Back from Hacker and full of ideas!

The design team at Kitchen Design Centre have been enjoying some divine inspiration this month, checking out the latest designs from renowned kitchen design specialists, Hacker.

Going the extra mile when it comes to creating inspired kitchen designs is par for the course here at Kitchen Design Centre, which is why staff from each of our three showrooms jetted off to Rodinghausen in Germany for a creativity boost at Hacker’s annual Hausmesse.

Every year, Hacker opens its doors to its partners around the world, showcasing its latest design innovations in over 40 brand new displays – a kitchen designer’s dream!

Simon and Maxine, from our Colne kitchen showroom, joined Will from Blackburn, and Suzanne, Roger, Paul and John from Manchester on the whistle stop trip.

Armed with sketch-pads and cameras, the design team spent the day working their way through a maze of beautiful concept kitchens, ranging from the traditional rustic kitchen designs to the stark, minimalist collections. Suffice it to say that they came out the other side with some intriguing new ideas!

Simon Thomas, one of Kitchen Design Centre’s Colne-based designers, commented:

“Seeing how Hacker arrange all of their new product ranges is something that inspires us every year. With real, working kitchens, you’re restricted by space – and, of course, you have to go with something that people can live with.

“At Hacker’s Hausmesse, it’s like a fashion show. You’ve got 40 or 50 amazing kitchens laid out in every way you can imagine. By playing around with design here, you’ve got the perfect opportunity to bring something back that will work for our customers in a truly original way.

“We take elements from these designs – something physical, like innovative partition work or a creative way of arranging a cupboard, or something as small as a texture, material, colour or style. Our job then is to take a little piece of that design and use it to create kitchens that are really liveable but still cutting-edge in terms of design.”

Suzanne Carter, from our Manchester branch, added:

“It’s absolutely brilliant – you come back from Hausmesse with so many ideas. You might be in the middle of designing a kitchen, so you’ll see something that Hacker have designed and think ‘Yes, that’s just the perfect solution’.

“As designers, we’re visual people. I do take a sketch-pad with me but I’m very trigger happy with the camera! I take so many pictures – sometimes just of a tiny little bit of detailing – and then look them over once I’m back on my drawing board.

“It’s like when we discuss a kitchen with a new customer. When you start listing off the specifications, you can see that they can’t always follow what you’re imagining for them. One of the great things about Kitchen Design Centre is our high quality visual artwork – once you show the customer the images, they’ll get really excited and often say something like ‘Yes! That’s my kitchen!’

“It’s the same with us really – when you see 40 or more of Hacker’s amazing German concept kitchens arranged beautifully, you can’t help but be inspired.”

Now that our design team is safely back here in the UK, the work has only just begun. Over the coming months, we’ll be working hard to distil the amazing ideas we’ve collected at Hacker and transform them into unique, stylish and practical kitchens to tempt our customers. This is also the time that we start to refurbish our showrooms for 2014 with the new ideas fresh in our minds.

Why not head over to one of our Kitchen Design Centre showrooms – located in Blackburn, Colne and Manchester – to see what sparks of inspiration we’ve brought back. Our friendly designers are on hand to discuss your needs and help you discover what we could do for your home.