Traditional in a kitchen means framed doors, painted finishes, and details borrowed from furniture rather than from cabinetry. In a period Irish house it is usually the right answer, because it agrees with the joinery already in the room instead of arguing with it.
What makes a kitchen traditional?
Framed doors with a moulding, painted finishes in muted colours, and at least one element that reads as furniture rather than as fitted units.
The door does most of the work. A moulded frame around a panel carries shadow and depth in a way a flat door cannot, and that is what the eye reads as traditional.
The furniture element is what separates a traditional kitchen from a shaker one. A dresser, a larder cupboard, a freestanding island with turned legs, something that looks like it could be moved even if it cannot.
Which colours work?
Muted and slightly greyed colours. Sage, deep green, off white, soft blue and stone colours all suit soft, often grey Irish light.
Irish light is soft and often grey, which flattens strong colours and can make cool greys look cold. Colours with a bit of warmth or a bit of green in them hold up better through a wet winter.
The traditional approach is one colour on the run and a second on the island or the dresser. That gives the room depth without committing everything to a strong colour.
What is a farmhouse kitchen?
A farmhouse kitchen is a plainer, country take on traditional: painted framed doors, a deep ceramic sink, wood worktops and furniture style pieces.
Farmhouse and traditional overlap, and most farmhouse kitchens are built on the same framed or in frame doors. The difference is tone. A traditional kitchen can be quite formal, with fine mouldings to suit a period house. A farmhouse kitchen is plainer and more relaxed: simpler doors, a wide Belfast style sink, open shelves for the things you use every day, and a table or island that reads as a piece of furniture rather than another run of units.
The look does not need an actual farmhouse. It works in a newer house in Meath or Kildare as well as an older house in Dublin, as long as it stays practical. Muted painted colours, a solid wood or stone worktop, a larder cupboard, and a cooker set into a run of units or a chimney breast recess carry most of it. Our pantries and larder cupboards page covers the larder part.
Where a farmhouse kitchen goes wrong is the same place a traditional one does: too much applied detail and too many props. And because every unit is made to measure, it suits the rooms farmhouse style is usually wanted for, older cottages and country houses where the walls are rarely straight and nothing standard fits.
How do you keep it from feeling dated?
Keep the mouldings restrained, keep the worktop simple, choose modern appliances, and let the room be traditional rather than themed.
Heavy ornate mouldings, decorative corbels and a lot of applied detail are what date a traditional kitchen. A restrained moulding on a good door reads timeless; the same door with three extra layers of ornament reads like a specific decade.
The other trap is theming. A traditional kitchen with modern appliances and a plain worktop looks like a kitchen. The same kitchen with every accessory chosen to match a period looks like a set.
Traditional or shaker?
Shaker is the quieter, less expensive and more flexible option. Traditional goes further and suits a house with the architecture to carry it.
If your house has fine cornicing, moulded skirting and panelled doors, a traditional kitchen belongs in it. If the joinery is plainer, shaker gives you warmth without the room feeling overdressed.
Our shaker kitchens and in frame kitchens pages cover the two closest alternatives.
Who are our kitchens for?
Everything we make is premium and made to the highest spec: made to measure, built on a melamine faced 18mm plywood carcass rather than chipboard, designed in 3D and fitted by our own team, and it is priced to that standard. Quality at this level is not a budget purchase, and we would rather say so here than after you have waited for a quote. If you are working to a tight budget, we are honestly not the right fit.
A traditional kitchen starts at €12,000 fitted, including VAT, like every kitchen we make, and a typical family kitchen with a quartz worktop comes to €15,000 to €25,000. Our cost guide explains what moves the number.
How does it work?
Send us photos, a short video and rough sizes of the space and tell us what you want. Our designers draw it in 3D so you see the finished piece in your own room, and you get one complete itemised quote. Nothing is ordered and nothing is charged until you say yes.
Can one team do the rest of the job too?
The same team that makes this fits it, and we also do kitchens, fitted wardrobes, internal doors and windows. If more than one thing needs doing, it is one contractor, one schedule and one point of contact rather than four. See the rest of our work.
Frequently asked questions
Can a traditional kitchen have modern appliances?
Yes, and it should. Integrated appliances behind matching doors keep the look while you get a kitchen that works.
Does traditional mean timber rather than painted?
Painted is far more common in Ireland. Natural timber is a different and warmer look, and both are available.
Is a traditional kitchen more expensive?
The door and any furniture elements cost more than a plain slab. Everything is itemised on your quote so you can see it. Every kitchen we make is premium and made to the highest spec, so it is not a budget purchase.
Do you only do kitchens?
No. The same workshop makes our fitted wardrobes and media walls and fitted furniture, and we supply and fit windows too, plus internal doors as part of a bigger order, so one contractor can cover the whole job with one 3D design, one quote and one schedule. Wardrobes ordered with a kitchen come on the same delivery and are fitted on the same visit.
What decides the price of a traditional kitchen?
The door construction and paint finish, mostly. Framed doors, mouldings and hand painted finishes add time, and time is most of a kitchen quote.