New kitchen personal experiences

[Sunisshining12]

Looking for recommendations & personal experiences please on:

Matt vs gloss (leaning towards matt)

Handles vs handleless (‘true handleless - are these difficult to use when cooking? Difficult for children?)

Slab door vs shaker (want modern but don’t want to date too soon)

Ikea vs Wren vs DIY vs ?

Quartz vs marble or granite?

I’ve looked for so long & have basically over analysed anything that I can’t think straight now!

Ok so here's mine:

Definitely Matt. Gloss looks lovely if you don't have kids and can keep it clean great, otherwise it shows up all the hand prints etc

Handles, my parent have handleless doors and I'm forever breaking my nails on them mad hurting my fingers, and you have to clean the groove as all the dust and muck gets into it.

Have handles without an overhand too, my jeans belt loops and jumpers get stuck in the overhand of the handles (hope that makes sense)

My friend used Wren and they were awful. My parents used B&Q and got a decent kitchen fitter in and it looks great (don't know about longevity tho), personally I rate Howdens.

We have matt handle-less from DIY kitchens with a quartz worktop and I'm very happy with our choice. Only problem I find with handle less is there's no where to hang tea towels. Otherwise all good

I would do matt with handles. Personally I like shaker style but I'm not so modern as you probably. Avoid Wren like the plague (there are many other threads with awful experiences - learn from some of our mistakes). I currently have quartz and love it, but have had no problems with granite previously. I also had a lovely old corian one which is always an option.

Nb I think shaker is nice if you have a big, country style kitchen, but for most small/medium sized city kitchens (which mine is) slab or handle less is fine. So long as they're fairly classic I don't think they'll date.

I had a bad experience with Howdens and wouldn't use them again. Shaker collect grease in the grooves which is difficult to get out. I haven't had any hand prints on a gloss kitchen.

I'm on my second gloss and find it fine???

Hate shaker for the dirt and grease they collect...

Thanks all so far!

It’s a large kitchen with a full wall then a 3m large island. I’m not super traditional but I’m not super modern either.

Handleless looks sleek & nice but I’m worried about practicality?

I thought Wren had great reviews

Forgot to ask re appliances - any must haves? Brands? I’ve never bought a new kitchen from scratch!

Having obsessively searched through mn kitchen threads lately, here is some of what I've found.

Everyone raves about drawers.

Ikea kitchens are very highly rated, but some builders get huffy about fitting them.

DIY kitchens also very highly rated.

ao.com is always mentioned for buying appliances.

We had wren a few years ago and they were fine. Didn't use their fitters nor did we get appliances from them but had no problems. Lots of people do based on the threads on here though.

We bought shaker but put modern handles on it. Black galaxy granite which is easy to clean and stainless steel sink and Quooker tap. Very easy to keep clean and we love it. Pan drawers essential and filled in top of cupboards up to ceiling so no gaps to fill with dust! We went to an independent company as quality/service for some of the diy type places is not great and nor is the measuring. Get an experienced kitchen fitter to install it rather than a builder as a good fitter can make a cheap kitchen look great. I’ve heard diy kitchens are good but we wanted maple doors and they don’t supply those.

For appliances we bought neff as wanted the slide and hide oven doors as make it easy to reach into. Bosch are good as are AEG all with difference price points. We got a great deal on the neff appliances bought with the kitchen that nowhere else could get near.

We had wren but used our own builders to fit. It’s an excellent kitchen, really well designed and worked out a good price. We had handles on a handle less kitchen and I’m glad we did, lots of friends have regretted handleless. White gloss, cleans very easily, but maybe I’m not a perfectionist!

We gone from gloss with handles to matt handleless. I found gloss so much easier to clean although I think it looks a bit dated now, but maybe that's because I'd had 10 years of looking at it.
I do break nails on the handless doors, mostly the fridge/freezer/dishwasher. The other doors drawers are fine.
We were all set to have a hob in a peninsula unit until we stayed in a holiday let with one and hated it. Cooking splatters made such a mess and rendered the seating directly opposite unusable.

Things I love,
quartz worktop- it looks great, not blingy like some can and is easy to clean.
Neff pyrolytic hide and slide ovens- we used to have a range but I much prefer eye level and the self cleaning is just fantastic. I wouldn't go back.
Pan drawers- so much better than rooting around in cupboards.
Boiling water tap- so quick and easy, I'd never be without it.

@Copperblack

We had wren but used our own builders to fit. It’s an excellent kitchen, really well designed and worked out a good price. We had handles on a handle less kitchen and I’m glad we did, lots of friends have regretted handleless. White gloss, cleans very easily, but maybe I’m not a perfectionist!

