My kitchen location essentials, including a Netherton Pan by Silvana Franco
How my kitchen makes me money – and yours could too
Looking for a clever way to fund your kitchen renovation? Design it the right way and it could prove to be an unexpected side hustle
The Daily Telegraph BySilvana Franco 4 March 2023 • 11:00am
When we moved into our house about 10 years ago, I loved the spacious, light-filled kitchen, says Silvana Franco CREDIT: Andrew Crowley
Have you ever found yourself looking more closely at the kitchen than the food when watching TV cookery shows? Well, you’re not alone.
Whether it’s a cosy country kitchen or a sleek, minimal space, the style of the room is every bit as important as the food on the plate for the advertisers and programme makers who are aiming to inspire you to keep watching, or buy their products. And in many cases, the aspirational location isn’t a carefully designed set, but a family home, hired out specifically for the purpose of filming food.
If you’re now wondering if your kitchen could be up to the job, the answer may be yes; and, if you can put up with the disruption to your home life, you might be able to earn more than a few pounds from it, too.
As a freelance food writer, stylist and cookery presenter, I’ve cooked in countless kitchens over the years. Sometimes filming would take place in a studio; occasionally, we’d be cooking outdoors in a scenic location; more often than not, we’d be in a family home. But whatever the gorgeous surroundings we were in, I repeatedly heard the same grumbles from different crews and began to pick up on what made the difference between a beautiful kitchen and the ideal location.
When we moved into our house about 10 years ago, I loved the spacious, light-filled kitchen. Unfortunately for me, though, the previous owners were taller than average and had built all the counters slightly higher than standard. At 5ft 2in, I’m a bit on the short side and quickly realised what a struggle it was to cook in my new home.
Silvana's kitchen is used regularly for filming, earning her an average of £800 for one day of shooting CREDIT: Andrew Crowley
When it came to using my favourite, oversized chopping boards, which added even more height to the counter, I had to stand on tiptoe to be able to chop, knead or roll, and before long, my beautiful chunky boards found new roles, as steps. I found myself cooking less and less, and it became clear: if I were to enjoy cooking again, the kitchen would have to go. What I needed most was a space I enjoyed working in, and if we could build one that ticked all the right boxes for filming, it might help fund the -refurbishment, too.
We completed the kitchen shortly before lockdown, during which Waitrose, for whom I was working at the time, cancelled all food shoots as they were deemed non-essential. No longer able to send me out filming with a crew, they instead sent some basic camera kit to our house and, as a family, we began to shoot the company’s weekly social media videos every weekend in our new kitchen.
Notable for my husband’s wobbly camera work, some rather iffy sound and regular appearances by the kids and cats, our videos captured us cooking simple meals, baking my son’s birthday cake, celebrating a trick-or-treatless Halloween. They quickly proved far more relatable than their polished predecessors, and Waitrose has continued to film its videos in cooks’ home kitchens rather than hired locations.
These days, my bookings are a mix of agency and word of mouth. I’m currently working on a series of social-media recipe videos for BBC Food, and BBC Teach recently filmed the restaurateur and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table Asma Khan here too. The kitchen is used regularly by PR companies, and as the house backs onto rivers and heathland, we’re also popular with health brands who may, for instance, spend the morning shooting a model making a smoothie in the kitchen followed by scenes of them strolling along the river in the afternoon.
What you can earn
This will depend on how you market your kitchen and where it is located. I have a website which is a really useful resource for clients who have already found us, but it’s not vital to the business. In order for the site to appear high in the listings when key words such as “kitchen location” are browsed online by potential new bookers, I’ll need to invest in a search-engine specialist to optimise its performance – that’s still on my to-do list.
Silvana says that commercial shoots can pay upwards of £2,000 per day to use her kitchen CREDIT: Andrew Crowley
One of the simplest and most effective ways to pick up bookings is to join a location agency. There are plenty to choose from, but you’ll find those dishing out the lucrative advertising jobs will most likely want to book the whole house, including the bedrooms, for wardrobe and make-up use.
Commercial shoots can pay upwards of £2,000 per day, though they frequently come with a huge crew and you’ll be expected to vacate the premises for the duration. In most cases, a location manager will handle the production, including leafleting your neighbours and arranging additional parking, and if any damage occurs it will be logged and made good. You may even get a room or two painted, with the option to have it returned to the original colour if you don’t like it. If it’s for two days or more, they’ll usually offer to put the family up in a nearby hotel.
Other online agencies, such as Scouty, will let you rent out only the rooms you wish to, at the per-hour fee that you set, without any upfront charges. All their clients must have public liability insurance (PLI) in order to hire your space. If you choose to accept a booking, they send an instant payment, deducting a 15 per cent commission fee for their service, so it’s a very straightforward process. The average host with them has one to three bookings and makes between £500 and £2,500 per month.
With two family cats and our youngest still at home, I prefer to stick to smaller kitchen-only shoots with a maximum crew of 10, and have fixed hours of 8.30am-6pm. We charge an average of £800 a day, or £85 an hour, with a minimum booking of four hours. I make sure one of us is in if it’s a new booking so we can handle any queries, and find that most clients treat the space respectfully.
Kitchen design
However successful your new venture turns out to be, you’ll be spending more time in your kitchen than any client, so it needs to work for you above anyone else. I want my kitchen to be as easy as possible to keep clean and clutter-free (easier said than done in a family home), so I went for simple straight lines with minimal crevices and corners.
