How a Handmade Kitchen Is Built

How a Handmade Kitchen Is Built

Most kitchens are built from standard units made in a factory and assembled to fit. Ours aren't. Every Minerva cabinet is built from scratch in our Herefordshire workshop, by hand, to the exact dimensions of your room using solid timber and joinery built to last decades, not years. This page explains what that means in practice, and why we wouldn't build a kitchen any other way.

BUILT FROM FOUR PARTS

A handmade kitchen is built for your room and no one else's. Off-the-shelf kitchens come in fixed sizes you have to design around. Every cabinet we make is built to your space, so an awkward alcove or a sloping wall becomes part of the plan rather than a compromise.

Each kitchen is a run of individual cabinets, made one at a time in our workshop. Every cabinet is built from four parts: the carcass, the frame, the drawers and the doors. The carcass (the box everything else is built onto) is fully six-sided and made from thicker, stronger material than the thin panels used in mass-produced or budget kitchens, so it stays square, holds the weight of a stone worktop without flexing, and won't sag or warp over the years. The drawers are crafted using traditional dovetail joints made from solid wood like oak or walnut.

  • Painted cabinet carcass with oak-veneered interior under construction in the workshop

    THE CARCASS

    The backbone of every cabinet is the carcass. Each carcass we craft is six-sided, stronger than off-the-shelf carcasses. Made from either veneered MDF or oak-veneered plywood, it's the main structure that carries everything else, including heavy stone worktops. The carcass is rarely seen, but we can paint it for feature kitchen cabinets like larders and countertop cupboards.

  • Navy Shaker cabinet frame with oak drawer boxes and soft-close hinges in the workshop

    THE FRAME

    The frame is the hardwood surround associated with a traditional Shaker kitchen. It hides the carcass end grain and protects the drawers and doors. It can match the cabinet colour and blend in, or contrast with it framing a natural oak drawer, for example on our Bologna kitchen design, a pencil-bead detail runs around every opening.

  • Cabinetmaker assembling a solid oak dovetail drawer box by hand

    THE DRAWERS

    Our standard drawer boxes are made from solid oak, with a dovetail joint on all four corners. Other timbers such as ash and walnut are available on request. Drawers are one of the hardest-working parts of any kitchen, so they run on 40kg-rated soft-close runners. Because we build them by hand, we can also make hidden, charging and extra-wide drawers.

  • Solid timber cabinet door being made by hand in the Minerva workshop

    THE DOORS

    We prefer self-lubricating soft close hinges that don’t slam and can each take a load of 10kg. The doors themselves are made by hand from hardwood or engineered materials using mortice and tenon joints - proven for centuries for strength and structural integrity.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS

An off-the-shelf kitchen gives you a layout. A handmade one is designed around the way you use the room. Before we draw anything, we want to know the real details. Whether you cook every night or mainly host at weekends, whether coffee is a quick flat white or a proper morning ritual, where you'd rather hide the bin, and where the wine should live.

That's where our bespoke features come in. Specific things designed around your habits and life, not bolted on as afterthoughts like a dog bed or breakfast station. Here are a few of the details you could build into yours.

  • Open larder cabinet with oak interior and built-in worktop in a dark grey handmade modern kitchen

    LARDERS

    The most versatile cabinet we make. Shelves and drawers configure however you need, appliances and sockets build in, and you can add a door-activated LED light that comes on as the door opens.

  • Open wooden drawer with an oak cutlery insert in a olive green bespoke kitchen

    INSERTS

    Our handmade kitchen drawer inserts are made from the same solid timber as the cabinets, with dividers sized to your cutlery, utensils, spices or coffee pods, each one is cut to fit the drawer it goes in, so everything has a place.

  • Built-in oak spice rack with labelled glass jars inside a larder

    SPICE RACKS

    Handmade for those who love to cook, our spice racks are the perfect blend of beauty and practicality. Whether integrated into your larder or tucked neatly inside a drawer, each rack is crafted to keep your favourite spices within easy reach.

  • Slimline LED strip lighting under an walnut shelf with glass storage jars

    LED LIGHTING

    Lighting is easy to overlook, but it changes the whole mood of a kitchen. Slimline LED strips let us add light to any dark corner, under shelves, inside cabinets, along plinths, almost invisibly.

  • Hidden drawer below a cutlery drawer, holding plates in a handmade kitchen

    SECRET DRAWER

    Sssssh! We love a secret drawer but don’t tell anyone. Great for bringing a 3rd drawer into a two-drawer aesthetic and maximising cabinet usage too.

  • Pull-out corner unit holding pots and pans in a sage green kitchen

    CORNER SOLUTIONS

    Corners are usually where the pots and pans disappear. We fit pull-out and swing-out mechanisms that bring everything back into easy reach, so the corner cupboard actually earns its space.

  • Deep drawer with peg dividers holding plates and bowls

    DRAWERS

    Drawers are great for storage because you can access everything easily. Add some pegs and you have the ultimate in crockery organisation. Bring on the dinner party.

  • Counter-top cupboard with bi-fold doors open, storing glassware with worktop space

    COUNTER TOP

    The counter-top cupboard hides small appliances behind bi-fold doors, with worktop space inside to use them. Coffee machine, toaster and kettle in one place and out of sight when you're done.

Made by hand in Herefordshire

Every Minerva kitchen is built by a small team of cabinetmakers in our Herefordshire workshop. A kitchen takes around 2 weeks on the bench, from cutting the first carcass to the final coat of paint. Nothing is outsourced and nothing is mass-produced, which is why we back every kitchen with our 15-year guarantee.

Cabinetmakers building kitchens by hand in the Minerva workshop in Herefordshire
Cream Shaker kitchen with brass bridge tap and stone splashback in a Minerva showroom

See Our Collections in Person

The first step to any Minerva journey starts with a visit to one of our showrooms. See these built across our collections and finished in our projects. Book a complimentary design appointment now to meet with one of our designers and discuss all things kitchens.

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