Classic In-Frame Deeper Mouldings & Beaded Shaker Kitchen 120 – Loughton, Essex

Project Highlights

• Our Classic In-Frame Shaker cabinetry with a beaded front frame and deeper mouldings set within the centre panel for each door
• Hand-painted throughout in Rolling Fog Light by Little Greene, a warm, softly grounded neutral
• Generous central island with cabinetry either side for a balanced, symmetrical composition
• Bespoke curved banquette seat attached to the island, with a padded cushioned seat and round table
• Twin bi-fold larder cupboards, a drinks bar one side and a breakfast pantry the other
• Bespoke sink mantle with traditional cornicing, an iconic Shaws ceramic sink and a Nero antique mirror splashback
• Xanthos quartz worktops with Armac Martin Withenshaw cup pulls and Queslett knobs

A Loughton Renovation

We welcome you to our Loughton project, which brought us into a home that had already undergone an extension, but had never quite made the most of the space it created. Our client was still working around the original kitchen, with a peninsula of base cabinetry pushing awkwardly into the room and limiting both the worktop area and the flow of everyday life. They wanted to open the space up, make it more social, and finally give themselves a kitchen that matched the ambition of the extension around it.

Together, we set about reimagining the layout entirely, with generous worktops, room to gather, and a handful of standout features that would come to define the room, including a bespoke bar in a bi-fold larder cupboard and a beautifully considered booth seat attached to the island.

Classic In-Frame with Deeper Mouldings

The cabinetry style takes its inspiration directly from our own showroom display, our Classic In-Frame Shaker. The beaded front frame gives the doors a fine, well-defined edge, while a deeper moulding sits within the door itself, adding shadow, depth and that unmistakable handmade character.

Every hinge throughout is soft close, so doors settle back into place with a quiet, satisfying weight rather than a bang. The end panels are kept smooth for a clean finish, and the cabinetry sits on a stepped and rounded skirting plinth that softens the base of the run beautifully. On the hob side of the island, this is swapped out for a recessed plinth instead, a subtle change that lets the island read as a piece of free-standing furniture and gives you that little bit of extra toe room where you stand to cook.

A Symmetrical Layout and Island Banquette

The layout is built around a generous central island, with cabinetry running along either side of it to create a beautifully balanced, symmetrical composition. How the island anchors the room is where the space has clear rhythm and a real sense of purpose as you move through it.

Within the island, this banquette is the spot the whole house will fight over. A gentle curve wraps softly around a solid base, drawing you in the moment you walk into the room, while a round table pulls up close to complete the picture. Breakfast, brunch or a catch-up over coffee, it is all sorted from the same considered corner. A padded, cushioned seat runs the length of it, generously proportioned and made to be settled into for hours rather than just perched on for a quick five minutes.

It is easily the best seat in the room for watching a glorious day unfold through the windows and doors, sunlight pouring across the worktop, the garden framed just beyond, and the rest of the kitchen humming quietly on around you.

Hand-Painted in Rolling Fog Light

Every cabinet and drawer is hand-painted in Rolling Fog Light by Little Greene, a warm, softly grounded neutral that suits the character of the home perfectly. It is one of those quietly clever colours, clever enough to keep the room feeling open and full of daylight, but with enough warmth in the undertone to stop it ever reading as cold or clinical.

Considered Appliance Placement

The appliance placement has been carefully considered throughout, where each piece is positioned to work as hard as the space around it. On the main run, a Miele oven and microwave sit at eye-level, stacked neatly one above the other for a sleek, uncluttered look that keeps everything easy to reach and easy on the eye. Over on the island, the Siemens vented induction hob takes centre stage, letting the cook stand facing the open plan space and the garden beyond rather than turning their back on the room. It is a small change in orientation that makes a real difference in the art of cooking. Cooking becomes part of the conversation rather than a task carried out in isolation.

An integrated wine cooler tucks discreetly into the run, ready for the more social side of life, while the Siemens fridge freezer disappears entirely into the floor-to-ceiling cabinetry, keeping the lines of the room calm and unbroken.

The Shaws Sink and Bespoke Mantle

One of the most beautiful moments in the whole kitchen is the sink area. An iconic Shaws ceramic sink takes centre stage, paired with a Quooker Classic Fusion Round tap in patinated brass and a matching Quooker soap dispenser, the warm brass tones sitting perfectly against the softness of the Rolling Fog Light cabinetry.

Above it, a bespoke mantle draws the eye upward, complete with traditional cornicing and a generous ledge, a lovely piece of made-to-measure joinery that gives the sink run real presence and turns it into a feature in its own right rather than something purely functional.

Behind the tap, a Nero antique mirror splashback catches the light. It quietly reflects the room to itself, softening the darker edge of the composition and adding a subtle sense of depth and glamour. It is a sink area designed to be seen as much as it is used, considered from every angle, and beautiful in every detail.

A Drinks Bar and Breakfast Pantry

Two cabinets sat here doing two very different jobs, made to look like one considered composition. On one side sits a drinks cabinet, on the other a breakfast pantry, each hidden behind its own set of bi-fold doors that fold neatly away when in use and disappear again the moment they are closed.

The symmetry between the two is what makes the whole wall work so beautifully, identical frames mirrored either side for a genuine architectural feature. Open up either of them, and the shelving reveals itself as considered joinery, spaced perfectly for the contents each is designed to hold: glasses, bottles and barware on one side, coffee, everyday breakfast essentials and crockery on the other. It is a lovely reminder that the best kitchens are the ones where every cupboard is designed for exactly what will go inside it, not a shelf out of place.

The Final Layer of Details

It is the final layer of details that brings the whole kitchen quietly to life. Xanthos quartz worktops run throughout, a beautifully consistent surface with just enough movement to feel natural without ever competing with the cabinetry around it. The handles are Armac Martin, Withenshaw cup pulls paired with Queslett knobs on rectangular back plates, a considered combination that gives every drawer and door a quiet, English confidence.

Discreet LED lighting strips are featured around the room, giving off a warm, atmospheric glow at any time of the day. Inside every drawer, bespoke storage components have been made to fit exactly what our client needed, including tailored cutlery trays and utensil trays, sized and divided so that everything has its own considered home. It is these small, largely unseen details that separate a handmade kitchen from anything mass-produced and make a space genuinely rewarding to live with year after year.

A Kitchen That Lives Beautifully

Step back and take in the room as a whole, and it is easy to see how far this Loughton kitchen has come from where it started. The space that once felt closed in by a peninsula of base cabinetry now flows generously from end to end, every element working together to make the room feel as social as it is beautiful.

Anchoring it all is a grand mirror placed on the back wall, positioned exactly where it needs to be to bounce daylight back into the room, mirroring the cabinetry, the island and the garden beyond, and opening the space up in a single elegant gesture. It is a kitchen that lives as beautifully as it looks, considered from every angle, hand-built to last, and ready to be at the heart of family life for many years to come.