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Kitchen refit questions...

17 replies

40somethingJBJ · 19/09/2020 11:55

Hi all. I’m planning a kitchen refit for early next year, so just getting samples and prices at the minute. I know what I want - a cream country style kitchen, with double Belfast sink, built in double oven, freestanding larder cupboard and corner dining nook.

I’m going for granite style waterproof laminate flooring (would love tiles but I’m terminally clumsy and drop something most days, so probably not a good idea!), sage metro tiles and the larder and seating is going to be painted in a slightly darker colour than the fitted units to contrast.

I’m not having wall cupboards, just open shelving either side of the oven/hob made from scaffolding boards or similar, and I think I’m wanting worktop that’s will be a similar colour/effect to these, but not really fancying real wood, as I’ve had this before and found it hard work. So, any suggestions for a really nice laminate wood effect worktop? Would like square edge instead of rounded I think. Or would I be better going for a granite effect to match the floor?

Corner cupboards - bloody hate them! I’m disabled and cannot get to the backs of my current ones, so looking for options here. I’ve seen the corner drawers but can’t find where sells them. Other option is some kind of pull out/carousel arrangement. Any thoughts/ideas on this? (Other option is a built in dog bed, but this is a bit of a waste of space as she’d probably just sleep on the floor anyway!).

What paint colour would you put with cream/sage? And for the dining nook, I’d quite like the wall behind wallpapering but can’t decide what would look good.

It’s my first time planning an entire kitchen from scratch, so any ideas appreciated. Thanks! :)

OP posts:
Daftasabroom · 19/09/2020 13:16

Magic corners are great

NotMeNoNo · 19/09/2020 16:08

You do need some good pull outs and drawers. A good type of corner fitting is this one where the trays pull out fully. www.toolstation.com/hafele-flex-corner/p98144.
Or, design your kitchen to use straight runs and minimise corners.

40somethingJBJ · 19/09/2020 17:36

They look great. I’d seen the carousel type ones, but they look like there’s a lot of wasted space around them.

OP posts:
isseywith4vampirecats · 19/09/2020 21:42

the kitchen we took out (1987 we found an advert dated this behind a cupboard) had a carousel in the corner base unit it was easy to use but when we demolished the kitchen you should have seen the dirt underneath it where you couldnt reach with a cloth i swore no way was i getting one of those again

EarlGreyJenny · 19/09/2020 21:48

Get a waste disposal in your sink. Couldn't do without it

FrogFairy · 20/09/2020 00:05

I would recommend having lots of drawer base units for best accessibility. This is the best style of corner cabinet I have seen.

Kitchen refit questions...
Purplewithred · 20/09/2020 00:09

Boiling water tap is my must-have. And don’t forget to design in a space for the bins. I have magic corners, they are pretty good but I don’t think there is any really fab solution to corners.

DannyGlickWindowTapping · 20/09/2020 00:16

I'd be wary of having open shelves near a hob - especially wooden ones which couldn't be easily de-greased. You will be cleaning them, and anything stored on them very frequently.

chatterbugmegastar · 20/09/2020 00:24

I'd agree with @DannyGlickWindowTapping

Viviennemary · 20/09/2020 00:24

We were told nearly everyone with a Belfast type sink wishes they hadn't go one as they are not practical. Quite happy to be told otherwise. I think they look great though.

LittleWingSoul · 20/09/2020 00:55

I have open shelving on either side of my hob and there isn't an issue with grease at all, good extraction and regular use/cleaning of the items on the shelf will help!

Also have a double Belfast sink and love it, I'm in a hard water area and it doesn't show the watermarks like our old stainless steel one did. Easy to clean, looks good, I just use one of those rubber mat things in it when I am washing glassware/breakables - which isn't that often as I have a dishwasher!

Also have wallpaper on both ends of the kitchen... I actually chose the wallpaper before the units but miraculously they pull out the colour of the units. It's William Morris seaweed so lots of colours in there.

NotMeNoNo · 20/09/2020 09:41

If you are having open shelves make sure they are easy to clean, painted or varnished wood or unit/worktop material. Not any kind of metal rack or rough boards. Then they do get a bit greasy but it’s 5 minutes with Cif to clean them. Everything above cookers gets greasy but some things are easier to wipe over.

NotMeNoNo · 20/09/2020 09:43

Also look for worktop with a square ABS edge, this is a thick edging strip bonded on, looks more expensive than the roll edge ones.

NotMeNoNo · 20/09/2020 09:55

Accessibility (depending on your mobility) - make sure your oven isn’t fitted too high, the standard configuration is often a bit tall but they can be hacked/ adjusted so the top half is at a better level.

Hard to beat LVT for a practical floor (Amtico or versions of it)
Depending on how farmhouse style you want to go, in frame kitchens look nice but can lose the space of the frame which you notice on narrow units.
Feee standing larders are great shelved out with small shelves at the top, door racks and bigger shelves or deep drawers at the bottom.
You asked about colours, best thing is to get samples. A lot of kitchens now are in quite cool cream/ivory shades so you might find a toning pale colour looks best with say a feature wall in a deeper version of your tile colour and some accents of dark blue or red. I would try and match your shelves and worktops too.

NotMeNoNo · 20/09/2020 09:57

Sorry last post - helpful resource on layout and ergonomics
www.blum.com/gb/en/ideas/dynamic-space/workflow/

40somethingJBJ · 20/09/2020 10:52

Thank you, some really useful ideas here!

Hasn’t thought about ease of cleaning shelves so I’ll bear that in mind :)

OP posts:
lookatmememe · 22/09/2020 19:19

Karen at OnePlan will do a free safety check if you are designing it yourself.

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