All About Design - An Interior Design Podcast · Susan Parsons

Series 2 - Episode 3 - Kitchen Design Masterclass with Joanne Layzell of Mazon Interiors

·48 min·4 clips

A kitchen designer secretly pregnant offered Joanne her job because her design was better.

This episode features host Joanne Lezell, a specialist kitchen and bathroom designer from Maison Interiors, sharing her professional approach to designing these key home spaces. Lezell explains she learned spatial planning from her father and later studied at the KLC School of Design, gravitating toward cabinetry and furniture building. She emphasizes that kitchens and bathrooms are primary value drivers for a property, a point often confirmed by estate agents. Lezell's design process begins by understanding the client's lifestyle, household composition, and how they intend to use the space. She discusses the challenge of budgets, noting a kitchen can range from £30,000 to £150,000, and advises clients to be honest about their financial brackets. She highlights the worktop as a critical, hard-wearing element and mentions materials like Dekton and quartz, each with pros and cons regarding heat, stains like turmeric, and porosity. Lezell notes design evolution, with suppliers now offering around 30 color choices compared to just a few years ago. She describes innovative extraction technology, like the recirculating hob from Cooper's Bush that uses NASA-derived air cleaning. A key insight is rethinking the traditional kitchen triangle into dedicated zones, such as a "dirty clean area" grouping the sink, dishwasher, and bins. Lezell personally avoids sinks on islands to maintain a clean sightline and prefers hobs there for "theatre." She estimates a kitchen contains roughly 4,000 components, from hinges to handles, underscoring the complexity of self-planning. Practical tips include prioritizing drawers over cupboards for accessibility and using "kitchen mapping" to label cabinets for specific items. Lezell advocates for integrated appliances to save money and suggests investing in details you touch daily, like premium handles. She reveals her own kitchen has no wall cabinets, using only under-counter storage and shelving to make a galley space feel larger. For final takeaways, she insists the three non-negotiable elements are lighting, storage, and worktops. In bathrooms, Lezell observes a post-COVID shift toward spa-like spaces, with bidet-style Japanese WCs gaining popularity. She recommends large-format tiles (e.g., 600x1200mm) to minimize grout and mentions techniques like mitred joints for a seamless look. The tone is conversational and educational, blending personal anecdotes with clear, practical advice for homeowners. This episode is ideal for anyone planning a kitchen or bathroom renovation who seeks detailed, professional guidance on layout, materials, and budgeting. Listeners looking for a high-level overview or non-residential design topics might find it too specialized.

As heard by us

A grounded kitchen-design guide that favors long-term choices over showroom flash.

A small caveat is that the discussion circles its main ideas more than once, though the practical guidance still lands cleanly. Joanne Lezell of Maison Interiors is framed as a kitchen-design specialist with wide experience across bathrooms, bedrooms, and high-end projects, and…

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Why you'd press play

Planning a kitchen and want to avoid expensive mistakes?

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