Surfaces
I’ve seen enough scuffed-up, scorched and turmeric-stained surfaces to know that I need worktops that are resistant to heat, scratches and stains. I considered a wide range of materials and am delighted with how pristine the carbon-neutral Dekton (a type of quartz) that I chose for the island still looks.
Worktops that are resistant to heat, scratches and stains are essential CREDIT: Andrew Crowley
The background to my island is very pared back, and if I were to design it now, I’d switch a couple of the cupboards for open shelf units that could be dressed with ceramics, books and plants to create a more lived-in look.
In a bid to maximise storage space for all my kit, I made a controversial decision to partly brick-up a set of sliding garden doors to accommodate an extra run of cupboards with windows above. The oak-topped counter now offers a contrasting surface for shooting and is far enough from the hob to avoid a battering.
Hob
An induction hob is my preferred choice. It’s quick, energy efficient, extremely controllable and takes just seconds to wipe down, unlike gas, which has too many components to keep clean and always looks a bit grubby when filmed close-up. Induction does have its drawbacks, though: it doesn’t work with all pans, and – unless the base is completely flat – it can develop hot spots. It can be a little noisy when on full whack, and the glass surface is reflective.
Positioning the hob on an island undoubtedly offers the most flexibility for filming. A hob along the wall is difficult for camera angles and lighting and offers a limited view of the kitchen beyond.
'The background to my island is very pared back,' says Silvana CREDIT: Andrew Crowley
If the counter is large enough, I’d recommend fitting the hob in the centre with at least 75cm of work surface on either side. If your island is smaller, given most people are right-handed, it might make sense to position the hob to the right side of the counter, allowing enough working space on the left. This means that camera movements from chopping on a board to stirring a pan can be fluid, without the cook needing to switch hands. A tricky call if you’re left-handed yourself, though.
Ovens
Two ovens are extremely useful and allow the food team to have a replacement dish ready to swap in, rather than wasting valuable time waiting for it to bake.
Positioning the ovens at eye level rather than under the hob is better for filming, but avoid placing them directly behind the island as it will be nearly impossible for the camera person not to catch their reflection in the doors when recording.
Positioning the ovens at eye level rather than under the hob is better for filming, but avoid placing them directly behind the island as it will be nearly impossible for the camera person not to catch their reflection in the doors when recording.
Fridge space
A second large fridge in the prep area for storing shoot food separately from the household’s food is also really useful. If you don’t have space for one permanently, they can easily be hired for the day by the production team.
Make room for a table
I made sure to leave space for my much-loved vintage Ercol dining table and chairs – even though they’re quite a contrast in style to the rest of the kitchen – not just because I can’t stand separate dining rooms, but because the producer/director/client always need a table (ideally extendable and with plenty of plug sockets close by) to work from during filming.
My kitchen location essentials
GoodHome barstools
£25 diy.com
These barstools, which sit neatly under my island counter, are my best buy. They were recommended by a friend who runs a cookery school, as they’re not just a great price, but also look good, are hardwearing and stack perfectly, so they can easily be scooted out of the way.
£25 diy.com
These barstools, which sit neatly under my island counter, are my best buy. They were recommended by a friend who runs a cookery school, as they’re not just a great price, but also look good, are hardwearing and stack perfectly, so they can easily be scooted out of the way.
Neff Slide&Hide
from £639, John Lewis
This oven is brilliant for filming, as the door completely tucks away, giving the camera an unobstructed view. It has a self-cleaning function, although the door has to be removed from its hinges to clean between the four panes of glass, and this needs to be done professionally.
from £639, John Lewis
This oven is brilliant for filming, as the door completely tucks away, giving the camera an unobstructed view. It has a self-cleaning function, although the door has to be removed from its hinges to clean between the four panes of glass, and this needs to be done professionally.
Netherton Foundry spun-iron frying pan
£71.30, Netherton Foundry
This is one of my favourite objects; it performs brilliantly and over a lifetime will outlast cheaper, nonstick-coated pans. The 26cm size fits perfectly into the oven, so a frittata can easily switch from hob to hot grill. It looks beautiful on camera, too.
£71.30, Netherton Foundry
This is one of my favourite objects; it performs brilliantly and over a lifetime will outlast cheaper, nonstick-coated pans. The 26cm size fits perfectly into the oven, so a frittata can easily switch from hob to hot grill. It looks beautiful on camera, too.
Yale touch-code front-door lock
from £99.98, Yale
This means I can give regular bookers or the cleaner access to the house when I’m not in, with a unique number that can be wiped after the shoot. It saves having to arrange a key handover and is really useful for the kids, too, who each have their own code so they don’t get locked out.
from £99.98, Yale
This means I can give regular bookers or the cleaner access to the house when I’m not in, with a unique number that can be wiped after the shoot. It saves having to arrange a key handover and is really useful for the kids, too, who each have their own code so they don’t get locked out.
Method glass cleaner
£4.50, Method Shop
I spritz this onto my hob, fridge, smudgy cupboard and oven doors, then buff for a streak-free finish.
£4.50, Method Shop
I spritz this onto my hob, fridge, smudgy cupboard and oven doors, then buff for a streak-free finish.
Aroment energising diffuser
£16, Aroment
First impressions count for everything, so I always make sure the entrance hall smells clean and fresh. I like the natural fragrance an essential-oil reed diffuser offers, and this blend of rosemary, lemon, eucalyptus and peppermint hits all the right notes.
£16, Aroment
First impressions count for everything, so I always make sure the entrance hall smells clean and fresh. I like the natural fragrance an essential-oil reed diffuser offers, and this blend of rosemary, lemon, eucalyptus and peppermint hits all the right notes.
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