High-end kitchens, look beyond the finish.

When you are comparing high-end kitchens, the photograph rarely tells you what you are buying. Similar-looking rooms can differ in cabinet construction, storage, worktops and the work included in installation. Posh Design is a Birmingham-based bespoke kitchen studio with its own workshop, where the conversation can move from the finished appearance to the specification behind it.

Open the drawers. Look at how an end panel meets the floor, how the door gaps line up and how much usable storage sits behind the front. Ask which details are standard and which are specific to the display. A carefully staged showroom should still be able to answer practical questions about the product.

Focus on suitability as well as appearance. Deep drawers may be valuable for heavy pans; shallow compartments can keep utensils visible. The right arrangement depends on your cooking and storage habits, rather than on the highest number of accessories.

A lower headline price may leave more for you to arrange separately. Before comparing totals, put the proposals beside one another and check that they describe equivalent work. If an allowance is provisional, ask what information is needed to settle it.

• ◆Cabinetry: door and cabinet materials, finish, internal fittings and visible end treatments.
• ◆Worktops: material, edge detail, splashbacks, cut-outs, templating and installation.
• ◆Appliances: exact models, supply, fitting and the arrangements for any retained items.
• ◆Site work: removal, disposal, preparation, services, fitting and making good, with responsibilities identified.

Ask for changes to be recorded. A verbal promise about an extra drawer or upgraded worktop is difficult to compare with a written specification.

Find out who develops the technical drawings, who makes the cabinetry and who coordinates installation. Ask how questions on site are resolved and how you report something that needs attention after handover. Those arrangements are part of the purchase.

See how the cabinetry is made on our workshop page.

It explains the role of our Birmingham workshop and the relationship between the cabinetry we make and the specialist elements specified for a complete kitchen.

Bring your room plan and priorities when you visit. If you already have a proposal, identify the areas you want to understand rather than asking for a comparison of price alone. A useful discussion looks at whether the layout works and what each specification includes.

Our showroom is in Kings Norton, Birmingham. Send your postcode with a design-visit enquiry so the studio can confirm the appropriate next step for your location and project.