No matter which kbb store I happen to be in, the owner will always proudly claim to offer that elusive 'something different'. In truth, not everybody really manages it. However, one showroom that's undoubtedly a bit of a one-off is Brookmans of Stafford, run by husband and wife team Jonathan and Pam Cameron-Jones.

The 3000sq ft store is really more of a house than a showroom, each room a complete display of its own. The concept fits neatly with the developing trend for offering a service above and beyond simple refits. Instead, Brookmans looks to offer total lifestyle solutions, tailor-made for the individual. This might mean a bespoke new kitchen or bathroom, but is just as likely to feature a new living room, study or cinema room. All necessary building, plumbing, electrical and plastering work is also taken care of.

There's a dead giveaway that the place is going to be a bit unusual even as I park up because there's a bath on the roof. It's certainly an interesting idea, and according to Pam immediately grabs people's attention. "It was meant to live in here but ended up out on the decking," she says. "It's from William Holland in Dorset, we've sold a few for him. I wanted something really quirky and different, so people would remember that mad showroom with the bath."

Showing me round, it's clear kitchens and bathrooms are only a small part of what the couple can provide. "We wanted to fit it out so you had a kitchen, library, lounge, wet room... that was the idea," Pam continues. "People said we were mad when we first did it, it was a bit of a gamble, but people like to see what they're getting. Most of our jobs are new builds or extensions; we get heavily involved with architects."

The couple launched the store back in March 2006 but it was extensively refurbished last September. Disaster struck on the very first day they opened though when their kitchen supplier, Brookmans, went into administration. "They're past masters at it," Jonathan says. "But we knew Joe Cavani who owns Edwin Loxley and he bailed us out. Loxley are a better company than Brookmans anyway."

Impact

Jonathan explains that the showroom concept was partly inspired by the drawbacks of other top end stores they visited: "When we started, we went round all our competitors - Wilkinson's, Christian's, Smallbone's - to find out what sort of service we'd get from them and it was atrocious," he says.

"We just got a lot of people saying no'," Pam agrees. "And that's why we've ended up doing building work and flooring and the whole caboodle because they don't. They just say, 'we can but it will cost you this much and it will be from separate teams of people.' Our customers don't want that; they want their life to be easy and that's what we try to do. We'll project manage as much as they want."

First impressions obviously count and this place certainly provides an instant impact. At first I'm shown into the reception area, complete with a walnut parque floor and cherry panelling. To my right is an impressive cinema room and in front of me two more rooms, one a study, the other a huge Cooks kitchen.

"The most important thing in design is symmetry," says Jonathan. "We always use centre points and it's always mirrored on certain aspects so the aesthetics are always balanced and pleasing to the eye. The size and weight of furniture depends on the wall area and the height. The walls shouldn't be too striking, it should be about the furniture."

Pam, who Jonathan jokingly suggests "does the fluff" has a slightly different take. "There are no rules," she says. "Probably one of the first questions is what would everybody else do, and then we deliberately don't do that."

Our conversation returns to what seems her pet hate - the strategies of her competitors: "We are always up against the Smallbone's Christian's and Wilkinson's," she says. "You can guarantee every wall will have cupboards. But that makes it extortionately expensive - they're doing it to make money - and secondly the room comes in on you.

"Where other showrooms fall down is they try to over-design. They try to fill every room with cupboards. We rarely put wall cupboards in the kitchen. I make sure they've got enough for pots and pans and cups and saucers and no more. So that every wall you look at is white rather than it being a case of 'we need more cupboards'. Customers find it hard to get their head round that until it's done, then they like it."

Passionate

The pair come over as hugely passionate about interiors; they're also refreshingly frank about their sales technique. "Customers plan it, and I look like I'm taking it all down but in reality I'm thinking that's a rubbish idea," Pam says. "Its easy for us because we do it all the time."

I'm led to another kitchen display down a narrow corridor, again impressively fitted out with Loxley furniture and a Wolf range cooker. "If you're going to buy a range buy a Wolf," Jonathan says. But Pam admits that she hates it. It's typical of their style. "We always work as a couple and it works," Pam says. "We bicker in front of customers and they seem to like it. They get comfort from it. It's not very nice being sold to."

The displays are really more about showing what Brookmans and Loxley are capable of than anything else. The kitchen we're standing in is about as impractical as they come. The porous worktop is made from a block of sandstone which, though attractive, Pam admits she recently wore a hole into as she chatted to a client. The sink, meanwhile, is carved from a block of wood. "It's ok as long as you don't put a plug in," she says.

Other appliances include plenty of Bosch, together with a cast iron Kohler sink and a Perrin & Rowe tap. "We only sell that one," Pam says. "Customers just laugh and accept it."

Since the extension work began in September the pair reckon they've spent about £240,000. Another stage is now under way including a new venture into contemporary rather classic designs. "We're working with Joe on that although we've also spoken to Allmilmo and Bulthaup," Pam says. "It'll be quite ostentatious. There's a big contemporary market out there and we don't want to miss out on that. But it will be more about the room; it'll have concrete walls, glazed panels, a small amount of furniture in high gloss with stainless steel plinths, and really high tech appliances in gilded frames."

The new venture doesn't necessarily mean business is sliding though. As usual, they're a retailer who claims people at this level will always have money and that they've been largely unaffected by the slowdown in the market. "We've got orders months in advance," Pam says. "We've reached a point where a high proportion of sales are repeat business as well as customer referrals."

On the floor above, Pam has designed a wet room, the only bathroom display apart from the customer toilet, although this too is impressively fitted out with brands like Rosco, Posigiorni and Crosswater. "We've not had too much negative reaction to the showroom but sometimes people get a bit freaked out when they come in wanting to spend £15,000," she says. "We struggle to do anything under £30,000, the most expensive was £120,000."

Ultimately, the couple believe their success is as much about them as about their suppliers. "People buy from people," Jonathan says. "You can't replicate Pam and I, they're the reason people buy. I'm a bit of a control freak. She's a task master and the fitters hate us some days. It has to be perfect and we hope to build further on that reputation. Opening another showroom wouldn't be out of the question."