We make kitchens in four styles: Edge, Overlay, Linear and Frame. Co-founder and design director Alan Drumm explains what makes them different and how to choose the right one for your home.
We’ve made plywood kitchens since 2011, and over those 15 years we’ve developed four styles. They are all available to view in our showroom.
These aren’t simply different door styles fitted to the same cabinet. Each has its own construction and detailing, influencing how we design and manufacture the furniture. Whatever the style, every kitchen is made entirely from responsibly sourced European birch plywood in our own UK workshop.
Bespoke, our fully managed design service, offers all four styles. Core, our supply-only modular range, is made only in Overlay, by the same design team and in the same workshop.
Each style has its own strengths. Choosing the right one depends on the architecture of your home, how you use the space and your personal taste.
Edge is our signature style. First developed in 2011, it remains the design most closely associated with Uncommon.
Exposed plywood edges and handles integrated into the cabinet frames give Edge its distinctive graphic character. It’s a design that celebrates the material rather than concealing it.
Edge works across a wide range of architectural settings, from period terraces to contemporary extensions. Its strong graphic lines lend themselves particularly well to colour, so we often recommend pairing Edge with a simple, understated worktop.
Edge is available in Bespoke only.
With Overlay, flat doors and drawer fronts sit over the cabinet frames, creating clean, uninterrupted surfaces.
Understated by design, Overlay allows other elements to take the lead. It’s particularly effective when paired with a statement worktop or splashback, or when creating a wall of storage that reads as a single, continuous surface.
The choice of handles can transform its character. Timber veneer with discreet handles creates a mid-century feel, while painted fronts with unlacquered brass can lend a more traditional appearance.
Overlay is available in Bespoke and is the only style offered in Core.
Linear uses continuous recessed channels to create integrated handles, leaving the doors and drawer fronts as simple, uninterrupted surfaces.
With its strong horizontal and vertical lines, Linear is perhaps our most architectural style. It works particularly well in contemporary and mid-century interiors, especially where long runs of cabinetry allow the lines to continue uninterrupted.
The channels can match the fronts or contrast with them.
Linear is available in Bespoke only.
With Frame, each door and drawer sits within its own plywood surround. It’s our contemporary interpretation of the Shaker kitchen, drawing on traditional cabinetmaking while retaining the precision and clarity of modern manufacturing.
Frame is particularly well suited to period homes and to those who appreciate the proportions and character of traditional cabinetry. Painted finishes and brass handles give Frame a more traditional character, while timber veneers and understated hardware create a contemporary look.
Frame is available in Bespoke only.
No single style is inherently better than another. When helping clients choose, we consider three things: the architecture of their home, how the space needs to function and the character they want to create.
We always start with the architecture. Each style responds differently to the proportions and geometry of a room. Edge works particularly well in spaces with regular dimensions, but its rhythm of exposed frames and integrated handles can be harder to resolve beneath stairs or sloping ceilings. In these situations, Overlay or Linear often provides a better solution.
We wouldn’t force a particular style onto a space if another approach would work better. Sometimes that means combining styles within a single kitchen. In our Victorian farmhouse project, for example, Linear tall units sit beneath the staircase alongside Edge cabinetry elsewhere in the room.
This architectural approach extends beyond kitchens, too. We apply the same thinking to bespoke fitted furniture for every room in the home, designing cabinetry that responds to the space and the way it’s used.
Next, consider how the kitchen needs to function. Edge and Overlay offer the greatest flexibility, with Edge making particularly efficient use of space because adjacent cabinets typically share a single dividing panel. Linear’s recessed channels and Frame’s surrounding frames require a little more room. The difference may be small, but every centimetre matters in a compact kitchen.
Finally, consider the character you want to create. Many clients are initially drawn to Edge, with its distinctive exposed plywood construction. But working with plywood doesn’t mean you have to show it. Overlay and Frame conceal the edges, while Linear reveals only a fine line of ply.
The best way to understand the differences between our four styles is to experience them in person. All are on display in our London showroom, where you can open the doors and drawers, explore the construction, compare finishes and experience the quality of the materials and detailing for yourself.
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