Can a kitchen look nice with non-integrated appliances?

[MrsL123]

We've been living with our 20 year old crappy kitchen for years, and planned to keep it until we'd saved up the 10k plus we need to sort it out and fit it properly (currently have 2k towards it). But it's been on it's last legs for a while now, and now it has completely given up the ghost. Our puppy dug up the flooring a few days ago and chewed it all (she's in heat and is acting like a monster), the oven has stopped working, and one of the wall units fell off yesterday taking all of my crockery and glasses with it So we're having to bite the bullet and use the money we've saved to put in a cheap kitchen that will hopefully last another few years until we can do it properly. I hate spending all the money we've saved on what is basically a stop-gap, but I've lived with a hell-hole kitchen for so long, I'm actually looking forward to it finally looking half decent!

We've decided to go for Ikea units and worktops, get a cheapish integrated oven/hob and fridge freezer, and the flooring I want is on sale at the moment, so by my calculations it should be just about doable for the 2k. The thing is, it doesn't leave any money for an integrated washing machine or dishwasher. Even if we could afford them, we'd need to have the plumbing rearranged to fit them in, which would cost a fortune (pipes run at the back of the units so the appliances stick out about 2cm under the worktops). And the ones we have were only bought last year and were quite expensive, so it doesn't make sense to replace them anyway (says DH). So it looks like I'm stuck with them, but I hate having them on show - the thing that annoys me most about the kitchen at the moment is all the appliances dotted amongst the (very few) units we have. Most of them aren't even underneath a worktop, so it just looks so untidy and ugly and is a pain to keep clean.

DH doesn't think they'll look too bad in the new kitchen, because they'll blend in to the white units we're getting (a bit like this but with walnut worktops and a matching floor). At the moment we have dark wood units, so the white appliances stick out like a sore thumb, and they're dotted all round the kitchen - in the new layout they'll be side by side at the end of a run of units (a bit like in this kitchen). And of course we'll only have those two appliances on show, instead of the six we have in the kitchen at the moment! But I can't help thinking they're going to ruin the look of the kitchen, because the whole thing will be nice and sleek and fitted, and then there'll be these ugly machines on show, and they're right in front of you when you walk in. My mum (in true mum fashion!) told me to hide them behind a curtain made to match the window blind, but because they stick out a bit I can't even do that (and the worktops only come in one depth). I know it's silly because it's such a total mess at the moment, anything will be an improvement, but I've waited so long to get it put in I want it to look good (and knowing DH I'll have to live with it for a loooong time!).

Am I being daft? Actually, scrap that, I know I'm being daft because it's after midnight and I'm still on the Ikea kitchen planner. But apart from that, I mean!

I know a lot of people have freestanding appliances and I'm sure they look fine, but I just keep picturing the way they are at the moment. Does anyone have pictures of their kitchens with freestanding appliances that they could show me?

I'm another fan of integrated appliances - in your position, OP, I would pay for the plumbing to be moved and get cheap w/m and d/w on ebay (no one wants second hand ones, even if they are in perfect working order) or from freecycle (my local group seem to give them away with reasonable frequency) and save up for the integrated ones. I know this will make me sound incredibly uptight, but I just hate having my appliances on display and I hate gaps between kitchen units so there would be no question of freestanding in my home.

Agree re the gaps lala looks terrible and crumbs and filth collect

I actually think non integrated can look more stylish. I find integrated less asthetically pleasing ont he whole. I love the Smeg classic designs for free standing or stainless steel. I am much less keen on white appliances though.

Integrated looks wrong and out of place in some kitchens. Mine in UK has a Stanley in the big open fireplace at one end of the room; a length of built in units and work top running to the side of the next fireplace which used to house the wine racks, and within that run of units was the butler sink, with space left under the work top next to a cupboard for the dishwasher.

The rest of the kitchen (when I lived there) was a large pantry cupboard; wide fridge, long table,, wall dresser for plates and a Victorian school cupboard for glasses. Stream lined and integrated doesn't always work in older houses imo.

Going off at a tangent somewhat....

If a cheap-ish kitchen really would be a stop gap for a couple of years that you will then throw away, I would investigate how much it would cost you to take out a loan for the remaining £8K you need for your dream kitchen. If you'd pay less than £2K in interest on a loan (ie the amount you would spend on the Ikea kitchen) and you can afford the repayments, then it might make more sense financially and satisfaction-wise to do the super-dooper kitchen now. Add to that the likelihood that inflation means that in a few years you will probably need to spend more than £10K to get the kitchen you want...

also depends what sort of room - if its just a kitchen, then non integrated are ok, although can make room look cluttered and nightmare to clean around. however, if its a live in kitchen or kitchen diner, then do you really want to see them? they are not, by any measure, particularly beautiful, smeg exception to the rule, of course!

Found my ikea catalogue (admittedly it is the 2008 one) but custom laminates come in lots of sizes, depth wise they go 5-40cm, 40.1-62cm, 62.1-90cm and 90.1-122.5cm. Length is 5-400cm for al depths.

Maybe mine is out of date but it is worth a check.

Hope your ikea is close by (mine is 3 mile away)

I think integrated makes everything look streamlined and hate the idea of having small gaps down the sides of appliances for all manner of dirt and bits of lego get trapped down.

