Ones To Watch | Four British Bespoke Kitchen Designers

If there's one design trend I've noticed lately, it's been the new wave of bespoke kitchen designers popping up to take our culinary spaces to the next level. Although our kitchen at present is an absolute hot mess of magnolia walls, badly DIY'd cupboards and zero worktop space, I live in hope that there are plenty of solutions available for when we finally get round to giving it that much needed update. Replacing just one or two elements - be it worktops and cupboard fronts, handles or a lick of paint can instantly transform a dull and dreary kitchen into a space worthy of spending time in. Perhaps you're in the same position and considering a kitchen project or maybe you'd just like to drool? Take a look at four bespoke kitchen designers from the UK who are causing a stir...

Custom Fronts

Not all bespoke kitchens involve a top to toe build. Consider mixing off the shelf schemes with custom details, high end with low. Brighton based husband and wife team Custom Fronts, hand craft high quality ply and hardwood cupboard fronts, tops and handles to use with Ikea Metod kitchen units. This is ideal if you had something particular in mind that isn't completely off the shelf and gives your kitchen a keen sense of personal identity. Fronts can also be painted in a beautiful range of colours, so eco friendly that apparently you could eat them if you wanted...though I wouldn't recommend that.

Pluck

One of my top picks at Clerkenwell Design Week, these guys make all the right noises for those with a penchant for a mid-century colour palette. Working out of their Brixton based workshop, Pluck's team of five experienced designer-makers have been producing kitchens for commercial and residential projects for ten years. I love the way they work with familiar materials in unusual ways - cork inside the handle pulls, laminate ply, London Plane and Sweet Chestnut. Play with their range of dark grey blues, olive greens, pale pinks and a shot of mustard yellow for something really different.

Lozi Design

I almost tripped over my own tongue when I saw this kitchen Lozi Design were exhibiting at Clerkenwell. Although not strictly kitchen design as owner Soroush Pourhashemi also makes bespoke furniture from his Dalston workshop, Lozi combines the use of contemporary digital design methods with traditional woodworking techniques. All the materials used are sustainable, including the natural Latvian birch plywood to the non-toxic glues and milk based paints made by recycling excess from dairy farms. You can even visit their workshop for a tour, on the same site as their shop so that you can see the process from design to product first hand.

Kent And London

If you saw my recent Shoreditch Design Guide, you'll be familiar with Kent & London's shop which I had the pleasure of visiting. Founder Luke Ellis started building kitchens from his workshop in Whitstable in 2009 but realising he needed a bigger space in London where much of his clients were visiting from, he now splits his time between both locations and the showroom in Shoreditch. Luke's designs take on a more timeless feel, using English hardwoods and oak and contemporary shades of paints, a collection of which will be launching soon.Want more kitchen inspiration? Follow my 'In The Kitchen' Pinterest board for more ideas...