Help me oh wise ones with kitchen choice!

[navyeyelasH]

I'm feeling extremely fed up with kitchen shopping and I never thought I'd say that! We have visited all the usual suspects and also some local independents.

The problem is that I can't decide to go for a contemporary kitchen or a traditional kitchen. Money is tight so we will be doing the trick of buying cheap units, but ££ taps and £££££ work surfaces. We are first time buyers so will not be staying in this house forever but at least 6 years and we wouldn't want to have to re-do the kitchen IYSWIM.

So, do we go for a shaker style for eg something like this but with wood work surface all over and more contemporary handles or do we go with much more contemporary like for eg this, or this.

I'm worried that the more contemporary ones will alienate potential buyers, but as that is so far in the future should I just say to hell with it it's our kitchen for the next 6 or more years!

We will be having american oak Karndean on the floor and the kitchen is quite narrow so it must be quite bright to make it feel bigger. We will be knocking through into the dining room to have it more open plan with breakfast bar.

If we go for a shaker solid wood work surfaces seem to be cheaper than concrete etc. Also wooden work surafces would be easy for DP to fit as he knows what he is doing with wood. And also I don't really like the flecky-ness of granite/marbles/quartz etc so need to find a work surface without flecks if such a thing exists!?

This is driving me mad now any help v v v much appreciated! I wish I could do the contemporary thing with wooden work surfaces but I just can't see it working?

I just prefer matt thats all.Viewed about 30 houses and most had gloss white!I agree with red in a small space though,I never try to do that lighten it all up if its small sometimes dramatic has impact A little white kitchen could be very insignificant.

Noddly please can you some and do my kitchen?? It's too scary! Yours sounds lovely; we are definitely getting built in appliances and again willing to spend the ££ to get good quality. But if we can get the quality brands for cheaper than in stores all the better .

I think you should all tick a picture of your kitchen for my inspiration . When my place is all finished I'll def be sharing as it would never have been possible without the collective power of MN!

noddyholder - I love the sound of your kitchen! Do you think you could take a few pictures of it and put onto your profile? It would definitely provide us all kitchen obsessed with the inspiraiton we so need.

Will try and get some pics.the ones on my profile now are my old flat so will remove them.Just about to start the loft and take down a wall between the dining bit of the kitchen and the hall.Should have done it sooner but was going to sell and have decided to stay so lots more to do here good luck with your kitchen

noddy, your kitchen sounds lovely!

navy, I like gloss fwiw, and avoid all kitchens with grooves of any kind on the doors - dirt magnets ime!

Hi There,

I have just done my kitchen and have gone for a very contemporary look using Ikea Solar White units and a Zebrano wood work top. I will post a photo tomorrow for you to see how it looks. I think you can definitely do contemporary with a wood work top. I have also just done a lovely kitchen for a client using the same units but with an Ovengkol (think that is how you spell it!) wood work top and that looks super too (I had work top envy for a while after that one!). In both kitchens I did undermount sinks without draining boards and that really helped create a contemporary look with the wood.

Hope this helps.

Katherine.

norkmaiden thanks for the groves tip - what is a grove to you? Like an etched in rectangle into the door if that makes sense?

KB71, you replied to my sink question too, I'm guessing you must do a lot of houses, thanks for the info. We have looked at the solar units, but don't like the handle-less-ness (!?) of them.

I have also been looking at colours for the kitchen, hard to decide at the mo as we haven't even completed yet let alone installed the kitchen! But having said that I do love this colour for the one wall & splashback.

What are the thoughts on that colour orange, with ]]www.barncrest.co.uk/oak_worktops.php oak worktop]], white units and American oak karndean floor ?

Is it naff? A bit 1990 when yellow and orange was all the rage?

I would get the units in before deciding on paint.See how the ligth is etc.I think wood with that egg yolk colour is a bit dated(sorry)but it is very happy and sunny looking!

Noddy that was my fear . Would it help if I said we were going to do it in a retro way and introduce grey and lime into the scheme too or is it still a bit 1990s?

