Residential show-apartment kitchen

Best for

Everyday kitchens where a confident grip matters more than a flush line — and the easiest handle to replace later.

Watch out

Protrudes into circulation; in a galley it catches sleeves and pockets. Screw centres are fixed, so a later swap is limited to the same drilling.

Best for

A quieter line than a bar pull while keeping a real finger grip.

Watch out

The lip collects grease directly under the hand — the first place a wet kitchen shows wear.

Best for

A fully handleless look with a continuous horizontal line, and a good fit where circulation is tight because nothing protrudes.

Watch out

The aluminium channel collects dust and grease and must be wiped along its length; a door out of alignment telegraphs down the whole rail.

Best for

A handleless front with nothing to catch on — fingers hook into a J-profile cut into the door's top edge, so the line stays flush without a channel in the carcass.

Watch out

The recess collects dust and grease and needs wiping. On base units the grip is at the top edge and on wall units at the bottom, so the two feel different in use.

Fixed L-shelves, reach in

Best for

Accepting a lost corner to keep the budget in the doors and fronts where it shows.

Watch out

The space is genuinely unreachable — it becomes storage nobody uses, which is a real loss in a small kitchen.

Trays revolve on a centre pole

Best for

Getting usable access to a blind corner without bespoke joinery.

Watch out

The rotating tray wastes the corner volume it turns in, and heavy items unbalance it.

Front baskets swing out, rear baskets slide forward

Best for

Small kitchens where the corner has to earn its volume.

Watch out

The most mechanism in the kitchen, so the most to go wrong; alignment is fussy and service means a specialist.

Best for

Where the joinery is genuinely bespoke — non-standard dimensions, unusual materials, a specific detail.

Watch out

Bespoke means longer lead time and less margin for a late change; the drawing has to be right.

Best for

A sound, honest kitchen where the budget is better spent on getting the wet zone right than on finish.

Watch out

The specification is decided for you; expect fewer choices in fronts, hardware and internal fittings.

Best for

The middle of the ladder, where finish and hardware quality start to show daily.

Watch out

Easy to spend here on what shows and under-specify what does not — the carcass matters more than the front.

Plan: two facing runs with a 1,500 mm aisle as drawn, no corners

Best for

Narrow plans.

Watch out

Whether two people can pass while cooking depends on the clear aisle left with appliance doors and drawers open, and on how many cook at once — check the illustrated 1,500 mm aisle against your appliances and household. Door swings at either end can also fight the run.

Plan: a 1,800 mm run turns along the side wall, one corner

Best for

The general-purpose answer — works in most rooms and leaves a natural dining or circulation zone.

Watch out

The corner is dead volume unless a corner solution is specified with it.

Plan: one 4,200 mm run on one wall, no corners

Best for

Small apartments and utility runs where the kitchen is one wall.

Watch out

Everything competes for one run — sink, hob and fridge crowd each other and prep space suffers.

Plan: runs on three walls, joined at two corners

Best for

Cooks who want maximum storage and worktop with everything in reach.

Watch out

Needs real floor width; two corners means two corner problems and a closed-in feel in a small room.

Best for

The wet run and the sink base — the case aluminium composite exists for.

Watch out

It is a construction choice, not a finish: it does not change how the kitchen looks, so it is easy to cut and regret.

Best for

The wettest positions, and where weight matters as well as water.

Watch out

Cut edges and fixings need the right detail; it is not forgiving of on-site improvisation.

Best for

A middle path where a timber substrate is wanted and exposure is real but not constant.

Watch out

Grade and glue line vary widely between suppliers — the name on the sheet is not a specification.

Best for

Rooms with genuine circulation space on all four sides.

Watch out

Clearance is the whole question; an island in a room that cannot take it makes the kitchen worse, not better.

Best for

Small kitchens where the floor is worth more than the extra worktop.

Watch out

Loses the social centre an island gives; the run does all the work.