Goodbye fitted units, free-standing kitchens are flexible and full of personality

Home is a feeling that starts in the kitchen and sets the tone for the rest of the house and the family within it. 

So why settle for a bland, branded — and often eye-wateringly expensive — kitchen when you can create an individual hub that instantly says home?

Free-standing kitchens are a snip of the price of fitted kitchens and can add personality to a home with mix-and-match cupboards, bright pops of colour and open shelves lined with storage jars, dog-eared cookery books and ornaments.

And, what’s more, if you move you can take it all with you.

Pretty but practical: A charming farmhouse kitchen, complete with dresser and larder adds rustic charm to a home

Desirable dressers 

A good place to start is with a dresser, cabinet or larder depending on the size of your kitchen. This will be a key storage place and a centrepiece to which the eye is drawn.

The Chester charcoal grand dresser (£1,649, cotswoldco.com) will give you ample room to hide away anything you need in the four cupboard spaces below, while offeringoptimum shelving space on which to display books, ornaments, or a vase of flowers.

For a smaller option, consider the Stow sliding door dresser in warm white from (£1,250 cotswoldco.com). 

Or John Lewis offers the Laura Ashley Dorset storage cabinet in White/Natural with glass panelled doors (£1,295, johnlewis.com).

Shelving for everything

Shelving is key — and more importantly inexpensive. Use any wall without a function to tier shelving or add a statement rack. Check out the Witham oak plate rack (£198, rowenandwren.co.uk). 

For a handy way to store your herbs and spices, choose a handmade Rustic Berryfield spice rack, made sustainably in the New Forest (starting from £128.99, rusticdreams.co.uk).

For extra shelving around your sink, stove or countertop, consider an expandable kitchen storage rack in black or white (£69, aplaceforeverything.co.uk).

On display: Witham oak plate rack (£198, rowenandwren.co.uk)

Swish sideboards

Extra cupboards are always helpful and can house chinaware, gadgets and electrical goods.

The Larissa sideboard has a clean, uncomplicated design and is modestly priced (£174.99, wayfair.co.uk) but it requires assembly.

The Farrow large sideboard (£369.95, roselandfurniture.com) comes assembled. Add a lamp, fruit bowl and display your cookbooks on top with an expanding wooden cookbook holder (£29, aplacefor everything.co.uk).

Light it up

A well-placed lamp with a neutral or funky shade can be a game changer in a kitchen.

Select the neutral Linnie table lamp (£135, cotswoldco.com) or add a jolt of colour with the larger Wobster in orange lacquered wood, teamed with a straight empire shade in Matthew Williamson Pink Ikat (lamp, £170, shade £137, pooky.com).

Pooky also has a good selection of wall and pendant lighting, including a Pick wall light (£110) and a larger Dexter pendant in copper (£123).

Free-standing centrepiece

In a free-standing kitchen, there is a need to create functioning surfaces on which food can be prepared and served. 

You’ll also need a free-standing sink unit. Select one from Murdoch Troon in a range of colours and specifications with a butler or Belfast sink (prices start from £1,645, murdochtroon.co.uk).

A butcher’s block or trolley is a canny addition to most kitchens. 

John Lewis’s butcher’s trolley is made of FSC-certified beech wood and the surface is suitable for cutting and food preparation (£280, johnlewis.com).

For a centrepiece such as a breakfast bar, commission a master craftsman. 

Harry Boyt of Birtle & Co will handcraft a bespoke island out of a British timber of your choice at his workshop in Suffolk (POA, birtle andco.co.uk).

Storage tips

To create a homely, foodie kitchen you need storage jars. 

Keep your flour and sugar in XXL 7-litre glass jars (£29, aplaceforeverything.co.uk), grains and pasta in a Pebbly glass storage canister with bamboo lid (£13.50, aplaceforeverything.co.uk) and pickles and home preserves in Scion Mr Fox glass storage jars (from £14.50, dexam.co.uk).

And, finally, add some understated style with Sophie Allport Bee stoneware: utensil tidy £28.50; jar £29.50, plus an Archive Sunflower Print, £55 (sophieallport.com).

Savings of the week… Arc lamps 

Deal: John Lewis has cut the price of its black and brass lamp by 20% to £100

 Achille Castiglioni, an Italian architect, designed the arched Flos Arco floor lamp in 1962. It is now once more at the height of fashion among lovers of simplicity.

If you want the real thing, complete with a Carrara marble base, it is reduced from £2,300 to £1,955 at Heal’s (heals.com).

But decent copies of the lamp with its dome-shaped shade are also available. 

At Wayfair, for example, you can find the Loreta arched lamp for £127.99, down from £149.99 (wayfair.co.uk).

John Lewis has cut the price of its version in black and brass by 20 per cent to £100. This offer ends on Sunday (johnlewis.com).

The price of the Lindby Lennart lamp in antique brass is now 14 per cent lower at £119.90 at lights.co.uk. 

The online store also has the Phileas in black and gold, which is now £69.99 but was £94.90. 

If you’re on a budget, the gold and matte black lamp at the Range is now £39.09, reduced from £45.99 (therange.co.uk).

Whatever you pay, you will appreciate this functional and beautiful lamp.

ANNE ASHWORTH