Dream kitchen advice/experience please!

[Scottishgirl75]

I’ve recently received a significant inheritance ( for me) and I really want to put it to good use in replacing my badly dated kitchen. My relative adored her home/interiors etc.and would love to think of me using it for this I think. I’ve been looking on Pinterest but I’m a bit clueless as to what is best to go for and would really love some advice for anyone who knows about kitchen or has recently got a new one.

I live in a traditional country style house with a big kitchen/diner space with range cooker. I like the look of painted units with a darker coloured island and big porcelain tiles. But should I go for greys, whites etc. I want something that will not date. I have seen a few lovely light grey ones but is grey on the way out? What are the must haves and what should I avoid. Thank you in advance, any advice at all is greatly appreciated.

Placemarking

What about a cream or pale yellow shaker style with a navy blue island? Make sure you get your lighting sorted and that you have enough well placed electric outlets, and storage.

First thought is don't waste money. IKEA did my 8 unit kitchen with all appliances inc washing machine and dishwasher, ceramic sink, with fitting for £4,500. Included adding new plug sockets and making good. Everything came with guarantees which were pretty straightforward to redeem down the line.

People spend a ridiculous amount on kitchens that don't look any better or last any longer. Worktops especially, people seem to go nuts for materials that require maintenance, just why?!

Projects tend to absorb all the budget and then some, set a lower budget to start off. Don't forget decorative touches and maybe a new dinner service

To answer your question, the white Shaker style with wood effect worktop will never date. IKEA have several options

Not long had a kitchen from diy kitchens. White shaker with oak worktops, love it and it's timeless so it won't date imo

DIY kitchens have a fab range, many more options than IKEA for a similar price. Their units go up in 5 mm increments so you can get a bespoke looking kitchen for an off the shelf price.

They do shaker and many other styles and have a great range of colours with matching cabinets, or will spray bespoke colours.

There is an online planning tool so you can play around with what you think you may want - they don't design but will work to a design or help you when you have done the basics.

I would totally avoid Wren and Magnet.

It’s a wonderful thing - to have a new kitchen. It could change your life. Do stay in the house to enjoy it.

I have painted shaker. I will be honest and say my house is worth a lot of money. So I spent a lot on the kitchen and ikea simply wouldn’t cut it here. My DD has just redone her kitchen and used John Lewis. They are medium priced (Lower and higher priced designs within that) and just right for many homes. They also supply the fitters. So it’s a total package. She’s got more than 8 units in a smallish flat though - it’s lovely!

I am not a fan of cream. You don’t see many cream kitchens now. You will still see lots of pale grey and white ones now and in 20 years time. If you choose dark green (2020 trend) with pale pink or Hague Blue, expect everyone to know when it was installed! Colours date a kitchen more than neutrals!

I have granite work tops. They need no maintenance. Painted units do though. I’m ok with that but DD went with the streamlined no handles look.

If you can afford it get: a very quiet dishwasher (Miele), at least 2 big sinks (one for veg prep and one for washing up), an induction hob, at least 2 built in bins for rubbish and recycling, good larder space and pan drawers. I’m not a fan of range cookers and much prefer multi function eye level ones. I also don’t have wall tiles in any kitchen. I have mirror splash backs at home for the sink. You can get inspiration that looks better than tiles and you don’t want to clean grout.

It can be fun planning but getting it installed can be fraught! Good luck and enjoy your money and your memories.

DIY Kitchens. Superb ranges, the planning tool is excellent and a local fitter will happily look at it and tell you what else you do and don't need.

My kitchen looks great and my fitter only recommends them. Aftercare for missing bits and bobs excellent too.

Worktops from Worktop Express was cheaper as well and gave access to a much wider choice.

Thank you for all the replies. They have been so helpful so far. Yes I am so excited about it all but sad in a way to think where the money has come from. I’m definitely thinking of a shaker style but it’s all the other stuff I’m not sure of... Belfast sink or not, tiles or wooden/laminate floor, mirrored splash back or tiles, granite or wooden work tops. This kitchen will be here for at least the next 20 years so feel pressure to get it right. But I can’t wait to get it too!

In my large kitchen I have a double Belfast sink. It looks good with the shaker style. I then have a single stainless veg prep sink in the island near the fridges (I have two). This arrangement works well because washing up is separated from veg prep.

I had wooden worm tops removed from a kitchen. I much prefer granite or stone. Far more durable. Wood floors are fine. I have tiles at home - look absolutely like limestone! But much easier to clean. Don’t have laminate.

Tiles have grout. One slab of glass or stone works well. We have granite upstands and a big glass splash back behind the sink. My hob is on an Island. You can have granite splash backs for hobs.

Aaah! Work tops - obviously.

Don't get wooden worktops, no matter what anyone else tells you! They stain easily, go black round the sink, and are a PITA to maintain. Granite/Quartz would be my choice, but even a good laminate would be better than real wood.

For something a level above DIY kitchens have a look at Handmade kitchens of Christchurch (now called Davey and Alger) daveyandalger.co.uk/. They are made in the same way as expensive kitchens like DeVol and are much cheaper than other designer kitchens like Neptune. We have ordered our kitchen from them but have had to postpone delivery because of our kitchen plans not approved as yet!
Another company to look at is Pineland pineland.co.uk/services/ if you want a solid wood kitchen - we’ve just had 2 wardrobes painted in our choice of colours delivered from them. They are lovely.

Everything will date, eventually- from the materials, to the colour, the style, even the angle at which the worktop edge is cut. It will all date, so dont worry too much about that. But maybe avoid anything too 'fashionable'as that is what will date fastest!

