New Kitchen advice

[AimingForSerenity]

We are just getting in quotes to replace our kitchen and, as I have never done this before I wondered if anyone had any words of wisdom. You know, the kind of thing that you think when you've finished that you wished you'd known before!

We have a large dining kitchen (around 18'3" x 16') but I don't want a central island unit as I like to have a kitchen table and chairs. I also want to keep my unfitted appliances (silver) and range cooker (stainless steel)

The current favourite kitchen is "rational, telaio" in "camee" (that's posh for cream)
www.rationalgb.com/collection/modern/telaio/index.php

Any thoughts or suggestions please? I'm feeling a bit bewildered

Hello there . I've been on so many 'new kitchen' threads my head hurts, but it's very difficult because you can't change your mind a few months down the line.

I'm going for the same colour as you, nothing not to like about cream and I think it's classy.

Induction hobs are very popular, as are insinkerators or qookers. No tiles, a bugger to clean the grout , so glass or s/steel splashbacks.

Keep it simple and have bright/quirky accessories, because you can change them and change the look of your kitchen.

I've been deciding for months and am still a bit bewildered!

You should get some fabulous advice on here, everyone loves a new kitchen. I shall be watching this thread

place marking!

Any thoughts on flooring? We're thinking about Amtico: hoping it will be warmer and less noisy than ceramic tiles. Cream units are popular...we're going for that too!

Don't go for slate worktops. My aunt has them and they look lovely but fitting and cutting them was a total and utter nightmare.

We are only a little further down the line than you - the actual kitchen is ordered but am still umming and ahhing about all the extras - lighting, flooring, worktops, splashbacks etc. I thought it would be so much fun but am finding it really stressful!

We have gone for a cream gloss kitchen from howdens and at the moments I am thinking of laminate worktops as they really need to be easy to look after and family friendly - duropal brown sahara is my current favourite. Will be going for matching upstands and a patterned glass splashback from mykitchenstore behind the hob. Still need to choose the image/pattern for the splashback though....

Flooring will be karndean and probably wood effect as I want to continue it through the hall.

No island/breakfast bar here either as like you I like having the table and chairs as part of the kitchen.

Lighting is my next decision - can't decide whether to go for recessed spots in the kitchen area and then a pendant over the table or matching lights either end.

Will be watching this thread with interest as I still feel I could have a complete change of mind about so many things although the clock is ticking now as we are due to start installation in 3 1/3 weeks so I need to start getting stuff ordered.

also watching with interest...

we redid our kitchen in last house just before selling, and am about to start the new one which we also plan to sell when finished .

Things I will repeat for sure

• induction hob; SO easy to clean, and great for extra workspace or sense of space if it's not a huge work area.
• pull out deep drawers, so easy for plates and unloading dishwasher
• some open shelving for use all the time stuff - teapot etc, but most wall stuff in cupboards for visual tidyness.

Things I'm unsure on

• whether to be a bit less safe on colour - went high gloss white from IKEA last time, with dark grey worktop and ceramic floor tiles (have cats that pee so couldn't go for anything at all porous (wanted rubber!)
• whether to try Howdens or stick with Ikea

We're having underfloor heating in this place so less choice on flooring. Still not sure on colour though...

Ah god writing it down makes me realise I haven't decided on anything ...

jaspercat2002 : What is good about Karndean (I've never heard of it)? Do you know if it's compatible with underfloor heating?

sparklyjewlz - Karndean is a similar product to Amtico - a little cheaper I think. We had it in our old house as part of the deal when we had a conservatory added and loved it - very hardwearing, non-slip, dead easy to keep clean as just needed a quick brush and mop.
They do several ranges of which knight tile is the cheapest but thats what we had before and it was absolutely fine. I believe its fine to have with underfloor heating as long as a heat resistant glue is used but you could always contact them to check.

We were considering another similar but slightly cheaper again product called Camaro from Polyflor but after the fitter came round and measured last night we found out we would only save a couple of hundred pounds (on a £2k total - its quite a big area we are getting done) so have decided to stick with Karndean as we know its good.

Ah: thanks. I've found a local stockist so I will investigate.

A big larder is a must and I would have one of those pull out freezers rather than a conventional one and also deep pull out drawers for crockery. One of those lovely taps that boiling water comes out of.

Hand made cupboards are cool too as we can paint ours and have a new kitchen whenever we want.

We're waiting for yet another quote, from a builder this time who uses Howdens. We last had a salesman round from a highly recommended company but he wasn't flexible at all. A builder will assure you he can do whatever you like . That's my top tip to date. And I'm hoping he will come back with a cheaper quote
Agree re: deep drawers aswell.
And curved corner cupboards that go up to the ceiling. Salesman: 'They don't make curved corner cupboards that go up to the ceiling'. Builder: 'Yeah, whatever you want'. Fab.

jollster - why are induction hobs space saving pls? i can't think why...

I mean compared to a gas hob or anything bumpy? It's just a flat surface? so gives you extra space to work with... iyswim?

ahh so you mean you can prepare stuff on it. gotcha thank you!

i'm wanting a non-fitted kitchen, but i need someone to help me plan it because i need lots of workspace in a room with 3 doors and a large window.... any pointers, anyone?

