The finished Melksham bespoke kitchen: solid European oak frames with open shelves for pans, oak cabinet doors and an integrated dishwasher beneath the window

Bespoke Kitchen · Melksham

A bespoke oak kitchen in Melksham

Solid European oak cabinetry and open shelving, made to fit the room and finished with traditional paste wax.

Photographed after fitting in Melksham.

Nothing in this kitchen came from a range. Every cabinet was drawn to the room, then machined and built from solid European oak in the workshop before being fitted.

What was done

Guide price: As a guide, bespoke cabinetry costs £30,000 to £50,000 and above. This smaller Melksham kitchen cost less than a typical £30,000-plus kitchen because it comprised four main units. The range is a guide, not the bill for this individual project. Prices checked October 2026.
Solid European oak framework: The frames were machined and jointed in the workshop from solid oak rather than sheet material, because the units are largely open and the timber is doing structural work as well as being on show.
Oak-veneered panels and doors: Veneered oak panels were used for the larger flat areas. Solid boards that wide move with the seasons, so a veneered panel on a stable core stays flat while matching the solid frames around it.
Mostly open storage, services hidden: The homeowners wanted their pieces on show, so most of the kitchen is open shelving. The water softener and cleaning things were the exception, and those sit behind doors in a run designed around them.
Traditional paste wax finish: Finished with paste wax rather than lacquer. It darkens the oak, leaves the grain visible and can be re-waxed in place if a surface gets marked, which lacquer cannot.

The result

Cabinet sizes set by the room, not by the 500mm and 600mm steps a range is limited to.
Solid oak throughout the frames, with veneered panels only where a wide solid board would have moved.
Open shelving where the homeowners wanted to see their things, doors only where the plumbing and cleaning storage needed covering.

Fully bespoke is the right option when the sizes, the timber or the details you want cannot be bought, only made.

“Nick is highly professional, has an eye for the smallest details and is great at communicating. I drew a design I loved and Nick made it come to life. He regularly updated me on his progress, and when he came to fit was unobtrusive, polite and very neat and tidy. We would use him again in a heartbeat. Thank you Nick!”
Zoe Moreton, Melksham

The project