Kitchen

[Ayeayeaye25]

Our old kitchen shaker style good quality wood is over 20 years old and well past its best (awful handles). Looking at new kitchens as DH wants to extend it slightly and get a waist height oven. They don’t still make the doors we currently have and that won’t work if DH wants to extend the kitchen.

Originally we wanted granite or quartz worktops but because we have a large worktop area its going to cost silly money so we have decided on an upmarket laminate that looks similar to a granite/quartz. We quite fancied handless J shaped doors. We have been to Andersons (Magnet) and really like a dark green colour doors in there and two local places all are quoting between 14-17K. Can’t quite decide and feel we are being rushed into an expensive purchase and that I am not 100% convinced about. Unsure if I will tire of the green and think it may look quite dated quite quickly.

Anyone have any words of wisdom or alternatives we are yet to discover? We haven’t visited Howdens, Wren or MKM yet.

Mumsnet advice is usually DIY kitchens. Lots of positive experiences and reviews.
I was v tempted as we will be putting a new kitchen in when we move house ( v soon!)
We are looking at local family owned firms now.

If you are happy with the cupboards but just can't get them to match for the extended bit it would be worth seeing if a local carpenter can make some for you - would be a lot cheaper than replacing and might then give you the budget for the worktops you really want? I'm about to tweak my old shaker style kitchen and will get my builder to make a new cupboard to match and change worktops handles and taps.

Thanks I should have said to complicate matters DH now wants an oven at eye level rather than low down as existing and we have decided to have more of those large draws so it would be difficult to get the same shade now.

Who is rushing you into a decision?

If the cupboard carcasses are in good nick can’t you reuse most of them, rejigging into new positions, along with generic carcasses for the new oven position and extra drawers, then new doors and panels all round? We just re-Tetrised our kitchen and primed and painted it to cover where we’d needed to slot in new bits or use MDF panels and fillers. Dirt cheap.

Extra drawers are a great decision for future proofing. Kirstie Allsop always recommends them!
Are you looking at a hide and slide oven? They are fantastic.

DH wants me to hurry up and just decide. Andersons salesman is far too pushy for my liking.

I would use what you have and either add in extras from DIY kitchens or have a joiner come in and do the extras.
Kitchen companies are generally a bit of a rip off.
And get the nice worktop you really want, which is what you see (unlike the carcasses).
You could have all the fronts painted to match.

Sounds interesting no think it was a bog standard waist height oven.

I was after suggestions whether dark green handless doors with a white marble effect work-surface will date quickly and what experience others have had with Andersons/Magnet, Howdens, MKM etc.

Thanks

DIY kitchens? We don’t have one near us to look at colours and quality etc. Will have to look at them online. Do people just order from them online or go to a physical store?

We had a Howdens kitchen with no handles fitted last year and I really love it. We had a compact laminate worktop which is very nice.
I don't know about kitchens dating. I think it's best to go for one you like the look of and not worry about the future!

My advice, unless you’re doing up to sell, is to go for a kitchen that makes you smile. I love my navy kitchen that I had put in despite mn saying it’s out of fashion. My mum’s green kitchen is lovely, although her kitchen is smaller and I wonder if a lighter colour would have been my choice there - but it’s not my house, it looks nice and dm loves it. Everyone will have an opinion but yours is the only one that matters.

Agree with @TeenLifeMum - go for a kitchen/colour you love!

No recent experience with Magnet - although we did fit one at our first house many years ago and I recall all sorts of issues with bits missing etc.

Our last kitchen was from Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch which was far cheaper than I expected and super quality. I painted the cabinets myself (Little Greene Knightsbridge - a dark taupe) and changed the colour after a few years (to F&B Oval Room Blue) as we wanted a hand painted rather than spray painted finish.

At our new-to-us house we're reusing some of the existing hand-built 1960s cabinets, to which we've added some preloved pan drawers found on fleabay. We're painting the whole lot in Edward Bulmer Pompadour (wall cupboards in E B Nicaragua) as I wanted something that would make me smile every day and we've saved a fortune doing this. So, I wouldn't rule out mixing some new in with your existing cabinetry.

With DIY think you can visit showrooms or look online and order samples of doors which they deduct from the price.
I agree with a PP going with the colour and style you like rather than what will date.
Our current kitchen fitted around 3 years ago is mid grey gloss handless. Really easy to clean still looks new. White marbled quartz worktops.
I am thinking a cornflower/powder blue when we move.