Yesterday at Grand Designs Live, we finally got to sit down and debate kitchens with Kevin McCloud.

While it probably didn't address all the issues that many industry people hoped it would - unrealistic in retrospect - it was great to see kitchens being talked about at such length within a mainstream consumer show like Grand Designs.

As we didn't get to discuss the real issues that were highlighted by McCloud's original comments, I thought it was worth outlining my thoughts on it now - in the hope that it might continue the valuable debate (rather than kick off some more Kevin-bashing).

So first, a little recap for those joining in late....

At the end of 2010, Kevin brought a book out - 43 Principles of Home, a very personal guide to creating the perfect home and lifestyle for the 21st Century. A whopping 400 pages, it's actually a very good read that combines his philosophy of good design with practical tips and advice.

So how did that book - which in philosophy I don't think you would find many kitchen industry people disagreeing with - come to cause so much debate and opinion and lead us to here?

It's all in chapter 15, entitled simply 'Things At Home Not Worth Investing In' and it's some of the comments in there that unwittingly managed to poke a very raw nerve when we reported them.

The main bugbear was actually the first item that Kevin includes on the 'not to invest in' list - kitchen cupboards and doors.

Here's the whole quote here, it's lengthy so forgive me but it gets to the heart of the matter:

"The bits that matter in the kitchen are the machines that do the work and the bits you come into contact with. These include door handles, taps and worktops. Knives and pans are important. But door cupboards aren't. And frankly, the best made kitchens in the world are still 'carcassed out' using orientated strand board, chipboard or plywood.

"Structurally, there's negligible difference in quality between the £5,000 kitchen and its £50,000 equivalent.

"Moreover, high-street merchants like Ikea have got wise to this and are now retailing budget kit kitchens that mimic the bespoke German ones. It also seems daft to spend vast quantities on an aspect of your home that the next owners will invariably rip out and replace - which they will because it's human nature to territorialise the new cave with a new kitchen."

While many kitchen furniture manufacturers, suppliers and retailers would happily hope that everyone who buys a new home also buys a new kitchen, the bit in there that really stung was the idea that there is negligible difference in quality between a £5,000 and £50,000 kitchen.

While it was obvious that all of this wasn't going to go down well with anyone involved in selling premium priced kitchens, it certainly caught me by surprise just how strong the reaction was when we wrote about it. Some retailers in particular at first took it very personally, responding with genuine anger towards Kevin - mainly questioning the relative values of different TV presenters -how dare he, of all people, say there's no difference between £5,000 and £50,000 kitchens, surely he understands.

So why was this reaction so strong?

Clearly anyone involved in selling kitchens for a living believes that, if you take those comments literally, that there IS a big difference in quality between a £5,000 and £50,000 kitchen.

But it went much deeper than just that, to a more fundamental existing issue of the perception of value. Buying a kitchen is a huge investment for anyone, whether they can afford a £5,000 kitchen or £50,000 but do those buying it know enough about what they're actually paying for?

This was the root cause of the initial anger from those who took the comments very literally - many independent retailers took a huge hit in the recession and had to fight for every sale but their unique selling point was always their skill and expertise in designing, choosing products and producing dream kitchens for their clients - whatever the budget.

But here was someone very high profile, who they really respected as understanding the practicalities of design and construction, seemingly questioning not just the quality of the products they were selling but also the value of that skill and expertise they've worked so hard on - that the value of a kitchen was simply the price of the chipboard.

As I say, it really caught me by surprise. It became an issue that everyone I met in the kitchen industry had an opinion on - but actually, once the initial shouting had died down it became clear that as many agreed as disagreed - or at least were sympathetic to the wider points and welcomed the much needed debate.

Ok, fair enough, I didn't find anyone who agreed that there was no difference between a £5,000 kitchen and a £50,000 one in terms of quality, but many understood the wider point being made about investing in the products that you touch and feel most often and the need to understand what you're paying for. McCloud did say that worktops and taps were definitely worth investing in for these reasons.

The image of kitchens that most consumers are bombarded with through advertising is all about price - 50% off, 75% off, sale must end Saturday, free appliances - and very little about quality and design and this is a constant frustration to those retailers who consider themselves designers who sell, rather than salesman who knock out designs.

McCloud had unwittingly illustrated that collectively the kitchen industry has failed in many ways to educate the consumer into what to look for when they buy a kitchen. How to know whether the price they're paying is the right one for what they want.

He is clearly a huge supporter of craftsmanship, artisanship and skilled manufacturing - and there is plenty of that in the kitchen industry - but what the consumer doesn't know enough about is how to identify that and, equally, the value of kitchen design as a skilled profession that's worth paying for.

 

And all that lead us to yesterday, on stage at the Grand Designs Live exhibition at ExCeL. I was invited to discuss the issues raised by his book with him, Martin from Poggenpohl, Simon Grantham from Miele, Gerry Dusfresne from Ikea and Johnny Grey.

While we didn't really tackle any of these issues really, talking to McCloud yesterday confirmed to me his genuine belief in good design, good products with provenance, skilled manufacturing, sustainability and the desire to create homes rather than properties. This philosophy is the backbone of the book that caused all the fuss and it's one every kitchen retailer and designer should embrace - perhaps that's why one sentence in the book did cause such consternation because, as far the kitchen industry is concerned, it seemed to contradict this philosophy.

There are similar paradoxes elsewhere in the same section of the book. For example, here's what he says about 'Fancy Cookers':

"Fancy Cooker Syndrome is a domestic extension of Shiny Car Syndrome. Just as the shiny Car gets you across a city at the same average 11mph as a fiberglass electric car, so the Fancy Cooker will make hot food no better and no more quickly than an old Belling out of a skip."

Another opinion I'm sure most would disagree with, but then literally on the next page - the start of the chapter 'Things At Home Worth Investing In' - he talks about the importance of touch saying "we can all tell the difference between a door handle that wobbles and one made with a firm spring and a satisfying 'action'. Thanks to ergonomic car design, we can all appreciate the firm 'clunk' of a door closing - from both the sound and the feel of it."

Is it just me, or does that sound like the kind of spiel a salesman would use for a fancy cooker?

So, is there a difference in quality between a £5,000 and £50,000 kitchen? Yes, of course.
Is kitchen furniture something that's worth investing in? Again, of course it is.
Is it right to encourage consumers to ask why something costs what it does? Absolutely.
Should kitchen retailers and manufacturers be able to realistically justify costs when asked? Totally.

The debate yesterday covered the general McCloud philosophy well, rather than whether he specifically does or doesn't think that kitchen cupboards and doors are worth investing in, but it doesn't really matter. The kitchen industry as a whole should see McCloud's opinions as something to aim for. He didn't mean it this way, but the kitchen should aspire to meet that philosophy and, as a result, solve the problems of perceived value.

Many in the industry seemed to want him to acknowledge the specifics - yes, there is a difference in quality between different price points, yes, designers make a very significant contribution and should charge separately, yes, multiple retailers and 'cowboys' do bring the reputation down - I'm right behind you.

But McCloud doesn't work that way, I learnt that yesterday. He deals in ideas and concepts, principles and theories.

If this was an episode of Grand Designs, the kitchen industry would be the beleaguered and harassed couple who are mortgaged up the eyeballs trying to finish the roof before the weather changes - and McCloud would be in his best role of observer, commentating on the wider implications and theories behind the story.

And if you remember pretty much every episode of the show, it usually all turns out OK in the end....

What do you think? andrew@kbbreview.com