This is the kitchen Martin Pepworth built for nothing in his Scarborough home

Scarborough joiner Martin Pepworth put his skills to great use in creating a kitchen from scratch

When Martin Pepworth sets himself a challenge he does not do anything by halves – his latest quest was to build a kitchen, from scratch, without it costing him a penny.

Could he build it? Yes, he could. The end result is a wonderful, rustic, bespoke room in the Newby home he shares with his wife Mandy.

He managed it within six months and on budget: nothing. Being a joiner of 35 years’ standing helped – that’s the man hours and skill-set taken care of.

“If I was not doing joinery for a living, I’d be doing it as a hobby,” said Bridlington born and bred Martin, who did his apprenticeship with Brigham in the town before setting up his own business.

Scarborough joiner Martin Pepworth has created his own bespoke kitchen out of reclaimed wood for free

Material costs were also kept at zero. “The cabinets are made from scaffold boards from skips, hinges and handles are sourced from scrap and the kitchen tiles are from leftover jobs that I have done,” said Martin.

Scaffold firms were also happy to let him have dirty, old boards they had no use for. Martin gave them a new shelf life.

“The boards were stripped down, cut down and sanded off. Each one is unique and adds to the kitchen’s character,” he said.

“I love this kind of rustic look.” Because of his trade, he knows all the boards are strong and glued and screwed properly. “There are no fillers or gaps because I have built everything to size and where I needed it,” said Martin.

Old scaffold boards were cleaned up and sanded down to make the kitchen cabinets

It was Mandy’s idea to ‘redo’ the kitchen, originally the bathroom which has also had a magnificent make-over. Mandy, a fire safety officer at Scarborough Fire Station, was the first to repurpose scaffold boards, making them into a coffee table for the lounge.

For Martin, answering the why is easy. “I like to repurpose stuff. I hate throwing things away into landfill.”

That also explains why the bedstead is crafted from a pulpit from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Scarborough. Someone else also threw in the kitchen sink – it is a repurposed horse trough.

Finishing touches are needed in the kitchen, not that anyone would notice. Martin's mate is on notice to give him off-cuts from oak doors he is making and his parents’ spare paint from decorating their home is also being eyed-up.