Help me choose our new kitchen!

[Jointheclub1]

I am torn between an oak shaker door kitchen or high gloss cream units, please help me decide! For weeks I have been set on the oak one, but having spoken to several kitchen designers it seems that high gloss is the way to go. They said most people choose high gloss now, it looks sleek and modern. However, I'm a slattern and worried that the high gloss would show up every mark and fingerprint. Also the inside of the oak units are wood which I believe will be harder wearing in the long run than the white innards of a gloss one.

It's going to be a living/kitchen so we will be looking at it all the time! I'm wondering if the sleeker modern look may be better and give the "wow" factor. Also that oak may make the room darker. Aaaaaarrrggghhhh! Help me decide please!

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

Go with what YOU like !! And what suits the room /house ... It's your choice ! Not the designers ! What do you like ? What will you feel comfortable with ? Glossy ones are not so easy to keep clean ! They can bounce light around the room though - but do can a Matt or silt light coloured cabinet ! Cream or stone colour ? Some cabinets are paintable so you can ring the changes every two or three years !

[MerryMarigold]

I have gloss. They are easy to clean, bit of a wipe. I also have some copper cupboards at the top. I have some very modern interesting lights and contrasted with an old victorian pine dresser and dining table to soften it and make it all more interesting. I think gloss can be a bit bland otherwise.

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

Whoops ! Sorry for typos ! Am on my phone !!

[annalouiseh]

looking at the b&q kitchens you have pictured.
The oak one is inframe so will be almost twice the cost as the gloss.
The internal will be as hard wearing as each other as made from the same material. The oak one is an oak colour, not a wood where the white one would be a white colour.
Matt is the way forward on the modern side of things. Sheds say gloss as they dont have many options on the matt, if any

[measles64]

You do not say if you have children, pets. This makes a difference imo.

[Jointheclub1]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Measles oops, forgot to mention we have children. That's why fingerprints might be an issue for gloss one.

Thanks oneplan painted might be a good compromise then it can be changed in future. I hadn't thought of that.

Is reassuring merrymarigold that you find yours easy to keep clean. Yours sounds lovely. Not sure we'll have much space to add 'interest' in ours though.

Annalouiseh do you mean gloss is going out of fashion? What do you mean sheds day gloss.

[Kitsmummy]

As you're asking for opinions....I think that oak one looks like it was designed about 15 years ago.

[DressedUpJustLikeEdie]

High glossdoes show up every mark and fingerprint. The handless ones must be a nightmare because it's impossible not to keep touching the doors. I have high gloss and it never ceases to amaze me how smeary and fingermarked they get. On the plus side, if you can be bothered to keep wiping and polishing them they are easy to keep clean and they look lovely.

But a wood finish is definitely lower maintenance.

[Zinxie]

I very much don't like gloss. But in relation to Kitsmummy's comment..what makes a kitchen look timeless yet contemporary? Is such a thing possible!

[DressedUpJustLikeEdie]

But yes, sorry I agree with Kitsmummy that oak modern shaker look is very dated now.

[pootlebug]

The oak one looks really dated imo.
To be fair I also think gloss is starting to date. We went for flat matt units rather than gloss (also doesn't show the marks).

[debricassartcleary]

I'm looking to refit kitchen at the moment. I have gone off the fitted style now and like separate pieces put together. A nice cabinet and different drawer combination.

[Zinxie]

I'm off the fitted style too, and interested in a mixture of painted and wood. Want to redo kitchen next year and not even sure where to begin given my current reviewing of what makes a good kitchen.

Fitted is practical, and practical is all important.

[EnriqueTheRingBearingLizard]

I know you're only just looking at refitting your kitchen and you absolutely must choose what you like and what you want to look at and live with, but how long are you thinking of living in the house?

I only ask because I've been looking at houses recently and there's a fair few places with kitchens that aren't that old, but which for us to live with, would have to be changed, as you know that's a big financial impact and it affects how we value the house in terms of what we're prepared to offer.

