Carmela visits Granberg showroom

We were delighted to host Carmela for a cookery session in our Granberg showroom in Petersfield, Hampshire. Carmela is eleven years old and has muscular dystrophy. Her skills and achievements are impressive: she is a child model and has fundraised £81,000 for muscular dystrophy earning her a child OBE!

Carmela had never used a fully accessible kitchen before and was thrilled to be able to operate all our facilities independently. The plan was to make a chicken and vegetable stir fry with noodles, followed by cupcakes with a wolf theme – her favourite animal! It was decided that she would start by baking the cakes to give them time to cool before icing.

Carmela quickly got to grips with the electric mixer, which she was able to raise from the kitchen unit, outwards and up to her desired height on the Granberg Unilift 870. With the simple press of a button, the board is adjusted to optimal working height and gives users easy access to heavy household appliances.

Completely independently, Carmela was able to distribute the cupcake cases in the baking tray and pour the cake batter from the mixing bowl. Then it was an easy transfer of the tray into the Neff Hide&Slide oven thanks to its specially designed oven door, which tucks within the unit allowing for access right up to the appliance.  

On to the stir fry, where Carmela adjusted the Granberg Centerlift 960H kitchen island to the optimum height to chop vegetables. She was able to slide everything into a pan and transfer the pan to the accessible hob for stirring. With chicken and noodles included, she made short work of a delicious meal for herself and her family!

Once the cupcakes were out of the oven and cooled, Carmela iced them with butter icing and decorated them with her favourite wolf theme. It makes such a difference to what can be achieved when it is possible to adjust the level of the worktop to fit your knees underneath.

It was a joy to see Carmela completely absorbed in her cooking tasks and, most importantly, able to complete those tasks on her own. Using the Granberg showroom for the day illustrates what can be done when a few easy adjustments are made to your kitchen. Granberg lift systems and mechanisms can be retrofitted within the existing units of your current kitchen or incorporated at the planning stage into the design. 

Carmela thoroughly enjoyed her day in the Granberg showroom, and we are looking forward to her next visit!