A Bespoke Oak Kitchen
Earlier in the year I posted an article about the making of an oak kitchen island for a beautiful old manoir very near to us here in the Mayenne region. We also made an arched window for them with a wooden shutter. Our clients were thoroughly delighted with both their shaker island and window. Consequently, they asked us to make two bespoke oak kitchen cabinets to go either side of their huge fireplace.
Progress in the workshop
We have plenty of pictures of the making, delivery and installation of the units. However, the very final ‘finished’ pictures are going to have to wait a little longer. A tantalising wait. The granite top won’t be arriving for some weeks yet. French perfection takes time you know (those that live here will know what I mean!).
I can’t wait to see it all come together. This house is full of beautiful French furniture and intriguing brocante finds. A lot of the furniture has been exquisitely bought back to life by our client. She is a maker and upholsterer herself and can be found on her Facebook page Déjà Vu : Upholstery, Furnishings and Upcycling. It is always a pleasure to come here – a feast for the eyes.
Bespoke Kitchen Cabinets
And as you can imagine, none of the walls or floors are straight in this old house. So making something bespoke to fit it’s undulations was a little bit of a challenge. The bespoke oak kitchen units were made to fit the unequal spaces either side of the rather fabulous Lacanche cooker (range envy!).
It is not always easy to imagine how you will use a space until you are living in it. However our clients have waited so long to find this rare property, that they knew exactly what configuration they wanted for their kitchen. The left hand unit comprises of a double cupboard with horizontal internal shelf and three wide drawers with soft-close runners. The right hand unit again comprises of three wide drawers with soft-close runners, a sink unit with a soft-close bin drawer below and another double cupboard with a soft-close drawer above. Each cooker end of the units houses a large oak tray and there are oak kick-boards below each unit. All the beautiful cupboard handles are supplied by the highly recommended www.morehandles.co.uk .
Although the current worktop is only temporary, the kitchen has been in full use over the summer, catering for the many and varied guests that have passed through this romantic place. Our clients are chomping at the bit to finally finish work abroad before moving here permanently in November – with the granite worktop not too far behind.
Elizabeth Harvey
Makers Bespoke Furniture
If you have ideas for a bespoke oak kitchen just waiting to be realised, why not give us a call on +33 (0)2 43 09 63 70 or write to us at info@makersbespokefurniture.com to see if we can help. Quotations and advice are free!