's a lot to pay for a kitchen don't blink at paying £7,000 for a bureau for their drawingroom["] says Miriam Peters. "This is beautiful, functional, durable furniture in the kitchen. When I'm talking to couples, I find the non-cook is the one that needs convincing . . . Because this is free-standing furniture, pieces can be sold individually. Our kitchens can be created over a period, buying a piece now and a piece later and building up as you go along.
"A lot of our customers are young people buying old houses and taking their time restoring them."
Chalon is at 36 Main Street, Blackrock, Co Dublin, telephone 01-2835525.
