Here’s a few shots from Beautiful Kitchens magazine who’ve just featured a 5 page spread on one of our kitchens.
Let us know what you think – we’d love to hear from you.
We’re in Beautiful Kitchens magazine
May 18th, 2011
Our first ad
April 19th, 2011
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Here’s a sneaky peak of our first ad which is about to appear in a magazine near you soon. Designed by the talented guys at kayak, we’re really happy with the way it looks and can’t wait to see it in print.
Tell us what you think, we’d love to hear from you.
Morag’s bathroom
February 1st, 2011Morag asked us to help out with the redesign of her rather dated bathroom. Her house is a lovely detached property in Glasgow’s west end.
We worked closely with Morag to develop a design and look she wanted. It’s in keeping with the modern/classic feel of the rest of the house, we chose white walls, slate tiles with a couple of key or unusual pieces. We used some lovely wall hooks from james and some reclaimed timber from a secret supplier. We had a Douglas Gordon artwork framed – it now looks amazing – made sure the bath was luxurious and deep, just the thing to relax in after a hard day at work (or school).
Here’s a selection of shots during the build and of the finished bathroom.
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Stage One – Downtakings
A before shot of the bathroom and one of Des ripping out the old suite.
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Stage Two – First fix
Installation of new plumbing, lighting, timber frame for sink and wc. Plasterboard ceiling.
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Stage Three – Plasterwork
Finish plaster-boarding bulkheads. Plasterer prepares walls and applies specialist plaster bonding agent to walls. Skim coat plaster to walls and ceiling. Plywood sheets nailed to floor and pva applied before tiling.
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Stage Four – Tiling and timber
Tile floor, fit bath, hang radiator. Fix reclaimed timber to bulkhead.
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Stage Five – Painting, snagging and cleaning
Paint walls and varnish timber bulkhead. Hang mirror, artwork, sink, wall hook. Finish snagging and thoroughly clean tiles and bathroom. Make sure client is 100% happy with our work.
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The finished bathroom
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Here’s what Morag had to say - “I am absolutely delighted with my gorgeous new bathroom. Working with nest was a joy from start to finish – I had a vague idea of what I wanted but with their design input and fantastic ideas I now have a bathroom that has exceeded all of my expectations. It’s so good, I’ve now asked them to transform my utility room.“
And here’s a wee film of the build -
Let us know what you think, we’d love to hear from you.
Helen’s kitchen makeover
December 23rd, 2010A friend of ours Helen, asked us to help out with her kitchen soon after she bought her flat. The original kitchen was badly designed with little or no storage space and cheap units and appliances. Helen’s a keen cook and excellent cake maker so she wanted a kitchen that would not only look great but be practical and great for entertaining. Helen chose the kitchen units, tiles and flooring and the result is a bold design statement.
Here’s a selection of before and after shots of the kitchen.
Here’s what Helen had to say - “I’m very happy with my new kitchen – it’s a joy to work in and a huge improvement. nest gave useful advice on layout and worked flexibly within my requirements to produce an interior that suited me. Workers were professional, friendly and finished the job with great attention to detail.”
Let us know what you think, we’d love to hear from you.
London Design Festival – Our Lowdown
October 20th, 2010Arriving in London for the International London Design Festival is a bit daunting. With literally thousands of exhibitors and hundreds of shows spread across the length an breadth of the city, it can be difficult to know where to start and end for that matter.
After an intensive weekend of non stop exhibitions, tours and parties, here’s my round up of what’s hot in the world of furniture, lighting and interiors -
Loads of references to mid century modern design, it appears everyone is giving it a nod this year. There are angled table and chair legs and fluted arms with grey fabrics and fibre glass and teak inspired chairs.
Its great to see so much sculpture within the shows. There are precision made tables in Corian – the contemporary designers material of choice, and wonderful paper sculptural wallpapers and origami. Work that reminds me of Donald Judd and Dan Flavin and clever clocks that revolve around a laser cut city scene.
