deVOL – designing beautiful artisan products is now part of who we are
7th February 2017
Kitchens have always been our specialty here at deVOL but over the years we have yearned to be able to design and make other beautiful, simple, well made things. This desire is built on many experiences, firstly and most importantly for the love, challenge and true satisfaction of designing something that people want. Paul started deVOL nearly thirty years ago, his career was built on his love and talent for design and gaining a degree in Industrial Design from Loughborough University. Paul has gone on to employ many people from this course over the years, most importantly our Managing Director Robin whose dedication to his craft has made him into a true master of pretty much everything. Paul is a designer at heart, but his passion also lies in giving young and talented people an outlet for their craft and skill, giving them a chance to prove themselves in a creative environment. Moving into Cotes Mill really allowed Paul to introduce a new side to deVOL, something that seems to fit so perfectly with our ethos, our home here at Cotes Mill and Paul’s desire to keep on designing and employing young talented people.
Cotes Mill is a wonderful collection of buildings that we have utilised and renovated in order to allow these new projects to begin, small barns, sheds and spaces that have been turned into studios and workspaces full of character. It feels so right to wander around and check on the girls in the ceramics studio, working with clay and creating objects in such an atmospheric space. Of course, you can create in any space but there’s something really good about old walls that seems to transcend just a place to work. The ceramics studio at deVOL is now very established, it’s producing an amazing collection of crockery, tiles and the latest pendant lights. Crackled and wobbly by design, these beautifully handmade lights are going to grace our new London Showroom along with the glossy emerald green tiles also made here at deVOL.
Designing beautiful things, artisan products, handmade by skilled people, allows us to welcome even more people into our showrooms, people who may not want a whole kitchen but love the simplicity of the deVOL look. I guess underneath the desire to design is the desire to see what you can achieve and see if people like it, because that’s really where it needs to end up. Of course designing doesn’t have to be for gain, it can be for pleasure, but if it’s both, that’s a real achievement. For us it is also about not having to compromise, you have a vision or a way that you want things to look, but very often you can’t find exactly what you are looking for so you compromise and make do. Now we don’t have to, if we have a vision of something we love, if we have a constant request for something unobtainable, or a memory of something from the past, then we can make it!
For the past few months Paul, Robin, Ben and a handful of new talent here at deVOL have been working together on a stool project, you may have read or seen this in previous posts. Well, that’s another new deVOL design and quite a substantial one, designing a stool is quite the ubiquitous challenge. This particular piece has been really important for deVOL, it’s something we really wanted to be able to offer our kitchen customers, a beautifully simple, comfy, stylish stool at a sensible price, designed here in England. It seems people are loving the stool, we have so many orders our head is spinning, in a good way.
The latest studio to pop up is the metal room, Steph is a first class jewellery designer maker and is using her skills to help us create our own range of deVOL hardware. So far it’s been amazing, the textures, shapes and colours she has worked on are looking very exciting. Steph is also working on the metal elements of our new light and also when she has time some jewellery too. We didn’t have a studio for Steph to begin with but, a couple of walls, a door and a wonderfully aged work bench and the studio was born.
So what’s the next design product for deVOL? well, the designing is part of us now and it will just keep going, it’s given us the ability to not only make beautiful things but it makes our kitchens look even better.
Please come to Cotes Mill and see all these hand crafted, beautifully simple pieces, they are all available to buy and you may even get the chance to pop your head into the ceramics studio and see some pieces being made. We have a small selection of our products at the Tysoe Street showroom and rather a wonderful collection at our very soon to be opened St. John’s Square showroom.
Being proud and gushing when writing a blog can seem somehow arrogant or self-satisfied and it’s hard sometimes to explain the importance and excitement of something new without coming across this way. I am not eloquent enough to convey satisfaction without conceit, but it’s something I am always conscious of. I do hope whatever it does it encourages you to come and see deVOL if the things we do interest you.
