Richard's Heart of Oak in Kbb Review

Richard Edmondson is passionate about furniture making and decided to exploit a growing market for kitchens when he set up Edmondson Interiors in the heart of Kent more than 20 years ago. Everything is made in house to suit the clients needs.

Kent is often described as the garden of England. And for good reason. Once I had left behind the picturesque village of Goudhurst, with it’s tea shops, antiques emporiums and duck pond, it was open fields as far as the eye could see.

Without the strategically places signs signs flagging up the presence of Edmondson Interiors, I might never have found the 12,000 square ft unit on the local farm where this thriving kitchens and interiors business is keeping alive the art of fine cabinetmaking.

Chairman and founder Richard Edmondson greets me with a smile and tells me that a fresh cafetiere of coffee has been brewed, he does not need to ask me twice.

Unassuming as it’s corrugated metal exterior is inside tells a different story. One-off handmade benches, a wooden staircase and a cross-section of a tree that has been lacquered and polishes to make a beautiful piece of abstract artwork, hint at Edmondson interiors cabinetmaking heritage.

I am there partly to talk about the recent showroom refit. The previous weekend’s Opening Event debuted a new line of furniture called Egeiro. Edmondson tells me that the event was a great success with more than 50 customers attending and sampling canopes from Jackson & Gilmour and champagne from local producer Gusbourne.

Egeiro’s solid oak design has a strongly contemporary feel and some interesting touches, such as the raised door panels ( egeiro mean’s rasied in Greek) . It is a contemporary kitchen using solid oak. We don’t think there is anybody else successfully making a contemporary kitchen in solid oak- most tend to use high-gloss laquer or veneer” Edmondson enthuses.

People like the warmth in the wood and there is strength in it you miss a little bit with a veneered product. And a client can vary the choice of materials . It could be black American walnut with a silver inlay, or ash and a painted surround, with different handles.

The showroom was also refitted, he tells me, with porcelain floors by Domus. “You can’t beat porcelain” says Edmondson. We do stone floors too, and have just finished an oak floor.

Before setting up Edmondson interiors in 1994, Edmondson had come to Kent looking for a job making furniture and started with a company in nearby Cranbrook. he then went self-employed and, seeing a growing demand for kitchens, set up Bespoke Kitchens and Interiors, now Edmondson Interiors.

“It has just kept growing” he tells me. I have always enjoyed seeing peoples homes and how they change. We started in smaller premises on a farm in Northiam – just 3 of us and then moved here.

Now I am happy with the size, and it is more a question of honing it in the furniture. We have always had a workshop here, but we started without a showroom – but that was a later addition, and we also added bigger machines.

What started with 3 has grown to 25 members of staff, with 12 of those in the company’s workshop. There are three designers, tow fitters and two decorators.

Edmondson says the cabinetmaking is very much the heart of the business. The plan always was to make everything in house. If anything we have become more bespoke and we are geared to tailor-make for the client, whether contemporary or traditional. That’s been the driving force for us.

We make the whole thing. Carcasses too. We will also make pieces of furniture to the clients specifications, one off tables etc.