Charlie Borthwick

The story: Cue & Co of London is a design and interiors company with a showroom and joinery workshop in Parsons Green. Charlie Borthwick is the founder of Cue Group. Originally from Australia, he relocated to the UK over ten years ago.

All Cue & Co of London kitchen cabinetry, lighting and furniture are handcrafted by skilled craftsman at its workshop in Parsons Green, London. Each piece is tailored to individual specifications with kitchens starting at £35,000.

The designer: Charlie Borthwick from Cue & Co of London (www.cueandco.com)

Designer Q&A:

Q) What was your brief from the client?

Although the actual area was a decent size it needed to fulfil different criteria and therefore the client wanted to unite the different uses of kitchen, dining, laundry, storage, wine storage and seating within the design. She was keen to make it feel as spacious as possible with the kitchen as the central and most important element to the space and the area where her family could socialise together. She also wanted the scheme to feel energetic and characterful.

Q) How did you set about answering that brief?

In order to successfully answer the brief we felt the design needed to be as seamless as possible with each section blending into the next. We achieved this through the use of one neutral colour and by using our Ladbroke kitchen design range. It’s a handleless design and visually there is very little interrupting the flow of the space. It’s also spray-painted, which creates a very sleek and modern looking finish. It was really through the client’s accessories that the sense of fun was injected.

Q) Which products did you use and why?

The cabinetry was very much designed as the backdrop for some of the other features to stand out against. The worktop for instance is polished concrete, the splashback is polished plaster, the wide oak floorboards are picked up again in the open bookshelves and the scheme is punctuated with accents of red in the accessories. All of this creates a visually interesting scheme.

Q) Was there any building/renovation work involved?

There was no significant building or renovation work except relocating a boiler and obviously the painting and decorating. The lighting was also re-addressed to be specific to the new function of the room and broken into various circuits to create both good task light and also atmospheric light for the evenings.

Q) What elements do you think make the scheme so successful?

The layout of the kitchen works very well ergonomically. The island with the breakfast bar is the central feature and bridges the gap between the dining table and the cooking area, allowing the family to gather around. The continuous run of cabinetry spanning the whole of one wall is not only an elegant solution but a practical one as well. There is a fantastic double larder concealed behind two doors and behind another pair the tumble dryer and washing machine are stacked on top of one another. Even the wine storage is smartly incorporated into the design and is built around the fridge-freezer.

Q) Any advice for someone who may be planning a new kitchen?

Designing a kitchen requires a huge amount of planning and it is very much a collaborative process between the designer and the client. It is as important for the designer to understand how the client needs to use the space as for the client to take the designer’s advice and expertise in translating this into a practical and attractive scheme. Aesthetics often are the starting point for many clients but it is important to remember this is just the dressing and that if the function is meticulously planned, the form can be easily applied. So although it is vitally important to have a good concept of the style you want to go for, getting the building blocks in the right place first is the best starting point and all the enjoyable parts of choosing colours and tiles etc should follow after.

The details:

Ladbroke cabinetry painted in Cornforth White by Farrow & Ball with a spray-painted satin finish; splashback, worktops and engineered oak flooring, all from Cue & Co of London, www.cueandco.com

Sink by Blanco, www.blanco.co.uk

Tap by Perrin & Rowe, www.perrinandrowe.co.uk

Appliances by Neff, www.neff.co.uk

Hayley loves: the rawness of the polished plaster splashbacks and concrete worktops.