There are playful pieces which question their own function and in doing so redefine our notion of what furniture is. Unfortunately much of this work is still at prototype phase and may never see production, however, placed in shows such as 100% Design, it provides a great platform for the next generation of designers to showcase their work.
Unusual wall coverings were prevalent, whether felt, padded, metallic or paper, 3 dimensional surfaces are definitely in vogue. This is of particular interest to me given my range of 3D ceramic tiles, its great to see so much variety starting to enter the market.
I’ve included a few shots of lighting that stood out, mainly by Tom Dixon and Moooi. It was great to have a personal tour of the amazing new Moooi showroom and Tom Dixon’s fantastic superstore, both set in beautiful buildings. I also enjoyed the tour of the Established & Sons stunning showroom/office/ gallery space.
Interesting to see that single speeds also made it into the show – whether it was Tom Dixon’s fluorescent number or the wooden handle-bared effort at 100%. Nice to see that a crash helmet had also been given the midas touch – copper plated no less! There was black loo roll on one of the stands – now there’s an idea….
Theme wise there was also a large amount of nature inspired work, tables with trees growing out of them, wooden lights, twig stools, contemporary antler coat hooks and birds nests. And also the ubiquitous nod to all things Scandinavian, clean lined and blonde wooded.
So hopefully this gives you a brief overview of what to expect at The London Design Festival. Definitely worth the trip and a great cultural barometer of all things design and furniture based. Until next year……..
Let us know what you think, we’d love to hear from you.
West Highland Way on a mountain bike with one brake
October 12th, 2010I always fancied riding The West Highland Way. In July I managed to convince my friend Kevan it would be a good idea, at the beginning of October we did it. Here’s our story;
Day One – Milngavie to Inverarnan 40 miles 11 hours with stops
Left Milngavie at 10am and set off full of energy and enthusiasm about the trip ahead. We soon left the familiarity of Mugdock and descended quickly into Dumgoyne along some lovely tight singletrack, passing the many walkers, the sun beat down on us and the blue skies opened up, the hills increased in size, was this a taste of things to come?
After a quick refuel in Drymen we set off towards Balmaha, I had a niggling feeling my back brake was a bit dodgy. Leaving the Garadhban Forrest we were soon out in the open heading towards Conic Hill and the heavens opened, wet and grinning, we pushed to the top. After a quick check of my bike I realised my back brake was knackered – the piston had snapped off – just what I needed. This made the descent of Conic Hill a bit interesting as I slid down on my front wheel most of the way. After lunch in The Oak Tree I called the various bike shops to see if they could arrange for a brake to be sent on ahead. No joy. That was it then, I had no alternative, I decided to cycle the rest of the way with one brake, I’d swap the front one to the back at the next stop.
We cycled and carried our bikes the 7 miles along the loch side road and path to Rowardennan, passing and smelling wild mountain goats as they meandered along the road. We reached Inversnaid around 5.30pm and the rain had just started again. Initially the path looked OK and rideable and we had fun trying to work out where Rob Roy’s cave actually was. I’d researched the stage between Inversnaid and Inverarnan and been told it was a little tricky but rideable. Nothing prepared us for the nightmare ahead. It took us 4 hours to do this 7 mile section carrying our bikes up, over and down steep rocks and thorough tight crevasses. The ground was muddy and slippy, the rain was heavy and we were losing light fast. We passed the bothy on route, its welcoming candle in the window acting like a siren to our needs.
If you enjoy lugging 30lbs bike over piles of rocks then this is for you, if not hop on the ferry across the loch and rejoin the WHW at Rowardennan. This section is rubbish with a bike, don’t bother attempting it.
