WE'RE HAVING A PARTY!

[Karan]:  Only a month to go until we celebrate our 18th year trading, so we're throwing a Birthday Party Bash, and everyone is invited - the more the merrier!

We have installed some new gorgeous kitchen displays - complete with all the gadgets and gizmos your hearts could desire, there'll be a FREE glass of wine waiting for you, together with delicious nibbley bits, light refreshements, children's activities and a FREE prize draw - we'd love to meet you, so bring the kids and come and be inspired by our designs and innovations.

Our big Birthday Party Bash takes place on August Bank Holiday Monday between 10am and 4pm - to find out where we are, please click this link: http://bit.ly/IKDmap.  There's loads of FREE parking and we've even ordered spectacular weather; it's gonna be great!

If you can't make it because you're away during the Bank Holiday weekend, please do come and see us when you get back - a warm and friendly welcome awaits you, always!

Gotta go - this party won't organise itself!

THE MIGHTY OAK TREE

[Karan]:  I read the most amazing tweet on Twitter yesterday that had the most profound effect on me.  I'd had a really bad day as a small business owner, and had been buffeted repeatedly by events that were outside of my control, and were becoming distinctly more dramatic than they really needed to be. 

By the end of the day I was understandably weary and wondering if life wouldn't just be simpler if I stacked shelves at Tesco - my friend's father had found it to be a hugely rewarding experience once he'd retired from a high-powered banking position: no politics, no stress, great fun.

And then along came Twitter with this simple proverb that I had never heard before: the mighty oak tree was once just a nut that held its ground.  And that, my friends, is all it took to strenghten my resolve and stand before you today, as a nut standing her ground.

Stop sniggering at the back!

MOMENTUM & ENERGY

[Karan]:  So we have 38 days until the grand opening of our new kitchen showroom on August Bank Holiday Monday, and you wouldn't believe the momentum and energy that is fizzing and bursting out of all of us involved.

Don't get me wrong, at the end of every day we're all as knackered as hell, but our enthusiasm and concentrated focus seems to be driving us forward.  There is still so much to do and not a single minute to lose, but it's fun, rewarding and inspiring all at the same time.

Like any major event, we're having the odd problem crop up, and we have the inevitable and endless obstacles to hurdle, but we're getting there surely; there's a great deal of stubborn determination being applied here.  What has surprised me however, is the number of opportunities that have presented themselves - opportunities that could so easily have been overlooked or written off as problems, but they have actually helped us create an even better showroom, and will now offer our Customers abundant choice.  So the moral to this story, in the words of the great Napoleon Hill is this: "opportunity has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat".

So that's me away now, having written the shortest blog post yet, but I have innumerable tasks ahead and Crap Printer to do battle with this afternoon, as I seriously object to paying for poor service, bad judgements and assumptions that were not his to make.  Hey ho, off I go - chat again soon.

PS: The opportunity that came disguised in the form of misfortune with Crap Printer, is that I have now made the acquaintance of Supreme Printer, whose skill and professionalism is simply outstanding.  Every cloud...

YOU'RE INVITED!

We're having a birthday party bash and you're all invited!

As many of you may already be aware, IKD Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms will be celebrating 18 years trading in August, and the best way to celebrate, is to throw a party!

So, grab your diaries and make a note of the following date and time: BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY 30 AUGUST 2010 from 10am to 4pm and we've ordered spectacular weather too so bring your sun cream and beachwear!

We thought we'd take this opportunity to give you something gorgeous and distracting to look at whilst you're partying, and so we have installed - just for you - a brand new kitchen showroom display, complete with inspirational design ideas, innovative appliances and ingenious gadgets that have been especially designed for us by MI5, and will make your eyes pop out!  I made that bit up about our gadgets being designed by MI5, but they are really cool and we can assure you that your eyes will remain in situ for as long as you want them to.

There will be FREE wine, nibbley bits and light refreshments, as well as FREE children's activities throughout the day - so bring the kids and come and see what we've got!  We'll even throw in a FREE PRIZE DRAW where you'll be able to win amazing prizes for ... well ... FREE!  You'd be mad to miss it - it's going to be great fun and you'll be amongst friends.

The venue - obviously - is at the IKD Kitchen showroom, Units 5 - 6 Enterprise Close, Telford Way Industrial Estate, Kettering, NN16 8NS - click here for a location map.

So, come on - come and help us launch our first kitchen showroom in style - it's taken us 18 years to get here, and it is well worth the wait - we can promise you that!

See you soon!

Karan & Ian

WHERE'S MY ENTOURAGE?

