We’re chuffed to bits to be one of only three kitchen companies to have been included in the ‘Do Less Harm’ by Kate Watson-Smyth.

The Directory is about shining a light on companies in the interiors industry who are reducing their impact on the planet. The award-winning website & blog is a sourcebook we’d highly recommend for your home, brimming with inspiration to help you make your house your home.

Kate says, “My philosophy? Your home should tell your story. It should make your heart sing when you open the front door. I would sum it up like this: Something old, something new, something black, something gold. And always some natural wood.”

We agree, especially about including natural wood in your home. It’s warm, grounding & it’s been proven that being surrounded by wood and nature is good for our wellbeing, and moreover furniture made by craftsmen is built to last. When you commission something like a bespoke wood kitchen, it’s custom made to your design, so it brings your story into the hub of your home, and we find that creates an extra piece of magic.

In terms of the ‘Do Less Harm’ Directory it’s not about people or businesses being perfect, but trying to do things better. We agree that it is so helpful, to celebrate what people are doing to move in the right direction to being more sustainable. Doing more is really important to us & we have a few little projects to improve our sustainability and reduce our impact on our planet.

These are some of the reasons we’ve been included in the Do Less Harm Directory:

Tree Planting in the Surrey Hills

We’re planting a very special tree for every kitchen we make. We thought we’d plant Oak to replace the Oak we use in our bespoke worktops, but we were lucky to be connected by Surrey Hills Enterprises with fantastic Groundsman Gareth Hurd at our local nature reserve who is absolutely nuts about green spaces. He had the beautiful idea to take tree planting a bit further … The tree we decided to plant is Elm. Since Dutch Elm disease, Elm trees have been decimated & along with them the population of a rare butterfly called the White-Letter Hairstreak, who only breed and feed on Elms. So, we are planting a disease resistant Elm to try to create stepping stones between some separate butterfly populations, to help connect them so that they can flourish.

Off-cuts for bug homes

We are using our off-cuts to make bug homes. We made our first bug home for our local organic vineyard, Albury Vineyard, and invited some local school children to help fill it, to learn about the importance of bugs and re-using materials. It was so much fun, the kids soaked it all in, made themselves crowns out of sticky weed, searched for bugs to put in the bug home, rolled down the hill, and asked a gazillion very cool questions. We’ve got plenty more planned for 2020.

Local saw mills

We’re moving towards buying more timber from local saw mills - which has the added benefit that we can hand pick the woods which best suit each commission.

Blankets not plastic

Our cabinetry is wrapped in blankets when we transport it from our workshop to our client’s homes. Having delivered a kitchen, it is much more lovely to get back to the workshop with a van full of blankets than plastic.

Built to last

We’re passionate about cabinetry, about making things properly with love and care, drawing on our traditional training so that our furniture makes your heart sing when you walk into your kitchen. We offer truly tailor-made kitchens, our cabinet makers can design & make almost anything out of wood – so that our kitchens will be treasured & there will therefore be less waste.