Kitchen - cupboards / flooring / worktops

[sheeplikessleep]

Woohoo, looks like we're about to get our long and eagerly awaited kitchen.

I'm just after some inspiration on co-ordinating flooring / cupboards and worktop.

My thoughts are ...

I want wood / laminate floor, as it's going to be a reasonably sized kitchen diner (so not as keen on tiles in the dining area)

I don't think wooden cupboard doors would work with laminate floor, so thinking cream / white / pale green / pale grey cupboard doors?

I don't want real wooden worktops - we just aren't disciplined enough on the maintenance front.

All the cream cupboard fronts seem to have wooden worktops. I can see why - cream / white cupboard fronts with white or black worktops seem much more 'stark' and less warm.

Any ideas or inspiration would be very much welcomed! I see some pictures, where I think, love the cupboards, others where I see the worktop and think love the worktop (I'd like chunky, thick, square edged natural stone, but probably prevented on price and again, against white / cream cupboards, it might look too stark?).

Also don't want ultra cutting edge, more middle of the ground, modern but won't date (as quickly) preferred.

Thanks for reading

Meant to say, any ideas or thoughts very much welcome, as I'm drowning in kitchen brochures here! Thanks

We were going to have painted white with pale granite worktop. Now having oak doors with pale top as we think easier to keep clean and more hardwearing with the kids. Took many months to finalize everything.

We have cream cabinets with wood style work top and restaurant grade oak laminate floor. Tile are autumn type colours and walls sage.

I would like pale green cupboards but would be concerned that if you sold the house it may not be a popular colour.

Avoid white cabinets as they look dirty quickly.

Get a copy of Elle decoration and living etc magazine for ideas

How about traditional units bit only as base units with maybe a floating shelf above, and one wall of double heights units with larder, built in oven etc

So a more modern look but wig more traditional units (eg heritage grey but from benchmarx as cheaper)

What's your budget?
Ikea do good kitchens

Think you can get wood effect laminate at Ikea...I really wish I had gone for granite rather than real wood as I only ever varnished it about 6 times before forgetting leaving it to perish slowly. Plus I got a cheap fitter (recommended by builders but had never fit in a Victorian house, only new builds - alarm bells should have rung!) so the corners are a bit off and anything like that means splits are inevitable. I have very simple white cupboard doors from Wickes (didn't want details at all as they mean extra faff cleaning so literally have a single box effect - Stamford I think it was) with simple knobs on as was also after less fuss cleaning on these and didn't want to have to clean behind big handles. I'm a Country Kitchen fan though so may not be what you are looking for at all!
www.country-kitchens-scotland.co.uk/classic.html

In the same boat sheep. Looked at Howdens square edged laminate oak effect worktop and was pleasantly surprised. Thinking of putting with their Greenwich cream slab cupboards -dead plain with no dust trap twiddly bits.

Arse, just wrote huge long post, answering you all individually and I've lost it as my Internet crashed. It's playing silly beggars tonight.

Really great ideas, thank you and especially to know what is easier to keep clean. I'll look those all up, thank you.

Budget is £15k (which also includes knocking down a wall to make L-shaped kitchen diner), all in (fitting, kitchen, appliances, flooring etc). We do know a builder, who uses Howdens. That heritage grey kitchen is gorgeous Staverton. But like Maddie, I don't know if pale green will be to everyones tastes.

What is oak effect laminate worktop like? Is it durable? Does it look like real wood?

Is this going to put some people off, these cupboards?

www.howdens.com/product-range/kitchen-collection/classic/tewkesbury-skye/

This is nice

www.howdens.com/product-range/kitchen-collection/classic/burford-grey/ maybe a little more 'mainstream'?

You should be able to get a quartz or granite worktop within that budget?

These people www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk/ have some good prices on engineered wood and send you free samples so you can see the thickness and colour.

We're getting Tewkesbury Oak cupboards. Howdens have had a sale on (we missed as was before we had made final decisions) and the offer of a free dishwasher in the months we have been dealing with them, so you might get something thrown in from them too.

The tewkesbury range is wood, the burford is vinyl wrapped i think so cheaper.

staverton we're doing what you have suggested - larder cupboard and built in oven/micro, then rest of kitchen is base units and pan drawers only. Really opens up the space in the kitchen. Am going to get a couple of nice shelves put up for our nicer kitchen pieces to go on, recipe books etc

My kitchen was all Howdens units. Very happy.

I have cream cupboard fronts but a laminate top similar to this

I have this flooring as it flows through to the dinning area this

Sheep - I like both the kitchens in your links, wouldn't be put off by either. In fact I'm going to have a look at them both as we're sorting a new kitchen too, don't think they were available last time I looked in Howdens.

Miserablemum- we are on the renovation thread together. Where are you getting your kitchen from?
I agree I think wall units are quite dated.

Ps why are you miserable???

Love the pale hand-painted one

The Tewkesbury on is nice amazonianwoman. I do like that, although have been a bit put off white as someone else upthread said it is less forgiving, muck wise. I do like the look of white, I just don't know if I clean enough for white ;)

Spike - that is interesting about what you're paying. Makes me think we should be OK price wise.

I think the Burford and Tewkesbury ones are both really nice. I want to go and see them in-situ really, to look at what the colour is really like. Not sure if Howdens have showrooms or is it just trade?

I do like the look of them and it's good to hear positive feedback on Howdens!

Thanks all for posting.

Howdens don't have huge showrooms just a smallish room with a couple of kitchens set up, but they do have sample doors available to view. Think I'll go on Tuesday to suss out the Tewkesbury Skye and hand-painted, not keen on white either, and also the Burford grey

amazonian - keep me posted, as i reckon we'll end up with similar kitchens and i can pinch your ideas on tiles, wall colour etc ;)

Sheep I had a quick look at the Tewkesbury and Burford doors today - the Skye and grey doors both looked pretty much the same colour in the warehouse. As the Tewkesbury is solid wood you can see the grain, the Burford is smooth as it is foil wrapped. I prefer real wood, and of course the wooden one could be repainted or even just repaired if chipped I guess. I still prefer the lighter hand-painted colour of the cabinets on their website though.

The cabinets/carcasses on show felt of reasonable quality, good for the price I suppose.

Can I ask how much they are exactly
For comparison we have been quoted £7200 excl Vat for cabinets alone from Harvey jones (linear range). They are gorgeous. need to get worktops and appliances and fitting and painting about extra 3200

BAMBOO!
www.simplybamboo.co.uk/
www.bambooflooringcompany.com/bamboo-worktops/cat_25.html

and then simple ikea units

Staverton I've no idea how much they are! You have to get a quote via a builder, Howdens don't have a price list that they divulge to Joe Public.

A local builder gave us a quote last year for a Howden's gloss kitchen, lots of big drawers (more expensive than cupboards), big island, full height double larder unit and a 5.5m run of units and it was about £5-6k fitted from memory, will have to hunt out quote. I'm not even sure if that included some kind of quartz worktop? I definitely didn't ask for laminate! So pretty cheap! Except I'm not keen on gloss...

The Tewkesbury would definitely cost more as it's wood, the Burford should be comparable.

I do love the Linear range - real matt wood and no dirt catching grooves! I spent 2 hours and half a bottle of Dettol cleaner scrubbing my existing hideous orange pine MFI kitchen cupboards yesterday - 3 cutout type sections in each door and double grooves in each cutout. Yuck yuck yuck. (We inherited it - it also has a rather fetching speckled grey laminate worktop with grooved pine edge to it. Yuck again)

Wondering if I could get someone to make a Harvey Jones look alike?