Can I see your kitchen?

[bedsaidted]

I am looking to redecorate, my kitchen is very tired. I want something neutral enough or possibly light green. Anyone want to show me their kitchens for ideas? im really bad at this and find googling images just gives me perfect instagram kitchens. Thank you

Yes! Hes never looked particularly real (hes a bit curly) but he is!

Hi - we have a 1930s house. Was covered in carpet and laminate flooring - gradually taken everything up, and luckily we had the original floors. Hired a floor sander - and sanded the entire downstairs. In my head - it was going to take a day .... 4 days of hard work. Which is my excuse for forgetting to account for the dresser - too tired!

I have made many mistakes when finishing floors - and always ended up orange. This time I did my research and found Finney's - finneyswoodfinishes.co.uk. I emailed - and Mark Finney sent me back a lovely email with loads of advice. Suggested the Trade Acrylic Varnish - and it was perfect. Kept the colour of the wood and only slight sheen. It's much cheaper than B&Q etc too - I did the whole of the downstairs and so easy to use. It has been 2 years - and the floors are still perfect.

You have to work with the space you have don’t you? Ours is L shaped and narrower at the far end due to the house being built on a crescent. We were initially thinking of having units all along the long bit of the L and then a island and table in the short bit but we would have had to move a window and make it smaller which we didn’t get planning permission for.

So now as you walk in the room there are units half way along the long bit until the short part joins, then the fridge is at the end of that, the dining table is straight ahead in front of the windows and then the rest of the kitchen is in the short part of the L. The short part is kind of my kitchen proper where all the ingredients, pots and pans, cooker etc are and then the other bit has breakfast cereal, bread, snacks, kettle, toaster, plates, mugs, cutlery etc. It actually works really well.

I’ve ended up with a bit less storage than I would have liked and the back two units had to be cupboards rather than drawers because they had to be cut down to fit the walls but it’s fine, just means I have a bit more out on show than I’d have liked and some of my bulk purchasing has to go in the cupboard under the stairs.

Here's mine. A bit untidy after last night's party.

It looks nice and lived in!

@Algoquick love the colour of your kitchen! This is the layout that we are trying to achieve but currently have a wall separating the space and struggling to visualise it and whether a small island would fit. Do you know the measurements of your room?

It's maddening when no-one else will unload the dishwasher.

Yes I guess a lot of these photos are from when the kitchens were first done so they look immaculate ! They certainly don't look very ' lived in' !

Yes, I think some posters have said that it was a photo from when it was newly installed. I suspect some are estate agents pictures as well, which always hide a multitude of sins!

I have, yes, and thank you so much! We sold that property last year (it was in Wales where we'd lived for six years, renovating the cottage inside and out). We're now back 'home' in England in a new project Georgian cottage by the sea 😁

Yours has a lovely, characterful vibe and I imagine it'll look even more gorgeous with pink cabinets!

They are the Jakob range wood effect tiles from Mandarin stone. I got the walnut although I meant to get the ash (!). It was a last minute colour change - possibly I was worried about mud etc from my 3 kids/2 cats, it’s a small house and the through traffic is heavy - but honestly I think I would have loved any of the colours. The tiles are large so easy to lay, I put them over water floor heating. They were the best ones I saw in terms of looking quite realistic, having a nice parquet style pattern but also having the practicality of tiles for a heavy use area. I’ve had so many compliments for them.
Mandarin Stone Jakob

Agree if the kitchen is going to the tip, but not if it's being sold on or donated.

Don't agree with needing to live in the space first. Sometimes you know it doesn't work straightaway.

We almost bought a house with a badly laid out, purple gloss kitchen, that would have been the first to go.
Current kitchen isn't great but happy to wait as it's doable.
The purple would have given me headaches everyday 😅.

Are people actually using the up to ceiling cupboard?
@MetricMs , I see you have handles on your top ones, are they pullout?

I grew up in a different country where cupboards were always taken up to the ceiling - I couldn’t understand why everyone seemed to have these dust collection spots in their kitchen when I first lived here!

I put the regular cupboards up and got my carpenter to make the fronts for the gap, to take them up to the ceiling. They pull out - he put those little magnets in on either side of each panel, although they slot in very nicely anyway, technically they would stay in place without them. I use them to store items I very rarely use but I can’t face giving away. Also for any spare kitchen items that I can pass on to my kids as they move off and need to furnish uni housing etc. I have party items, decorations, platters etc all tucked away there.

I do, it provides valuable extra storage and removes a clutter/dust gathering space. I used the top shelves for less frequently used items.

I’m tall and can reach most areas but my neighbour has kitchen steps - a couple of steps which fold flat when not in use. The steps are this type of design although hers are smaller and fold flatter and fit in a slot originally put in to hang tea towels.

www.amazon.co.uk/BONTEC-Capacity-Anti-Slip-Handlebar-Lightweight/dp/B0BJ721CXZ

Lovely, great to have a good carpenter/joiner.

Love your splashback, and yours too @returntowork13 , where after they from please?

Similar tastes as also considered the same floor tiles, but going for a gingham blind and underskirt so worried they'd clash.

Thank you, it is wasted space but our gap is annoyingly too small for any proper storage.

Thabks for the link too, have been looking for kitchen steps, but would love wooden ones.

This is my recently finished utility room which I am in love with! Currently designing my kitchen but I'm not brave enough to continue with the pink!

I LOVE the pink!

This sounds like my ideal kitchen. I’ve always wanted a kitchen big enough to have a sofa in it!

Thank you, so do I!

I was lucky with the carpenter, he worked for my builders (it was part of a whole house upgrade), he was very particular about his work.
My splash back is from a company up north Metal Sheets
They put a lacquer over it so it hasn’t oxidised as fast as copper normally would from the heat but I love the way copper changes colour over time. From memory they use other types of metal so it doesn’t have to be copper. I phoned them for advice but ordering was all done online.

I think the challenge you will have with wooden steps is they tend to be bulkier and heavier for the same number of steps. Tubular steel can be cut thinner, lighter and still take the weight. My late MiL used to have a quaint little wooden milking stool which she used as a step but obviously no handrail.

One of my CF DC bought me a plain black slimline set after watching me balance on a box in one of the sheds and told me I was too old to be balancing on boxes. I retorted appropriately but it probably was a good idea - I do have osteoarthritis which can affect my ability to adjust quickly and balance.
If/when I feel the need for them in the kitchen I’ll just hide them under the stairs and pretend I’m not getting older 😁

Thank you so much. This is exactly the vibe we would be after when we eventually redo our kitchen.