Your kitchen is the hub of daily life. So, if you’re planning a redesign, it’s the perfect opportunity to implement these sustainable kitchen ideas that truly make a difference. KBB journo Charlotte Luxford takes us through how five homeowners have created their dream eco kitchens…

To create a sustainable kitchen design, it’s important to embrace a thoughtful and holistic approach from the start. Consider energy efficiency, water conservation and the use of sustainable materials.

The last few years have witnessed remarkable advancements in sustainable kitchen ideas and innovations. Not forgetting the smart appliances that are designed to minimise consumption, from fridges that optimise cooling and reduce food waste to high-efficiency dishwashers that significantly reduce water. There are also more recycled and sustainable materials on the market than ever before.

Ready to take a look at these five brilliant projects and get inspired? Let’s begin…

Future-proofed kitchen

The homeowners of this north London home wanted a future-proof kitchen design that would last throughout their lifetime and beyond. That meant using the best quality materials and creating a design that could adapt as their lifestyle needs changed. They called upon Uncommon Projects, a company made up of designers with an architectural background. “We understand that practical, ergonomic design has a longer lifespan. We completely redesigned the original layout to allow for better circulation and a more sociable space – a room created with years of family life in mind,” says the company’s co-founder Alan Drumm. 

The owners opted for Uncommon Projects’ signature material of FSC-certified plywood, which is incredibly versatile and durable thanks to its layered construction, making it ideal for a hard-working kitchen. The door fronts are veneered in an eco-friendly, carbon-neutral laminate from Arpa. 

“Finishing touches are just as important,” says Alan. “To protect and seal our wood we use a natural hard wax instead of the popular polyurethane lacquers, and we make our own robust drawer and bin systems rather than the usual generic plastic and metal accessories.

“When it comes to appliances, we encourage our clients to buy A-rated products and strongly advise against gas hobs. This kitchen features a recirculating Bora hob with an integrated extractor. These really save on energy and noticeably improve air quality.”

Eco-friendly wood design

The lavish proportions of this large, country manor house provided the ideal blank canvas for a show-stopping sustainable kitchen idea. At the heart of the kitchen was a large island, designed as a sculptural piece of furniture. It was cut by hand from a single section of oak. “Normally, the naturally occurring cracks in the timber would be cut out and discarded as a waste product, but we decided to celebrate them by filling them with black resin and held firm with hand-cut brass ties,” explains Matt Prall, the managing director of Bristol-based Papilio Bespoke Kitchens.

An ultra-thin Richlite worktop sits on the island, along with the cabinet door and drawers on the base units. Richlite is an FSC-certified product made from post-consumer recycled paper. It’s extremely durable and tougher than solid oak, making it a great choice for worktops and cabinet fronts.

The island’s cascading oak side panels were deliberately selected due to their imperfections and again resin-filled. A Bora hob was selected to fit flush with the worktop. An Everhot range cooker not only offers country charm but is also the most energy-efficient heat-storage range cooker on the market, being hand-built in a carbon-negative factory in the Cotswolds.   

“Wherever possible we use traditional hand tools and the skill of the team, as opposed to energy-hungry machines churning out identical kitchens. For all our projects we use FSC-approved timbers and veneers, along with glues and resins that are safe for food contact and VOC-free,” adds Matt.

Colourful and sustainable kitchen

The homeowners of this 1960s house in Warwickshire wanted a bright and playful kitchen design that captured the era in a contemporary way. Sustainability was integral to the design and they have renovated each room to ensure everything they added would last and not end up in a skip. They approached Sustainable Kitchens because they’d fallen in love with their birch plywood designs with exposed edges. 

“Our birch plywood kitchens are sourced from PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) and FSC-certified sources. Plus they’re designed to last a lifetime with a 30-year guarantee,” says Zoe Holland, head of marketing and creative at Sustainable Kitchens. 

The doors are a Medite Smartply, which is an eco-friendly plywood. Sustainable Kitchens also passes on its offcuts to an education centre that teaches woodwork to disabled and disadvantaged people and to Prior Made, in Bristol, whose products are made from waste materials.

A cork floor was chosen for its eco properties – made from the leftover material from the production of wine corks; it’s biodegradable, a good insulator, water resistant and anti-microbial. The units are painted in Valspar‘s Mint Zing, Golden Cupola and Dairy Belle paints. The Caesarstone concrete-effect worktop was chosen for its sustainable and long-lasting qualities.

Birch plywood kitchen

The Clay Retreat is a modest, one-storey, three-bedroom family home, located in a rural hamlet within the New Forest National Park, which was designed by B-Corp-certified Pad Studio to blend into its natural surroundings. Internally, the home is beautifully crafted with a palate of textured, muted materials and has energy efficiency at the forefront of the design. 

Using solar PV panels and an air-source heat pump, the new build is highly insulated, and features triple glazing. The polished concrete floor in the open-plan kitchen has heat-conductive qualities. The walls and ceilings have been treated with natural clay plaster from Clayworks, giving a beautiful textured finish that is highly breathable and doesn’t require painting, thus avoiding the use of VOCs.

For the kitchen, Pad Studio worked with the eco-conscious firm Pluck, whose factory runs on renewable electricity. The cupboards are all made from FSC- or PEFC-certified birch plywood, with sustainably sourced wood veneers for the cupboard and drawer fronts. The brightly coloured laminate cupboard fronts were manufactured by a company that has a comprehensive environmental policy in place. However, Pluck also offers an Eco Colour range that’s entirely carbon neutral. 

Mid-century aesthetic

Video game developers and homeowners Alice and Ryan Guy knew they wanted a kitchen that wasn’t run of the mill, so they approached local West Sussex kitchen makers Wood Works Brighton. The pair created a 3-D virtual space to test out their ideas, avoiding costly mistakes and to cut waste. Wood Works director and designer François Damseaux took the couple’s initial design and added curves made from birch plywood and the 1950s-style legs to make the pieces look more mid-century. 

“Birch ply is the most efficient way to use material from a tree as it produces very little waste,” explains François. “It’s like a pencil that has been sharpened, and those shavings are then cross-laminated for rigidity.”

The couple opted for striking teal Durat worktops, which are made from post-industrial plastic waste. “We’ve actually lived plastic-free for over six years now. It’s perhaps slightly ironic that the worksurface is made of recycled plastic, but we fell in love with it from both an aesthetic and a durability point of view,” says Alice.

Enjoyed these sustainable kitchen ideas? Check out our guide to planning an eco-friendly renovation

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