We are currently offering a complimentary Miele G5260 SCVi Active Plus Dishwasher with a retail value of £999 as a gift with purchase when you order a new kitchen over £25,000 for a limited time only during our SALE. Here are the reasons why we recommend Miele integrated dishwashers:

When it comes to product testing, Miele certainly stands out as one of the most thorough, trusted and advanced premium appliance brands. Founded in Germany in 1899, the company focuses on making products that last the test of time and are renowned for their endurance. We feature the Miele G5260 SCVi Active Plus Dishwasher in the ELK by Searle & Taylor Grid display in our showroom and because this is a bespoke option, it is installed at an ergonomic height level so that you don’t have to bend down fully to open the door.

We recommend this highly energy efficient A+++ 60cm integrated model as we believe it offers the ideal features and benefits for many of our clients. It has two pull out baskets together with Miele’s space-efficient 3D MultiFlex cutlery tray for cutlery and utensils at the top of the machine.

The dishwasher uses as little as six litres of water per cycle and it has seven programmes including a 58-minute short programme for lightly soiled items, a Gentle programme for glasses and an Expert programme for intensive cleaning. It also benefits from AutoOpen drying: at the end of the programme the door of the dishwasher opens automatically and leaves a small gap. This allows fresh air to reach the crockery and even washed items like plastic dishes dry completely, while keeping kitchen worktops protected from moisture by special air ducts.

Every Miele appliance is designed to conserve energy and natural resources, including dishwashers which are tested to the equivalent of 20 years’ use, and are built using high grade, recyclable materials. Dishwashers are tested for the equivalent of 20 years’ use by running the 75ºC programme 7500 times, by opening and closing the door 100,000 times, and pulling the baskets in and out 100,000 times.

Thanks to Miele’s constant focus on sustainability, its dishwashers automatically adjust the amount of detergent and water required for every load, enabling a full cycle to use as little as 6 litres of water - that’s less than a sink. And with its versatile cutlery tray - standard on all Miele dishwashers - more space is available for larger items, helping to increase the number of dishes washed in each load. Miele’s dishwashers can also be safely connected to a hot water supply, reducing heating up time and energy use by up to 40%.

To organise a appointment with one of our expert designers please fill out the form below:

Pocket doors open into side recesses to reveal a stunning home office

One of our most recent projects has been to create a bespoke contemporary home office in our client’s family residence. Designed by Darren Taylor, this modern English Oak desk is wide enough for two people to sit at comfortably. It features a specially sourced 3.6 metre x 80cm single piece of solid oak for the desktop which has been treated with a natural lacquer. The oak drawers beneath all have dovetail drawer boxes with one shallow depth and two deep drawers for each section. Hand-painted in Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore Paints, the cup pull handles are all polished brass.

In 2021, we will be celebrating our 30^th anniversary.

Having always been based in Hampshire, Searle & Taylor is now the longest-established kitchen independent company in Winchester. With 30-years of trading we have the experience to design and deliver the very best fitted kitchen furniture in Hampshire. We completely understand our clients and their aspirations, and we have a fantastic design team that delivers every time. Our showroom is situated over two floors and there are many different displays to inspire you, all with fully working appliances that we can demonstrate the many advantages of having the very best in cooking.

We have an annual January SALE that begins on 4^th January and this is always when we provide the biggest discounts on our complete kitchen offer for the year. To celebrate our 30^th anniversary, we are also adding some extra goodies, so now is the perfect time to have your new kitchen designed and installed by us. Please do take a look at our website once the SALE starts on Monday 4^th January.

Over the past 30 years, we have designed and made countless kitchens for clients in Hampshire and beyond. We are very service-focused and we love what we do. Please take a look at our recently updated Testimonials page to see what our clients say about us.