We were exhausted, had one small head torch between us and beginning to wonder what we were doing out here alone in the dark. After a gruelling 4 hours, we eventually saw the welcoming lights of The Drovers Inn and spirits lifted, made our way there. The bar has a certain charm about it although the rooms are a fair bit more shabby than chic. After a quick bath we devoured haggis and whisky – the best way to refuel after a day like we had. Sleep quickly set in and we hit our beds by 11.
Day Two – Inverarnan to Kingshouse Hotel 32 miles 5 1/2 hours with stops
We awoke to the clatter of diving rain against the broken window and mentally prepared ourselves for the next 32 mile stretch in the downpour. We decided to delay our departure til 12 and see if the weather cleared, this gave me time to swap my brakes over and get a super tacky High Roller up front. By the time we’d got our stuff together the rain stopped and the sun popped out.
We managed the first few miles at a decent pace and the joy and enthusiasm returned. It’s an easy ride from Inverarnnan to Crainlarich with a really nice descent through the woods. I had my stomach in my mouth a couple of times forgetting I only had one brake and nearly ended up over the wrong side of a waterfall.
Onto Tyndrum and a refuel and the great The Real Food Cafe. Easy ride to Bridge of Orchy – a long, slow descent over the old motor road, riding in the ominous shadow of the graceful Beinn Odhar and Beinn Dorain.
We were soon climbing out of Bridge of Orchy through the forrest to the top of Mam Carraigh and a great, rocky, technical descent down to The Inveroran Hotel. The ride was made all the more interesting with only one brake – maybe this was the new way to ride? I definitely enjoyed sliding around on my back wheel rather than drifting on my front wheel.
It’s then a slow, steady climb through The Black Mount and Rannoch Moor. Riding so close to the enormous mountains on our lhs was a humbling experience, it felt like their giant cupped hand was about to scoop us up and embrace us for eternity.
We were relieved to eventually arrive at the cairn which marked the end of the ascent, both of us starting to feel a bit weary. Our tiredness quickly disappeared as we were greeted with 3 miles of amazing rocky doubletrack leading us all the way to The Kingshouse. What an awesome end to the day’s riding.
Day Three – Kingshouse Hotel to Fort William 22 miles 5 hours with stops
Looking out of my bedroom window in the morning I could see deer grazing on the lawn, overshadowed by the monstrous wonder that is Stob Dearg. The sun was out, the sky was blue, we had an epic day’s riding ahead of us.
We quickly caught up with the tourists fighting their way up The Devil’s Staircase, managing to overtake most of them before the almost 5 mile descent into Kinlochleven. This is great riding, sweeping switch backs, burns, rocks and boulders with the occasional rocky slab thrown in for good measure. A few sections are there to catch you out and snake bites are common place, (the ones on your inner tubes, that is).
After a quick lunch we climbed slowly out of KLL, noting the various spots where home had been shot, and made our way onto the old military road through Lairigmor. The scenery here is breath taking and you feel so alone in the remote and barren wildness. This is incredible big country riding, the mountains either side so enormous we had to keep stopping just to take it all in.
The 3 mile descent was great too, it lead us all the way towards Fort Bill with the occasional glimpse of Ben Nevis in the distance. We were nearly there!
With the chance ofcatching the 5.30 train and surprising our wives back in Glasgow we sped on with the wind blowing through the glen behind us.
The journey ended with us racing and laughing along the fire road to the youth hostel. Here we picked up our luggage which had been dropped of earlier by Travel Lite (well worth doing rather than lugging all your extra kit with you). We then cycled into town for the ubiquitous snaps in front of the now two official old and new endings.
What an amazing, epic, big mountain ride, definitely worth doing if you like mountains and biking.
Doable over a couple of days but certainly more fun over three. Do it in one if you’re fitness fiend and like that kind of thing. Definitely don’t bother with the Inversnaid section. We rode it south to north and the riding was great. Not so sure it’d be as good the other way round.
Do’s and Dont’s
Do take a friend or two. Them mountains are pretty big and will eat you alive.
Do take spare brake pads and all the usual kit needed for big mountain riding.
