Starting Up with Rosa Hinton @ K is for kitchen, Watlington

It’s been quite a journey, but we’ve finally opened our lovely kitchen shop in Watlington.

And it’s no ordinary kitchen shop. Selling cookware, things to eat and offering kitchen design, it all took the organisation of a military manoeuvre. Not to mention the sheer slog of a hands-on refurb and shop fit! We thought we’d break it down for you: n Six weeks – from getting the keys to opening our shop doors to the public: it was a bigger than could be imagined task – and we ran over by a week n Four days – probably more – is what it took to fill cracks, pull up carpet tiles and then the endless sanding of objects, shelves and goodness knows what else, ready for painting n 20 buckets – is how much paint we used for said painting – we’re a dab hand with a paintbrush now and our shop is a white haven.

* 32 degrees – was the temperature in the shop as the sun streamed in our very big windows. What a relief when our plantation fan went up on the ceiling and started to turn.

* One team from Cambridge - fitted our mighty beautiful Tomas Kitchen, all made of solid oak and finished in our favourite Waterwheel Blue.

* 150 emails – filled a dedicated mail box for the negotiations between our friendly barrister and the landlord’s solicitors to secure the lease.

* 35m2 of flooring – we chose an American Oak style that set off the white paint to perfection.

* 25 trips to the tip – the old fixtures and fittings all had to be recycled and disposed of.

* 50 packets of scourers – those round metal pot scourers took over from the sandpaper as we scrubbed, cleaned and polished.

* 40 hours – spent searching for the best suppliers to make sure we were stocked with the most gorgeous and well-designed products.

* 150 boxes – to unpack before opening day. Shelves, drawers and cupboards were filled to the brim with everything kitchen – from KitchenAid mixers in Bake Off colours to classic wooden spoons and cookie cutters.

* Two huge chest freezers – hauled into our shop and filled with delicious COOK ready meals.

* 30 COOK meals – devoured by us in the first week or so when we had no time to cook!

* 100s of decisions to make – from which designs on our Swedish dishcloths to the tastiest flavours for our Italian ice cream and sorbet selection.

* 10 hours – is what it took to work out how to use our till and make sure the drawer opened every time.

* Five hours – spent in awkward angles putting up our first shop window displays – trust us, it’s no easy feat.

* One traditional signwriter to paint our shop front – with hours to go, the colours of the logo were the wrong way round, but he was back at 5am to get it corrected before opening time

* 100 iced coffees in mini espresso glasses – all handmade and served with chocolate cake for treats on opening day

So now we’re open, we get to the fun bit of meeting all our great customers! We’re so pleased with the results and our customers seem to love it too. We have a unique style and now have pretty much everything you could need for your kitchen – even the kitchen sink! Why not come and see for yourself? We’re on the corner of Watlington High Street – you can’t miss our bright white paint!

TRY IT
K is for kitchen, 2 High Street, Watlington, Oxfordshire OX49 5PS
01491 598580

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