Recent Standout Project - Bespoke Country Kitchen Extension

Thomas Streeter looks back on this recent standout project

Today, I am sharing the bespoke country kitchen extension we designed and built for a Grade II listed home in Billingshurst, West Sussex. My team at Acorn Bespoke Carpentry and Joinery handled the entire commission, from the walk-in pantry to the windows.

I worked closely with the owners to design the high-quality kitchen interior that honoured the heritage of their property. We opted to skip upper wall cabinets entirely to maintain an airy, light-filled atmosphere. To compensate, we built a run of generous base cabinets with customised deep drawers, a central kitchen island, and a dedicated wall of floor-to-ceiling cabinetry for integrated appliances.

Bespoke AGA cabinetry

Our bespoke cabinetry also seamlessly incorporated the AGA® cooker, matching its height and depth to align perfectly, and ensuring a flush finish with the surrounding heat-resistant countertops. My team are experienced at designing cabinetry to accommodate an AGA in a kitchen, creating a cohesive look, with specialised storage for specific cookware such as roasting tins.

We constructed the cabinets in an authentic shaker style using solid maple for the doors and frames, which has a smooth grain and is extremely dent-resistant. The finish is where the design truly comes alive. We spray-painted the cabinetry in a striking black grape colour, and then hand-painted the exterior surfaces to provide a textured effect that will be easy to touch up. To pull it all together, the dark cabinetry is paired with Unistone countertops in jet-black with a velvety texture that adds depth without the glare of a gloss surface. Unistone worktops are premium engineered from about 90-93% natural quartz mixed with resin and pigments, creating an extremely hard, durable, and low-maintenance material.