There is an old now, but epic thread in here somewhere about kitchen planning that's well worth a read - I shall have a search and link...

This one I think: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/1554664-The-MN-lessons-learnt-kitchen-thread?msgid=79460627

And this: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/2958072-Kitchen-Lessons-Learned-The-Result?msgid=72524615

I do agree about kitchens dating but I think shaker is a durable design and a plain kitchen is a reasonable choice in terms of not being unfashionable in a few years. After all Plain English have been going for years and years with plain and simple kitchens - at a price. However, I would guard against colours of the moment. These fashionable colours will date a kitchen very quickly because the new colours will be along shortly. I am aware people get fed up with white and grey but they are a longer lasting palette. My DD removed a dull cream kitchen because it actually looked grubby. The minute you have white anywhere near cream, cream can look very dull. You can introduce colour with mugs, seat covers, fruit bowls etc. even flowers!

What people actually want in a kitchen varies. I have a big kitchen in my main house. Around 5 x 7 m. I have a large island and when I am cooking or preparing meals I look out over the garden. This makes me happy. I do not want to look at the walls. So always think or orientation.

People will always have views on what works for them but take a minute or two to think about how you work in your kitchen, what you can realistically fit into the space and what you wish to look at whilst you are cooking/preparing. We also have a seating area so I can chat to family/guests. We have found this to be a really good investment and I would not want to be cut off in the kitchen, as most of my friends are, looking at kitchen walls in the main. So if you have a kitchen dining area, can you chat with people in the dining area easily, or would you prefer them to be nearer to you in the kitchen? We also have doors that open into the garden making eating outside very easy. It extends the garden into the house and makes it feel spacious.

In terms of time for fitting and getting contractors, do be aware that some kitchen firms do nothing much on this front. You will be project managing and getting in trades. Think carefully if this is for you. The difference in price between kitchens is often not quality of kitchen, its what they actually do after the kitchen has been delivered. So compare like with like. John Lewis have a one stop shop. For busy people that's good. Others find it expensive. I really like the Neptune Limehouse kitchen - if I was starting again, I would like that! Classic and clean lines.

Good luck planning. Have fun!

imo, visit as many showrooms as you can to see the actual quality of kitchens. They all look pretty in brochures but when you look close at kitchens installed in showrooms you may see lots of flaws.
Many suppliers offer free design appointments. You can get designs done by different designers and cross check with others what works and what does not.

I have painted shaker. I will be honest and say my house is worth a lot of money. So I spent a lot on the kitchen and ikea simply wouldn’t cut it here.

It does depend on how much work you are prepared to put into the design and spend on the other finishes. My house is also very large and worth a lot of money and my kitchen is big. But my kitchen units are actually ikea. Nobody would ever know. They have bespoke moulding, bespoke feet, bespoke handles and I have real american walnut and marble counter tops and real marble tiles. I also stacked units so they don't look off the shelf.

It is however wooden and shaker style so thats one of the reasons I got away with it.

I tend to know because I would ask the vendor. At £2 million plus I would not expect Ikea. Nor want black walnut and marble. But that's me I'm afraid.

I am starting to plan our new kitchen and will almost certainly be going with a shaker style, probably in a stone colour so it’s neutral enough that will hopefully never be wildly in or out of fashion! (Perhaps that’s terribly naive of me!) I intend to spend as much as I can possibly afford on really good quality worktops in granite or quartz, as amazing worktops can really transform the look of the whole kitchen. For the dining area we’re planning to buy a large dresser and display some beautiful hand painted bone china cups and crockery on it for lots of colour.

Have fun planning and enjoy your memories

"I tend to know because I would ask the vendor. At £2 million plus I would not expect Ikea. Nor want black walnut and marble. But that's me I'm afraid."

I didn't say you would expect it. I said it can be done and it isn't the case that the OP should just write off lower cost options. Each to their own anyway. I love my kitchen although its been in for a while now. Our house is £2m plus in the East Midlands and so its a high value property.

Get off Pinterest and get into kitchen websites and showrooms. The two are usually vastly different.

Unless you're planning to sell up soon I would just get what you like. Chances are the next owners still will want to put their own stamp on it.

I would also urge you to use "real" materials wherever you can. So get a real wood or stone floor instead of the laminate shite or "stone effect" porcelain tiles. It looks and feels so much better in real life, even though I admit there's not much difference in photos.

Don't worry about which colours will be in or out of fashion this time next year. Go with what you like. Visit showrooms but don't commit until you see something which you know you adore. It's a big expense which you have to live with for a long time so don't rush it.

Don't buy IKEA, but do go for DIY kitchens - our kitchen fitter was very impressed with the quality of ours and refuses to fit IKEA ones because they aren't already assembled.

Think about how you actually use the space and your storage and food prep needs.

We marked it out with tape on the floor and lived with that for a while as we thought it through - there is no substitute for your own brain when it comes to planning.

I would recommend the following:
2 sinks in different places (one can be very small)
2 (quiet) dishwashers
A boiling water tap
Deep pan drawers
Pull-out unit(s)
Think about where the bins and recycling will go.

Thanks everyone. This is all fantastic advice and I really appreciate it. I never intend moving so I only need to worry about what I like. You’ve all given me loads to think about and I will definitely visit a few more showrooms. Think I might stick to a light grey or stone called shaker wood kitchen with granite work tops. Thinking stone tiled floor might be most hard wearing..do people still put wooden skirting boards in the kitchen or continue tiles up as a tiled skirting which I’ve seen in showrooms? Also I hadn’t thought of 2 sinks, would everyone recommend that or are there any disadvantages?