I thought I'd weaned myself off kitchen threads, but no! We had ours done, with an extension, last year and it's wonderful. We have a 'Heritage Grey' painted oak kitchen from Wickes (actually bought from Benchmarx, much cheaper, long story), bamboo flooring, lots of light, oak worktops, a tall pull-out larder (and a diddy one for oil etc), deep pan drawers, Neff ovens including a combi. We do have a lovely gas hob, too, but sometimes when I'm cleaning it I wonder about an induction hob. I like cooking on gas, though.

I think that your choice of kitchen is beautiful - really elegant, with clean lines and altogether classy. Good luck, and I hope you enjoy it. Tips from MNet made the whole thing less stressful for me. I even found the Wickes kitchen and the tip about Benchmarx from here, as well as bamboo flooring and the worktop company!

jumping in on the induction question - not space saving as such but as flat they can be used as heat resistant work space when not in use (ie for putting hot baking trays on when they come out the oven) Also they cool down really quickly so you can turn a ring off and not have to move the pan straight off to stop food burning which makes dishing up a lot easier (hope that makes sense!)
It is like having an extra bit of really useful workspace.

I love my induction hob- can you tell? ;-)

Marking space

Well based on the conversation I had last night with our (lovely, incredibly patient) kitchen fitter:

• Plan your lighting so that if perchance you are having suspended lights like this over the breakfast bar they are far enough away from any opening unit doors

• Ditto light switches

• Ditto sockets

You mention that you will be keeping your kitchen appliances- initally we planned to do this but have a cupboard door in front of them so they looked integrated IYSWIM but because the worktop would have had to be wider to accommodate this it worked out that we could get all new integrated appliances for not much extra at all.

If you do go for an induction hob (which we have- can't wait to try it out!) remember you will need to buy new pans.

LovelyJudy -i have a kitchen like that.My large window is becoming the entrance to my dining extension.I have gone for a fitted kitchen from Pineland as i wanted solid wood painted units.I have a enormous pantry cupboard along one wall and a large range fitted into the fireplace mantel with no cupboards arround, so i guess its semi-fitted.I have planned a large island with an integrated fridge and bin and integrated recycling bins for neatness.My microwave is going into the large pantry cupboard as is a double plug-socket.ll food storage and large fridge [bar sauces and spices] are going into the utility

Neff or Bosch? Which is better generally? Just asked this on another thread aswell

Neff and Bosch are made by the same people (also Siemens), so equally good. There seems to be a mystique surrounding Neff ovens, though, and I have fallen for that but love mine so have no regrets! I have a Bosch hob and hood and Neff fridge-freezer.

If it's of any interest, I discovered a wonderful place called Roy Waring South which sells brand new but unboxed appliances. You save hundreds of pounds. I saved £700, even taking into account the cheapest internet prices, by buying everything from there except my washing machine. Everything comes with the 2-year guarantee. I got so many good tips off Mnet that I like to share the ones I've found myself!

We just got a new kitchen as part of our house extension, so the whole layout had to be designed from scratch rather than just replacing an existing kitchen IYKWIM so some of this may not be appropriate for you but:

We went to about 5 or 5 different kitchen shops and got them to design a layout and then took the best bits of each design and then went somewhere else. Bit cheeky perhaps but we're really pleased with the results. Harvey Jones were really good even though we were never going to buy a kitchen from there as at the £££s (but they don't give you the plan until you sign up, so we went straight to a coffee shop afterwards and sketched it out again while we could remember it)

Get lots of pan drawers for storing everything - they're fab
We have two corner cupboards, one has a carousel and one has "le-mans" mechanism. The carousel is much better, stores way more stuff.

Think about where you are going to store everything before finalising your design. I worked out exactly what was going to go in every drawer & cupboard at the design stage. For example all the plates and cutlery is stored next to the dishwasher so it's really to put everything away. I have all the baking stuff close to each other (scales, measuring jugs, rolling pins etc). Chopping boards near to where the knives are. It gives me great joy that it all works so well

In our island we have an intergrated (sp?) bin with different sections for rubbish, recyling, compost. I love that when I've finished chopping I can just pull out the bin and sweep all the waste in the compost

We got slightly deeper than standard worktops. The extra space is brill, means I can keep the breadmaker and food processor on the worktop all the time and I use them much more as a result.

If you are having underfloor heating (ace BTW) make sure you don't have it under the bin

Thanks for all this advice, it does help focus the mind.

I am just a bit disappointed atm. We told all the companies quoting that we quite liked the way the kitchen is laid out at present but have some issues with the current design (which we told them) but once we said we don't want a central island unit they all seem to have done the same design which is basically just replacing our old cupboards with new ones in the same place and, somehow, I expected more...!

Am going to spend the next day or two looking at house magazines for inspiration. Can anyone recommend any inspirational websites for someone with zero imagination? I want something to sweep me off my feet.

Have a look here it's a kitchen fitters forum and they post photos of the kitchens they have done. You can get some good ideas from them, plus they often mention what they liked and didn't like about each kitchen.

That site looks really useful, thanks Flingon