Jump to content

Talking kitchens


mint
 Share

Recommended Posts

Anyone fancy talking kitchens?

Yes, a most BORING subject and I feel a bit embarrassed to have even brought this up.

I'm just thinking about a kitchen project and, as a kitchens is something that most people on here would have, I thought I'd canvass some opinions.

So, to help the comments flowing in, here are a few points for starters so fingers on buzzers, as J Paxman might say on University Challenge:

Fitted

From France or the UK

Anything glaringly obvious or otherwise to avoid

Will come back with dims if the discussion gets going and I need more specific advice

Oh, please, do join in; it's lonely trying to figure out stuff on a cold old night![:(]

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 221
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

We bought ours in France from La Camif. Units already made and easy to fit. They would have organised the fitting.

Ikea's kitchens, well all I can say about them is that we have a friend who makes musical instruments, and is master craftsman and he is quite happy to buy an Ikea kitchen and bathroom too.  And I find that quite a recommendation really.

This one is dead simple for this simple soul..... did I mention I hate my gas cooker, so I would suggest you don't get one.[:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Ok - a tip our planner gave me was to avoid those razzy looking pull out larders, apparently as you load and unload them their level alters so they rarely line up with adjacent units. He also advised against corner carousels and suggested 'split doors' which makes better use of space.

I like my big floor to ceiling cupboards with individual slide out draws, if you have the room, and I probably wouldn't go for a built in fridge freezer as although I like the look the internal capacity is not big enough (but we are four adults in this house so it could work for you!)

Do you wish you hadn't asked ?[;-)]

PS Also I would definitely go for an induction hob and we are considering changing our cooker to built in ovens and a hob even though the cooker is less than 2 years old (its a Rangemaster with a ceramic hob)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an Ikea kitchen and the only problem I have is with the plinths which I find a bit too 'leger'. I had a problem with a broken carousel in a corner unit seven years after I bought it and when I went back to buy another, they gave me a new one as the there was a design fault in the original one. And they don't break the bank, either.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ikea........makes musical instruments.......happy to buy.......

Landfill in waiting, no service gap at the back so where do you run the services? carcass as soft as paper. Endless trips back to the shop for the missing parts. In short I refuse to fit Ikea kitchens.

Modern idea is large pan drawers and not cupboards so nothing gets lost at the back.

Induction hob, ok as long as you aren't in a hurry. Watching a cooking demo with Atul Kochhar and he was getting very frustrated with the lack of heat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What useful comments!

See, I KNEW you guys would know and I thank you all for taking the trouble to talk kitchens with me.

Yes, I more or less decided not Ikea although I am told the quality is good.  As I am not going to faire it but to faire faire it, I thought readymade cabinets might actually work out no dearer than flatpack.

So, now, I know, NO carousels and NO fancy pull out larders....yes, I admit that would have been one mistake I might have made.

No, RH, I'm rather glad I asked now that the replies have been so helpful [:)]

I, too, like the idea of floor to ceiling as I HATE standing on a stepladder, cleaning the gunge that seems to gather on top of kitchen cupboards.

I will of course have some base units but I'd like the wall units to go all the way up to the ceiling.

And, yes, will love to have pan drawers as things in cupboards are harder and harder to reach with each passing year [:(]

Only going to have a larder fridge as I have an American type fridge-freezer which I keep downstairs so that I could run up and downstairs umpteen times a day as that's part of my exercise programme! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 I have no idea how ikea kitchens are constructed, but our instrument maker friend is really fussy and their kitchen looks good.

I've been told that the carcass should be at least 18mm constuction and I thought that Ikea's were? B&Q started doing some of their units with a 15mm carcass and they were rubbish, their dearer ones are 18mm.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="sweet 17"]

So, now, I know, NO carousels and NO fancy pull out larders....yes, I admit that would have been one mistake I might have made.

[/quote]

Carousels are so 80's there are much better blind corner baskets now, If the cabinets are rigid enough the pull out larders are not a problem so no chance with Ikea then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have magic corner units in both my flats and the ones I am building and they are, well........... magic!!

