Bespoke kitchens are designed and handmade from scratch to suit your room space, your lifestyle and your taste. It’s like commissioning a tailor made suit, created to fit your exact body shape and specifications.
While you may need to make compromises if you go for off-the-shelf products, you have both total control and limitless choice when it comes to a bespoke kitchen.
What is a bespoke kitchen?
A truly bespoke kitchen maximises all the available space in the room. The cabinets are made to measure to whatever size is appropriate. In contrast, regular kitchens have to rely on ‘infills’ to create symmetry and to ensure mass produced units fit into the room.
With bespoke you can specify any non-standard detail you like, including a curved island, unusual worktop finish or inbuilt dog basket. If you are particularly tall or short, you can have the kitchen designed for your personal ease of use.
There are countless benefits of a bespoke kitchen, the main ones being:
- Your kitchen can be designed it to fit the available room space
- Everything can be designed it to suit specific lifestyles
- Kitchen units are hand built to last
- Your kitchen will be installed by professionals
- A bespoke kitchen will upgrade your home, adding to its value
- You will have a kitchen that is truly unique
- There are infinite variation in styles, materials, colours and finishes
Where to get inspiration for a bespoke kitchen
Magazines, newspapers and the internet are all good starting points when you need some kitchen inspiration. Pinterest is a great source of endless creative ideas. Why not create a scrapbook of styles, ideas and features that appeal to you? And don’t forget to visit kitchen showrooms and take pictures of units, designs and styles that you like the look of.
Gradually you will be able to create a mood board for your new kitchen. This can be used to help a kitchen designer understand your style, preferences, favoured colours, finishes and materials.
How to find a great kitchen designer
Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find a designer. Ask around; talk to your friends, family, neighbours about who they would recommend. Also do your own research – compile a shortlist of potential kitchen design companies and ask to see some of their previous projects.
If you get the opportunity ask previous clients about their experiences of the kitchen company:
- Did they stick to timescales?
- Did they stay on budget?
- How easy were they to work with?
- How innovative and original were their ideas?
- How good were they at suggesting creative solutions to any potential problems?
- How well were any mistakes rectified?
What input does a kitchen designer need from you?
Once you’ve chosen your designer, set up a meeting to discuss your new bespoke kitchen. Insist on a home visit so they can appreciate your home style and how the room will work with the rest of your house. Ideally, you should be able to provide architectural plans of the current space and any further building work that may involve the kitchen.
It is also useful to have a ‘wish list’ of particular features you require, such as specific storage requirements, favourite appliance brands, preferred worktop materials, or historic references to the rest of the house. Your mood board or ideas scrapbook will also be useful.
It’s important to have a budget in mind. A good designer will be able to help you choose where to invest this wisely and where it is possible to save money. They can explain the cost implications of certain types of cabinetry, veneers, worktops and appliances.
How does the build work?
The kitchen designer will create an initial kitchen design for you to take a look at; this can be amended and modified until everyone is happy to proceed. Once this is done, you will usually be expected to pay a deposit before the build can begin off site, at the kitchen workshop.
The best thing about a bespoke kitchen is that it’s built by skilled artisans and craftsmen using a limitless choice of materials, colours, finishes, fittings and styles. They can make anything in any size and so as long as the initial measurements are correct, there should be no problems in getting exactly what you want.
What about delivery and installation?
Every kitchen company will have their own way of working, but each bespoke kitchen will have some kind of project manager, responsible for overseeing the installation team. They will ensure that the final build goes without a hitch and with the least amount of disruption to you and your family. The end result will be a fabulous bespoke kitchen that will give you many years of pleasure and should last a lifetime.