The choice of material for cabinet doors depends very much on each customer’s preference. We might use ash for a painted woodgrain door, natural oak for a more traditional look, or a high-gloss acrylic finish for a contemporary style. We use solid timber, typically oak or walnut, for our drawer boxes, with traditional dovetail joints. For their strength and durability, we tend to use a combination of Finsa Hidrofugo moisture resistant MDF, MFC (Melamine Faced Chipboard) or plywood to construct our cabinet carcasses.

The cost of a bespoke kitchen will depend on factors such as the space, design, materials and appliances that are chosen.  As you would expect, a handmade kitchen will cost significantly more than a ready-made ‘off the shelf’ kitchen, but hand-built kitchens are an excellent investment. They are made to last and will give you a lifetime of pleasure. As a guide; a small kitchen will cost anything from £35,000, rising to over £60,000 for larger spaces.

We always keep abreast of the latest kitchen trends. Central islands continue to be an enduring trend – they offer so much flexibility for casual dining, storage, or simply to unite the space by incorporating a hob.

Home bars and pantry / larders are certainly something that our customers are increasingly interested in – perfect for home entertaining, they can also be subtly concealed within cabinetry when not in use.

The sophistication of a blue and brass kitchen is ever popular. More recently, customers have been combining a range of natural materials, such as wood and stone, with subtle greens and pinks to create earthy, calm tones.

Whatever the style of your kitchen, whether traditional Shaker, or high-gloss contemporary, a kitchen island is often a prerequisite. Kitchen islands can be used to divide the space into cooking and living zones, while maintaining the cohesive feel. The cook can work uninterrupted on one side, while chatting to guest seated opposite. Islands are incredibly versatile, providing space to cook, for casual dining, for storage (perfect for a wine fridge) and very often, they are perfect for homework!

These days, most homes no longer have a pantry or larder to store food – they have often been absorbed into our living spaces. However, the larder or pantry cupboard is certainly something that is very much of the moment. These bespoke storage cupboards are an absolute joy to use – giving easy access to everyday essentials, but neatly shut away behind beautiful handmade cabinet doors. Pantry cupboards often incorporate marble shelves for the cool storage of eggs and butter, vegetable drawers and spice racks. We now often include power sockets to further enhance the practicality of these beautiful pieces of furniture.

Selecting the right appliances for your new kitchen is very important – and this is certainly an aspect we can help with as part of the design process. We have a lot of experience in helping our customers choose appliances that will best suit their family life and their approach to cooking. At our Tonbridge kitchen showroom, we can demonstrate appliances such as the Quooker tap, the BORA worktop extractor and sleek and intuitive Miele ovens. We can help you make the right decisions about additional technology such as the Miele warming drawer or BORA X Bo steam oven.