Kitchen(s) of the Week: Inspired Storage and Sink-Side Extras by Uncommon Projects

To spot an Uncommon Projects kitchen look for impeccable 1970s-style plywood cabinetry and an adept way with color. Architect Alan Drumm and product designer James Hoy founded their London firm to create tailor-made modern spaces. The two study each client’s ways in the kitchen–their approach to cooking, the goods they cram behind closed doors, their go-to mugs and cereal bowls. Then they come up with solutions that celebrate all.

“Our approach is material-led and function-first,” says Alan. “While many modern kitchen designers favor uniform cabinetry, we embrace the diversity of your belongings—incorporating varied drawer depths, shallow cupboards, and open shelving, so there is truly a place for everything. And our projects are never visually boring.”

Inspired by their their results, we’ve highlighted five examples of Uncommon storage solutions and other extras. The company is London based and works throughout the UK; we hope Stateside firms study their example.

Photography by Jocelyn Low, courtesy of Uncommon Projects (@uncommon_projects).

Bottle Service

Above: A bottle rack is artfully incorporated into a North London Victorian terrace house kitchen.

“An important part of the brief was to create lots of display space for the clients’ own ceramics and to avoid a neutral  palette,” the designers write. Their colorful cabinets are finished with high pressure laminate (HPL, made from layers of kraft paper and resin) on birch plywood. Here, they went with coral, pale pink, and inky blue. The Y Stools are an Uncommon Projects signature design available on their own in a variety of colors and finishes.

Above: In a Hackney eat-in kitchen, a long table bench provides extra storage, including a section that is exactly bottle height.

Recipes at the Ready

Above: A family of four in North London asked for a colorful new kitchen with plenty of storage, including a place for cookbooks.

Alan describes the palette as “an unapologetic shade of coral pink and orange”—and explains: “On its own, this could easily have been hard to live with long term, so we introduced a base of dark brown. It tones in well with the floor and helps ground the colors.” Also note: Uncommon’s Y Bar Stools and their cork-veneered Magnetic Knife Block. Go to A Vibrant Family Kitchen to see more.

Above: The designers describe this Southeast London kitchen as “modern plywood joinery in dialogue with a Victorian coach house.” Here, they tucked the cookbook shelves into one of the island.

Display Niches

Above: Where to store XL serving bowls so they’re on hand while not hogging a lot of storage real estate? Uncommon placed them front and center in this minimalist extension. Also note the cork-veneered cabinet fronts.

Explains Alan, “We often use cork to bring texture and warmth to a project. Sometimes it’s better to bring another texture to a project rather than another color.” A renewable, eco-friendly material, cork has a lot of household uses: see some more in our Trend Alert.

Pantry Shelves Where Everything is Visible

Above: Shallow shelving puts everything on hand—and prevents hidden caches of moldering goods. A reconfiguration of a 1980s kitchen, Uncommon’s design lets light in while offering storage and privacy: the “luminous green sliding door covers the window that looks out to the street.” Above: Compact and orderly pantry shelves in a Stoke Newington color-rich kitchen. The Hay Recycled Color Crates are made of 100-percent recycled plastic waste.

Fresh Ingredients

Above: So much better than a few scraggly potted plants: an herb planter in a sunny window in southwest London. Go to Midcentury Details and and Indoor Herb Garden to see the whole project.

• See another favorite Uncommon Projects’ kitchen in A Boundary Breaking London Remodel.
• For more inspiration browse the Remodelista Kitchen Storage & Organization Resource Guide.