[Karan]:  Please can I have an entourage for Christmas?  Here are the vacancies I have available immediately:

1) Chef - I hate cooking.  I will cook under sufferance but the children would much prefer it if I didn't - and so would I for that matter.  Before I had children I honestly thought that metal box in the kitchen was a fire with a clock on it!  If Ian ever left me, we'd all look like Coco Pops!

2) Au Pair - Ian and I are agreed on this one.  His one stipulation is that the Au Pair should come from Sweden and have dimples like Cheryl Cole's.  This I can live with, just as long as I can bounce a penny off his Lycra-clad buttocks!

3) Chauffeur - How I long to arrive anywhere without a centre parting.  You see, Ian and I always have a 101 things to do in any given second, and so every minute is tightly packed doing "stuff".  We then leave the house/showroom with just enough time to get to where we're going - assuming there are no pesky delays like ... errr .... other cars on the road!  We qualify everywhere.  Like the Formula 1 drivers, we leave the garage with just enough time to get to where we're going, we hurtle (whilst always observing the speed limit, obviously) through the traffic, arriving more often than not, in the nick of time.  Which is great, but my adrenaline filled body is pumping my heart clean out of my chest and I end up sporting a less than flattering centre parting whilst cleaning dead midges off of my gritted teeth!  How nice it would be to arrive relaxed and serene - even if it is on the school run.

4) Kim & Aggie - What exactly IS the point of housework?  You do the housework and then, six months later, you have to do it all over again!  Seriously though I have to admit to being a little bit like Monica out of Friends, when it comes to housework - I'm something of a neat-freak.  Now, you hear that sound?  That's the sound of my friend's ribs pinging with the understatement.  I'm a lot like Monica, if you listen to them, and I'd have you laminated if you were to stand still too long, and I'd have you disemboweled if you rearranged my desk.  I'm a fully subscribed member of the "if it's not a right angle, then it's a wrong angle" party - but it's exhausting.  Please could I have one set of Kim and Aggie for Christmas, to look after my OCD tendencies?  Thanks very much.

5) Butler - I will admit this is a little frivolous, but it would be lovely to have tea, toast and the newspaper delivered to me in bed every morning, whilst my shower warms up and my towels are fluffed.  Is this one vacancy too far - have I lost your sympathies now?  Oh well, there is very little chance I will ever be interviewing candidates for these vacancies, so you can be assured that you've just read the mad ramblings of an exhausted and deluded soon-to-be old woman! 

Have you noticed my gratuitous use of a Gerard Butler photo?  It's not exactly the kind of butler I was referring to a moment ago, but I do believe I could learn to live with this Mr Butler bringing me tea, toast and the newspaper in bed every morning.  Not sure how I would manage to put such a brave face on it, but I'd learn, I'm sure.

Now what a merry Christmas that would be ... [sigh]

ANTICAMPINGITIS

[Karan]:  Ssssshhhhh!  Have you noticed that it's been hot and glorious for a good few weeks now and I haven't been dragged off camping yet?  Ssssssh, keep your voice down, Ian might hear us.  Just gotta make it through to autumn and I'm in the clear, because even Ian won't camp in the cold and wet.

If you have absolutely no bloody idea what I'm on about, see my blog post - also called Anticampingitis - dated 17 May - that'll explain everything.  Gotta go and practice my rain dance - bye!

SORTED!

[Karan]:  I don't know about you, but whilst I appreciate recycling is an essential fact of life, it's really not up there in my all time list of favourite chores - it can be so messy and disgusting, especially with the wet peelings and soggy newspapers.  Urgh.

So, here is a great solution to a disgusting problem; the Franke 700 Series Sorter Systems.  This is a useful addition to any kitchen with standard sized doors, because it fits neatly into 500mm and 600mm kitchen base units and comes with either pedal-operated or hand-operated versions to provide the natural alternative to the conventional waste bin.  The 700 Series is available as either a foot-activated "KickMatic" model or the easy-to-use hand-operated "Motion" soft-close mechanism.

Franke waste systems feature seperate plastic containers to sort domestic waste into different categories such as food, cans, plastic and paper, which can then be systematically disposed of or recycled.  A lid also closes over the bins to contain any odours, whilst each bin has a handle that can also be used to secure waste bags.  The roll-out carrier tray is fully waterproof, simple to dismantle and easy to clean, so no hassle there either.

The Franke 700 Series Sorter can be easily installed, but we would recommend, if you are planning to install a waste system yourself, that you check the dimensions can be accommodated under your sink - particularly undermounted sinks, before committing to purchase.  If you're in any doubt, or would like a Franke 700 Series Sorter System to be expertly installed for you, then please contact me on 01536 415280, and we'll be delighted to make that happen for you.

Prices start from as little as £225 + VAT