Choosing the work surface for your new kitchen is one of the most important considerations, both in terms of its look and its functionality. At Searle & Taylor we have an array of different surface options to suit you, including quartz, granite and some of the most beautiful and unusual natural stones. We have teamed up with wholesale stone specialists, Cullifords, to find out about the latest in luxury surface trends. We showcase a natural granite worktop called Lemurian Blue on the circular island at the entrance to our showroom which we sourced from Cullifords, and we regularly work with them when we are seeking something unique and special for our clients. Once the stone slab is chosen, we organise for it to be fabricated to the correct dimensions for your layout and then it is finely polished to become a beautiful natural feature in your kitchen.

Create a modern aesthetic with Quartz

A versatile choice, ideal for application within the kitchen, Quartz has quickly become a staple in many modern homes. With its intricate linings and ripple detailing, Quartz is an affordable choice for homes looking for that luxurious look and feel without compromising on functionality.  Known for its durability, man-made Quartz is extremely hard as well as stain and scratch resistant making it a suitable choice for the kitchen worktop. Michaelangelo is one of the more popular choices at Cullifords, with its soft grey veining and timeless feel; the stone offers a truly distinctive look that is unique to any space. The elegant slab will add the perfect finishing touch to the most opulent of kitchen designs.

Opt for impactful wall-coverings together with your work surface

A kitchen surface doesn’t necessarily always mean a worktop. For characterful kitchens with large open-plan designs, surfaces can also be used to create eye-catching feature walls that impress guests whilst creating a visual statement. When selecting a stone surface, many homeowners are now opting for dark, imposing designs that complement on-trend black cabinetry. For example, Arabescato Orobico is a stunning polished marble, with a strong gothic feel. The Italian stone has earthy ripples of brown and red to contrast the more dominant grey. To reflect the emerging trend for pops of colour in the kitchen, we would recommend a slab like Marinace Verde. Characterised by falling boulders that appear to have frozen in time, the verdant green background would make an ideal choice for a striking feature wall. In addition worktops and splashbacks, more and more homeowners are experimenting with textured surfaces on their kitchen islands. The side that is typically exposed to guests is the perfect place to install a statement surface, that when contrasted with brass stools or industrial-style hardware, can create an inviting seating area with strong visual appeal.

Dark and Daring

The trend for dark and sultry interiors is one that has been around for a while, with the introduction of black brassware in bathrooms and monochrome design schemes in other rooms in the home, it was evident that the kitchen would soon follow suit and give in to the dark side. Ebony is the perfect stone for a home looking to recreate the matt black aesthetic. Originating from India, the tough and versatile stone would work well in a modern, minimalist space. For homeowners looking for a dark colour palette with added texture, we would suggest a stone like Cosmic Black. One of our most popular granites, the contrast of white swirls against the jet-black background has a confident and classy feel.

The return of blue to the kitchen space

Heritage colours have increased in popularity within the home.  Driven by social media trends, many homeowners are now looking for kitchens that incorporate the blue colourway in unique and innovative ways. Stone surfaces are the perfect way to introduce blue into the kitchen space. A granite like Lemurian Blue is a bold choice, with its prominent blue veining and flecks of black, blue, green and gold. Rich in labradorite – a mineral known to display lustrous colours – the blue ripples of Lemurian Blue will beautifully catch the light. This blog post is a collaboration between Searle & Taylor and fine quality man-made and natural stone specialists Cullifords.  

I made excellent use of my time alone in the showroom during lockdown, because the phones weren’t ringing as they normally do with enquiries for new kitchens. Knowing that these would eventually return one day, I spent time working on kitchens already sold and making sure everything was ready when we were back to normality and I did lots of jobs and housekeeping on the showroom.

However, this all changed on the 19^th May when we were firmly in lockdown. The enquiry came in via the ‘Contact Us’ page on my website. It literally said “We'd like to speak to someone ASAP about our new kitchen plans!”

