kitchen choice advice please?

[EmberRainbow]

Hi ladies, i've not posted much before but i have been reading lots of previous posts and was hoping to get some advice please.

After much research I have decided to get kitchen units from Ikea (abstrakt white) and was going to go with their oak worktop (i'm happy with the upkeep needed) and maybe have a tiled splashback.

However my fitter (non Ikea) has suggested that for look and cost oak upstands and painted walls would be a nice choice (currently have 2 fully tiled walls which will be replastered and 2 walls painted Dulux Willow Tree - square room with no units ect on the painted walls as that's the dining bit).

From posts i found Worktop Express is recommended and they do both worktops and upstands whereas Ikea don't do the upstands. They do either oak or prime oak which will be either a fraction cheaper or wee bit more expensive than Ikea depending which i choose (but that's for both the worktop and upstands not just the worktops that i'd get with Ikea).

So please can i have some help deciding which oak (normal or prime) i should get to go with the units? and should i do get upstands and paint walls (if so what colour) or do a tiled splashback (simple white subway tiles maybe) ?

I'm not very good at designing/colour schemes and this kitchen is going to be staying a long time.

Sorry for the essay, if you read this far thanks for your patience :)

Okay.

Our kitchen is a wickes one, but similar to the ikea abstrakt , we have off white fronts and an oak top and off white tiles which are subway style. Walls are painted in willow tree too.

How much of an upstand are they suggesting? I am grateful for my tiles as I often get things splashed up them in my small kitchen and they wipe clean very easily.

Do you like the willow tree that you had before, are the accessories in your kitchen being replaced too, do they tone in with the willow tree.

I saw a really nice duck egg blue in a friends white kitchen and it was really striking.

Have you tried google image search? type in some details and see what comes up, you might see something random you like.

Bookmarking as I have a similar dilemma!

Kellestar I like the sound of duckegg blue with a white kitchen but wonder whether it might look cold in a darker north-facing kitchen (such as mine). Was your friend's a particular light kitchen or a very sunny day. I'm hoping you say no!

Kellestar I like the Willow tree and have used slightly darker greens with accessories, but i worry that on all walls it might be too much (the rest of house is whites so i'm not exactly adventurous with colour!)

the upstand would be 8cm. I'm not too worried about splashing as sink is in front of window so not much there to splash and i'll use kitchen paint so should be wipable. maybe i should consider some tiling behind hob, or would that look odd.

Maybe using Dulux apple white on the 2 walls with units on could work?

there's just soo much choice for kitchens that i feel lost atm

misspolly i didn't even consider the light/aspect issue! but i agree a duck egg/powder blue against white units would look nice and fresh

Miss polly the kitchen has a poor amount of light coming in, they added an extension and where tge window used to be they've lowered it to be a breakfast bar, so it is quite a dark room. She has some really bright coloured art on the walls though and she has made the right choices with lighting, a mix of under unit led, recessed spotlights and a glass chandelier.

I have apple green in our dark dining room as the willow green was too much, our kitchen gets tons of natural light so it diesn't look too strong.

Me again, sorry

I have now got a clearer idea of what i'm aiming for, but could do with some opinions on finish?

Worktops, should i go with the oak or prime oak? (the prime oak has less imperfections according to the description but in reality will there be a noticeable difference - price wise the difference is about £100)

Sockets, i need to replace the fronts so should i stick with white or go for a brushed steel (they are visible on walls which will be painted both green and a light cream)

Thanks

the white socket front's are easier for cleaning. I always find the brushed steel tends to show the sticky finger marks much more obviously. We have a few brushed steel appliances and I would never again have them. I shine mine with baby oil but they still attract dust quicker, imho.

I think I'd stick with Oak, rather than prime oak. Have you seen a sample that shows the differences and likely imperfections? Mine has a few blemishes, paler or darker spots, but it adds to the character.

Hi Kellestar - thanks for your help :)

After sleeping on it i have decided the same, just ordered with sockets from Wickes as 10% extra off today.

The character is part of the reason i'd like oak, i'm actually looking forward to all the oiling!

I am still unsure what to paint the remaining 2 walls - i want to keep willow tree but thought a pale neutral on the 2 walls which will have the gloss white units

I found this

www.dulux.co.uk/inspiration/roomset/green_neutral_kitchen

which recommends natural hessian - but it looks quite dark so im not sure

Any other suggestions for a paint colour that would compliment both the white and green?

May I just say that when your kitchen arrives it will be totally flat packed, even the drawers need putting together from scratch and everything comes seperately ie the cabinet is one pack, the drawer another, the hinges another, the drawer front another and the cupboard front another.
It drove my joiner insane as there were around 300 boxes and NO instructions other than a really basic layout plan as to what went with what.
Add to that we got 6 deliveries cos so many bits were missing and all in all it took three weeks for it to be fitted which was a frigging nightmare.
3 out of the 6 oak worktops were warped and 3 units damaged. I spent about 4 days ringing customer services and on hold.

Very very poor and would never do it again. Howdens were around the same price for non flat pack and how I wish I had gone with them instead of the very expensive jigsaw I ordered!!

Sorry don't mean to pee all over your kitchen excitement but everyone I have spoken to has said the same; it's fine if ikea fits it but terrible if they don't
Good luck!

Purplehonesty i'm sorry you had all those problems, i hope you're happy with the end result though?

With 6 worktops and hundreds of boxes you must have a huge kitchen, which one did you go for?.

A quick count of my Ikea plan suggests a maximum of 65 boxes for me if everything's seperate, i hope the packaging is recyclable and you have highlighted that i will have to be very organised with all the parts.

I knew it was flat pack before i looked at Ikea, as it's me who will be building the units/drawers ect ready for my joiner to do the tricky bits (keeps costs down) i have sourced worktops, appliances, flooring ect elsewhere which reduces cost and means it's more unique to me.

I also hoped that as long as the design is right, with Ikea it's easier and cheaper to change doors in several years to update the kitchen ( a DIY job) rather than replace the whole thing. Judging be the recent posts about kitchens dating i may just wait for my new one to come back 'in' though as it seems it's already past it :)

Hey it's the ramsjo in White. It does look lovely yes buy wasn't worth the hassle. Everyone says how nice it is.
Quite a big one, u shape plus Island and utility room.
Lay everything out first and make sure it is all there cos we didn't and then got mixed up cos so many bits were missing.
Gave up with customer services and now living with two gaps and a damaged door!

oh that sounds like a lovely kitchen, i dream of a utility/boot room as our dog doesn't feel her walk was worthwhile unless she comes home with a generous coating of mud, pond water and/or fox poo :)

I will do as you have suggested and lay things out in the garage asap, i don't suppose the delivery bloke will wait around for me to check items off, it'll be a big pile of boxes on the drive i imagine