Induction hobs, slow? You must be pulling my leg, its my party trick to put some water in a pan and show people how quick it boils and then to put the palm of my hand down on the ring where the pan was heating. Cast iron cookware was made for induction. I know cookers are a very personal thing and when people change to a different type of energy it is always difficult initially, all types of hob get bad feedback when someone has to use one for a short while, say in a gite but I dont know of anyone that has changed to induction and wanted to go back.

B&Q budget carcasses are OK, slightly better than Brico-Depot although they are probably the only company that sell carcasses in oak finish.

B&Q change their range of doors frequently and the ones being superceded are often a good buy at 50% off.

Brico-Depot beech worktops are ery good quality and very cheap, I have fitted and mitred 6 and they all still look very good.

Bricoman was very cheap for magic corner units, €90 and other pull out storage.

I find that a good VMC, preferably hygrostatic with an outlet in the kitchen there is absolutely no need for an extractor hood which helps with planning the wall units and makes for a cleaner line. I fit eye level microwaves in the space liberated by the extractor hoods. In my place in England there is a window directly behind the hob, the VMC exit being in the middle of the kitchen, even when boiling a pan of pasta there is no steam on the window yet it is inches behind.

Finally I am so taken with my worktop halogen ovens that I will never again have a built in oven, once again it makes for a better looking run of units, you rarely see ovens in the photographs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, carousel units might be 80s(!) but I didn't have one then and I do now, since last summer when we had a new UK kitchen fitted, using RH's contact. It's a serpent one, and snakes all the way out so easily with just a finger - perfect for somebody who's always had to go scrabbling on her knees into the far reaches of cupboards - or who used to give up and use something else as the knees and back deteriorated! That was one definite requirement.

Second definite requirement - induction hob. Induction hobs slow? Never in this world! We had one fitted when we bought in France 4 years ago, at OH's request. It's lovely and SO fast. Putting it on high is very quick, but for those who can't wait even that long, there's a faster speed, when water starts to bubble immediately, if not quicker. It's as controllable as gas - some say more controllable, but I haven't used gas for years. We have the same hob in UK, apart from the original one in France has programmable settings for one of the rings, so the coffee maker and other things can just be put on and left to themselves - and which I don't use but OH does a lot. It's a Bosch, not cheap, but works so well, cleans so easily with an ecloth - the only thing I don't like is that the dust shows in direct sunshine staight away - my old hob was sort of motteld whereas the new one  is very shiny. The newer hob doesn't have a metal rim, which we found scratched on our French one and our old UK hob. My hobs are pretty perfect, but wouldn't be as good for anyone with poor sight as the bits (not buttons) where you press to switch on and control the heat are very small and fade into the background when off - which adds to the swish looks for me.  [:)]

Third definite requirement - pan drawers. I have them right round the kitchen, with the cupboard housing my serpent and also the dishwasher looking like pan drawers - they are pandrawer doors, but have fittings holding them together. I love being able to pull them out, find exactly what I want (well, I'm getting better at it; in my mind so much stuff is still piled up in that ols corner cupboard that went to the cupboard graveyard last August!) and push them back with a finger. The whole kitchen is strong and solid-feeling and well-fitted.

I also have little under-unit lights, which I didn't have before - and hardly ever use the main adjustable light, just my sweet little ones.

With induction you might have to get rid of some pans; I already had my stainless steeel ones, but had to get rid of my lovely elderly omelette pan, frying pan and wok - but bought nice shiny new ones.

What fun you have ahead Sweet! RH's chap was a great help, so hope you find somebody who knows exactly what they're on about and can magic what you want. My kitchen wasn't expensive, apart from the hob and oven, but looks great, is easy to yse and keep clean and is admired by friends and family. My neighbour, whose house is a mirror image of ours lusts after it, and my SIL who has a perfectly good kitchen, is hoping for a win on something or other. Mind you, my kitchen had already been installed when we moved in over 30 years ago, and was a very good quality one - and I can't bear waste, so kept it till now. OH doesn't talk about down-sizing nearly as much since we had the bathroom and kitchen done either; all i need is to fix the stairs or my knees and get something done about the garden - which I'm working on; I thought about a sort of garden share.  [:D]

