Howdens kitchen in Pebble Grey

[TheFlakyPoet]

We are looking at the Halesworth Kitchen in Pebble Grey with the Calacutta Gold work top and butler sink

I'm wondering whether to have white or light grey metro tiles as a splash back, or would it be better to use the work surface material as a splash back.

Also, the units are to be fitted in an L shape, so there's quite a lot of wall space. Any ideas what paint goes well with howdens pebble grey?

Thanks
TFP

Cant help with the paint matching Im afraid but we are delighted with our Howdens kitchen. I would use work surface material rather than tiles for a splashback· You will need a lot of grout in between metro tiles and all of the splashes will be a nightmare to clean and especially on the grout. Anything tomato based or fat splashes will really stain the grout.

Thanks Diversion, that's really helpful. I think the worksurface material as splashback looks seamless and clean and given it's quite a small space, different textures might close up the area too.

I've painted skimming stone and cornforth white on A4 paper to take to howden's tomorrow and see what they look like against the pebble grey. It's a shame Howden's don't do mini samples.

My local branch let me bring home a whole door to compare to my tile samples as long as I promised to bring it back the next day!

We went for Halesworth too (but in seafoam), excellent choice, OP, we are so pleased with ours. Calcutta Gold is quartz isn’t it? We decided against quartz splash back in the end because it’s much thicker than tiles and so you lose space - we have a narrow space so didn’t want to do this. Plus tiles work out much cheaper, even the posh glass ones from Fired Earth we went with in the end. Looks super because the white glass metro tiles reflect the colour of the seafoam, no issues with splashes and the grout yet. Like with PP, Howdens let us take a whole door, we ended up taking it with us to look for tiles etc, as well as the little worktop quartz sample (we have Miami Vena). Also worth knowing that tiles splashback is the very last thing to be fitted so you can wait for your kitchen to be painted, fitted and then look at it all in your own space and light and decide what tiles you want. That’s what we were advised to do and it worked out really well. Good luck!

Good to know that splashback goes in last, so I can see how the space looks as the work is getting done. I was really impressed with the Halesworth range and really liked the subtle grain effect on the door. Which door handles did you go for? I'm going to ask tomorrow if I can bring a door back as well for the weekend and return it on Monday!

I’d never have tiles again if I have a new kitchen - think of all that grout to clean.

One thing I did see last week when I was away staying in a house was a lovely coloured glass splashback, might be worth considering if you fancy a contrast to the worktop.

I use mirror as a splashback if I have a small kitchen to do. As long as you aren’t fitting a gas hob it works well, edicts light, easy to clean and a local glazier will fit to measure.

we are having a kitchen installed from howdens st the moment too. One thing to note is to source the quartz yourself for installation. Howdens quoted us 6k for calcatta gold but we went to an independent company and got quotes for half that price

Thank you so much for all the replies, they're so helpful. I think shopping around for the Quartz would be good. I've been testing FB samples this morning and think that FB Ammonite could work against Pebble Grey - has anyone used this?

TIA

Ok just to report back that I thought that the Cornforth White was too similar to pebble grey, so didn't provide enough contrast and even the lovely lady at Howdens agreed!

We were settled on Halesworth in pebble grey but now really like Chilcomb too. Is it worth the price difference? Those that have either Halesworth or Chilcomb fitted kitchens, I'd really appreciate opinions on whether you're happy with your decision. TIA

@TheFlakyPoetwe were going to go for Chilcomb to start with but Halesworth worked out much cheaper, and no for us Chilcomb wasn’t worth it in the end. We loved Halesworth so much we ended up using it for hallway storage and fitted bedroom too.

Agree with PP advising to source the quartz elsewhere. That’s what we did too and made a saving.

@TheFlakyPoetyou asked about handles. DH didn’t want anything in the kitchen he could catch his pockets or headphone wires on so we went with these.

But in the hallway and bedroom we went with these

Thanks everyone for your replies - all really helpful.

We're waiting on both quotes now, so I think the deciding factor will be the price difference between Halesworth and Chilcombe and what reductions are offered and the discount my builder gets.

We have the Chilcombe pebble grey with antique brass handles (a mix of cups & knobs). Very pleased with it! We got our granite worktop separately- cheaper, and much more choice than Howdens. Distressed off-white metro tile splash back and just plain white walls at the moment. Very happy with our choices!

We're deciding between having the work surface as splash back, or just the work surface with upstand and then metro tiles as splash back (in a chalky off white metro tile.) Did you get the metro tiles from Howden's too? I do like both looks, so it's probably going to come down to cost.

we got the tiles from a local supplier. They were an afterthought as we didn’t consider splashes from the sink hitting the wall above the upstand, but I’m glad we ended up with this solution!

We are in the process of doing something very similar; regarding the Pebble, due to the change in material from vinyl film to painted wood, the Pebble in the Chilcombe is much darker compared to the Halesworth (or it was with the door samples I was looking at).

Also Howden's quartz price is a joke, I don't know how anyone would pay it, and their longest sections are only 2.7Lm. As previous PP have said, we shopped around and have saved nearly £4.5K on the worktop/splash-backs, with an identical product.

The kitchen I am currently removing has white metro tiles with grey grout and for the sake of practicality/cleaning etc I will NEVER have them again. They look great but are just a nightmare with all the crevasses!!

So - we have a quote from Howdens for approx 10k for our Chilcombe kitchen in pebble grey, not including appliances. This includes the decorative cornices and plinth and extra tall cupboards on one wall.

Our kitchen is L shaped 2.9m x 3.5m. There are no wall units on the 2.9 section as this is the sink/window area, but tall wall units on the 3.5m section, with 1 tower for an integrated fridge freezer unit.

I do like how the paint appears darker on the chilcombe but halesworth is probably about 3k cheaper. decisions...decisions....

Could any one please send photos of their chilcome or halesworth kitchen in pebble grey (or similar), to help me decide. TIA