The classic lines of Nick Geard’s joinery, and the soft light from the basement roof-light, show off the gentle coolness of the Marbre Carrara marble-look quartz to perfection. Check out that hand-made plate rack!

Softly-veined, translucent and cool – Marbre Carrara echoes the look and feel of the stone it copies

A big stainless steel undermounted sink is supplied by a classically-styled twin-hole bridge tap, and a separate filter tap

The superb traditional joinery and classical styling does not stop the kitchen being thoroughly modern, with its oven tower, built-in dishwasher and the rest.

With patterned stones the joins can be very obvious, but with the more subtle mottling of Marbre Carrara and careful selection/blending of jointing compound, the joins look neat and do not draw attention

As well as completing all stone-stone joins, we also caulked behind the extra-height upstands. Photographing the kitchen, I was proud of the excellent job our fitters had done.

Behind the superb bespoke cabinetry is the latest in technology and convenience – here the Siemens dishwasher

Lovely bespoke larder units – handmade drawers topped with a Classic Quartz Marbre Carrara larder shelf.

The large Siemens gas hob has been flush-fitted. This is not our favourite approaching to fitting a hob, as the expansion gaps needed around the unit are not that attractive in our view, but if the customer opts for it, we do it…

The overall feel of the kitchen is both traditional and contemporary, with a sense of space and yet old-fashioned cosiness

It was a real pleasure to work with Nick Geard Furniture on this major kitchen refurbishment. Nick’s work covered far more than just the kitchen, with the dining room, drinks cupboards, radiator covers and other lower-floor furniture all being down to his craftsmanship. A superb job!