A blue-grey minimalist kitchen can look identical on a render and behave very differently on site. One set of doors keeps its colour under site lighting and wipes clean after a season of guest use in an apartment kitchen; another goes chalky near the window, shows fingerprints along the tall pantry, and arrives with the appliance openings two centimetres short. The difference is rarely the designer's intent. It is what the procurement brief asked for. If you are sourcing cabinetry for apartments, villas or serviced apartments, writing the specification early is the cheapest quality control you have.

Before you start writing: this article covers what to put in a brief. It does not ｒｅｐｌａｃｅ local building regulation, fire or electrical requirements for your jurisdiction. Confirm those with your project consultant and ask the supplier to confirm material and hardware descriptions in writing against the order.

1. Name the palette precisely, not just "blue grey"

"Blue grey" covers hundreds of shades, and a two-word colour name is the single most common cause of a rejected cabinet shipment. Our modern blue grey minimalist kitchen cabinets are built as a two-tone system: deep blue on some planes, dark grey on others, both matte. A brief that simply says "blue grey, matte" gives a factory three reasonable interpretations and guarantees that one of them will not match your sample.

In the brief, split the colour instruction into four lines: which planes carry the darker blue and which carry the grey; the sheen you expect, stated as matte, satin or gloss; whether the door face and the cabinet carcass interior are the same colour or different; and the reference you are matching to (a physical sample you hold, a supplier sample number, or a finish board). Add one line stating which side of the pair is dominant. That single sentence stops most colour debates before they start.

Then say how the pair meets. Minimalist two-tone kitchens depend on a clean junction between the blue and the grey run. State whether the transition is a straight vertical break at a tall unit, a change of plane at a return wall, or an alternating pattern, and give the order of the sequence. If you do not describe the joint, somebody will decide it for you during production.

2. State the door construction and the edge detail

Flat panel doors are what make this style read as minimalist, and the flatness is the specification. Write down that doors and drawer fronts are flat, with no routed profile, raised panel or rebate. Then specify the edge: a continuous matching edge in the same colour and sheen as the face, and whether the edges are square or slightly eased. Eased edges feel softer under the hand and hide small chips; square edges look sharper but show damage sooner. Both are legitimate. The brief should pick one and say why, so the same choice reaches every unit in the order.

If you prefer no visible handles at all, state it here rather than in a hardware footnote. Handleless fronts remove protruding pulls so the surfaces run continuously; the openings are then formed by a profiled edge, a recessed channel, or a push-open mechanism. Our handleless minimalist kitchen cabinets use that approach, with soft-close fittings on the openings. In your brief, name the opening method you want and ask the supplier to confirm which method their panel construction supports, because thin-edge handleless profiles are not interchangeable across all door build-ups.

For the tall units, call out the door size limit. Full-height pantry doors are the heaviest items in the kitchen and the first to sag on under-rated hinges. Note the maximum door height you need, and require the supplier to confirm the hinge specification for that height in their quotation, not after the order.

3. Specify what sits behind the doors

Appliance integration is where minimalist kitchens fail most expensively. The visible surface is simple; the concealed geometry is not. Our blue-grey cabinets reserve space for ovens, coffee machines and refrigerators, which means the brief must carry the appliance list before drawings are finalised. In your document, give one line per built-in appliance: model or, if not yet selected, the exact envelope dimensions, the required clearance at the back, the ventilation route, and the door-opening direction. Where an appliance is undecided, state the reserved opening size and the range of models it accepts, and mark it as an item to close before production.

Specify the carcass separately from the doors: board type and thickness, the colour of the interior surfaces, and whether the interior matches the exterior or is a neutral tone. State the worktop thickness you are using and how the base units meet it, including plinth height and whether the plinth is recessed or flush. These small numbers change the elevation drawings, and getting them into the brief rather than into a site conversation saves rework.

Storage layout belongs in the brief too, unit by unit. Say which bays take drawers rather than shelves and doors, which corners are resolved with a pull-out or carousel solution, and where tall larder and utility storage go. For project work, add a line about wear: the brief should say the cabinetry is for owner-occupied, rental or serviced use, since the traffic and the cleaning regime differ and the panel and finish selection should follow them.

4. Fix the lighting and display elements in writing

A glass-front open cabinet with built-in lighting is the focal point of this style, and it is the element most often left vague. Specify the glazed display section separately: the glazing type and its colour tone, the shelf span, and the light source — its colour temperature, where it is mounted, and how it is switched. Ask the supplier to state how the fitting is accessed for replacement and where the driver sits. Lighting that cannot be serviced without dismantling a cabinet is a maintenance liability in a rental or hotel setting.

