want new kitchen - what should I choose?

[MooMinCow]

Currently have crap design ALL white kitchen (white wood grain cupboards, worktops, tiles, sink, hob) which is a nightmare to keep clean and looks really dated.

We hope to get a new kitchen next year, and I want one that is easy to clean and doesn't show up every single smudge or mark (have 2 DC so lots of sticky hands!)

Any recommendations on what type of cupboard fronts/worktops/tiles/flooring to go for? Am v.confused at the enormous choice out there!

Anyone?

Yes I'm here ! Have a look at IKEA.com a)you get a family discount b) you can mix and match c)if you hate everything they have, it'll give you a nice idea because they're designers put lovely things together d)reasonably priced...espec if you're looking to marble/tile the floor

Thanks MP86. We popped into Magnet and Wickes this afternoon and didn't really like any of it and at prices. Think IKEA is more our budget as our current house isn't our 'forever home' so don't want to spend a fortune on the kitchen ideally.

Do they help plan your kitchen? Magnet and Wickes are sending bods over next week to plan/design/measure. Thought I would get some ideas from them then go to IKEA and see what they do.

Have you had a kitchen from IKEA then?

The kitchen in our old house came from MFI. It was really good - a light wood effect which didn't show marks at all and when we moved 4 years later it still looked great. Obviously MFI are no longer around but on the back of that I would go for something mid range colour wise - nothing too shiny or dark or light.

Also if you have the cash to pay for it DON'T do so by cheque. Pay for it by credit card and then pay that off. We paid for ours by cheque having got a loan and I felt quite ill when they went bust many years later as of course people who'd paid cash lost it all. It had never occurred to me before but now I wouldn't pay cash up front for anything like that.

My parents have an MFI kitchen NL and still looks good after 15yrs! We would pay on card as DH is always banging on about the extra protection that offers.

Do you think a gloss finish would be hard to keep clean? Gah, too much choice is a bad thing imo!

Gloss finish will show finger marks I think.

Damn - that's what I thought too (imagines DC's sticky honey/jam coated fingers on new glossy doors)

MooMinCow, what I great name, that used to be my nickname for my mother.

I like country kitchens, solid wood cupboards, shelves, plate racks and dressers, I like painted solid wood, with granite worktops around sink, wood everywhere else. Depends on the size of the kitchen though and the shape of it. I also think pine is great for not showing marks. Although pine would look naff, if its a totally fitted kitchen.

My old kitchen was from IKEA, reasonably priced, free delivery and fitting-but I left Bath to move to Wales so I left behind my kitchen, got married and had a baby! They DO plan your kitchen but I don't know if this costs more as it wasn't an option when I had mine. I just find their variation incredible, you can pick this side or that side, different colours/materials...stationary or not...and the things like handles and taps are endless! They have an extensive range on the internet;
www.ikea.com/gb/en/store/edmonton/kitchen_squad (that's the folk who build them)

thekitchen.ikea.co.uk/

I have white gloss slab (flat) cupboard fronts.

Don't get especially mucky and very easy to wipe clean.

I am happy with them and think they look good too.

Pics on profile still I think.

Got it from Benchmarx

Oh and I have a 9, 7 year old and 16 mth toddler.

We had an Ikea kitchen in our last house and I love it.

Make sure you get it fitted really well and it will look amazing and last a good while.

You can always opt for more expensive worktops/taps/tiles if you want to add more 'wow' factor .

We had an off-white matt kitchen with oak butcher's block worktops - the oak was much much easier to look after than I thought and looked great.

Now we have a Corian worktop, much more expensive, kind of speckled brownish-beige and it shows up nothing whick is great to a point... until the sunlight hits it just so and I realise how aboslutely boggin' it is .

Cece, I love your kitchen. This is really cheeky, but would you mind saying how much you paid, excluding fitting?

We are having an extension done and our kitchen is going to significantly increase in size and I haven't started pricing up yet.

I love your tall stack wall. (if that's what you call it).