I called back straight away and after an initial conversation with Greg, I sent over our client brief. This was returned along with a drawing that his wife, Vicki, had put together using an on-line design tool. I have to say that she did really well, and it enabled me, along with our detailed client brief, to come up with an initial design that I then priced up to give an indication of requested cost. This was sent over by email on the Friday. On the Saturday morning, I received a phone call from Greg asking if they could come and visit the showroom. I opened specially for them and we had the place to ourselves where I was able to demonstrate the Handmade Bespoke Shaker design and we looked through colours and finishes. To my delight, Greg and Vicki announced that they wanted to go ahead and to book them in ASAP. By the time I had returned home, the deposit had been paid. This became my first lockdown sale!

Now this wasn’t just a new kitchen, it was an entire refurbishment whereby we were commissioned to replace the floors, remove existing built in furniture and some walls and to provide a new plastered ceiling and replaster the remaining walls.

We also installed new LED ceiling lights, fully re-wired and re-plumbed the kitchen to facilitate the new design. We used our expert installations team headed up by Daniel Munt of DJM interior joinery and building specialist who project managed the entire team to keep everything running smoothly so that Vicki and Greg were not too long without a kitchen. The Aga chugged away throughout the process as this was the only part we left alone.

Now it has been fully decorated the space is a huge improvement – eat your heart out DIY SOS, this really is a truly awesome makeover!

Special thanks go out to our amazing clients Greg and Vicki who put all trust into me, Dan Munt and his crew including Scott the electrician, Alberto the plumber from Heat Hampshire and Dave the floor layer and the finishing touches by the superb father and son painting and decorating team, Gary and Adam.

BEFORE:

THE WORKS:

THE FINAL RESULT:

COCO - ONE SATISFIED CUSTOMER!

Last year, I was seeking lighting and accessories for my new first floor showroom so I paid a visit to the impressive Design Centre at Chelsea Harbour in London and it turned out to be a very successful mission. This year, I decided to return to visit Focus 2020, the annual trade show for interior designers held there during London Design Week.

It was a very well-organised event with lots of staff on-hand to help and advise, given the current situation. The Design Centre is vast, so social distancing was not an issue and in all communal spaces I wore a face covering, plus there were digital temperature monitors located in every pavilion and thankfully mine was normal throughout my visit.

With the sun shining in through the glass domes that cover the Design Centre, it was the perfect day to visit and there was a lot to see. However, my focus was on showrooms that design occasional furniture. At Searle & Taylor, we design and make built-in kitchens and bespoke furniture for other rooms so it is useful to be able to recommend bar stools, accessories and freestanding pieces from other companies to our clients. We can even source lighting and furniture for them, if required.

Here are links to some of the showrooms I visited at Focus 2020

Tollgard

A curation of stunning contemporary design with many Scandinavian pieces

Showrooms

Ceccotti Collezione

Stunning and creatively designed furniture for living and sleeping spaces

Ceccotti Collezioni

Davidson

Luxury tables and furniture with a speciality in stunning coloured lacquer finishes

DAVIDSON London

Original BTC

Fantastic British handmade lighting that can also be seen at the Searle & Taylor showroom in Winchester

https://www.originalbtc.com/

Because Searle & Taylor is an independent kitchen design company, we only partner with and recommend kitchen appliance brands that we regard as the best within their price range. A couple of years ago when Novy, the luxury Belgian induction and extraction brand became available in the UK for the first time, we were one of the first kitchen retailers to display their extraction appliances. A household name in Northern Europe, Novy is renowned for making the highest quality ultra-quiet cooker hoods together with unique and innovative induction hobs and we now feature four Novy products in our showroom. Our most recent addition is the Red Dot-awarded Novy Panorama 88cm Vented Downdraft Induction Hob, a fantastic dual-purpose combination appliance that saves space in the kitchen.

