A new collaboration between Plain English and Christopher Howe saw the launch last month of an exclusive new Plain English kitchen, designed by Katie Fontana especially for the Howe London Pimlico Road showroom and featuring customised pieces that have never been made before.
The bespoke dresser, chosen by Christopher to house his collection of Royal Staffordshire tableware, is reminiscent of the colossal examples in kitchens at Petworth House and Castle Drogo. Katie and Christopher have together sourced a mixture of reclaimed knobs, pull and drop handles for the ironmongery and salvaged a piece of pitched pine for the long worktop. The blackened steel shelf above the range cooker makes a particularly striking feature.
“The idea of the kitchen collaboration with Plain English came about from living with a dismal excuse for a kitchen with an ever growing number of staff and really wanting to encourage them to eat great food. When thinking of how the kitchen could be redesigned, it seemed to creep further and further into the showroom, until the penny dropped. It had to be the whole of the space downstairs and be totally integrated. We were already working with Plain English within our interior
projects and felt their design ethos and dedication to craftsmanship was so much in keeping with our approach.” Christopher Howe, Howe London
See the new kitchen at Howe London, 93 Pimlico Rd, London SW1W 8PH
Plain English was established in 1992, first setting up shop in an old tannery and then later in a rather grand Georgian farmhouse deep in the Suffolk countryside. It’s where they still make all their cupboards and kitchens today.
Marylebone Showroom: 28 Blandford Street, London W1U 4BZ
Tel: 00 44 (0) 20 7486 2674
Suffolk Showroom: Stowupland Hall, Stowupland, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 4BE
Tel: 00 44 (0)01449 774028