Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our shop. I’m Chris, co-founder and maker along with my partner Heidi of Sapwood Designs, now trading as The Outdoor Kitchen Makers. We really hope you find what you are looking for and we are looking forward to creating your perfect outdoor kitchen.
How it all began
From a very young age I have always been a keen wood worker taking inspiration from my father, a professional power boat and luxury yacht builder. I always enjoyed going to work with him on weekends and during school holidays to learn and absorb all his years of knowledge. Many years later this has inspired me to start my own business creating a unique range of outdoor furniture for your home.
In the early days of Sapwood Designs, the design ideas came from my late mother-in-law and it’s these ideas that continue to inspire us today. It was her who designed the mud kitchens, potting tables and hedgehog houses and in 2018 we started taking these to local country shows around the Suffolk area. We received a great response and were able to supply hand made locally sourced quality items to customers within close proximity of our home garage workshop.
Our collection of products then grew by transforming our potting tables into BBQ side units. This led to receiving larger bespoke orders and we were able to suggest great ideas to customers for the ideal piece of furniture for their gardens. Many of the designs you see in our shop were born from these orders.
Now and the future
When COVID struck, country shows were cancelled and we were at a crossroad. So, we decided to go online and began selling our furniture via the online marketplace Etsy. From there our business grew daily and we became a popular seller of furniture to buyers around the country with free delivery to most areas. We added more designs and here we are today with our own website where you can order from us directly.
We specialise in outdoor kitchens and with the growing popularity in the UK of alfresco dining and increasing sales of pizza ovens and BBQs, the demand for our kitchens has grown making the experience of grilling and pizza making that little bit more enjoyable at home for our customers and their friends and family.
We have been privileged and honoured to be featured in well-known magazines including Cosmopolitan, Your Home and Modern Gardens where they have kindly promoted our products.
We were excited to be invited to appear on the live Channel 4 show, Steph’s Packed Lunch in their feature segment where they promote an up and coming small UK business to encourage people to shop within the UK. This has been one of our greatest achievements as a business and has led us to rebrand as “The Outdoor Kitchen Makers”. We chose this name as it explains exactly what we do and reflects the friendly and approachable nature of how we work.
We deliver across the UK and 96% of our deliveries will be covered by our own team of drivers who will place your item in your location of choice at your home and make sure that everything is perfect before setting off.
We have built great connections with local suppliers from who we source the finest selected boards to make your furniture.
Our future, well, we love what we do and will continue to supply to customers directly. Alongside this we are also looking to supply local garden centres and business across the UK and are already in talks with some companies. These will be for great pick-up purchases of our standard items you see listed here on our site.
Myself and Heidi really value your support in our business and look forward to delivering to you soon.
