Two kitchens. One standard. Shortlisted for a national award.

Kitchen Warehouse Named as Stori Excellence Awards 2026 Finalist

We’re proud to announce that Kitchen Warehouse has won a Real Story Award at the Stori Excellence Awards 2026 — recognition that reflects exactly what these projects were created to achieve.

The Real Story Award celebrates something the industry too often overlooks: the quality of what’s actually built, the value of what’s genuinely delivered, and the story of a space that earns its place through craftsmanship rather than cost. Not showroom theatrics or limitless budgets — exceptional materials, skilled installation and a finish designed to outlast every trend. That’s the territory Kitchen Warehouse has always occupied.

Below are the stories behind both award-winning kitchens — a Jefferson Stone installation in a historic Yorkshire coaching inn, and a two-tone Madison Painted Solid Wood kitchen in Hartlepool with a trick up its sleeve. Two very different spaces. The same commitment to quality behind both.

 

A modern classic; built with style – The Potters, Boroughbridge

Walk into this kitchen and your first instinct is that you’re looking at bespoke joinery — the kind that costs twice the price and takes twice as long. It isn’t. It’s a Kitchen Warehouse kitchen, hand built piece by piece, delivered rigid and installed with care by our own expert fitters — at manufacturer prices.

That balance between perception and value is exactly what made this project a winner of the Real Story Award at the Stori Excellence Awards 2026. By building in-house, supplying everything ourselves and removing every unnecessary margin, we’re able to deliver a result that most people would assume came with a far higher price tag. The consistency across dozens of units, multiple rooms and every hinge, handle and fitting is only possible when one team builds, delivers and installs the entire kitchen from start to finish.

Some kitchens simply look the part; this one is built to last a lifetime — and the difference becomes obvious the moment you start noticing the finer details.

Installed within a historic 18th-century coaching inn in the Yorkshire market town of Boroughbridge, this Real Story Award-winning Jefferson Stone kitchen and utility space is a showcase of what exceptional craftsmanship and true end-to-end delivery can achieve. The 22mm painted solid wood shaker doors carry a level of weight and substance that immediately sets the tone for the entire project, while Halifax Tobacco Oak carcasses at 18mm thick bring warmth, depth and authenticity that painted or laminate interiors simply cannot replicate. The result is a kitchen that not only looks timeless, but is constructed to remain solid and dependable for decades rather than flexing, settling or deteriorating over time.

Every feature and fitting was sourced and supplied by Kitchen Warehouse as part of a single, fully managed package. American Bronze Calgary knobs and Monmouth Square cup handles introduce subtle variation without disrupting the kitchen’s classical feel. Glazed display units, where the rich Tobacco Oak interiors remain fully visible through the glass, create one of the defining visual moments in the space — the warmth of the oak sitting in perfect contrast against the cooler Jefferson Stone painted doors.

The Pemberley Bow Fronted Ceramic Sink is paired with a Quooker Pro3 Fusion Round in Patinated Brass, while Mona Lisa Quartz worktops flow throughout the kitchen and utility areas. A full suite of integrated AEG appliances has been specified and installed seamlessly across the space — because when one team manages the cabinetry, appliances and installation together, integration becomes part of the design rather than an afterthought.

It’s a project built on craftsmanship, consistency and longevity — qualities that made it a deserving winner at the Stori Excellence Awards 2026.

What makes this award-winning project particularly remarkable is the scale of what has been delivered under one completely cohesive scheme. The custom pantry provides dedicated storage built to exactly the same specification as the main kitchen, while the bootroom carries the same cabinetry, finish and hardware into a space that is too often treated as secondary. The utility room flows seamlessly from the kitchen itself, with a stacked washer and dryer integrated cleanly into the cabinetry run without compromising the overall design.

The consistency across every room is what elevates the entire project. The same Jefferson Stone doors, Halifax Tobacco Oak carcasses and carefully selected hardware continue throughout, creating a level of continuity that simply isn’t possible when elements are sourced separately. Nothing feels disconnected, because every detail was designed, supplied and installed as part of one complete vision by a single team.

For the judges at the Stori Excellence Awards 2026, this was the real story: not a showroom set designed for photographs, but a fully lived-in home delivered to an exceptional standard from start to finish. Every room, every cabinet, every fitting and every detail was built, supplied and installed by one team with complete consistency throughout. That level of control is what allows a project like this to feel so cohesive, so substantial and so enduring.

Winning the Real Story Award is recognition of exactly what Kitchen Warehouse has always believed in — honest craftsmanship, exceptional materials and kitchens designed not just to impress on day one, but to perform beautifully for decades to come.