Do make sure you have more than enough water and energy bars.
Do take your full susser. A hard tail would be pretty hard going.
Do take the usual midge repellent in the summer and waterproof gear in the autumn and winter.
Get out there and enjoy it!
Larger images of the trip can be found here.
This blog also featured in Mountain Biking UK, Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine, Mercedes Vitosport blog
Please let me know what you think, I’d love to hear from you.
Fatbuzz & New Media Breakfast case study our blog
August 27th, 2010
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We’ve just returned from a great presentation on blogs organised by Fatbuzz. We learned lots of exciting new things about blogging and the behind the scenes software that make them work effectively. We were flattered that our blog on Scotland’s Housing Expo. was used as a case study, with Gordon White of Fatbuzz discussing its merits and effectiveness in detail. Thanks Gordon.
So, for those of you that missed it, here it is -
Scottish Housing Expo – what do we/you think?
August 18th, 2010
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nest are just back from a trip to Scotland’s Housing Expo in Inverness. It’s a fantastic opportunity for anyone with an interest in housing, architecture, design and technology to see first hand what some of Scotland’s leading architects have created.
Most of the houses have been built, although much of the landscaping of the site has yet to be completed. The Expo’s had over 10,000 visitors now and hopefully these will have included developers, planners and local government, who will be able to take something from the Expo and introduce it into their current and future schemes.
52 houses in total have been designed by some of Scotland’s leading architects. It provides a showcase for new methods of construction, materials, design, master planning, landscaping and architecture.
Each architectural practice teamed up with a developer to create a unique home and each are jostling for position within the scheme. Sustainability was a key feature throughout all the houses, be it an air source heat pump, solar panelling, water recycling or recycled materials.
The Expo can be judged and discussed on a variety of levels – sustainability, design, cost to build or functionality. For the purposes of this blog, I just want to talk about the things that stood out for me, the houses and detailing I liked and the designs I felt worked best and why.
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There were several recurrent themes running throughout the Expo. this year. Here’s my top ten;
- Cladding was everywhere – be it cedar, larch. Sometimes it was orange, occasionally black and also bright green!
- Recessed sliding doors were huge. They’re a great space saving solution and offer a flexible way to access rooms.
- Mezzanines. Mainly small, sometimes useful (but now and again a complete waste of time).
- Double height living spaces. Utilising the mezzanines, these rooms were great and allowed light to flood into the houses creating drama and an enormous sense of space.
- Zinc. This must’ve been the most popular choice of materials for roofs. As used to fantastic effect in Malcolm Fraser Architects house.
- Screening. Be it sliding or concertina doors, this internal addition was a great way to close off or open up a room.
- Sustainability in all its forms – as previously mentioned.
- Small bedrooms. We need more space in these rooms.
- Light, light and more light. The architects have all tried to get as much into each house as possible using large glazed sliding doors, Velux windows and open plan areas.
- White walls – lots of them. What’s wrong with a bit of colour?
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Overall the standard of architecture is very high with several of the practices really standing out for me, namely HLM Architects, Nord and Rural Design, here’s a brief review of each of them;
Passive house
The Passive House by HLM Architects was outstanding. It was carefully considered and clearly very well designed. The architects have worked meticulously to consider how the home would be function and how each room could be utilised. The design is creatively represented in a home which is both practical and also very beautiful. Their clever use of room partitioning and double height living space creates an ideal family home. Let’s hope many of the developers pick up on this as a practical model which could be easily rolled out.
Stone house
Nord’s Stone house incorporated an incredibly dramatic living and dining space with beautiful angles and ceiling detailing. The use of Caithness stone was exemplary and the local craftsmen used have done an amazing job at installation. The two external spaces were well considered with easy access from both the dining and kitchen areas. Nord were one of the few practices to team up with a contemporary furniture supplier (Goodd) to enliven the interiors, this really added to the drama in the rooms and helped accent the architecture. My only criticism is that the house would have benefitted with the kitchen located upstairs next to the living and dining areas.
