Johnny Grey Studios

I trained as an architect at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. Afterwards I enjoyed a brief time running an antique furniture business before setting up a workshop making furniture. When it became clear that design was my strength, I set up a design studio in 1977. My aunt, the food writer Elizabeth David, then asked me to design her a kitchen based on a book chapter on her dream kitchen that she wrote for Terence Conran in The Kitchen Book (1977). It became clear to me around this time how poorly functioning and uncomfortable most kitchens were and what a difference you can make to people’s lives if you get the design of this crucial room right. The need for a new template for kitchens was the spur that got my career up and running as well as an interest in writing design books. I have written four on kitchen and home design.

I have a life-long interest in education, which is why helped set up The Kitchen Education Trust. I also provided impetus for the first kitchen design foundation degree, at Bucks New University. This is now closed but am currently devising an apprenticeship called Living Spaces Design.

I speak at events worldwide on design innovation in the kitchen that include smart tech, sustainable design, neuroscience and history of design. I have helped set up the South Downs Food Festival held at Stansted Park in Hampshire each summer.