Speaking to Alan Brown, Managing Director of Alan Brown Design, who has been building bespoke cabinets since 1978, we get a clear insight into the real value of putting thought and effort into fittings of a house.

His work encompasses traditional values, where almost everything is hand-made. Having learned his trade in London in the late 70's, he has seen how high-quality, hand-made finishes leave a lasting impression: "It becomes a selling point of the house to have a kitchen or a bedroom that is created to stay with the house and is built to last, " he says.

"In the '70s, in London, people spent �10,000 on a kitchen. When I came back to Dublin, the average person spent �2,000 on a kitchen, which meant you really didn't have the scope to create quality stuff.

However, for the last ten years, that has changed dramatically and people will allow you create something different. With our furniture, I like to think that in 40 or 50 years, it'll still be standing there."

It's a hands-on approach that Brown feels brings out the best in a project. "It boils down to a swapping of ideas. We'd have a talk about the customer's ideas and their concepts and their wish lists, but you actually have to get on with someone.

If you didn't gel with the person, it would be hard to create something.

"It's building up a professional relationship where you trust each other."

When it comes to advising people, Alan is pretty relaxed about his approach. "With most people, you are talking about their second, maybe third, kitchen, so their experience is limited, whereas I've done six, seven hundred, maybe a thousand kitchens, so, I have a good idea of how these things work, and generally the customer picks it up and says 'OK, that makes sense', after you talk them through it."

"But, sometimes, people say 'no'.

They have a way they want things, and I think, 'You're making a mistake here, but you're the customer and you've brought me in to design what you want'. A few times people have come back and said 'actually, you were right'."

"Of course, we are always happy to rectify something like that. I like to think we will look after our furniture almost indefinitely." It is this kind of quality approach which really stands the test of time.