Integrating Technology into a Handmade Kitchen Without It Dating in Five Years
Our handmade kitchens are built to last. Every cabinet, piece of timber, the joinery and the finishes are all designed…
Bespoke means different things to different clients. For some, it’s a hidden whisky cabinet in the island. For others, a window seat that doubles as the dog’s bed, a built-in dresser in a piece of reclaimed oak, or a coffee station finished to match a 1930s drinks cabinet. The personal touches are what turn a kitchen into yours.
The Details That Make It Yours
One of the most rewarding parts of designing a bespoke kitchen is the conversation about the personal details: the things that don’t appear on any specification sheet and would be impossible in an off-the-shelf design. A reading nook with bookshelves built into the side of the island. A hidden whisky cabinet behind a Shaker door. A dog bed tucked beneath a window seat. A bespoke spice drawer sized to the jars you already own. A reclaimed beam used as the worktop for a casual breakfast bar.
Because every cabinet, panel, drawer and frame is made to your measurements in our Essex workshop, almost any idea can be designed in. The brief is the conversation; the answer is the kitchen.
Personal touches we have built into recent kitchens
- Window seats with storage underneath, sized to suit children, pets or the view
- Hidden whisky & drinks cabinets behind concealed cabinet fronts
- Pet feeding stations: pull-out bowls, treat drawers, integrated water bowls
- Bespoke coffee bars: dedicated worktop section with concealed power and a Wolf coffee machine
- Reclaimed timber sections: a single board of reclaimed oak as breakfast-bar worktop
- Antiqued mirror splashbacks: framed with bespoke brass strips for warmth and texture
- Family detail: initials carved into hidden joinery, birth dates in a discreet engraved plaque, a Christmas-decoration drawer dedicated to one shelf
- Bespoke dressers and plate racks built to look like inherited furniture
- Concealed appliance cupboards: kettle, toaster and coffee machine entirely out of sight
- Secret doors hiding walk-in pantries and utility rooms
If you can describe it, we can design it. The brief is the only limit.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do you find out what personal details we want in the kitchen?
The first home consultation is largely a conversation. We ask about how you cook, who lives in the house, what you collect, what you do most evenings, how you entertain. A lot of the most rewarding bespoke ideas come from one client mentioning, almost in passing, that they have always wanted somewhere proper to keep their tea-making things, or their dog’s bowls, or their cookery-book collection.
Is there an extra cost for bespoke personalisation?
Some ideas add cost; many don’t. A bespoke spice drawer sized to your jars costs the same as a standard spice drawer. A reclaimed timber section adds the cost of the timber plus a little fitting time. A hidden whisky cabinet is mostly the door front; the bottle storage is conventional cabinetry. We will be transparent about which bespoke ideas add to the price and which are essentially free.
Can the personal details be added later, after the kitchen is fitted?
Often yes. We can come back and build a dresser, a window seat, a coffee bar or matching wall units once the main kitchen has settled in. Many clients ask us back for additional cabinetry one to two years later as new ideas occur.
Can you replicate something I have seen elsewhere?
Almost always, yes. Bring us a photograph, a magazine clipping, a sketch on a napkin or a memory of something you saw in a friend’s house. We will design and build the bespoke equivalent in your kitchen.
What is the most unusual bespoke detail you have built?
Among recent favourites: a fully integrated dog-shower into a bootility, a built-in fish tank framed by Shaker cabinetry, a hidden reading nook behind a swinging bookcase door, and a bespoke island with curved glass display shelving above. We love the unusual briefs.
Suppliers
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