About Us
DJ Design is a family run business designing, manufacturing and installing bespoke kitchens and bedrooms. With our origins and long-term base in the St Albans area and community, for over 30 years we maintained a shop front showroom and separate factory premises. From here we serviced thousands of kitchens and bedrooms in the Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and North London areas.
In 2021 we took the progressive step of relocating to join up our factory and showroom operation into one premises. This has strengthened our business and maintained a highly competitive presence in the marketplace.
Our aim is to provide personally designed, high quality, hand-made kitchens and bedrooms for the same price as a superstore flatpack. We add value by offering our customers help and advice with sourcing their own appliances and worktops, giving them better control over costs and spending.
If you have a project in mind, whether it be a brand new kitchen or bedroom or just a revamp then please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to help.
Factory & Showroom
Our factory and showroom are based at the same premises. We manufacture all of our cabinets in-house and have a separate on-site spray facility for our wood painted door ranges. Being based in one location gives us the flexibility to make rapid alterations, if needed, during an installation.
The newly designed and fitted showroom is available for visits on an appointment only basis. Here, you can view samples and discuss all ongoing and forthcoming projects.
Drawers
We specialise in manufacturing bespoke drawers for our kitchens and bedrooms and have many standard and non-standard size options available.
The drawers are manufactured and supplied by our, online based, sister company, Drawers ‘n’ Things, which operates out of the same premises.
Materials
We manufacture all our own cabinets using 18mm Swiss Eggerboard. This is resource friendly recycled wood which we can make to any size required.
Our doors are sourced from all over the UK and are available in standard and non-standard sizes. Whether you are looking for painted, stained or vinyl wrapped doors, we have a wide selection of styles, colours and finishes to choose from. On certain ranges we also offer a colour match service if you have a specific colour in mind.
Installation
We use teams of experienced fitters who we have maintained close working relationships with for many years and who are an integral part of the overall project management service we offer. This includes access to qualified tradesmen including carpenters, tilers, electricians, plasterers and small building work.
Which? Trusted Traders
In 2017 Which? Trusted Traders approached us to join them based on the many recommendations they had received from some of our happy customers
The Herts Advertiser
Julie Banes, partner at Hertfordshire-based DJ Design, explains why it is currently so important to look to kitchen design companies with extensive experience and a strong British base.
From an original article on the Herts Advertiser website
The benefits of buying bespoke British kitchens
‘Because of the way we work, we find it very easy to tweak our kitchens and bedrooms to ensure they fit, without causing delays.’
During these uncertain times there may well be significant advantages to buying UK-made kitchens and bedrooms.
‘If we are possibly going to have repeated shutdowns in Europe over the coming months, this could have an impact on kitchens that are not British.’
Julie Banes, partner at Hertfordshire-based DJ Design, explains why it is currently so important to look to kitchen design companies with extensive experience and a strong British base.
Q: Why is now a good time to buy British-made kitchens and bedrooms?
When taking such a big step in improving your home, you need to be sure your kitchen or bedroom company can deliver. At the moment, because of the pandemic, there are issues of supply from the continent and shortages from time to time, due to erratic shut-downs. We found throughout the virus time we were able to continue working because we weren’t tied to the continent. Although we couldn’t have our showroom open during lockdown, we were able to maintain a level of service – and did not let a single customer down – where other companies had to close completely. If we are possibly going to have repeated shutdowns in Europe over the coming months, this could have an impact on kitchens that are not British.
Q: What about Brexit, will that have an impact?
Yes, I think it will have an impact on supply too and could affect lead times on products, such as German kitchens. Supplies from abroad could become difficult if they are stopped at the docks and there is a backlog. Tariffs might also end up making prices much higher – a company like ours which buys from this country will not have that problem. Many other companies have lead times of six to 12 weeks (whereas ours are three to four weeks) so if there are delays because of Brexit, you could be waiting weeks for your kitchen.
‘Kitchens with islands and oak kitchens are still in high demand.’
Q: What other benefits are there to buying British?
We have lead times of three to four weeks, while many other companies have six to 12 weeks. If your kitchen is taking that long and then coming from abroad, you could well have problems if it needs to be altered by a fraction because your kitchen planning has changed and measurements are different. Because of the way we work, we find it very easy to tweak our kitchens and bedrooms to ensure they fit, without causing delays. It is also worth noting, that once we leave the EU we won’t be covered by European regulations so guarantees could be problematic.
Q: What are the advantages to a bespoke approach?
We handmake our carcasses and then source doors from throughout Great Britain – this means we can offer customers more flexibility with sizes, types and depths of carcass, as well as colour, and can offer bespoke furniture at prices that compete with the flatpacks from superstores. We can also colour match to pretty much anything a customer brings in.
‘We can also colour match the kitchen to pretty much anything a customer brings in.’
Q: What kitchen trends are you seeing at the moment?
Modern kitchen flat J handleless doors in gloss or matt and true handleless have become very popular. Kitchens with islands and oak kitchens are still in high demand. These are coated in a paint formula similar to that used in the boating industry, which is more resilient and gives a lovely matt finish.
Q: What advice do you have for anyone about to embark on a project?
Call us so we can come out as early as possible to measure up and discuss your kitchen ideas. This is especially important if building work is taking place – as the work is carried out unforeseen circumstances can arise that alter the initial plans meaning changes may need to be made as the project progresses.
To find out more visit https://djdesign.uk.com, call 01727 842270 or email support@djdesign.uk.com.