Fizzylemonade, we went last night (2 hour round trip!) and they don't do the deeper ones anymore. Actually I was very disappointed, they seemed to have really dropped the quality of their kitchens. The one I thought we were getting has completely changed, it's not the same shiny finish that it was (more of a matt effect) and the shape of the door has changed, it now has square edges instead of slightly rounded ones. The door seems thinner too. I thought it was just me remembering wrong, but then I saw their Adel birch shaker style door. For the past 10 years plus it's been the same door - a lovely honey coloured birch with a glossy finish like this. Now it's very pale, almost looks limed effect, and looks really fake. It still says it's birch veneer but it just looks like that cheap maple-effect furniture you get from Argos, it looks terrible and nothing like it used to. Of course it's still the same price! Their worktops have also dropped in quality dramatically. The walnut effect one has completely changed, it used to be really dark glossy colour and had a square edge. Now it's about four shades lighter, the wood grain effect is different and it has a rounded egdge. It also feels cheap, which it didn't before. When I got a catalogue, you could see a clear difference. The assistant said they changed some of the kitchen finishes last year and admitted they hadn't been popular. How annoying! The only kitchen I liked was the high gloss Abstrakt one, which will add £400 to the cost of the units. And instead of being able to do all my worktops for £120, I'll now have to spend triple that. I should have known this wouldn't be simple

Daisymoo we did consider getting a loan but DH is self employed and business has been slow lately, so we pretty much live on my salary. It works ok at the moment, but I wouldn't want to add any extra fixed costs to our monthly budget (if we can't afford to save one month, we don't). But this is coming from someone who can't sleep if she's got a balance on her credit card at the end of the month!

ha ha i was their last night too and just about to type up what was in the catalogue. have you looked at other suppliers, howdens, wickes etc?

i would also consider getting local firms - we have a few local kitchen firms whose quality is excellent but you dont pay through the nose. could be worth looking on your high street?

the only integrated appliance i have is the dishwasher, but the rest all match in colour, so it all blends in.

I got my run of units from Magnet, who gave me a discount for cash when I asked. I've had the kitchen now for 12 years - I used it for 7 and my tenants from then on. It still looks good.

God, nothing worse than trekking all that way only to find there is nothing you really want.

Builders/local kitchen fitters can usually get about 70% off magnet prices (2 of my friends have managed this) so maybe it is worth looking there but remembering the discount so you don't need a chair to recover on when you work out the cost

I really hope you find something you like, sorry if I got your hopes up over the deeper worktop

Don't worry Fizzylemonade, considering how they've changed the design I wouldn't have used them anyway, deep or not

We were planning to fit all the units ourselves (no wall units or awkward corners to do) and just get someone in to fit the worktops, so we won't have a builder to get us one of the trade kitchen from Howdens or Magnet unfotunately. And there's only one independant kitchen shop in town and DH says the owner is a bit dodgy, so I'm banned from even looking

We went to Homebase today to get some prices and it was hideously expensive, even though they've got 75% off their kitchens and an extra 15% off this weekend - the sales guy told us that for every £100 worth of units we buy it'll only actually cost us £32, so we were quite excited to get a bargain! But they've obviously bumped all their prices up before the sale, because the white gloss units worked out at £250 more than the Ikea Abstrakt ones, and that was before adding any of the interior fittings or soft close doors, which the Ikea price included! Once they were added it was almost double the price, and it wasn't even as nice as the Ikea one. How they stay in business, I'll never know. Wickes was about the same price as Homebase but at least the quality was a lot better.

We also went to B&Q because their white gloss doors are half price at the moment, so it worked out about the same price as the Ikea ones including all the interior fittings. But the cabinets don't come in a huge range of sizes so I'd need to reshuffle the design to make it work, and the sale is only on until next week so I don't think I'd be organised in time - at least the Ikea ones are just a set price, so we don't need to rush into buying them. So from the many hours of kitchen shopping today, Ikea are still coming up top. Nothing like wasting a whole day

I did some googling when we got back and found a place called diy-kitchens who sell ready assembled units, and their prices are pretty reasonable. They do a huge range of cabinet sizes and their website is really easy to use (you add the cabinet to the basket and it tells you what doors and extras you need - soooo much easier than B&Q!). Including delivery and the assembly surcharges it'd cost about £500 more than Ikea, but that only works out at £50 a cabinet (and I'm sure DH will willingly pay that to avoid flatpack!).

I'm so fed up of kitchen shopping already - I think I'll just set up the dining table in the middle of the kitchen and put the microwave and a takeaway menu on it. Kitchen sorted!

I'm afraid I put integrated appliances is the same category as matching mint green 3 piece suite in elephant scrotum leather from dfs, those built in bathrooms that make it look like someone has accidentally fitted a kitchen by mistake and matching everthing in the kitchen.
All a bit yucky

LOL! My sister has all of that, except the sofas are peach.

To my eyes, if a super integrated kitchen was a person, it's personality would be ... well, a bit insecure.

A fridge is a fridge. A dishwasher's a dishwasher. We've all seen them. Why disguise them as 'ye olde cottage dishwasher'?

My pet hat is integrated washing machines. Open the fake door. Open the real door. Load the washing. Close the real door. Close the fake door. Whhhyyyyyy?

And you rob the kiddies of prime magnet sticking space....

right. can see that if you dont have a utility room and have w/m and dryer in your kitchen then it is annoying to have fake doors which get in the way.

but none the less i maintain that if you are going to have sopping ugly machines on show then why bother making any effort in your kitchen at all? to my eyes a kitchen was a person it, its personality would be .... bipolar....???????