 

 

Hidden in Plain Sight: Westpark Construction, Hartlepool

There’s a moment in this award-winning kitchen that brings every visitor to a standstill. It happens when what appears to be a perfectly ordinary run of cabinetry opens to reveal a fully concealed entertainment space hidden behind it. That single detail captures the entire spirit of the project: nothing is quite what it first appears, and every element exceeds expectations once you experience it properly.

Completed in Hartlepool, this Madison Painted Solid Wood kitchen in Vintage Pink and Slate Blue was built and installed by the skilled team at Westpark Construction using doors, panels, plinths and finishing accessories supplied entirely by Kitchen Warehouse. Every component was manufactured in-house to our own specification and supplied directly at manufacturer prices — allowing a level of quality, consistency and craftsmanship that would typically be associated with far more expensive bespoke joinery.

The project went on to win the Real Story Award at the Stori Excellence Awards 2026 because it represents exactly what the category was created to celebrate: a real home, built for real living, where exceptional design, clever functionality and long-lasting craftsmanship come together without unnecessary excess.

Part of our Ashton Cole collection, the Madison range takes centre stage here with one of the most balanced and confident colour pairings we’ve seen in a completed kitchen. The warmth of the Vintage Pink softens the depth of the Slate Blue, while the blue gives the pink structure and presence. Neither colour competes for attention; instead, they work together with a level of restraint and confidence that elevates the entire room beyond a typical two-tone scheme.

Beneath the colour is the craftsmanship that defines the project. Madison is a painted solid wood door built not just to look exceptional on installation day, but to retain its quality, strength and finish for decades to come. That sense of permanence runs throughout the kitchen, from the cabinetry construction to the carefully considered detailing across every elevation.

The Berkshire Ceramic Sink anchors the working side of the kitchen with a quiet, timeless authority — the kind of feature that never falls out of fashion because it was never chasing trends to begin with. A full suite of integrated NEFF appliances has been designed into the kitchen from the outset rather than added later, and the difference is visible in the clean lines and seamless finish throughout the space.

A dedicated coffee station introduces another layer of thoughtful functionality, creating a proper built-in area for daily rituals while keeping the main preparation areas uncluttered and practical for busy family life. Then there’s the island — the visual and functional centrepiece of the entire room — bringing the two-tone palette together while delivering the generous workspace and storage capacity a kitchen of this scale demands.

It’s this combination of bold design choices, lasting construction and genuinely liveable functionality that helped make the project a Real Story Award winner at the Stori Excellence Awards 2026.

But the feature that ultimately defined this Real Story Award-winning kitchen — the detail the Stori judges kept returning to — is the concealed pantry and entertainment space hidden seamlessly within the main cabinetry run. From the outside, the doors reveal absolutely nothing. The cabinetry appears clean, balanced and uninterrupted. Open them, however, and the kitchen transforms completely, revealing an entirely separate hosting and preparation area concealed behind the main elevation.

It’s far more than simple hidden storage. Inside is a fully fitted private entertainment space with its own dedicated preparation zones, shelving and storage areas, designed specifically for entertaining while allowing the main kitchen itself to remain calm, immaculate and uncluttered during gatherings. It’s a feature that changes the way the entire space functions — a hidden room quietly built into the kitchen rather than added onto it.

Achieving that level of integration requires absolute consistency across every component. Door finishes, panel dimensions, grain direction, paint quality and cabinetry tolerances all have to align perfectly for the illusion to work convincingly. That level of precision is only possible when every door, carcass and panel is manufactured to the same specification through a single-source supply — exactly what Kitchen Warehouse delivered throughout this project. Westpark Construction’s craftsmanship and installation completed the vision, resulting in a kitchen where the design ambition is matched entirely by the quality of the execution.

It’s this combination of creativity, precision and genuinely intelligent living that made the project such a standout winner at the Stori Excellence Awards 2026.

The Stori Excellence Awards Real Story category isn’t looking for the flashiest kitchen or the biggest budget. It’s looking for the ones where exceptional results were achieved through quality, skill and intelligent thinking — and where the value delivered is genuinely remarkable.

This is one of those kitchens. Two-tone painted solid wood. A concealed entertainment space hidden behind a flawless cabinetry run. A dedicated coffee station. A complete NEFF appliance suite. All of it supplied at manufacturer prices, installed by craftsmen who knew exactly what they were working with. The real story here isn’t the reveal behind those pantry doors — though that alone would be enough. It’s that a kitchen this good doesn’t have to cost what people assume it does.