Kitchen Q&A: with Harriet Scanlan

‘All good things come to those who wait’. for Harriet Scanlan and her family who live in East Molesey, this has definitely been the case. We wanted to understand the driving forces behind Harriets fantastic design decisions, which included our Radianz Lucern Lake Quartz for worktops and Noord White flooring tiles, both indoors and out. Also how she chose the talented tradespeople that bought this wonderful kitchen together.

Photography by @panayispictures

Q: Could you start by telling us a bit about your recent home project, what drove you to redesign your kitchen/dining space, and what you were trying to achieve with the reconfiguration and refurbishment.

A: It has been in the making for almost 10 years.  We wanted to do the loft extension and the two bathroom refurbishments first.  The kitchen was the last project to do, save the best until last! I wanted a more social area,  before with the separate dining area, it became a dumping ground for post and things. When we had guests, I felt isolated in the kitchen whilst they all sat down. Now I can cook and stay social!

Q: We love your new kitchen space, did you design, choose and source everything for yourself or did you involve an interior/kitchen designer?

A: No, this was a real labour of love, like I say, we spent years planning it.  I really wanted to be bold with the brass and dark green. James (Harriets husband) was not convinced, but I steam filleted him into it, he agrees it looks fab. 

Q: If so, what were the most important things that you considered when choosing a designer and tradespeople to work with? (Recommendation, style, price, personality etc)

A: It was all in house, so to speak, we even installed it ourselves as we have a property service company called Procision Ltd. www.facebook.com/ProcisionLtd/

Q: How important do you consider interior trends to be when you are deciding on products or themes for your home, where do you find your influences? 

A: Instagram and Pinterest were huge influences on the finished project.  I try and keep some some personal flare injected into the project, as I feel some trends fade as quickly as they appear! I was a huge Buster & Punch fan, so I knew we’d head to them for the kitchen hardware. www.busterandpunch.com

Q: When you were deciding on materials, surfaces and finishes for your kitchen what were the key factors that swayed your decisions. (Aesthetic, quality, price, practicality, reviews, brand name etc)?

A: I’m not the most practical person, so it was all about the look for me!

Q: Your renovation happened during a pandemic; how did this affect your project?

A: We were quite lucky.  The only issue we had was the appliances, but Fisher & Paykel did there best to get the appliances to us as quickly as they could. www.fisherpaykel.com

Q: We supplied the stone for your countertops and the tiles for your floor, indoors and out, how and why did you arrive at these surface choices?

A: I wanted to go for an industrial look, so I steered towards concrete style porcelain tiles. With the worktop, I went for Radianz Lucern Lake Quartz as I wanted some faint marble effect detail.  I love some of the more dramatic stones you have, but with the dark green kitchen and huge brass handles I felt there was enough going on!

Q: Now that you have lived with your new kitchen for several months, is there anything that you would change about the design decisions that you made? 

A: I would have gone darker with the floor and grout, simply as with two kids and two dogs, you need to disguise the dirt more!

Q: How have the changes you made effected the way you and your family live?

A: It has 100% brought us together more. I even make more of an effort to lay the table every night.  It really has become the hub of the house. 

We would like to thank Harriet for answering our Q&A, and also for choosing Cullifords to supply her kitchen surfaces and flooring for indoors and out. For more information about home surfaces and flooring tiles then please contact our friendly experts for advice.