Mud Kitchens With Storage: Cabinet Models in 120cm and 150cm

What “with storage” actually means

Every mud kitchen we build has somewhere to put things. The difference is whether that somewhere is open or closed. The standard models have a full-width open shelf under the worktop. The storage models replace that shelf with a cabinet: the same footprint, the same worktop, the same two lift-out steel sinks and four burners, but the space underneath is boxed in with doors.

That one change alters how the kitchen lives in a garden. With a shelf, the kit is always on show, which is good for play (children see the pans and start cooking) and less good for the view from the kitchen window. With a cabinet, the kit is put away, stays dry, and the kitchen reads as a piece of garden furniture rather than a toy.

Who the storage models suit

• Tidy gardens and patios. If the kitchen stands where you look at it every day, a closed cabinet keeps the mud, the jugs and the forty painted stones out of sight.
• Households that hate a scattered garden. A cabinet gives the end of play a natural full stop: everything goes back through the doors.
• Nurseries and childminders. Loose parts go away at pick-up time, and the next session starts with a clean worktop. Our childminder guide covers the Ofsted side.
• Exposed gardens. Wind takes empty pots off an open shelf. It does not take them out of a cabinet.

If none of that applies to you, the open shelf is genuinely the better buy. The kit is visible, which starts play, and you save £50. We compared both honestly in storage cabinet or open shelf.

Our two storage models

Mud Kitchen 120cm with Storage Cabinet£549Mud Kitchen 150cm with Storage Cabinet£599

How the cabinet is built

The cabinet is made from the same solid spruce boards as the rest of the kitchen, sanded splinter-free and hand-painted in your chosen colour inside the outdoor acrylic system we use on every panel. There is no chipboard, MDF or hardboard back panel hiding inside, because those swell and crumble the first winter they get wet, and a cabinet at ground level in a British garden will get wet.

The doors open easily for a small child. It is a timber cabinet, not a sealed box, and it should not be: an airtight cupboard in a garden is a damp cupboard. Air moves through, so anything put away slightly wet dries out.

Storage ideas that work inside the cabinet

A cabinet is only as useful as the system inside it. Three things that make a real difference:

1. One lidded tub for dry ingredients. Sand, rice, dried leaves, the rest of the potion kit. Keeps them dry and, more importantly, keeps them from being emptied out all at once.
2. A shallow tray for the pots and pans. Pull the tray out and the whole kitchen is set up in one move. Push it back and it is packed away.
3. A hook inside the door for the sinks. The two steel bowls hang up to dry, so they are not sitting in water overnight.

Our accessories guide lists what fills a cabinet well without costing much.

120 cm or 150 cm

The 120 cm with Storage Cabinet is the right choice for one to three children and most family gardens. The 150 cm with Storage Cabinet gives three or four children room to cook side by side, and a bigger cabinet under it, which is why nurseries and larger families tend to choose it. Both arrive fully assembled on a pallet, 7 to 14 days after you order, with free tracked delivery to the UK mainland. The side-by-side comparison has every difference in one table.

Frequently asked questions