Personally I really dislike gloss finishes, I find it a very over done look that I'm tired of seeing, but then that's also true of a lot of wood finishes as well. It's all personal taste and I don't like anything that looks city/modern. I do like more of a mismatch and variety of textures and colours. I'd probably be happier to live with a wood type finish that I could maybe even paint over, but gloss would have to go and I don't have sticky fingered DCs or pets to consider.

If it's so hard to decide what if you went about it from a different approach and worked out what worktops and wall finishes you absolutely want and then see which door types go best?

[measles64]

Working on a kitchen now with an architect, am going for a kitchen living area. So minimal units and a walk in pantry to stow, dry goods, pots and pans etc. Why pay a lot of money for a cupboard to put your crockery pots and pans and dry goods in, when you either have to stoop or stretch to get hold of them. Just shelve out a room, a no brainer really for me.

www.houzz.co.uk/walk-in-pantry

[MerryMarigold]

club, it's not that a big a room! But there is a dining 'end' and the rest of the kitchen. I prefer the mismatched look. Yes, you can see fingerprints and smears but only when the sun is shining directly on it, which for me is late evening for a few months a year! (Then I think, oh no, need to give them a wipe!). Personally find a huge mass of one colour (gloss or oak) to be a bit bland. My friend has just done her kitchen and I really don't like it (HUGE and all cream gloss/ black granite/ black tiles). If I were designing it, I'd have had some wood 'bits' and a bit more colour.

Have you looked at Ikea? I am a very big fan of their kitchens. I got a kitchen designer to do my kitchen and then copied the basic design myself with the Ikea tool.

In terms of timeless, we are moving into a house and I really like some aspects of the kitchen, but it is not v practical. I love the cabinets as they are solid, painted wood. I could easily change the knobs, but there is no oven and I swear there are no plugpoints . Plus a lot of dead space. We will have to do the kitchen fairly soon, but I'd like to keep those cabinets as they are lovely quality and look nice, just not sure how to incorporate with some more modern bits. I wish Ikea did a stainless steel front.

[measles64]

If you like the mismatched look have a look at wardrobe pantry, just read a blog about an Ikea Pax wardrobe that has been converted it looks amazing, my friend a realtor in NY says they are all the rage. It is funny that in NY they have moved away from high gloss minimalist and are moving back to the country mix and match look.

[Jointheclub1]

Thanks all, I appreciate your honesty. Looks like the oak one is out . Would love a walk in pantry but the room just isn't big enough. Haven't tried ikea but will take a look now.

[debricassartcleary]

Thanks will look at that. My reason for changing from a fitted kitchen to a mix of cabinets shelves etc is I have a fairly small 1930s kitchen. I have google imaged pictures of how it would have looked back then and I actually preferred it. . My kitchen would have felt spacious back then and had ample room for a table. They used a nice table as a workstation place to sit ect. My fitted kitchen is bonkers I have loads of cupboards I don't use. I love to cook but need very little actual cupboard space iyswim. A lovely table, a handmade cabinet,drawers and a few shelves would look and work much better.
I do think all round fitted kitchens do feel dated and too show home like now. I think individually designed kitchens are more appealing, to me at least.

[debricassartcleary]

I do have a walk in pantry.

[debricassartcleary]

That's funny measles my dh is making a cupboard a bit like that... we're on trend! .
I would go for the Ikea kitchens over the ones you have chosen op.

[MerryMarigold]

Sadly wardrobe pantry would not fit in very tiny kitchen which also incorporates the 'under stairs' area (ie. very difficult sizes!). It can handle different cupboards though. I will google mismatched kitchens and see if it is an official term .

[Higgle]

We are planning our new kitchen too. I really really want integrated handle poain doors, but with the major suppliers they only come in gloss. There is a but of a rumour that Wickes are launching a matt version later this year but apart from that as a possibility I haven't found any affordable alternatives - has anyone else found any?

Will our choices be as future proof as is possible? Karndeen slate effect tiles, Rangemaster, american style fridge freezer, matt handless units ( if we can find them) and greyish granite worktops with upstands, no tiles.

[noddyholder]

Agree that there is a move away from minimal gloss. I would get a carpenter to make the doors and get them spray painted to suit your taste. Oak kitchens becoming fashionable again though but with grey/concrete tops or pure white

[noddyholder]

Also nice