In “Plain English,” This Kitchen Rules

From Margaret on September 10th, 2010 in Kitchen Remodel

A felicitous marriage of Martha Stewart and Jane Austen sensibilities, the UK company Plain English creates kitchens with pared-down sleekness and country charm.

In fact, the company’s creative designer, Katie Fontana, has exhaustively researched the fundamentals of Shaker furniture, and the company philosophy itself warns against “an overreliance on gadgets and plastic. We love drawers that run on old-fashioned wooden runners, and we try to avoid cupboards that do too much.” Keep it simple, they say.

The company, found in the four English cities of London, Suffold, Goucestershire, and now Marylebone, offers four simple choices of restrained kitchen systems. The Spitalfields Kitchen, shown above, was inspired by beautifully preserved buildings near the company’s Hoxton Swuare showroom. “The architectural and furniture styles of the 18th-century middle classes reached their apotheosis in the merchant houses of Spitalfields,” and these historic details play out perfectly today.

This kitchen style is characterized primarily by its cupboard facades that run to the floor, reinforcing the uncomplicated elegance that Plain English creates. Numerous door styles allow varying finished looks for an array of kitchens—from those in a modern loft to a country manor—all within the company’s consistent aesthetic class. In plain English: this company rules.

For a breathtaking panoramic tour of the Spitalfields kitchen, visit the website.