Bespoke Wooden Storage Solutions Derby
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01332-529933
Every piece built for this service comes out of our workshop on Stenson Rd in Sunny Hill, the same base that runs our wider kitchen fitting work across Derby and towns including Belper, Ilkeston and Long Eaton, so a pull-out larder or corner carousel is cut and joined by the same team who build full kitchens, not a separate sideline. Our joinery is carried out by tradespeople with formal City & Guilds training and a bench-joinery background, which is what lets us cut proper dovetail joints rather than the glue-and-pin construction that tends to loosen after a couple of years of daily drawer use. A lot of what we build ends up going into the kind of awkward gaps you get in Derby's older housing stock - a narrow alcove beside a chimney breast in a Victorian terrace, or a cabinet run in a 1930s semi that's a few centimetres off a standard width - as well as into newer-build kitchens where the units are square but the owner wants more out of the storage than the standard shelf-and-drawer layout gives them.
If you're adding storage into cabinets that already exist, or fitting it out as part of a full kitchen refit, the same crew and the same written guarantees apply either way.
What's Included in a Bespoke Storage Project
- Pull-out larder units built into narrow gaps
- Made-to-measure drawer organisers with cutlery, knife-block and spice inserts
- Corner storage - carousel units, Le Mans pull-outs and diagonal corner cabinets
- Plate, pan, tray and lid storage racks
- Bespoke wine and glass storage
- Choice of solid hardwood (oak, maple, walnut, cherry) or marine-grade plywood carcasses
- Soft-close, full-extension runners and hinges fitted as standard
- Retrofitting into your existing cabinet frames, not only new kitchens
Not Included / Costed Separately
- Replacing the kitchen cabinet carcasses themselves - that's a separate fitted kitchen project, not a storage retrofit
- Worktop cutting or replacement
- Cabinet or under-unit lighting and other electrical work, carried out separately by our Part P registered electricians
- Moving pipework or plumbing connections
- Structural alterations such as removing a wall
- Clearing large volumes of old units beyond what's agreed at quote stage (we're a registered waste carrier, so this can be added in and disposed of legally, but it's priced separately if not scoped upfront)
Bespoke Wooden Storage Compared With Flat-Pack Inserts
| Bespoke Wooden Storage | Flat-Pack / Off-the-Shelf Inserts | |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Measured and built to your exact cabinet dimensions | Standard sizes - often needs trimming or leaves gaps |
| Materials | Solid hardwood or marine-grade plywood | Thin MDF, laminate or plastic |
| Joints and hardware | Hand-cut dovetail joinery, soft-close full-extension runners | Glued or stapled joints, basic runners |
| Awkward spaces | Corner carousels, Le Mans units and slim larders built to fit the gap you actually have | Rarely adapts to non-standard cabinet openings |
| Lifespan | Built to last decades with basic care | Typically needs replacing within a few years |
| Fitted by | City & Guilds trained joiners, part of the same crew that can fit your whole kitchen | Usually self-assembled |
Why the Joints Don't Open Up After a Few Years
A cheap drawer insert usually fails at the joint first - the glue dries out, the staple pulls through the MDF, and within a couple of years the whole thing racks sideways under the weight of pans. That's the specific problem bench joinery is built to avoid: our joiners trained to City & Guilds standard cut dovetails and proper housing joints by hand, the same techniques used in cabinetmaking rather than volume kitchen manufacture, so the corners stay square under daily use instead of just looking neat on installation day. Behind that is a 5-year guarantee on the labour and installation and 2 years on the materials and hardware, so if a soft-close runner does eventually stick or a joint does work loose, it's a call to us rather than a trip to a hardware shop for a repair kit. Old units and offcuts don't get left in your skip or your garden either - we're a registered waste carrier, so what comes out gets taken away and disposed of properly, which matters more once you've seen how much a full cabinet strip-out actually produces. We're also members of CITB and the Federation of Small Businesses, and separately we do a fair amount of work as an independent installation specialist for Howdens, Wren Kitchens, Magnet and premium German handleless systems - so if your kitchen came from one of those and you just want a joiner who can build storage that actually fits inside it, that's a job we take on regularly rather than as a one-off favour.
Bespoke Storage Fitting Across Derby, Derbyshire and Nottingham
The workshop that cuts and joins this storage is on Stenson Rd in Sunny Hill, on the south side of Derby, and most jobs are still within the city - Victorian terraces with narrow chimney-breast alcoves, 1930s semis where cabinet runs are rarely a clean multiple of 600mm, and newer developments where the units are square but the owner wants more out of the storage than a standard drawer stack. Outside the city, the same crew covers Chesterfield, Long Eaton, Belper, Ilkeston, Heanor, Alfreton, Swadlincote, Ripley, Dronfield and Duffield, and further into the Peak District - Wirksworth, Matlock, Bakewell and Buxton - where a fair few of the properties are older stone cottages with sloped ceilings and under-eaves space that only really works with something built to the actual shape of the room rather than a standard-size insert. We also take on landlord and developer jobs into Nottingham, usually where a run of rental kitchens needs matching storage fitted quickly and to a consistent spec.
Questions About Bespoke Wooden Storage in Derby
Is there a guarantee on the storage itself, or just the kitchen fitting?
The same guarantee terms apply to bespoke storage as to a full kitchen fit - 5 years on the labour and installation, and 2 years on the materials and hardware. If a drawer runner sticks or a joint opens up within that period, it's covered.
What happens to my old units and offcuts once the work is finished?
They're cleared as part of the job. As a registered waste carrier, old cabinets, doors and timber offcuts are removed and disposed of legally rather than left for you to deal with or taken to a general skip.
Can you build storage into a kitchen I bought from Howdens, Wren or another supplier?
Yes. We work as an independent installation specialist for major supply-only brands including Howdens, Wren Kitchens, Magnet and premium German handleless systems, so bespoke storage can be built to fit inside cabinets you've already bought elsewhere, not only kitchens we've supplied ourselves.
Do I need an electrician for lighting inside my new storage?
If you want lighting built into a larder or display cabinet, yes - that's wired separately by our Part P registered electricians, who issue the safety certificate for it. It isn't included in the joinery price by default, so mention it at the design stage so it can be quoted and scheduled alongside the storage.
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