Kitchen revamp, opinions needed please!

[wallpaperaddict]

We need to do a low cost revamp on our kitchen. The options are either:

a) gloss white units, walnut laminate worktop, metro tiles, white walls, or
b) walnut units, white/grey laminate worktop, metro tiles, white walls.

Option b would save us money as we could keep our current worktop. Option a was my initial idea, but I wondered if the white would date quicker, plus a couple of friends have the gloss white which has started peeling and looking a bit worn in only a couple of years.

So any opinions/options gratefully received!

B definitely. And personally I'm finding wooden worktops a pain in the bum.

Thanks, we had wooden worktops in a previous home and they were really hard to keep looking nice! The worktop with have now is not expensive, just basic laminate, but it is so hardwearing and easy to keep clean! That's the reason I've started thinking about working with what we already have, and it will save us money too.

any other opinions?

a. I find wooden units very gloomy. People have been saying white gloss will date for years. Well, so will anything so pick what you prefer.

Choice A sounds very similar to what we're putting in (literally, as I type). I like the sound of B though, apart from I can't picture the work surface. If we'd had a bigger or lighter kitchen I'd have swapped some of our cream gloss fronts for walnut.

White painted kitchens seems to be very en vogue. Have you considered that option? You can always repaint in later years if you fancy a change.

I'd suggest option A but painted not gloss (and keep your worktops unless they would be really hideous with white - we have white worktops and units and it looks lovely). I have recently seen 'matte' wood effect laminate worktops that looked and felt pretty convincing and might be a better bet than real wood - I've no experience of them though. I love the look of wooden worktops but found them a pain to maintain in our old house. We put our painted kitchen in 5 years ago and it still looks like new but could be repainted if necessary. I avoided white gloss because once it chips or peels that's it.