How much does a handmade kitchen cost?

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We live in a period farmhouse which has a gorgeous, well-loved kitchen. It was beautifully carpentered when it was installed 27 years ago, and we’ve lived with it for five years.

However, there’s lots that drives me mad about it (a single oven, a 1960ms range that’s seen better days, two small under counter fridges, cold travertine floor.) I’m a keen cook and the layout doesn’t work brilliantly either.

We are thinking about getting a new kitchen and would want to replace like with like but updated with a few mod cons. I’m not interested in expensive kitchen islands, marble wotnots, wine fridges etc. I’d still like a traditional kitchen design, a central farmhouse table, proper bespoke joinery, a more practical floor (engineered wood?), a new range (would love an Everhot), large pantry cupboard etc. Plus extras like great appliances, more oven space, lovely lighting etc.

If you know of something similar, any thoughts about roughly what it might cost? We reckon we could manage 45k but with the cost of materials and skilled tradesmen at the moment I have no idea if that’s realistic. We are on the Essex/Suffolk border, so not Herts etc. but not far off in terms of costs.

We looked at replacing our solid wood kitchen recently. No appliances, flooring etc just bespoke carpentry cabinets. We were told around 100k. It was 45-60 for a fancy mdf with some solid bits. We do have a lot of units though

We got them refinished and repainted in the end and now they will probably last another 20 years

If it’s going to be 100k that’s what we’ll be doing! We’ve got loads of cupboards too, so I imagine it would be similar. The cabinets are sound, so I might look at a 20k tart-up job, new appliances and new floor. If it was a hovel (and I had a spare 100k) I’d be happy to spend the money, but it’s not going to be different enough to justify that sort of cost.

Who refinished and repainted the cabinets? Is a joiner able to do that sort of job?

Have you looked at Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch? They used to be quite an affordable way of going bespoke. You'd need to pay separately to have them finished though.

You could update the interiors of some of the cupboards with clever inserts. We had an indestructible Smallbone kitchen in our last house. We lived there for 25 years so god knows how old it was. Over the years we removed some cupboards for a larger range cooker and a bigger fridge, repainted it, changed the knobs, flooring, work surface. But I really wanted racks and trays and carousels and lovely soft close!

Around 35k for a handmade kitchen with decent sized island. Quartz worktops and that included all appliances and fitting etc.

Op, have a look at Luxmoore- they are local to you and do fantastic handmade kitchens.

I think a good handmade kitchen company could update what you have. Maybe make a couple of new units if required to sort out the fridge and oven issues and spray paint, it’s more like a tough coating on all the units. My mother had a couple of freestanding pieces sprayed about 15 years ago and they still look great.

Everhot stoves are really good my mother has one and doesn’t have another cooker. I don’t think the electric agas are as good. Agas seem best in oil.

If you are able to find an independent cabinetmaker you can save substantially- we are getting ours for 25k for custom solid wood, hand painted/stained and fully installed in a largish kitchen. We looked at a few other ‘high end’ suppliers and it was 35k plus for cabinets, with the 35k being mdf carcass with wood doors.

we used an independent kitchen designer to to a detailed plan, and she was able to connect us with some independent suppliers that she has worked with in the past.

I reckon it will be about £50k all in, including new floors, all new appliances (8k budgeted), etc. we are making minimal changes to plumbing and electric, which can also be a big cost driver.

Thanks so much, that is all really helpful and gives me hope!

We would definitely use an independent, local company if we can find one. Hopefully that would be a cost saving, and will support a local company. I just didn’t want to waste their time if it was impossible to do on our budget.

An independent kitchen designer sounds a great first step.

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