Then record who supplies and who installs the electrical work. In our custom built-in kitchen cabinets, the cabinetry is supplied with matching hardware such as hinges, drawer slides, support legs and connecting brackets; electrical connection is a site trade. Put that boundary in the brief as a line, along with who runs the cable to the cabinet, who terminates it, and who is accountable for testing. Ambiguity here is the usual reason a completed kitchen sits unlit for a fortnight.

5. Give tolerances, finishes and cleaning instructions together

Matte panels are the defining feature of this look and also the element most easily ruined by the wrong cleaning product. In the brief, state the panels should be stable, scratch-resistant and easy to clean, and require the supplier to give a cleaning instruction with the delivery — approved cleaners, cleaners to avoid, and how to treat marks on a matte surface. Our product information describes quality board as stable, scratch-resistant and easy to maintain; treat any such description as a claim to be confirmed against your order, and ask for it in writing for the specific board and finish you are buying.

Add a measurement clause: who takes site dimensions, when, and after which trades have finished their setting-out. Give the acceptable tolerance for wall flatness and floor level at the point of measurement, and state what happens if the site falls outside it — packing out, scribing, or a revised carcass size. State which party pays for each route. This one paragraph prevents the argument that otherwise arrives on installation day.

Finally, specify the deliverables you expect with the goods: marked unit plans and elevations with each unit labelled, a packing list keyed to those labels, a hardware schedule, and the installation drawing set. A well-labelled crate on site is worth several hours of labour.

6. Describe the supply route and the handover

Because the units are made to your dimensions, the brief should carry the sequence rather than a delivery date alone. Write it as stages: approved shop drawings before production; a signed-off colour and door sample; production; packing and shipping; arrival; installation; snagging. Name the owner and the output of each stage, and require confirmation before the next stage begins. Ask the supplier how drawing approval is recorded, since an email approval on a marked-up PDF is what protects both sides.

For overseas supply, specify the packing standard you expect for cabinet panels and glass, how containers are loaded and photographed, and who handles customs clearance and the delivery to site. Also state the spare-parts position: spare doors and panels are cheap to produce alongside the original order and very expensive to reproduce a year later. Add a line asking for a quantity of matching spare fronts and matching hardware to be quoted with the order, so you can decide the spare-parts quantity now instead of paying to reproduce a single door a year from now.

A short checklist for the brief

• Colour split: which planes are deep blue, which are dark grey, which is dominant, and the sheen.
• Door construction: flat panel, edge detail, square or eased edge, maximum tall-door height with confirmed hinge rating.
• Opening method: handleless profile, recessed channel or push-open, with soft-close on all openings.
• Appliance schedule: envelope dimensions, clearances, ventilation route, door swing, and reserved openings for undecided items.
• Carcass and worktop: board type and thickness, interior colour, plinth height, worktop thickness and junction.
• Glazed display section: glazing tone, light source, colour temperature, switching, service access.
• Trade boundary: who supplies, connects and tests cabinet lighting; who installs what.
• Cleaning and care instruction supplied with the goods, matched to the actual finish ordered.
• Measurement clause: who measures, when, site tolerances, and the agreed remedy and cost route if out of tolerance.
• Stage sequence with named owners: drawings, sample, production, packing, delivery, installation, snag list.
• Spare fronts and hardware quoted with the order, not after.

Send the brief to a manufacturer early

A procurement brief is also a quotation tool. The more of the above you fix before requesting a price, the more comparable the quotes become, and the fewer "subject to confirmation" caveats come back. Manufacturers working to your dimensions and finish selection — as with our custom blue grey kitchen cabinetry — can only price what has been described; a thin brief produces a thin quote, and the gap appears later as a variation.

Bring one physical reference with you when you discuss the project: a door sample, or the worktop and splashback you intend to use. Colour and sheen decisions on a blue-grey palette resolve in minutes against real materials, and the outcome goes straight into the drawing set. Ask the manufacturer to price the two or three variants you are weighing — matte versus satin, handleless profile versus push-open, drawer bay versus door bay — so the choice is a number on the page rather than a guess.

If you are specifying cabinetry for apartments, villas or serviced-apartment projects and want a quotation against a brief like this, contact SANTERSON with your drawings, the appliance schedule and your colour references. We will confirm panel and hardware selections, dimensions and finishes in writing before production begins.