The Twyford Shaker

This clean, crisp and modern kitchen design puts emphasis on the large island in the middle of the room. The working area is more subtle, blending into the walls and offering a blend of modern and traditional luxuries.

A bold and contemporary design

The Twyford Shaker kitchen started with a client’s vision for a kitchen where an island would be the focal point and the working part of the kitchen would melt into the background. The client's choice of colours and our input into the design and build made sure we completed the brief, producing a stylish kitchen which is both ergonomic and beautiful.

One challenge that required extensive planning was how and where to place an American-style fridge. A freestanding fridge would have looked out of place so integration was the answer. Our client’s request for a larder-type cupboard on the worktop near the window gave us the solution: we designed the integrated panels to replicate the double doors on the larder's top section and the pan drawers from the bottom section. The level of detail was essential if we were to completely disguise the fridge freezer! Not only did we need to consider the doors and drawer fronts, we had to make everything line up for a convincing look.

The island, which separates the working part of the kitchen from the living area, is finished in a very dark blue with limed-oak top. The rich, deep blue gives so much contrast and "pop" from the light wall units, making this the focal point of the Twyford Shaker. The island also provides a great deal of storage and a place to grab a coffee and relax with friends and family.

As with many of our kitchens, we used a blend of traditional techniques and modern comforts. Below you'll find details on the various elements that make up this kitchen.

"Guy and his team did a fantastic job with our bespoke kitchen and have made sure that everything is exactly as we wanted. He has a fantastic attention to detail"

Features of this kitchen

Modern meets traditional

This kitchen features a large American-style fridge freezer which is concealed in the large unit to the left, with a traditional Aga placed in the centre of the kitchen.

Clever disguises

We replicated the look of the pan drawers on the right-hand side of the kitchen to create the impression that the fridge housing is a separate piece of furniture. This disguises the fridge freezer which is concealed inside this unit – even down to using the same catch.

Larder with storage and hidden microwave

The larder-type unit on the worktop has double doors with a glass panel on top.

Larder door detail

These doors fold back to end up flush with the side of the cupboard, leaving the microwave built into a cupboard and the worktop in front clear.

Modified latches

We wanted to use cupboard latches on these doors whilst retaining a soft cushion close. To achieve this we modified the latches by taking the mechanics out of the latch so the cushion close could work.

Easier care and cleaning

The Island was designed to look as if it were on legs. We created a bigger gap under the unit helping with cleaning and accentuating the legs. A false leg hides the electrics/cables. The kitchen units have similar legs with a kick board to make cleaning easier.

The fridge unit, open

With the fridge open you can see the hinges on the integrated fridge panel. And the cavernous cold storage in this Fisher and Paykel fridge.

Making it easy to find what you're looking for

Look at all that storage! If you tried to store this on a shelf it would be extremely hard to find what you were looking for. In this case the drawers were extra deep because an Aga is 670 mm deep, so we could make the units deeper to give that extra bit of storage space