Cupboards, with internal wirework = about £4500

Walnut worktops = about £1300 (I think)

Appliances, Neff double oven and 5 burner gas hob, CDA extractor and built in tall firdge = think that was £1200 ish

Sink = free with kitchen

Tap = £50 ish off of eBay

Tiles were £19pm2

Flooring = Amtico about £24 pm2 I think!

so about £8000 without fitting I think.

cupboards

worktops

applainces

tiles

flooring

We got ours from IKEA last year - 22 units (I think) some with carousel units and pull out bits, including 60cm wide larder pull out and six drawers 9four of which are the deep ones). Also, dishwasher, oven, hob and US style fridge for about £4k. Our kitchen is around 4.5m x 3.5m. I'm more than happy with the kitchen, black gloss, looks great and should last us a while. And was miles cheaper than Wickes, B&Q and Homebase (I did planning with all of these - coz I'm a tightarse!).

They do have planners in store, we went in with rough measurements and an idea of where we wanted things to go and spent a good couple of hours deciding on the best layout. They use an on-line programme which means you can access the plans at home (and fiddle around with them if need be). We got ours on a two year interest free credit plan, which is great as we'll be able to pay it off in that time without incurring any extra costs.

We got sink, taps from t'internet (as I wasn't that impressed with IKEA's range and found cheaper bits on line).

We also arranged for a local kitchen fitter to do all the work on ours, including ripping out old kitchen, rewiring and placing new sockets, moving fuse boxes etc. and plumbing in appliances including fridge. He also tiled the walls and floor. I think this cost us £2.5k (but there was a lot of work) and we agreed the price from the outset, so didn't get stung when the fitter went over the estimated timescale. (Let me know if you're in Hampshire and I'll post his details as he did a great job).

Can I just warn you off Magnet? They cost the earth, fall apart within weeks and never return your calls. Not my own experience but someone in my family. Look them up on consumer sites. There are unresolved complaints running for years. They are notorious and more expensive than most.

We inherited a Corian work surface, which I love. You get it moulded to whatever shape you want. It's mottled like marble so doesn't show the dirt but also cleans to a gorgeous shine. Can't put hot things onto it directly, and if you're in a hard water area the limescale's hard to clean off the draining board without scratching but it looks lovely.

cece I love the lights over your breakfast bar

We also did this - IKEA base and wall units, fittings etc, extractor fans, and door handles but we went with fancy sinks, taps and worktops (reclaimed school science benches, complete with compass point graffiti :))

Then we paid a joiner to make very simple MDF doors and painted these nice neutral Farrow and Ball colours.

Bought a big range cooker on eBay. Laid a timber floor which was then painted. Tiles were Fired Earth ones, bought for £1 on eBay.

FIL ripped out old kitchen and installed the new one.

All in all, it was an el cheapo job, but I'm so pleased with it. Vague impression of it here

Thanks they ar ejust B&Q ones. Didn't cost much... think about £15 each.

MooMin - I have a dear friend who is a kitchen fitter and he says Ikea are definitely the best of the non-bespoke kitchens, in terms of longevity and quality.

hi Ladies!

Thanks for all the input! think I will take Magnet and Wickes' plans and hot foot to IKEA and see what there is. Our local one holds 'kitchen seminar evenings' so maybe should pop along and have a chat. Boris - the online thingy sounds a good idea as does the 2yr interest free deal.

Like the idea of the seamless Corian worktop - are they v. expensive though?

Yes they are £££££ and you can't put hot pans on them which would make me

We also went with an IKEA kitchen and we're really happy with it. We also have IKEA oven, microwave and warming drawer. However, this is our forever house, so we went for a white Corian worktop (we did this in last house too, on top of Wickes kitchen). You CAN put hot pans on it, but it's recommended you don't. But it has happened, and it's been fine, so if someone does it by accident (MIL for example!), it's not the end of the world. It's non-porous, so can never get stained - you use something called Bar Keepers Friend and it always looks like new after. But they are v expensive and if you don't want to stay in the house but want that look, there are couple of cheaper alternatives: Minerelle and Staron. There are probably some others now too. They tend not to be as versatile.

We also got an inexpensive glass splashback from local window company - you can choose from loads of colours. Drawers and cupboards all white gloss, with one row of (fake) oak drawers which breaks up the white nicely - nice if you want to link up with other bits of wood in the room: table or whatever. Our floor is also wood, but painted white (yes, I am always mopping and sweeping, but I love the look).

Cece, thanks for the info about your kitchen and taking the time to do the links. Very comprehensive.

Ours won't be fitted till next year so I'm trying to do my research now.

Anyone have glass work tops ..... or is this complete madness?