THE LUXURY RANGE
Plywood carcases,
hand-made in-frame doors.
The luxury range is built properly, from the inside out — solid timber face frames, doors set within the frame rather than stuck on the front, and plywood carcases built to last. It's the traditional, higher-end way of building a kitchen.
WHAT IN-FRAME MEANS
The door sits within the frame, not on top of it.
Most fitted kitchens — handmade or supplier — are "overlay": the door is simply hung in front of the cabinet, covering the carcase edge entirely. In-frame construction is different. A solid timber face frame is built and fitted around each cabinet opening, and the door is hung within that frame, sitting flush or slightly recessed, with a visible reveal of timber all the way round.
It's more work to build and fit accurately — every frame opening has to be square and consistent for the doors to hang correctly — but it's the construction method behind proper country and shaker-style joinery kitchens, rather than a flat-pack carcase with a foil-wrapped door screwed to the front.
From bare carcase to fitted frame and doors.
BUILT FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Solid plywood carcases.
Behind the frame, the carcases themselves are built from solid plywood rather than chipboard or MFC (melamine-faced chipboard), which is what most supplier kitchens use underneath their doors.
Plywood is stronger, holds screws and hinges properly over years of use, and is far more resistant to the damp and knocks a kitchen takes near sinks, dishwashers and washing machines. Chipboard carcases can swell and fail at the first sign of a leak — plywood simply doesn't behave the same way.
CHOOSING YOUR PLYWOOD
A finish to suit your kitchen.
Plywood isn't one material — the finish you choose changes the whole feel of the carcase and the visible edges around doors, drawers and shelving:
- Natural birch — pale, elegant tones, sanded smooth, left bare or oiled.
- Lacquered birch — a hard-wearing sprayed lacquer that protects the surface and brings out the wood's natural grain.
- Oak veneer — a richer, more traditional look for carcases and visible plywood edges.
Timber is sourced from FSC-certified suppliers where possible — wood from forests that are responsibly managed rather than just the cheapest sheet available.
INSIDE THE CABINET
Blum, plywood,
or signature drawers.
For the drawers themselves, standard Blum drawer boxes are an excellent, proven choice — soft-close, full-extension and used throughout the trade for good reason. That's what's fitted as standard on a bespoke build.
We can also fit solid plywood drawer boxes — the same material as the carcases, in a matching finish, for a cleaner, more consistent look inside the cabinet than a standard metal-sided box.
If you want something a little different again, we can build signature drawer boxes to order — solid 8mm aluminium sides with a 4mm aluminium base and back, dovetailed to a solid timber front, finished with knurled brass handles. Available with hidden soft-close runners, or push-to-open for a fully handle-free front. Pictured in walnut, but it can be made in any timber to match your kitchen. It costs more than a standard box, but it's a genuinely different look and feel when you open a drawer.
Pictured in walnut — available in any timber.
IS IT FOR YOU?
It costs more, because it's made differently.
An in-frame kitchen costs more than a supplier kitchen — it's built by hand, piece by piece, rather than assembled from flat-pack panels. If that's the kind of kitchen you're after, it's worth talking it through early, because the carcase and door construction shape the whole design from the first sketch, not something bolted on at the end.
If you'd rather keep costs down, a Howdens or other supplier kitchen fitted properly is still a very good kitchen — see the kitchen design & fitting page for that side of things, or the current supplier brochures .
THINKING ABOUT AN IN-FRAME KITCHEN?
“I want something that will properly last.”
Send me a few photographs of the room or give me a call — we can talk through whether an in-frame kitchen is the right fit for your space and budget.