What we like about the Panorama is the fact that the ventilation tower is completely concealed within the hob’s surface until it is required. Whether manually activated using touch controls on the hob, or using the new Novy app, the tower rises up to 30cm to extract grease and cooking odours at source – directly behind the pans, and it can be at different height levels so negligible energy is wasted in the process. It is super-quiet even in recirculation mode and the induction hob itself has amazing cooking features including a bridge function for larger pans and a nifty grill function so you can grill on the hob using an additional griddle pan, making surface cooking very flexible and easy to see.

What we also like about it is that, unlike other vented hobs with a central static vent in the hob itself, the Panorama’s surface isn’t interrupted, so you can easily move pans across it, plus it is intuitive so it will remember the settings when you do. Also, the motor is cleverly designed and takes up very little space as it fits against the back of the unit beneath so that you can still have up to 40cm of drawer depth under the hob.

To find out more please go to our contact page or please book an appointment at our showroom so that we can demonstrate the innovative Novy Panorama to you.

I have actually been busier than ever since getting over the initial shock of having to close my showroom due to the Covid19 health emergency. We closed the doors on Monday 23^rd March after the announcement that evening by our PM, Boris and since then I have abided by the Government’s sensible approach of staying inside and social distancing when out and about.

This situation has made me think differently about my business and rather than fighting something that I really can’t do a lot about, I have instead decided to put this unprecedented downtime to good use.

I firstly needed to manage the expectations of our clients who were part-way through our installation process. They have all been hugely supportive and understanding of a situation that is out of all of our hands and, of course, they will be my first priority as soon as we are allowed back.

Since then, I have been working very hard every day installing a new display in my shop window. Thankfully I was able to take delivery of the new cabinetry and appliances just before shut-down following a major alteration of my ground floor showroom. We had recently  removed part of an internal wall to knock-through a new doorway to access my new first-floor showroom. This features two large stunning kitchen displays by ELK – Extreme Logic Kitchens and a future blog regarding this amazing Hampshire-based artisan brand will be coming soon.

I tend to perform all my own remedials, repairs and occasional installation work to support my past client’s kitchens as part of our after-sales service so consequently, I am fully ‘tooled up’.  After nearly 30 years in the business I also have the skill-set to fit my own kitchens and  I really, really enjoy it.

Being able to spend time alone with very little interruption, I have managed to single-handedly install what is a vast and heavy kitchen display together with most appliances. This furniture is part of an even larger overall display at the entrance of my showroom with tall bespoke cabinetry on either side of the doorway and a circular island in the centre. Each morning I have driven to work and parked opposite my showroom in the Hotel Du Vin car park, nipped across the road, opened up and then locked the door behind me in order to work safely alone whittling and fitting the new furniture.

When I finished building it and doing all I could, I then trusted my painter with a key and left him alone to hand-paint the complete display. This has changed from pale blue to Duck Green, a rich dark and sophisticated colour that Gavin, my design manager of 17 years spotted in Farrow & Ball in Winchester. He was spot on, and I am really pleased with it.

I just now need to wait for a delivery from blacksmith, Ged Kennett who is still managing to hand-make bespoke handles as he works on his own and will post them very soon. I am also going to install a highly fashionable and stunning quartz worktop and splashback by Radianz called Denali Cloud, which is off-white with a slight grey vein – a really popular look for kitchen worktops right now.

I have also installed a bank of new Miele Generation 7000 cooking appliances including the German brand’s fantastic combination steam oven above a single oven, which is housed above a large gourmet warming drawer; an excellent combination.

As soon as the new worktop is fitted, I can then install the appliance that I am most excited about: the new, award-winning Panorama Vented Downdraft Induction Hob by Belgian brand Novy. This is a powerful and quiet all in one appliance that incorporates the extraction tower within the hob itself that rises from the surface when cooking begins and disappears back into the surface when cooking has ended. I will be setting this to demo mode so that the glass tower will be continually going up and down for all passerby’s to admire.

I can’t wait to be open again and show the people of Winchester my handywork.

Until then, stay safe.