Ardingly Cabinet with Marble and Mirror
Part of our Ardingly collectionWhy oak?
Oak is, hands down, our favourite timber. There’s just the right amount of visual texture in its grain so it has personality but doesn’t feel too rustic. It’s also a proven timber, chosen for its strength and reliability for centuries. In Ardingly, we’ve used it to make the base and legs, where it contrasts beautifully with the painted timber – the smoothly perfect with the naturally characterful.
Why marble?
The marble in Ardingly forms the optional (and removeable) bottom surface. Included, it looks the part for a drinks cabinet or larder, and, being wipeable and cool to the touch, is practical too. Taken out, and the cabinet instantly feels more like a desk or TV storage piece. We’ve chosen honed Carrara marble because of its delicate veining, pale grey and white colouring, and almost-matt finish – an understated statement.
The finish: paint
You can choose from any of our colours for Ardingly, each applied in our water-based eggshell using a mix of spray and hand-painting techniques so the finish is perfect as can be. By using eggshell, rather than a seemingly more hardwearing plastic coating, you can not only repaint easily, but your cabinet will have a soft, low-sheen finish that’s so much more tactile and has a greater depth of colour.
The finish: IsoGuard®
The oak, meanwhile, is always finished using our Darkened Oak IsoGuard® – our own oil-based formula that protects the timber for a time from spills, without masking its natural texture. It also imparts a deep, rich brown colour that particularly suits this contemporary take on a traditional piece.
The hardware
To tone in perfectly with the Darkened Oak, it had to be Black-Bronze hardware for Ardingly. We’ve picked out the Barlow beehive knobs, which are small and discreet but have a tactile ribbed detail to them, as well as matching hinges and magnetic catches.
One cabinet, lots of possibilities
Ardingly is available with an optional marble surface within the cabinet and mirrored back to the interior. We think they add a suitable level of glamour when you’re using Ardingly as a drinks cabinet, but know that they might not be quite right for a desk, which is why you can choose to include them or not. There’s also an optional slatted lower shelf for the base which is ideal for baskets if your Ardingly is a larder.
Storage potentials
Even though there are so many ways you could use Ardingly, we’ve considered how to make the storage as practical as possible. So, the interior shelves are adjustable – sitting on our sturdy and attractive timber zigzag supports – in case you need to fit in a TV or tall bottles. While the cubbies on the backs of the doors are perfectly sized to hold our wine glasses, decanters and cocktail shakers, and have removeable Black-Bronze rails to help keep top-heavy items in place.
Design is in the detail
Some of the details that really make Ardingly a versatile, useful piece are hidden away. Like the hole for cable management: a concealed notch at the back of the bottom shelf that’ll let you plug a TV, hairdryer or coffee machine in. The internal shelves also have an elegantly shaped upstand at the back that reinforces them for heavier objects. And, the doors can open to 180° which means that you can easily watch a screen from anywhere in the room.
All lit up – or not
There are strips of LED lights channelled into the timber behind the shelves. Without the mirrored back, they’re very subtle, but with it, they’re capable of being much more dramatic. They’re also warm white in colour (much more classic and cosy than cool, bright white) and you can turn them on, off or to each of the dimming settings with the small switch underneath.
Why tulipwood?
Tulipwood is always the timber we turn to when we know we’re going to use a painted finish. That’s because, as well as being strong and stable, it also has a very fine, very even grain. Because there’s little in the way of knots and swirls, it’s easy to create a flat, smooth and practically perfect finish using eggshell paint which, later down the line, you can easily repaint or touch up.
Delivered to you, safe and sound
From our own, white-glove service for delivering larger pieces in the UK and Ireland, to our courier and international partners, rest assured that we’ve done everything we can to make sure your order gets to you on time and in one, perfect piece.
Delivery’s also entirely free if you’re in the UK and spend over £50 (or €100 in Ireland).
No-quibble returns
We believe that returns should be easy, which is why we approach them with a ‘no quibble’ mindset. And, you’ll also have 28 days to do so – just in case you need time to mull things over.
When it comes to designs upholstered in a made-to-order fabric or painted in a bespoke colour, there’s also a 20% returns/cancellation fee. We’d love to not have to charge a penny for this, but as they’re made just for you, we can’t always guarantee that we’ll be able to sell them again.
If you’ve bought something from us outside the UK or Ireland, just get in touch with the store you bought it from – or with our international team if you bought it through them – and they’ll let you know how you can return or exchange it.
And talk to our international team on +44 (0)1793 427 427 or at international@neptune.com.
These terms don’t affect your statutory rights. For our full terms and conditions, please click here.
For our full returns policy, please click here.
Just so you know
Your Ardingly cabinet will come with anti-tilt brackets which you can use to attach it to the wall (we’ve included full instructions on how to use these, you’ll just need to supply your own wall fixings depending on the type of wall). We’d recommend that you use these if you have children at home.
Although you can choose to have your Ardingly cabinet painted in any of our colours using our paint service, we’re afraid that we can’t paint the interior a different colour to the outside. That’s because of the way the doors fit into the frame – you’d be able to see a little of the interior colour even when they’re shut.
It’s also good to know that, while the larger shelves inside the cupboard are adjustable and removeable, the smaller cubby shelves on the inside of the doors are fixed in place.
Natural timber will always want to move. It’s going to expand and shrink as the temperature and humidity in your home changes, but there are specialist joinery techniques that can help to counteract the movement. And that’s exactly what we do, so although you might see a little movement in the timber over the seasons, it won’t change drastically.