The Secret Garden
And finally, The Secret Garden by Rural Design. This must have been the people’s favorite. Whether it was down to the warmth of materials, the homely feeling one felt or the interior staging, they all added to the charm and playfulness within the home. Rural Design cleverly used mezzanines within the guest and children’s bedrooms allowing the master to dominate in both size and scale. Their clever car port incorporated a handy outdoor sink – ideal for washing the home grown veg from the purpose built beds.
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I must also mention -
Anta and Rural Design for their amazing outdoor living spaces and David Somerville Architects for their fantastic outdoor workspace. Graham Massie for his uniquely bold approach, Richard Murphy Architects for the quality of construction detailing and Oliver Chapman Architects’ shingles.
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Whereas I don’t really want to criticise the Expo too much, as I generally see it as a positive event, I feel it important to highlight some of the areas I feel could be improved for future Expo’s. A selection of the houses have been carefully considered whereas others have been primarily used by the architects to flex their creative muscles. Unfortunately many of the homes incorporate superfluous detailing including internal juliet balconies and makeshift home office space, often ill-considered and unusable. Storage space was lacking as too were decent size bedrooms.
One other criticism is that the interior finish in many of the properties is very poor. The level of workmanship, detailing, furniture and fittings is below standard and this really lets the houses down. I understand that the developers were working to a budget and that certain sponsor’s work had to be used, but there could have been far greater quality control in this area. There is a wealth of design and furniture making talent within Scotland, surely it would have been a great idea to team up with some of the contemporary producers and suppliers to showcase the best of design too.
In summary, the Expo is a great event and well worth the trip. Support our architects and get up there and see what amazing homes they’ve created. You never know, you may wish to buy one…….
Some of the stuff we’ve been up to recently
August 3rd, 2010—
nest has been running for three months now, so we thought you’d like to hear what we’ve been up to.
We’re really happy to say we’ve had some interesting new clients and projects – with more in the pipeline.
We received our first call just 45 minutes after delivering the first batch of brochures in Jordanhill, which lead to us installing a wood burning stove for the very talented Frances McKee. (The Vaselines)
“I would highly recommend nest if you are planning any work on your home. This company take great pride in their work and carry it through with care, efficiency and reliability. You really can trust them to take the grind out of home improvements.” Frances, Jordanhill
We’ve floored and insulated a loft, designed and decorated a children’s bedroom, designed and built 2 bespoke timber climbing frames with slides for clients in Jordanhill and Scotstoun.
“The family is delighted with the garden improvements. I’m really pleased with the work, enjoyed working with nest and would happily work with them again. nest came up with good design ideas that I would never have considered before.” Tony, Jordanhill
Our architect has been busy submitting plans for an attic conversion and internal work for the lovely Gordon and Caroline. We‘ve just begun work on the design of a 2 bedroom, kitchen, gym and bathroom extension for Mani and his family in Jordanhill.
We’ve fenced a Glasgow garden, tiled a tailors and installed a huge water main for a nursing home. We’ve landscaped and designed a garden, written for a book and featured in a magazine and are about to fit a kitchen.
Oh, and we’ve also started tweeting, blogging, facebooking, flickring and LinkedIning. (You can follow us using the links to the right)
Whether it’s a new kitchen or bathroom, an extension or loft conversion, we take the hassle out of home refurbishment.
If you, your kids, your friends, family, work colleague, dance partner, sugar daddy or weekend lover are looking to make your home a better place to live, then give us a call.
We’re in The Ride Journal
June 14th, 2010
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Issue 4 of The Ride Journal has just popped through our door and it looks fantastic, well done Philip, Andrew and the team! It features an article I’ve written about breaking bones and mountain biking. If you’re interested in all things bikes, then this beautifully designed book is for you, featuring amazing photography and great articles, get yours from The Ride Journal.
