How Four Woods created a bespoke kitchen for a spectacular large-scale extension
How Four Woods created a bespoke kitchen for a spectacular large-scale extension
Simon Woods of bespoke joinery specialist Four Woods reveals the process behind the design of an exquisitely crafted kitchen that holds its own within a huge extension.
The kitchen in an extension to a Victorian rectory, which was believed to be an old timber frame from a church. The brief was to provide a design built on a traditional in frame kitchen with some modern touches.
The clients were keen to have a large island with seating at one end so as to incorporate a standard table to sit at, as well as 2 dishwashers. The kitchen also had to include a large Miele fridge and freezer and large wine cooler.
They came to us initially as they really wanted to give the project to a smaller independent cabinet maker rather than a larger company with a big glitzy showroom. They wanted to basically deal with the person that would be making and fitting the kitchen, based somewhere they could come down to the workshop and watch the build come together.
The cabinetry including the oak drawers was all made in-house at our workshop based in the quaint market town of Louth lying at the eastern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds.
The beauty of this is we keep complete control of the quality and also we can provide a truly bespoke service and this also allows the kitchen to evolve as things move forward with the build, which also means it’s easier to adapt to any changes should the need arise.
We tend to use a mixture of modern and traditional materials including moisture resistant MDF, tulipwood and solid oak.
The main challenges on this build were integrating the large fridges and the wine cooler alongside the larder unit with a pocket door. The client was keen for that wall, which included the large range cooker, to be as symmetrical as possible. We achieved this by keeping the high-level units pretty much symmetrical to draw the eyes away from the extra door between the wine cooler and larder.
The other challenge was finding a suitable extractor capable of taking away the smells and steam associated with cooking for the large range oven. The team at Westin was extremely helpful in this, as always. We gave them the size of the room and the oven and they were able to advise on the size of recommended ducting and extractor. They really do provide an exceptional service, which is why they really are my go-to for extraction.
To be fair we were all very proud of how the whole project turned out. I particularly like the curved details of the posts, which caused its own issues in the fact we had to make individual curved sections of skirting/plinths to go around these posts. The leather seating turned out rather nicely too.
I think it would be safe to say whilst the clients love the whole kitchen, they particularly love the extremely large island and the seating area.
Tags: kitchens, features, four woods, simon woods, bespoke kitchens
