My mobile kitchen fitting set up and the result

[alasdair.easton]

Hi all.  Just thought it might be worth posting these shots.  It's the complete mobile workshop I used to fit a kitchen on the Isle of Lewis (Scotland) recently.  I'd made the kitchen in my workshop near Edinburgh, so I really felt out on a limb fitting it on Lewis.  For those who don't know Scotland, Lewis is one of the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands off the west coast, in the atlantic.  Next stop Canada!  A loooong way from Edinburgh, involving a long drive, a ferry crossing then more driving on single track roads.  I wasn't sure what I'd find up there (there aren't many shops at all) so I took absolutely everything I thought I might need with me (the kitchen itself had been shipped a couple of weeks before).

All I had was my trusty Volvo V70 D5 estate car.  Thanks to the compact miracle of the MFT, the Kapex and all my systainers I was able to get everything stacked in the back comfortably with room to spare.  The core equipment were the MFT, CXS, Kapex, TS55 and rail, CT MIDI and Carvex.  I'm a worrier by nature but everything went off perfectly.  Fitted in 3 days, minimal clean up required, client was elated and I got sunday morning to chill out before heading to the ferry and the long drive home.

The thing is, without the fold-away nature of the MFT and the Kapex, and the ability to stack the systainers vertically and securely, there's no way I would have gotten away without hiring a van.  Money in the bank.

There are a few of shots of the finished result plus some of the surroundings.  What a spot to live.  Glorious.

Righto, I hope I've posted these correctly, it's the first time I've tried it...

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[Wooden Skye]

Great kitchen and nice views as well!  What wood are the cabinet doors made of?  Personally I think I would rather have a stationary island with some seating to be able to stare at the view, than having the roll around island.  But it isn't my money and it sounds like your client is happy.

 

[Woodchippie]

Nice looking kitchen, and what a lovely place to work.

 

[Billedis]

That is a beautiful kitchen.  Looks like that might be curly maple for the cabinets.  The views are beautiful as well.  My wife and I are headed to Scotland next September for a 2 week visit and we are really looking forward to it.  Bill

 

[alasdair.easton]

Thanks for the kind words.  The wood's all sycamore (that's what we call european maple here - I think I read sycamore might refer to something else in the states?).  Most of it was beautifully rippled - pure luck.  It's really hard to capture that ripple in photos.  Looks incredible in real life as the light changes or as you walk around it, but it was a nightmare to work!  It moved liked crazy as I was milling it so my wastage percentage was scary and it took a long time to get to final dimensions.

I did go through the whole mobile-or-not thing with the clients.  It was an interesting debate.  They didn't really have quite enough space for a big island (whilst also maintaining plenty walk-around space on all sides) and they were keen to keep a sense of openess through to the windows and the view.  Also there's a huge open-plan dining space behind the camera on the same level, so I suggested a mobile island could serve as a number of things:
- traditional island
- cook's workstation when it's pulled close to the stove
- a bar to sit at at the entrance to the kitchen
- a way to roll a huge dinner straight from the stove to the table and to remove all the dishes again once it's been eaten
- it was also designed to form an L-shaped combination when slotted in between the sink and the window.
- and it can be pushed out of the way when needed.

It suited the way they want to live but you're right that other people might prefer something else.

 

[nclemmons]

Really nice job.  The natural maple really looks perfect in that space.

How many days to do the build and then to do the install?

Thanks for sharing -

neil

 

[alasdair.easton]

Ah Bill, you win the prize for naming the wood!  And I hope you get the same weather next September when you're over here.  It was unbroken warm sunshine and glassy calm seas from the moment I left Edinburgh till I got back.  And the calm sea was important - I'm not a great sea-farer and the crossing over the minch (as they call it) is often a white-knuckle ride.

 

[alasdair.easton]

The build... oh dear, it took a really long time, for a number of reasons:
- I'm not the fastest guy, plus I built it with a fine-furniture approach rather than a kitchen approach.  It's the first full kitchen I've built and I think there's a different mentality required.  What do other folk think, am I wrong about that?  I'm thinking things like joints vs pocket screws, traditional butt hinges vs modern Blum-type ones, full traditional floating solid timber panels in the frame and panel doors, instead of veneered man-made board, etc.
- I couldn't mill efficiently because of the wood movement.  It was mill a bit, let it rest and move, mill some more, etc.
- also the sheer variety of grain pattern meant hours agonising over which boards to joint to form panels, which ones to save for stiles and rails, and which for cabinets sides, etc.
- and the house was a new-build and was hugely delayed a number of times, so I put the kitchen on the back burner a few times while I got on with other commissions.
- but mostly cos I'm slow

The fit itself was only 3 days because I designed it to need the absolute minimum of work on-site (i was nervous being so far from my workshop).  One wall was free-standing so it just needed sliding into place.  Also the worktops were stone, no joints or corners and were templated and cut ahead of time.  All I had to do was place them on top.

 

[RKA]

Beautiful work and what a location!  Thanks for sharing!

 

[wow]

Your cabinets look AMAZING - as does the installation, of course. I wouldn't have a hard time waking up to that view every morning either.