A Bold Two-Tone Handleless Kitchen in Wendover

Rhianon’s kitchen sits in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, in a family home built around her collection of antique and traditional furniture. She visited our nearby Amersham showroom as she wanted a modern, handleless kitchen that would contrast deliberately with it, not disappear into it. She works in the auction business, so she knows a good piece of history when she sees one — and she wanted her new kitchen to hold its real history.

In addition, the property is a family home in this part of Buckinghamshire. Here, the team reconfigured internal walls to create a more functional kitchen-diner. The space now opens onto the garden through large doors. Angled ceilings and skylights bring in natural light throughout the day.

Meanwhile, Rhianon’s existing freestanding fridge freezer and range cooker were retained. They became part of the design rather than being replaced by it.

Overall, every finish in this kitchen was chosen with intention. For example, Rhianon fell in love early on with a Putney Bridge Traditional Dual Lever Tap in Antique Brass. The team considered both gunmetal bronze and stainless steel rail options, but ultimately chose stainless steel to tie in with the steel finish of the range cooker and fridge freezer.

To complement the tap, they ordered the waste kit in a matching brass. In addition, a brass rail on the side of the waterfall island now gives Rhianon somewhere to hang tea towels and oven gloves, keeping them out of sight of the range.

Similarly, the team carefully planned the range cooker run around symmetry. Rather than centring the cooker with the ceiling above, they positioned two 1200mm deep drawers either side of it. As a result, this creates a balanced run and leaves space at the end for Rhianon to add freestanding furniture in future.

One of the main challenges on this project was coordinating the kitchen installation with ongoing building works. Floor levelling, in particular, was still in progress. To manage this, our design team worked closely with the worktop fabricators. Together, they templated and installed sections of the worktop in stages. This allowed parts of the kitchen to remain in use while the wider renovation continued around it.

“It’s a pleasure designing kitchens for clients who dare to be bold. This space achieves a beautiful balance between modern and traditional, old and new, light and dark. The clients were an absolute pleasure to work with, and I’m so proud that we were able to turn their vision into a reality.”

Rhianon’s two-tone handleless kitchen shows how combining two ranges, Velluto and Perfect Plus, can bring balance and contrast to a home filled with character and history. If you’re in Wendover, Aylesbury, or anywhere else in Buckinghamshire and you’re drawn to a bold two-tone design, come and talk to us. Our Amersham kitchen showroom is a short drive away,  and our designers would love to help you plan yours.