I agree about waiting to decide on paint; we're not going to buy anything for a long while yet just need to get some firm ideas as I am a bit of a ditherer and also still at the excited phase of this project

I think the kitchen will be quite bright as there is one quite large double window and also double patio doors with little windows either side (which we will replace eventually for something a little less plasticy).

Yuo seem to know so much about this noddy, thanks so much for the advice! I need to read up on what role light plays with paint and also what difference farrow and ball et al make to a room. Any suggested starting points, I'm very clueless!? I know what I like but I can't visualize that or pull different components together to create what I like if that makes any sense!?

Have you looked in any mags?What size is the room?

the kitchen itself is 239cm wide and 405cm long; but we will be knocking into the dining room which is 347 wide and 380 long. Am just in the middle of doing a 3D floor plan will post online when it's done.

I haven't looked in any mags, but I have looked on-line: apartment therapy, house and home seem to be the main ones I have found.

It sounds a good size I wish i lived near I'd come and do it!Post the plan and I'll have a look at it.I love doing kitchens have done about 20 in teh last 15 yrs

Noddy out of interest how much would an interior designer type cost? I always thought it would be mega bucks, but thinking it might be worth it now - I am feeling a bit overwhelmed!

Will post the plan ASAP.

im just about to buy inverness from wickes!

we bought shaker style about ten years ago so i think it has had its day really - its classic but harmless iyswim - feels dated now to us!

i think painted cupboards with plain doors are the nicest but the one i saw was 20 grand plus

its such personal taste i dont think you can plan for others taste - ive had two mates put in kitchens recently - both very smart, very different and i would change them if i moved in (both wood doors)

Kitchens are very personal although I have done quite a few and they are still there!I have always ripped out kitchens as I am very fussy but it is easy with ebay and ikea to get some top quality fittings and not spend the earth.You don't need a designer unless structurally its a huge job as it really adds to the budget.I am a jack of all trades and usually redesign and project manage.But I haven't done a job for yrs that wasn't part of a whole house so not sure on £ I would charge 10% of total.For that I would source all materials plan it etc

ok plan is here you need to click on, 'make a copy of this room' to see the floor plan.

I have thrown random units and appliances in there just to demonstrate where we would position things. The actual kitchen part of the floor plan is 239cm wide, so the walk way part IYSWIM in between the cabinets is 119cm. We would have wall cabinets on the left hand wall only and all appliances are going to be built in with a hob and cooker separate. The window will also be larger, taking up most of the back kitchen wall.

We wanted the side wall to be floor to ceiling cupboards but the hob and extractor have to go over there so can't see how we could do it. We are going to magnet & wickes to get a design on Wed but probably getting units from ikea!

I think Shaker style kitchens always work. Wood surfaces have always struck me as a bit of a nightmare. Don't they need oiling or something?

That is a good size you could def get a great kitchen there.I would centralise the patio doors and put the floor to ceiling units on the far wall of the dining area to the right of the doors.That would link the rooms.Then have units along the window and right down the left side with built in fridge so you have continuous work top.The 2 cupboards on the right won't be needed and maybe a long slim table rather than an island if you want an open feel.At the bottom opposite the patio doors where there is an inset bit you could put a long slim modern sofa It would look fab.I will have a go with it tomorrow and see what i can come up with

nkf, yeh I think they need it about every 6 months or so? Not totally sure DP is a joiner so am letting him worry about it and thankfully he is anal about these sorts of things!

Noddy, brilliant idea to have the other wall as units, the problem is that the other wall will have floor to ceiling storage in place for my DP. A

Also we think we would need a big double fridge, which we would build in and an under the counter single freezer (then a bigger freezer in the garage).

Have put the island in to break up the rooms a bit and more to be used as a breakfast bar than an island IYSWIM? Thanks for all the help once again; am very of your eye for decoration!

Oh more comments!

I like the website that lets you plna. Thaks for the link navy.

I have narrowed mine down to either Inverness from Wickes or Avant Ivory from Second Nature - will probably buy from supplyonlykitchens.co.uk