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My kitchen isn't fitted and I love the freedom that gives me, if I fancy moving something around I can. I don't have any wall units as, being vertically challenged,[:-))] I could never reach more than the first shelf[:$] don't forget, if you needed a stepladder to clean the top of the old units you will need one to reach the shelves of a full height unit[geek] I fitted an IKEA kitchen for my sister and found it good quality and easy to do, she is very happy with it, one thing she did have which were fantastic were under unit lights, as gardengirl says, she never uses the main light[blink] I liked the idea so much ( but don't have units! ) I fitted some wall mounted ones, it's great not to be standing in your light when preparing food. The icing on the cake for me is the kitchen, unlike the one I had in UK is big enough to have a kitchen table[:)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I installed a new kitchen just before Christmas and I chose Leroy Merlin.

Living in France has taught us one thing which is we have had more power outages here than we had in the UK and they tend to be longer. I mention this because it may help you to decide on your oven, or more to the point hob i.e. go for gas. I bought a SMEG cooker with five gas burners and two ovens, one large and one small. We use the smaller one when there are just the two of us and the bigger when there are more. It also means I can cook something in one and my wife something different in the other all at the same time.

Power points, you can never have too many in a kitchen. They need a bit of thinking about as to their positioning. We have a big 'galley' style kitchen and have a power socket every 1.5m plus one in each corner and another in the middle of the wall at one end (near the door) where there are no cabinets etc which is used for cleaning (hoover etc). This means when you are cleaning you can start at the door and work down the kitchen dragging the cable behind you. You don't have to 'cross' the cable at any time. May not sound very interesting I know but it sure makes it easy to clean the kitchen withut tripping over cables.

You will need a separate circuit's for your dishwasher, oven and washing machine (if that's in the kitchen).

Don't use 'crédence' or whatever it's called for the walls, use tiles. You can work out the power socket positions by using the tiles and spacers on the floor once you know the height of the units plus the work surface. The idea is to get the power socket in the corner of a tile so it's easier to cut.

We have these 'train' baskets for the corner base units. The door is not hinged like normal but is attached to the 'train' unit so you pull the door forward and it slides to the side pulling all the baskets round and out. It does not use all the space in the unit so there is just enough to keep things that you hardly ever use. Much better than these carousel things.

Work surfaces. We use to have tiles, bloody useless and unhygienic. I wouldn't use wood so chose these 'Stratifié' ones because you can take things straight out the oven and put them on the work surface. I know people say you can use a stand but you only have to put something very hot on the work surface once and the whole thing is f*cked. To make sure I kept a piece of off cut and took the roast potatoes out and left the tray on the off cut to cool, no marks at all. You can never have too much work surface either.

When the old kitchen is being removed and if you had tiles and the walls have to be made good get the tell the plasterer to ensure the corner angles are exactly 90 deg and the walls are level. Likewise you can work out as I described before with the tiles how they will fit. There is nothing worse than having to put a very small fillet of tile in at a corner, it looks terrible, so you can ask the plasterer to 'pull' the wall out a bit to make them fit better.

Flooring. If your having new tiles then make sure they level the floor first. Yes you can level out the base units but it's a lot better if the floor is level and a lot easier to fit the plinth and you won't have any gaps and it won't look odd. Don't stop the tiles just under the units, take them to every corner and wall. That way you have a level base to start from.

Personally I always stay clear of integrated electrical appliances. They always cost more and it's much more difficult to get them out to repair. You are also limited in your choice of appliance when it comes to dishwashers, fridges etc.

I am sure there are a lot of other things I and others can think of.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just saw Jo's post about lights and I totally agree with him/her. We had a problem with the ceiling in that it is block and beam then plastered. I wanted downlight spots so had to put a false ceiling in and fitted two lines of spots 1m out from the walls straight down the kitchen. I also installed lights under the wall cabinets which are very useful. The problem with many French kitchens is they don't do architrave to go round the bottom of the wall cabinets with many of the units. We got round this by using cut down plinth which works well. We found strip lights in Leroy Merlin that plug together making on very long light. They are safe for kitchens as well. What do I mean about safe? Well the problem with fluorescent tubes is they can 'strobe' with rotating equipment (mixers etc) and makes it look stationary when it's actually rotating. For that reason they are not normally recommended in kitchens but these ones have a diffuser inside the tube so it not a problem. It does look nice with just the under cabinet lights on at night. We also have low power spots in the cabinets with glass fronts, that looks nice as well. You need to replace the shelves with glass ones and the cheapest glass is at Bricodepot.

