A kitchen without a single cabinet in an eight-sided room

Not a single cabinet: the choice that keeps everything light

In this octagonal room, the same one as the alternating-tread staircase, each stretch of wall meets the next at an angle of 135 degrees. The space is small and unusual, and the client wanted a small second kitchen that was functional, good-looking and open: not a single cabinet, so as not to weigh the room down. The answer takes very few elements: solid oak worktops carried on solid ash legs of 60 x 60 mm, an aluminium sink set into the worktop, and at the end, a rounded bar-height table steadied on its own ash leg.

Scribed to lime-plastered walls

The walls of the room are lime-plastered, and nothing in it is straight. Every element was therefore scribedScribing: copying the exact shape and irregularities of a wall onto a piece of timber or a panel. The unit hugs the wall instead of leaving a gap. Known as tablettage in French. on site to sit perfectly against the walls, including the two three-ply spruceThree-ply panel: three layers of solid wood glued together with the grain crossed. The stability of a panel, the look of solid wood. Known as a panneau 3 plis in French. shelves. The finish is a natural hard oil based on linseed oil, highly protective, which lets the wood breathe and can be repaired locally.

The questions I often get asked

Is a kitchen without cabinets still practical day to day? Can solid wood take a sink? How do you fit furniture to walls that are not straight? And in a small room, bespoke or flat-pack?

I have practical answers to all of that, and two articles to dig deeper: bespoke kitchen, kitchen showroom or flat-pack and which timber for a piece of furniture. For your specific case, call me: the quote is free.