Help me choose a kitchen!

[ItsALuigi]

Hello.

We moved into our first family home almost 2 years ago and have been doing the kitchen in that time! We knocked down a wall and made a kitchen diner which is long and narrow and fairly dark. I was thinking of getting light coloured doors with a dark wood worktop and maybe a slate floor. I have two toddlers who are so messy. I have read that gloss shows every Mark imaginable so to get matt. I'm not sure though the plain matt doors with no ridges or patterns on them look quite plain and cheap and the ones with patterns in I don't know if I'm too keen on. I don't know what to do! Our budget is very small as you can probably guess we are doing the work ourselves.

Any suggestions would be very welcome

Personally i like gloss white as its easy to wipe down matt white will show just as much in my oppinion. We have beech kitchen doors currently and they dont show anything but that annoys me as i cant see when they need a clean! They are shaker as well and the ridge gets dusty.

Thanks. I'm not the best erm cleaner in the world so want something I won't have to clean too often.

Oh likes gloss but I'm worried it will date. Hopefully we will be moving in the next 5 years or so and want it so that we don't have to change the kitchen again.

I've had many kitchens over the years... The high gloss one was the worst to keep clean, but there again I had the most units then. I had a hand painted shaker job, and that was a pain to keep clean. I currently have an Ikea oak shaker style kitchen, and whilst I don't love it, it is really easy to clean and always looks smart.

I'm having a similar dilema - I want the painted shaker look without the price tag or maintenance!

This may be a totally idiotic question but is there nothing other than wood or gloss available For cabinet doors?

I have my heart set on a grey sparkly quartz silestone & I think an oak kitchen would be too dark with it.

grey well only other alternative some folks go for the industrial steel or aluminium type look that Michelin type restaurants use. Personally I hate it reminds me of cheap public toilets and prison sets shown on tv with steel sinks, toilets and mirrors. But I guess is easy to wipe down why else would they use it?

I prefer wood with a satin finish classic warm homely and timeless depending on the colour chosen

the shaker style is beautiful I love that aswell

I think high gloss will date too OP. my sister has recently installed black gloss units and i also thght in a few years this will be dated.but I think that was a budget issue I thought it wasn't her taste at all she goes for the traditional look. Turns out my brother chose it and paid for it, hence the bachelor pad looks

id go for a neutral light colour smooth finish not grainy so it's easy to wipe down, it doesn't need to be gloss to make it an easy clean. I have little ones too. But to be honest its all the boiling that steams the kitchen units up even with the extractor on, not my kids mucky hands. Their hands tend to make my doors dirty rather than units.

We had white gloss in our old kitchen - it was a complete pain to keep fingerprint/dirt free (although admittedly easy to wipe down every few hours).

We're doing our kitchen in new house at the moment and going with the Benchmarx Borrowdale range, whole kitchen for under 8k rather than the 20k+ I was quoted by DeVol etc - looks pretty much the same on the plans.

I have solid wooden floors
I have put protectors under all furniture to protect from scratching. Unfortunately what I have used has left fluffy stuff on my floors and I can't get it off.
I have tried vinegar and light adhesive but dont want to scratch.

Any suggestions please.
thanks

OP I'm having DIY kitchens Malton kitchen put in - either in Vanilla or Alabaster which is a painted shaker style. Check them out - they come easy to fit too!

thisisbloodyridiculous funnily enough that's the kitchen I chose originally! Although now I'm not so sure. People have said painted shaker are a pain to clean!

I had a chat with our kitchen guy this morning.
He recommends white oak for easy maintenance & light.,

Dont compromise on what you like. After all what's a little bit of cleaning once in a while for something you look at every day, several times a day? I had shaker with a messy toddler and don't remember having to do any additional cleaning. If you are that worried go for a matt slab door - and def look again at DIY kitchens - they are def very very competitive and very good quality. Will be ordering our Norton one very soon, once i decide on worktop & colour!

langlandgirl I had a look through all the kitchens again yesterday and i actually decided on the Norton also! I think I will be going for alabaster. I chose Norton because it was the only one without those funny join lines at the top and bottom if you know what I mean? Why is it you decided on that one?

People seem to mention all the time that this kitchen is hard to clean, that kitchen is hard to clean... Well, so are floors, walls, front rooms, baths, toilets, carpets, cars & children. They all require some elbow grease and your time. They aren't going to clean themselves. So, if you want nice things then you have too look after them. Clean your doors down once a week, no matter what they are, and you'll be fine.

Ramona thanks

I don't get the thing about Shaker style being hard to clean. They have a small ledge about a quarter inch wide which eventually collects a bit of dust. Every few weeks you wipe over with a damp cloth. In the scale of things that need cleaning in a kitchen they are very small, and nothing like glossy surfaces that show the fingerprints or greasy cooker hoods.

IKWYM about the join lines and I had all my Broadoak doors fitted backwards (bought them without the hinges drilled obviously) to try to make the kitchen look a bit more Plain English. I think that' s a lovely choice.

Yep, ItsaLuigi i wanted minimal but couldn't get my head around the handless tall units looking so modern so went back to vey plain shaker/classic. Have ordered colour samples today and i have a list of colours to get testers in case i decide on bespoke:- little green tracery II and acorn, fired earth china clay, lime white & alabaster or F&B green ground or bone! so many decisions! Trying to get the majority of the kitchen ones done before the builders start as i know there's going to be loads more!

Actually my kitchen is in Tracery II. I'd say it's noticeably more sage green then grey, nice though.

For anyone still deciding what to go for, here's my Benchmarx Borrowdale in the process of being fitted. Really pleased with how it's going in (we do have an amazing fitter which I think makes a huge difference!).