This kitchen in Uckfield, East Sussex, is in the Kitchen Design Hub showroom.  I usually try to avoid using showroom kitchens in case studies – I like photographing real people’s real kitchens – but on this occasion I made an exception. Unlike some showrooms where a jumble of different styles is crammed in, KDH has had the nerve to build an entire, believable kitchen at one end of the double fronted shop. The result has so many features that are worth a comment, and as it showcases one of our favourite and most on-trend stock materials, I just had to add the case study to the list. For a more general take on the visit to KDH in Uckfield, please see our blog.

The kitchen is a U-shape, formed by hob run, sink run and breakfast bar / peninsula. Starting on the left wall then, the powerhouse, five-burner hob is by Neff. The hob sits within a cupboarded in chimney-breast space, with extractor hidden in the units above. See our article on false mantels.

Further visual interest – and practical maximising of space around the hob – comes from the breakfront, with the quartz worktop coming forward some 70mm or so. This is all cut from a single piece of Fiji quartz, so there are no joins to form those tight internal corners – they are handcrafted from the stone.

The sink run is straightforward – a classic butler sink is serviced by a state of the art Quooker mixer tap, with boiling water option. You can clearly see in the close-up that the solid quartz worktop is the 20mm thick type – not so common on Shaker/traditional-style units, but you can see it looks absolutely fine.

The breakfast bar is formed on the outside of a typical broad peninsula, with medium/large-radius curves at the end. It is exactly how it would be fitted in a home, although here in the showroom it serves as a laptop workstation, facing the door to greet visitors.

The underside of the breakfast bar features a stick-on LED lighting strip, and is underpolished to a high shine.

The marriage of Classic Quartz Fiji worktops with a modern Shaker in a strong blue-green shade seems perfect to me. Love the chice of handles too.

The join between the peninsula and the sink run shows that worktop joins in a gently patterned quartz like Fiji needn’t scream for attention.

Classic Quartz Fiji has been a favourite stone for us over several years. We have featured it as a stock quartz worktop and it has appeared more than once in our monthly Special Offers. (It is on offer at the time of writing.) Slightly grey, slightly beige, well-patterned in just the kind of way that makes it incredibly user-friendly in a real kitchen. There is also that hint of sparkle – just enough to lift it; not enough to make it blingy. We have seen Classic Quartz Fiji teamed with kitchen units in a whole range of colours – it goes well with almost anything.