Big kitchens for tiny homes
When you specialise in building small living spaces, you’ve got to make every centimeter count. Custom-made kitchens, cabinets and space-saving solutions from Cutshop Waikato help Hamilton company, Modern Building Solutions to deliver premium cabins into a growing market.
Business owner, John Scantlebury, started working with Cutshop 12 months ago, after he stumbled across them by chance. “We had been buying and fitting kitset kitchens up until that point — and that worked if our customers wanted a standard configuration. As soon as they wanted anything a little bit different, the kitsets were a problem. They just didn’t give us any flexibility.”
Wanted - a reliable supplier
Around half the cabins produced by John and his seven-man team are custom-built, so finding a better solution quickly became a priority. After the first job with Cutshop, John felt confident that he had found the supplier he’d been looking for.
“Cutshop does a high-quality job with great accuracy and they are very responsive to tight deadlines. They don’t let us down. We’re now booked out six months ahead, so it’s really important to have reliable suppliers.”
The beautifully-designed cabins range from 10m₂ units to the biggest ‘tiny home’ on wheels measuring 40m₂. These spaces can be used as an additional bedroom or studio, extra office space, granny flats, baches and sleep outs — and they offer a high-quality alternative to renovating, extending or building.
“We move very quickly and can build one of the bigger units in around six weeks,” said John. “When you’re dealing with such small living spaces, there’s no room for error.”
“Cutshop get it bang on every time. And they’re a lot faster than anyone else I’ve ever dealt with. They can cut, edge and drill a kitchen in a week.”
Customers make the space their own
Cutshop have cut kitchens and cabinetry for around ten cabins so far, the most complex being a ‘tiny home’ on wheels, complete with a mezzanine floor and stairs.
“We build 10 to 15 cabins a year,” said John. “Although we offer a standard range of sizes and layouts, we can do anything the customer wants inside. With Cutshop, our customers really have the option to make the space their own.”
Cutshop also supplies all the materials for the bamboo benchtops and joinery in a wide range of colours and finishes at a price that works.
“For a single kitchen, we feel using Cutshop is equivalent to buying a kitset, but when you order in bulk — two or three at a time — Cutshop can lay out the templates to get the most from each sheet, with minimal waste. Then the pricing beats a kitset — and Cutshop offers so much more value.”
