Kitchen that won’t date

[KingCatMeowInSpace]

About to start a kitchen renovation - been googling for weeks but not seen anything that makes me excited.

I don’t like gloss and in general I like playful, pops of colour type house stuff or industrial/edgy - don’t like white/cream or country kitchen or anything pretty/nice/pastel.

Dont want it to date otherwise I’d go for something very dark like navy with coloured handles. I think if I don’t want it to date then it has to be neutral but that’s not exciting to me.

Help please

We had a cream gloss kitchen with a bright pink glass splash back about 20 years ago, and it surprisingly hasn’t dated yet! (Photo is not my kitchen for obvious reasons, but is very similar). So don’t be scared of having some colour if that’s what you like.

(I’m not suggesting you have a kitchen like mine because it is cream and gloss and I know you said you didn’t like either of those things! I just mean, pick a kitchen you actually like, because it probably won’t go out of date that quickly anyway)

The horrors of a dated kitchen eh?

I like a kitchen thats so dated its now back in fashion.

Ours are painted so if you want to change, you just paint them another colour 🤷🏻‍♀️

The way to not have a dated kitchen is to have a very expensive kitchen, the quality will show itself. Spend ages getting the design right for your size of house. Get one made of solid wood or plywood (deals better with water) and a robust worktop, whether that is metal, wood or corian. Definitely no MDF anywhere. I'm not sure about Shaker because they are annoying to dust and so they will go out of fashion. Probably fairly simple in design, no twiddly bits that will be a pain to clean, simple but tactile handles (because trendy handles date really fast). You want to be able to easily paint the cupboard doors so you can update easily. Tiles always date badly so your best bet is to either go for something very plain and ubiquitous (e.g. white square tiles) or a work of art (hand made delft or zellige or something even more unique to you), and make sure your tiler is a genius so they look perfect. Beautiful real wood or stone floor. No LVT or any other plastic flooring.

We have a 12 year old Wren kitchen and the poor quality is showing. When I replaceit I will be spending lots on its replacement to get the quality I want.

too dark -maybe as a feature/splashback but overall it would be rather cavelike especially with dark blue

I do agree with this. I am trying hard to avoid MDF anywhere in our replacement kitchen. Our 14 year old developer installed Howdens one was disintegrating too. The ceramic floor tiles are fine though and so easy to mop, so they are staying.

These are nice I reckon - thoughts?

I had a look at those on his website - they work I think because they are very big spaces with large windows/all of windows. Dark wood/dark grey work tops and the dark tiles you linked above would probably not work in a normal sized UK kitchen.

Get kitchen with wooden doors - paint in whatever colour you like. Re-paint in the future in another colour if you wish. Work tops are more expensive for change

Yes I reckon you’re probably right @Londonmummy66😔 - my kitchen is small. Hmm want that look but want it to work in my small kitchen ……

I know what you mean I had mine done last year and this was my debate. 1970s house a bit boring. I decided to just go with what I loved thinking I could change the doors in the future. I went dark green in the end and it is lovely no regrets at all.

I also painted some of the walls in the dining area the same to tie it all in. If you like dark then go for it.

Maybe dark wood lower cabinets and lighter ones on top plus a light grey stone or concrete worktop. Light coloured metro tiles would be pretty timeless and bounce the light around. There's a picture of a kitchen on here that has dark wood and then a unit painted in a mid toned mustard and another in off white. Walls are white metro tiles www.homesandgardens.com/interior-design/dark-woods-trend

Found some more - third picture on here https://claremontinteriors.com/kitchens/traditional-wood-kitchens/

Picture described as wood effect kitchen here - a mix of light wood and dark paint https://kitchenwarehousewinchester.co.uk/wood-kitchens/

FIrst picture here https://kfedewabuilders.com/creating-a-timeless-kitchen-classic-design-elements-that-never-go-out-of-style/

@Screwyoudavidlove a dark green! @Londonmummy66yes maybe that would work - dark wood cabinet at the bottom, lighter concrete work top and maybe a colour for top cabinet's like dark blue or dark green - wonder if would look to random.

I don't think dark top cabinets would be a good idea with dark wood on the bottom. Dark painted lower cabinets and lighter painted upper ones is quite a thing though - lots of pictures on pinterest etc. Paint & Paper library has a range of paints that are all the same shade but range from dark to light - and they tell you which of their very dark shades goes with them.

I have had a natural oak inframe kitchen made by a local joiner. The carcass is made from pine. It could be worth asking around locally. Having said that, ours is base units only and no corners, so we were able to do our own measurements.

I was unsure if to just go for shaker but then I thought no dance with the devil! I still love it 12 months on, go with your heart it is a big investment.

This is lovely can I ask what kitchen it is please?

@Lemonflavouredcaterpillars Thank you. It is DIY kitchens Carrera bespoke colour is Little Greene invisible green. I fear the colour will date but for now I love it!

All kitchens date. I have a black & white kitchen I thought was classic but it's very 2010 Living Etc.

Agree with PP that if you go with the style of your house's architecture it matters less.

Am I the only one who choses a kitchen on how easy it is to clean? That excludes shaker style (too many fiddly corners where grease gathers) and tiles?! We have splashbacks in a single piece everywhere

No, I'm feeling the same. Very glad to be getting rid of the doors with ridges everywhere that collect dust and tiles with dirty grout. Not the mention the awful slanted white laminated mdf cooker hood casing that was horrendous and used to get covered in sticky dust that was almost impossible to remove. New units with be flat and we're hoping to go with splashbacks and avoid tiles.

I learnt to put newspaper on top of cabinets so rather than having to clean the grease off them, you just put new paper there & throw the old away

Yes. Why get something boring that you don't love, just to not love it for longer? Neutral is pointless and so so dull.