Replace your doors, not your kitchen

Our five pine door styles compared

We make five main styles of solid pine cupboard door, with variations of each, so we can match almost any existing style within reason. All are made to measure, supplied sanded and ready to finish, and available in non-standard shapes on request.

Why solid pine, made by hand

Most replacement cupboard doors sold online are MDF or chipboard wrapped in a vinyl skin. Ours are not. Every door is solid timber throughout, with traditional glued joints that are stronger than the wood itself. Pine has been the material of choice for cottages and farmhouses for generations, and for good reason:

• Durable and repairable. There is no surface layer to peel, bubble or delaminate near ovens and kettles. Dents and scratches can be sanded out and refinished; damage to a wrapped MDF door usually means a new door.
• Takes stain and paint beautifully. Wax it for a warm honey glow, stain it for an antique look, or paint it any colour. Change your mind in ten years, sand it back and start again.
• Sustainably sourced. All our pine comes from managed, renewable forests. A solid door that lasts decades and can be refinished is a far more sustainable choice than a wrapped door with a limited lifespan.
• Honest value. Because we make every door ourselves and sell direct, solid pine often costs less than mass-produced MDF doors from the big online retailers, and considerably less than reclaimed or period joinery specialists.

We have been making doors this way since the 1980s, and Malcolm alone has hand built 10,000 doors over the last 15 years. We are members of the Guild of Master Craftsmen, and we stand behind every door with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We work mainly in pine, but we also make doors in hardwoods such as oak on request. Read more about the workshop and the people behind it.

Pine vs MDF vs vinyl-wrapped doors: an honest comparison

The short version: if you want doors you can finish yourself, repair over time and keep for decades, solid pine is hard to beat, and with our direct pricing it often costs no more than the man-made alternatives.

Finishing your pine doors

All our doors are supplied fully sanded and ready to finish, which keeps costs down and puts you in control of the final look. Most customers choose one of three routes:

• Stain and wax for the classic antique pine look, and the easiest way to match existing 80s and 90s pine. We can also supply doors with an antique pine stain or wax finish; just ask when you order.
• Clear wax or varnish to keep the pale, natural Scandinavian look while protecting the timber.
• Paint for a modern farmhouse finish. Prime, undercoat and top coat with a good quality wood paint for a bespoke painted look at a fraction of the price.

For step-by-step guidance, see our Tips page.

Replacing doors on an existing pine kitchen?

If you have a solid pine kitchen from the 80s or 90s, the carcasses are often perfectly sound, but one or two doors are damaged or you want to extend the run, and the big retailers stopped stocking anything like them years ago.

This is exactly what we do. Send us your dimensions, post us a sample door, or email a clear photo, and we will make replacement pine doors to match, to the millimetre. Because they arrive sanded, you can stain them to blend with the aged colour of your existing units. It is a far cheaper option than replacing a kitchen that still has decades of life in it.

What we make