Handles on a handleless kitchen? How does this look, do you have a photo you would mind sharing?

Good points re drawers!

What to do with ‘back’ of the island - have 5 bar stools (hob will be in island). Or a few stools then a cupboard both ends?

Will draws be useable on the back of the island if there’s a worktop overhang? Can you get into the top drawer? Thanks

minimise the twiddly bits. I've got Shaker although a lot less grooves than the old 'country-style' kitchen. Needs an occasional wipe.

handles, but not knobs as they catch clothing.

Try to make sure there IS a worktop overhang, otherwise you end up sweeping crumbs straight on to the floor. You may not have a choice in this if the range you choose has been designed by an art student whose mum did all the cleaning.

buy your appliances from ao, Currys etc, you'll pay much less. Avoid integrated wherever possible (pricier, less reliable, less choice, gives heavy doors) but make sure the designer leaves more than 600mm for a 600mm wide appliance.

go through the design and cross out all the panels between units. £50 each , waste space, no point. Go through it again when the designer tries to put them back.

do not let a kitchen fitter do plumbing or lay a floor.

weve gone for DIY gloss slab with handles with laminate worktops (couldnt afford the extra £2000 for stone tops)
less nooks and cranny's on the doors to catch dirt and grease than shaker
we originally liked matt but seeing it in the showroom we went off it and went for the petrol blue altino as we both liked the look and colour

I have just had my kitchen done.

I have a mid grey slab door. I call it handle less but I think technically it's a j pull or something not true handleless . I love it! Pull out drawers including a 900mm wide which fits loads of pans in. It also has a hidden inner drawer - I prefer that look to the 3 separate drawers

Pull out larders.

I have a tap with detachable spray arm - it's great and a 1.5 size sink (but as single bowl)

Went to independent kitchen firm. Quartz worktop and glass up stands and splash back.

I have heard bad things about wren.

Great ideas - those with an island, how much ‘overhang’ do you have for bar stools? How many bar stools would you say is sufficient on a 3m island? Once I introduce bar stools I loose the ability to have drawers...

DIY looks good, but they are so far away from me. The Luca looks nice.

Any experience with IKEA?

This is the one I have - comes in about 30 colours!

www.sncollection.co.uk/kitchens/remo-graphite.html

My peninsula unit is 192cm long and has a 32cm overhang for stools. We have three which is fine for an adult and two children but probably be a squish for three adults.
The main reason for the three stools was that it looks better than two!
We have 6 long drawers on one side seating on the other and three narrow cupboards on the end.

Ours was only ever going to be used for having a drink and a chat, occasionally the DC sit there to eat a snack. Our kitchen opens on to a big dining/seating area where we eat usually.

It's only standard worktop height too. Our stools are 70cm high it took ages to find ones I liked in that height. Proper bar stool height is more like 90cm I think.
If you are planning a hob in the island I'd be inclined go for a split level island so there's a bit of a barrier between the hob and the seating, unless of course your island is huge in width.

I’ve made my own plan but I think it’s horrendous. Where is the best place to get a decent plan drawn up? Thanks

Matt. Handleless! Very practical as you are not trying to clean under the handles etc. Mine have a sort of lip along the top.
Marble can stain so I'd go with quartz or better yet a reconstituted workshop like Silestone which is even more hard wearing.
No experience with the manufacturers you mention so can't comment.

We've bought our last two kitchens from a local builders merchant who've done the plans for us.

Matt, shaker style with Quartz worktops. Chose smaller different shaped handles to those suggested. Ceramic sink. Neff slide and hide oven, Neff combi oven, Neff integrated fridge freezer.

Didn't replace washing machine or dishwasher as they are under two years old, so these aren't integrated. According to the fitters under counter is much better if you have a problem. I also think it breaks the units up a bit.

We used Wickes for the lot, following a recommendation from a friend. We had been looking around for months before we saw the kitchen we wanted in Wickes. Didn't try Wren as we'd heard they weren't very good, but looked at B&Q, Homebase, IKEA, and also local independents.

Wickes were OK, not exceptional, and we received two lots of floor tiles and 3 lots of wall tiles(!), the return of these took a lot of organising by us. We were also over supplied for tiles - double the amount for the walls and the same for the floor. Getting the refund for these was painful and took over a month (it wasn't a small amount of money - £400).

Would we use Wickes again? Probably not, but as a learning experience it was a good one!

We used wren , very pleased with our matt handleless units.
Quartz worktop from independent supplier, and used our own fitter so much more flexibility and massively cheaper