Kitchen Worktops / Islands
At Sorrell & Smith, we specialise in creating kitchen islands and worktops using solid slabs of waney edge wood.
Our unique approach involves preserving the live edges of the wood to create stunning and dramatic edges that are both functional and beautiful.
We can work with a variety of wood species, including rare ultra-wide slabs of Elm, French oak, and many others.
Our expertise lies in sourcing the best quality slabs to create a seamless and bookmatched surface that will enhance any luxury kitchen island design.
This project was created from three slabs of extra-wide, bookmatched solid English Elm with black epoxy resin meticulously infused into every knot and crack. The top was 3.2m x 1.5m. Project budget: £13,000 including installation
Competitive Pricing
Call us on 01245 79 0182 to discuss your requirements, or fill our quotation form for a fast and free quote.
This guide is aimed towards our Kitchen Worktop / Kitchen Island customers.
Looking for a Dining Table instead?
Step 1: Choose A Wood Species
The first thing to consider when ordering your piece of furniture, is what species of wood you want it to be crafted from.
We are able to source quite literally any species of wood imaginable, however most of our customers choose between our best-selling options which are illustrated below.
We like to use the minimum number of slabs possible to make your kitchen worktop surface. If for example you want a Kitchen worktop that is 1.2m wide, we will use two slabs from the same log to make the piece.
The result is that the slabs are book matched, so you have a beautiful symmetry along the table.
Should you have budget constraints, we can also cut costs significantly by making your piece from 4-5 pieces of wood. The biggest expense is in sourcing the ultra-wide slabs that are up to 700mm wide per slab.
Our timber slabs are kiln-dried, down to a moisture content of just 8% or below which means that the wood is stable and will not suffer from excessive movement or cracking. This is an incredibly important thing – many slabs suppliers offer slabs of low quality and high moisture content, which will only eventually warp or crack!
English Elm
Two slabs of French Oak infused with Black Resin and finished in high-gloss. Dimensions: 2.2m x 1.2m
Our Most Popular Species:
English Elm
English Elm slabs are on of our most popular sellers – it is a thick, heavy, and dense wood, full of lovely features along the live edges and full of characterful knots and sapwood.
The slabs usually come in widths of up to 65cm which allows a worktop to be made of up to 1.3m in width using just two slabs.
French Oak
While ‘Oak’ has become somewhat of a household name when it comes to describing quality furniture pieces, we go on step further.
French Oak is the Rolls Royce of Oak – the most consistently high quality oak in the world.
Each of our French Oak tops is made from a single tree, so the grain pattern and colour tones match up beautifully across the entire table top.
American Black Walnut
American Black Walnut ranks as one of the most highly demanded of all Walnut species. Thanks to its beautiful look, it is a wood which has incredibly high demand but is relatively rare to come by.
Walnut is a very costly option due to the rarity of the wood.
Pippy Poplar
Pippy Poplar (also known as cat’s paw oak) is characterised by clusters of very small knots often caused by cattle nibbling shoots from the trunk of the tree as it grows, causing new shoots to grow and be nibbled off again, and by the ‘epicormic’ nature of Poplar, whereby trees often sprout new buds underneath their bark or after coppicing.
….Or any other species you can possibly imagine! Just ask and we will be able to source it for you.
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Step 2: Choose A Size
We will create your worktop to suit your custom dimensions for your kitchen island or worktop.
In addition to creating traditional chamfered worktops, we specialise in crafting live edge worktops and kitchen island surfaces which are bookmatched.
We look at each slab individually and build your island surface in a way that makes best use of the live edges. For example, we can tailor where the overhangs are and reduce them down where you might need less of an overhang, for example where access to a drawer is required.
We take care of the millimetre-precision cutting – you just tell us how big you’d like your Kitchen peninsula / Island / Worktop.
Step 4: Choose Your Finishing Options
Edge Styles
We can incorporate any combination of edge styles along the edges of the Kitchen Island.
For example, you might prefer a classic chamfered edge along all faces of the table, or maybe you want a desk to go against a wall, in which case we can offer a square edge to butt against the wall with a beautiful live edge on the opposite side.
Live Edge
Our signature edge style – this is where we preserve the natural edge of the slab which results in an incredibly characterful waney edge which you see throughout our website.
Chamfered Edge
This is the default edge style we use for any edges of our tables which are not live. For example, both ends of a dining table, or on one side of a bench.
Surface Finishes
We can offer an endless variety of surface finishes, but for those who aren’t sure what they want, we can keep things simple by offering you a matt finish or a high gloss finish.
Matt Finish
We finish the table in Rubio Monocoat Pure, resulting in an incredibly hard wearing, non-absorbent matt finish which will keep your table protected and scratch free for years to come.
High Gloss Finish
We finish the table in multiple coats of Osmo high-gloss, resulting in an incredibly hard wearing, non-absorbent finish which provides an almost mirror-like shine, while still being resistant to scratching.
Request a Free Estimate Now
To get a free quote on your table, please fill out your requirements below.
Most of the fields are optional, so if you don’t know, just leave the field blank and we will get back to you with some suggestions.
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