Johnny Grey

Background
• Born in London and raised on a farm in the Sussex Downs, England. His rustic roots would later have an impact on his design style
• Trained as an architect at the London Architectural Association School of Architecture. After graduating, he set up a design studio and furniture workshop.
• Nephew of Elizabeth David, the doyen of British food writers, who had a significant influence on his interest in kitchens.
• Conceived the “Unfitted Kitchen,” resulting in a new freedom and creativity for designing kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms without built-in rigidity of continuous counters and wall based units.
o In 1980 the UK Sunday Times wrote a story on his then-revolutionary concept of the Unfitted Kitchen

Awards and Accolades
• Named “World’s Best Kitchen Designer” (Metropolitan Home Magazine); 1997
• “Kitchen Designer’s Designer (Homes and Gardens Magazine, England); 2000
• House and Garden UK; voted one of the top one hundred designers of the Twentieth Century; 2003
• Contributor to neuroscience research at the University of Salford in Manchester, UK with Professor John Zeisel on the subject of well-being and architecture; 2007
• Global speaking engagements have included a design tour of Canada, Australia and New Zealand to discuss “Sociability and Sanctuary” of kitchen design; 2006
• Projects featured in prestigious showrooms including A Room for All Reasons for the San Francisco showcase on Russian Hill; Metropolitan Home's Showtime House; 2008; Kips Bay, Electrolux NKBIS 2005 and 2006
• Simon Taylor Award Lifetime achievement in the kitchen industry; 2008

Author
• Kitchen Culture: Re-inventing Kitchen Design (2004/2005/2007); available in USA, Russian and Asian editions
• The complete Home Design book, main contributor; 1998
• The Hard-Working House; 1997
• The Kitchen Work Book spearheaded a new series of home design books for publisher Dorling Kindersley; 1997. It has sold more than 175,000 copies internationally and is published in 11 languages
• The Art of Kitchen Design; 1994. It has become an industry bible, selling more than 100,000 copies worldwide to date.

Clients
• Some of the most recognizable names: Sir Cameron Mackintosh, impresario; rock star Sting; Apple co-founder Steve Jobs; publisher Felix Dennis; Peter Bazalgette, creator of the reality TV show Big Brother; and Aubert De Villaine, co-owner and co-director of the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.

Not for Profit Design Contribution
• A founder of England’s South Coast Design Forum , a non-profit organization providing networking channels for designers, the local government, and design students