What input did you have in the design process?
I guess we’re not classic Webbs customers in terms of we came to you looking for you to come and design our kitchen, we were fortunate enough with the house we were buying, the developer had already selected Webbs. Having said that the layout of the kitchen was quite basic in my opinion, there was definitely lots of extras that we wanted to incorporate into it so it was great to have the opportunity to come and sit down with Ben and Erin in your offices, and have the big screen, and be able to interact and say yes we like that and look around the showroom and get ideas and in fact, it was great because it is fair to say we are not always a decisive couple, my wife is not decisive
I’m not decisive
So things like looking at colours, looking at how shelves might work or cupboards might work, just to have that interactive experience, to look at the plans was good, what do you think Jo?
Yes it was great, we got a cup of coffee as well
Well yes we did get a cup of coffee but that then made us go and buy a coffee machine so that was a good sales strategy and to be fair, going around the showroom, there were lots of great examples, like the plate warming drawers, I said I’ve got to have one of those, how often do I use it?
All the time. That’s your favourite – probably is one of my favourite things in the kitchen. And just some of the simple systems inside the cupboards in terms of the drawers, I just got some great ideas from talking to Ben and looking at what was in the showroom so I’d definitely recommend going to the showroom talking to the staff there and you can pick up ideas you haven’t had before.
How did you choose your appliances?
In terms of choice of appliances some had already been prescribed for the development for example the Bora hob, which I love because it’s got that downward fan which draws everything down which is highly effective and with the style of our kitchen it works really well. I really like the Neff range, I’ve had Neff appliances before I’ve been very impressed by their servicing and if they have gone wrong they are very quick to respond so that was key decision for me in terms of Neff, they have a good reputation and I’ve used them before, I know if things go wrong, getting an engineer out has been easy and they very responsive. And again, when walking around the showroom, some of the things we looked at like the coffee machine, that ticked all my boxes got a free sample when we were there, and as mentioned before the plate warming drawer
It was very much a case of Ben would say, well I’ve got this at home, and then you’d say well I want that in my home so
If it’s good enough for Ben, it’s good enough for me
I don’t think Ben really realised quite what he was doing but actually what he did was he upsold everything by Simon wanting everything Ben had if you like
In terms of the appliances, the developer had prescribed a split fridge freezer, I knew from experience that we needed a full length fridge with plenty of space and a freezer with plenty of space as well and the range of cupboards that they put behind was quite narrow and not suitable for that type of fridge freezer so it was great again to have that interactive sessions and plan it out to make sure it was going to work.
Were you around whilst the kitchen was being installed?
The kitchen was installed while we were living outside the property, whilst it was being developed, but we did call round quite frequently to keep an eye on the works.
Inevitably with any building project it wasn’t going quite at the speed I wanted and its fair to say that Webbs had the kitchen in their warehouse for a number of months before the developers were ready for them to come in.
Then you came in and I watched it being installed, I think from what I saw, and I wasn’t here all the time, the quality of the workmanship, attention to detail was first class and that part of the construction project looked good to me and to be on track. The quality of the work was pretty good so overall from what I saw, I was pretty pleased with the way it was approached and the way the work was completed.
what is your favourite part of the kitchen?
What’s your favourite part of the kitchen? I think we have different views on this, what do you think I like best
Yours is definitely the heating drawer because you use it every night, the heating drawer is amazing, you love that. For me it’s probably the island first because it is nice and big and I do like my baking but the other thing I do quite like is the height that the ovens are at, that works for me and I don’t think we’ve ever had that before?
No that’s one of the things from previous properties we realised, obviously as we go through different properties and have different kitchens you get to know what works and doesn’t work.
Well certainly having them at that level so you don’t bend down, it’s at the right height, you can just turn round to the island, I think the actual ergonomics of it work really well from my point of view. And just to walk around and move around the kitchen. A lot like Jo I do love the island as well, in fact I love the bar bit here, and the way it works, this open plan space is just fantastic.
Over Christmas and New Year we had a lot of family round, you can be busy here cooking but still engage in conversation, the kitchen has really become the heart of the home because it works so well in this space. The other thing I absolutely love when I come down to make my cup of tea in the morning is the Quooker tap, the hot boiling water
I’m with you on that, I don’t think I could boil a kettle now
I don’t even know where it is.
What made you choose Webbs for your study and bedrooms?
Looking at the work Webbs was doing on the kitchen, which they were contracted to do by the developer, I got chatting to the guys there and realised that they do a lot more than just kitchens, they do bedroom furniture and also for my office, I wanted to fit out my office and I had some ideas for that so it was really, if one person can do everything life is going to be easier and great if they can do it all before we move in, fantastic.
We’d been in the showroom, again we were looking at kitchens and you’d seen some of the wardrobes that were in there
Yes the lovely wood colour of the finish and the wood wardrobes that they had in there, I did ask Ben, can you get these and you know
And it went from there, and what was really helpful is the receptiveness to the design as I had clear ideas again, having lived in a number of houses and different bedroom configurations.
Storage, storage
Yes we need lots of storage, lots of hanging space for dresses or hanging space for shirts, to be fair, I probably use more of the wardrobe space. But just again it was that collaboration, working with us, having ideas, bouncing ideas off, getting feedback and just developing, until we had a great model on the computer which represented what came out at the end and it works really well.
So yes, just that whole one organisation to work with, one set of people to work with made life a lot easier.
how did webbs handle the snagging?
Inevitably, with any project there is always going to be something which doesn’t go quite to plan and sometimes there are issues with appliances etc and in this case I had a small issue with my warming drawer. The catch started to fail and I contacted the Webbs team, very quickly they were on to it, contacted the manufacturer, the engineer came out replaced it so a classic example.
One of the kick boards had got damaged in the process with the developer with the electricians coming and going, again the Webbs team came in, look at it and replaced it. It was a very quick delivery so of all the snagging I’ve had to deal with I can say that Webbs is at the number one position in terms of responsiveness and actually making good quickly, so I have no hesitation in terms of being confident if anything does go wrong Webbs will fix it.
Would you recommend Webbs kitchens?
So I guess the final question is would we recommend you to other customers and I think the question we talked about before would you recommend Webbs Kitchens and I’d say absolutely i’d recommend Webbs for kitchens, but a whole lot more, for bedrooms, my office, etc so most certainly; and think about how they might do other projects for you in other parts of the house, don’t just think of them as a kitchen supplier, I mean overall I’ve been very happy, Jo I think
Yes definitely, happy
That’s a thumbs up
Thumbs up from me too.
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Steve and Anne bought their first kitchen from us back in 1983, a kitchen which stood the test of time. Seeking something more modern, after a chance meeting with their neighbour they got in touch with us again to see if we would be able to replace it. Using the same plans from 1983, Ben created a modern take on the old design, the results of which Steve and Anne are delighted with.