18/10/2025
WHEN IS A KITCHEN NOT A KITCHEN ?
It’s so easy to buy new, but what if you haven’t got the budget? What if your current kitchen kind of works, but just needs a new lease of life?
It’s a sad truth, many modern, mass produced kitchens are lesser quality than those built 20 years ago.
Like all things, modern production means kitchens are built with a short life span in mind, it’s fast fashion in chipboard.
There are other, far more unique ways of a creating an elegant, and timeless kitchen.
1. Does it all have to match?
Many high end kitchen companies incorporate freestanding and antique pieces in their designs, Devol especially do this brilliantly.
It takes a bit of patience to find the right pieces but that’s part of the journey. When you do find something you really love though, you’ll never get bored of it.
2. How quirky are you?
Some people really don’t get reuse, they genuinely need everything to be new and match in perfect detail to feel content. There’s nothing wrong in that if it makes you truly happy, but I really believe there is a place in our kitchens for both.
The reclaimed kitchen market is becoming big business. Hundreds, if not thousands of kitchens are ripped out each year and replaced with poor quality equivalents, just to get ‘the look’.
A frameless shaker kitchen is a shaker kitchen, the design has been around for 20 odd years.
A second hand frameless, shaker kitchen build in the early 2000’s will be very similar to any new shaker kitchen available today. In fact, the doors are often virtually identical. (We replicate cabinet doors, so we really do know). As I’ve stated in previous posts, it’s also quite likely, and especially true for a vinyl wrapped door, that an older kitchen is much better quality too, because the materials are often stronger. The old adage, build it well, build it to last, definitely applies here.
Second hand kitchens are readily available on eBay, Facebook Marketplace and gumtree, check the condition of the units and look for named kitchens. Also be willing to hire a van to collect. Fitting a good quality, second hand kitchen can save you thousands.
3. Don’t dismiss bespoke.
If you’re planning on building a unique kitchen, don’t dismiss bespoke cabinetry for the most well used areas.
A freestanding sink unit, along with antique or reclaimed cabinetry can give you a high end, stunning looking kitchen, for a lot less money.
Planning the sink unit, oven, fridge and food storage need to be biggest priority when you start, make sure you get these right, a functional kitchen is the goal.
The working triangle is crucial to any scheme, (minimal distance between the sink, fridge and oven.)
4. Freestanding elements
A food larder can be a vintage cabinet, a repurposed wardrobe with additional shelving. Spice racks look great added to the cabinet doors and once everything is painted, it all sits comfortably together.
Similarly, a natural recess in a room can make a perfect pantry when fitted with shelves and doors.
Islands and peninsulas can be built incorporating pine or antique dresser bases or second hand cabinetry.
Remember you need at least a metre to navigate around an island, I try to use 1.2 metres to ensure a comfortable space. Also, small islands can end up becoming a mini roundabout in the middle of a kitchen. Generally, an island works better if it’s bigger, peninsulas are often a better use of space in a narrower kitchen.
5. Paint
Brings all of the different parts together and unites everything. Never underestimate the power of colour, or the power of quirky.
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Images Pinterest or our own.
