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Original poster

Which kitchen style help please

31 replies

nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 18:49

We are doing a redo on a budget of our kitchen and as our ten yr old b and q carcasses are near perfect we are just changing the doors. Choosing form the IT range i had decided on the high gloss white slab with long rod handles but now am having second thoughts as i never particularly spend time washing my kitchen doors and cant help thinking i will be forever rubbing off grubby marks. Its this one high gloss white. As a second thought i am now looking at this cream shaker style one but again using long silver rod handles (have seen it like this in howdens but wrong size doors to fit our cabinets) here classic ivory . Dh has to go with my dad tomorow night to get it to get his oap discount so time is runnig out and i cannot decide. Does anyone have either???

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MrsL123 · 02/03/2010 19:03

The good thing about glossy white is that they are easy to clean as there are no nooks and crannies - just a quick wipe down (finger marks tend to polish off with a dry teat-towel just fine, other tip - furniture polish!). Shaker style are lovely, but dirt and dust does tend to get stuck around the edges. Also, because high gloss are very wipeable, they don't tend to stain like matter finishes can, even if you drip sauce down them and it dries, it just wipes off with no scrubbing. And they really bounce light around the room. For those reasons, I'd choose the glossy ones

With regards to your handles - price them up in Ikea. My mum has recently changed the doors and handles on her kitchen, and got the handles from Ikea instead of B&Q because they were so much cheaper, and completely identical. She went for the 54cm ones which are £8 for a two pack from Ikea (they come in other lengths too), but B&Q wanted £15 for two the same length, almost double the price! So even with the OAP discount, you'd probably save a fair bit by getting them at Ikea.

MrsL123 · 02/03/2010 19:04

Teat towel? Oh dear, I meant tea towel!

Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 19:14

Thanks for that Mrs123. Ooooooooo im all of a quandry. Delamination concerns me also - anyoe had a problem with high gloss and delamination - oh blimey im leaning to high gloss again. Really im not such a slatern that i cant dust the cracks - its the whole fingerprint thing. The kitchen is 5metres x 3.2 metres and is using borrowed light through an added on sunroom extension downstairs so we do need as much light help as poss but then i have a 7 yr old dd and a 3yr old grubby ds who likes mud . Floor is oak effect laminate.

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MrsL123 · 02/03/2010 19:43

I think muddy fingerprints will show up just as bad on either because of the colour, so I guess it comes down to which one is easier to clean. A flat surface is going to be easier to wipe down, but they will show up streaks if you don't dry them off afterwards, so if the shaker ones are more matt they might be less work. But then the gloss ones will definitely help from the light point of view - sorry, I'm not being much help!

I always find DH helps with things like this in a twisted way - sometimes I'll be back and forward about things for ages, then when I ask his opinion and he says "well I think we should go with that one", it'll suddenly make me realise that I don't want that one afterall, and I'll feel all defensive about the other choice and start saying "why, what's wrong with this one?"!

Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 19:46

Hee hee - this is me i am going round and round and round. Now im thinking tea drips and perhaps the cream high gloss but dh just said no way as wil look like a smokers kitchen lol

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tootootired · 02/03/2010 20:47

What about a matt slab with curved edges, i think they call it "sapona" - will google

Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 21:02

it has to be a b and q jobby to fit the existing carcases and because they are cheap atm

Dh just said white high gloss to shut me up but said drawerline on bottom instead of highline - jeez its just a kitchen isnt it?

Cant find sapona......

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LadyBiscuit · 02/03/2010 21:05

My sister has high gloss cupboards and they don't look very fingerprint grubby (unless she obsessively wipes them and I haven't noticed). The cupboard doors are just starting to crack along the curved edges but the kitchen is about 15 years old. Is that delamination??

I have the long silver rod handles from Ikea in my kitchen and they are lovely - v good quality.

SixtyFootDoll · 02/03/2010 21:09

I have high gloss in cream and they stay realy clean , I was very surprised.
I wipe them over once a week and as and when.
Have had mine over a year and they still look great. Mine were from MFI but look just like the first Band Q ones you lnkied to,

Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 21:10

I think it is or just cracking - tbh thats reassuring kind of as i did not think they had been doing high gloss that long. Im expectign it to last 10 yr then i will probably move or change it again !

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tootootired · 02/03/2010 21:11

Saponetta - that's what I was thinking of

as here

You often see these doors in woodgrain but I think it looks classy in a pale matt colour and less functional than just a flat slab. Do B&Q do anything like that?

Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 21:27

sadly no they dont.

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Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 21:29

Thanks also sixty - i think i could cope with once a week though once every 3 months would be better . I feel reassured to go for white high gloss again. Now i am having the srawerline and highline debate as we do need drawers for all our crapola!

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Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 21:30

Thats drawerline and highline

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taffetacat · 02/03/2010 21:32

def agree re cost of handles. We saved ourselves hundreds by getting Ikea ones. B and Q are a real rip off for handles.

we have a stainless steel island which I thought would look awful with finger marks/water stains on from grubby pawed DC. yes, it gets a few paw marks and no, I don't clean them all off straight away. but you know, its fine, it doesn't look that bad and when the mummy mafia come round I give it the once over and it takes 15 minutes. so I wouldn't worry overly about upkeep, unless you are massively bothered by this sort of thing.

MrsL123 · 02/03/2010 21:35

Nappy you could always get some of those interior storage things to fit in the units, so they will look like highline but still have drawers hidden inside. Just rocking the boat now

SixtyFootDoll · 02/03/2010 21:35

ANd my cream doesnt look like a smokers kitchen tel your DH!
It looks beautiful!

Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 21:35

I will have to bare the ikea handles in mind but then our nearest one is 80 miles away so it may not be cost effective hmmmm especially as when i get in there i will buy all sorts of things i dont need

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Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 21:37

Mrs 123 your hurting my head now!!!! I agree i really like that cream but he wont entertain it so i have to go along and meet him mid way before he decides we just keep the old one loL!

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Original poster
nappyzonecantrunfortoffee · 02/03/2010 21:39

Will that high gloss white kitchen look wrong drawerline? Handle overload perhaps?

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MrsL123 · 02/03/2010 21:45

If you have a mix of drawerline and highline and position them correctly I think they'd look fine. If nothing else, those handles are great for hanging tea towels on when they're on drawers!

MrsL123 · 02/03/2010 21:47

Here's a picture with a lot of drawerline doors, similar door and handle to what you're going for.

LadyBiscuit · 02/03/2010 21:48

I don't think so. I have all drawers (except for under the sink and the corner cupboard and have really long handles on the drawers and it doesn't look too handley (that's not a word is it? )

My kitchen is all oak though so maybe the handles blend in more. Although I think my sister has the same handles and hers looks fine.

taffetacat · 02/03/2010 21:48

we ordered our handles from Ikea online and they delivered. a fiver I think.

MrsL123 · 02/03/2010 21:52

Just one word of warning with the rod handles though - they stick out quite far, so if you have any drawers in a corner, make sure you'll be able to open them! I learnt this at my own cost in our last house - each drawer would open about three inches and then hit the handle on the other drawer and couldn't go any further . They looked good though!