Kitchen.... wanting good quality units etc!

[Sair33]

At long last, we have decided to completely redo our kitchen.
Units, flooring, tiles etc. (woohoo!!)
But I've spent a week looking, and am now confused!

UNITS
I really don't mind spending the money on good quality units, and would rather spend a little more to ensure its good quality, without being ripped off.
Any recommendations? I've looked at Omega / Sheraton which look ok, Howdens, not sure about. Wren look ok on paper, but not actually seen any in the flesh.

We have someone to do the planning and fitting, so that aspect is covered.

Easy to clean is another priority! Gloss, Matt or wood??

WORKTOP
Duropal seems to be everywhere, and it looks as though the dimpled finish will hide any water marks etc. I love the look of Corian and similar, and solid wood, but not sure i want to deal with the maintenance of either.. anything for an easy life!

FLOOR
We're thinking of Karndean (maybe Amtico), or engineered oak for the floor. Again, any pluses or minuses experienced here?

TILES
For backspash etc... Gloss I imagine will be a pain to clean, so thinking satin or matt, but again unsure, and don't know whether a lighter colour would be easier.

COOKER / RANGE
We're also tempted to get a range rather than built- oven, but reviews on these seem quite variable. Again, I'd rather spend decent money to get something worthy!

Any help greatly appreciated.... it's a minefield put there!

We went for quartz simply because we liked the look better than granite - we wanted something fairly neutral and the granite effects were a bit too 'blingy' for me. Total cost for quartz and fitting was just over 2k for one small run with cutouts and one massive island (and it is massive, 3 x cupboards x 2).

I thought the service from Wickes was pretty good.

And we have a Karndean floor but that was to match what was in the hall. I wanted wood effect to warm things up a bit as our units are white and worktop pale grey.

With Karndean though I went against my gut instincts and went with the builders sub-contractor rather than a local specialist for fitting and I'm not sure they did the best job of levelling the floor - I think we're going to have problems with it down the line. If there's a 'Karndean guy' in your area I would highly recommend going with them, even if it is a little dearer.

From family experience I would suggest avoid Magnet like the plague. Kitchen took 4 months to fit ( their fitters, small galley) and is falling apart 2 years later. In-laws have had to go through small claims court to get anywhere. Nobody will take any responsibility.

Ajax was what Corian themselves suggested to get scratches out ! But CIF would eventually do the same - just over time !

Isn't Cif the new name for Ajax?

Anyway, second (third, fourth?) the vote for German. Ours is Rationale and much mire solid, drawers higher sided than my sister's Howdens one.

We have Karndean floor, easy to clean and warmer and less hard and slippy than tiles so suits us with small dc.

Also have granite worktops which are much easier to look after than the previous wood ones.

But things I love best in mine are the glass splashbacks and the induction hob - aft
er a 5-ring gas range, the wipe clean induction hob is a joy.

We might be moving soon and I know I will not find a house (i can afford) with a kitchen I love as much!

We have quartz worktops as I wanted something light coloured ( and my friend's DH put me off their black granite ones as he said it was like a tombstone and she was forever polishing it).

I love my granite.

I also love my Karndean floor. We had quarry tiles before and it was horrible on a cold morning and not kind to things I dropped on the tiles.

I just love my kitchen. We used an independent kitchen company who were great with the design ( we were rebuilding the house so they only had architect drawing until 2 weeks before the fit and they solved all the niggles with no complaints).

Isn't Cif the new name for Ajax?

Anyway, second (third, fourth?) the vote for German. Ours is Rationale and much mire solid, drawers higher sided than my sister's Howdens one.

We have Karndean floor, easy to clean and warmer and less hard and slippy than tiles so suits us with small dc.

Also have granite worktops which are much easier to look after than the previous wood ones.

But things I love best in mine are the glass splashbacks and the induction hob - aft
er a 5-ring gas range, the wipe clean induction hob is a joy.

We might be moving soon and I know I will not find a house (i can afford) with a kitchen I love as much!

I thought Jiff was once Ciff and Ajax was a powder which came in a tin with holes in the top?

alwayscheerful is correct ! the stuff in the tin is what corian recommend for stubborn stains and abrasions AJAX !

Just spotted this thread (am doing kitchen), and wanted to add that Smeg (and also Rangemaster) do an Induction range that has a pyrolytic oven.
www.smeguk.com/product/sy92ipx8/

I noticed that too !! At last !!!!!!!

Yes Ajax was the powder that came in a tin with holes in the top, and Jiff changed it's name to Ciff.

In our last house, we put in Ikea carcasses (well made and strong) with solid walnut doors that we ordered from an expensive bespoke kitchen place. We ended up with a kitchen that looked very top end for a fraction of the price. We will be doing this again with the new house.

I personally dislike Karndean/Amtico etc as they always look fake imo. Real stone wins for me.

Rhubarbgarden, do you mind telling us what expensive bespoke kitchen place provided your doors? Sounds a great idea, but many of the posh places are all-or-nothing, so would love to know who you found. thanks!

I know you were'nt asking me that question - but just wanted to say that Jali.com make doors to bespoke sizes if anyone wants a change of doors or to do a different look on an ikea carcase ! ( in MDF with or without fretwork - and also in oak veneer too !)

Sorry bears I wish I could but it's a number of years ago and I no longer have the paperwork relating to the old house. We said we'd never do a renovation job again so didn't bother saving the info.

Planning permission came through yesterday for our new renovation job. Ahem.

Rhubarbgarden quick nosey question. Sorry to derail the thread OP. I remember you looking for a home, which one did you buy in the end?

Blimey you've got a good memory! Not the one with the lake, which was the one that everyone on here went nuts for! That one was gorgeous but bad location. We went for the Georgian village house in the end, if you remember my threads you might remember it as the one with the spooky wine cellar or the black and white bathroom.

We haven't done a single thing to it yet, even though we moved in a year and a half ago, which is why I haven't been on this board much. But now that planning permission has come through I expect I'll be back discussing guttering and window frames and suchlike!

I can recommend Simon Benjamin Kitchens. Ours is now finished and there are pictures of it on their website under 'modern kitchens'. It's a high gloss finish which is much easier to keep clean than I had thought it might be, just wipes down with cream cleaner. We've got a Wharf Simple worktop - whcih is very similar to corian but quite a bit cheaper - again it's reallt easy to maintain and the light colour that we have doesn't show any dust at all, even when it's really dusty!! The quality of the cabinets is really excellent - proper handmade. Although it cost a bit more don't cut corners because you won't be happy with it.

Hi Girlsbrigadewashorrible,

which kitchen company did you go to? thanks

I wouldn't recommend Corian as if you have the white, it does stain (red wine being a cuprit) I'd go for one of the composite ranges for the worktop - Duropal is good but you still have to watch hot pans. Benchmarx are good value, along the line of Wickes. I'm not a fan of the quality of Howdens, so I'd beware. Always try and invest in good quality appliances and a sink and tap - no point in buying something cheap - as for splashbacks you can try an acrylic, instead of glass (we've used this on a number of projects) - we put a stainless steel splash back behind the cooker! I'd consider ceramic tiles on the floor, only for practicailty - wood's nice bur will show wear in areas of high traffic, ie around your sink espcecially when water splashes over...

Could anybody please tell me where could i buy a german kitchen at a good price?
We are looking for Schueller, Bauformat, Alno etc

Hello there girlsbridgewashorrible, just searching for kitchen threads I have read your message about a very good quote about an independent showroom for german kitchens. May I ask you some details about it, where about and their name? thank you so much - desperately trying to find a decent kitchen without having to sell a kidney!!