CASE STUDY ONE OF A KIND

The modern kitchen is a curious thing. Very often, the more expensive it is, the less it looks like a place to chop vegetables or wash dirty dishes.

- Judy Diamond

BRIEF To design, build and install a bespoke kitchen for a mews home.

DIMENSIONS The room is 6.5m long by 4.7m wide, and has a ceiling height of just under 3m.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE Transporting the island’s huge steel frame, then doing some spot-welding on-site.

TIMESCALE Three months.

BUDGET (approximate figures) Kitchen furniture, £18,000 Worktops, £6,000 Appliances, £20,000 Flooring, £2,000

SUPPLIER Peden & Pringle

Instead, its functions are disguised, its appliances hidden behind sleek, gleaming cabinet doors in streamlined units that wouldn’t look out of place in a living room.

But some homeowners are rebelling, turning down smooth, featureless surfaces in favour of something more tactile and personal. The owner of this mews property in the west end of Edinburgh, for instance, wanted a characterful kitchen to complement her home’s distinctive interior. To get something genuinely bespoke, she turned to local cabinetmakers Peden & Pringle. “The word ‘bespoke’ is often misused these days,” says Adam Peden. “A lot of companies claim to be bespoke, but their customers can only pick from a ‘range’ or a brochure – they won’t get the unique product they think they’re buying. But we make all our cabinets by hand in consultation with the client, so no two kitchens are ever the same.”