Glass fronted cabinets reminds me, the doors don't come with the glass in France, well not from Bricodepot or LM anyway, you have to buy them separate and fit them yourself but that no great problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have just reworked the kitchen in our new house in the UK. B&Q were offering solid oak doors at 75% off and decided on those.

I do not find the carcasses being 15mm a problem if they are well fixed. In addition, if the sides are fitted to an adjoining one then you have 30mm.

Induction hobs seem excellent.

In France we have a DeDietrich oven - bought it secondhand from someone I know at a 1/5 of the new price. The reason was because his wife wanted a double oven (they bought the same one but in the double). You can set it to clean and it gets extremely hot and at the end of the programme these is just a small pile of 'ash' in the bottom.

Agree on a large number of socket outlets - so many electric gadgets nowadays.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If buying a uk kitchen, wickes ones are really good quality. My son has just fitted a new one and it is very good.

Re the top of wall cupboards, my husband plasterboarded down from the ceiling to the top of the cupboard fronts, no more grotty tops to clean.

I have a gas hob, as said no problem when power cuts happen.

I also have a microwave/convection oven, so handy when its just the two of us - 5 minutes to heat up, 9 mins for partbaked baguette or pizzas etc.

My husband also did perfect worktop joins with no grotty dirt collecting metal strips.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My twopenneth (five perhaps) is
1, quality will out,
2,  you may not appreciate the choices, so get a plan draw by several kitchen planners with minimal input from yourself, then compare and mix and match til you have what works for you.
3,  Quality Cooker and Fridge Freezer perhaps the most essential part of the planning, Induction hob definitely ( my first test was to pour 1.5 litres water into a kettle and the same into a le creuset pan on the hob, (the kettle was last to boil) but the best bit is the controllability, especially the timer, put something on to simmer for 30min whatever and walk away, it will turn itself off on time, great!) Lights everywhere under units over units, in units, kickboard lights
4, The kitchen I'm fitting at the moment is secondhand, new equivalent would have been too expensive for me (see  theusedkitchencompany.  Harvey Jones, Poggenpohl, Nobilia etc from £3K,) agents for kitchen companies replacing perfectly good last years models at a fraction of the price, full fitting service if required.
5, After Magnet, several Wickes, then John Lewis, the only way is quality. Did I say quality? [:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would never have another free standing kitchen. My friend has one and for the bits of cooking she does it suits her. I know that I need a fitted one that gives me the work surfaces that I need and that is the big difference between the two. Incidentally with my free standing one I have fed lots of people, it isn't as if I cannot, but I really wouldn't want to do it again.

The ikea kitchens say that they have an 18mm carcass and that means that they should not be flimsy. I'm sorry to hear that yours were Teapot. I have never bought much from Ikea but as I say when I was looking our friend's recommendation made me look. As it happened once again we bought ready assembled from Howdens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

       [:$]  I'm a "her"[:$]   I use my kitchen table as my work surface at 2 meters plus I find it more than enough, and you can really spread out,[:)] I do a lot of cooking. I like an unfitted kitchen so I can change it around, takes me ages to decide just how I like things[:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If  the transport problem could be overcome, and I lived in France; and wanted ready made units I would buy British, as someone else said Wickes are as good as any and better than others. If you can  I would get custom made by a local carpenter, shame you are a long way from where we have our place as I could recommend a wonderful local guy who is superb. I priced up ready made units From Hygena; too expensive for what they were, the local Leroy and Brico sheds cr#p. Had them made by our local man and the small on cost was well worth it. Good luck
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]I wish you luck and enjoyment in your choice, Sweets, but must express my disappointment that you don't (contrary to my understanding of the thread title) want a kitchen that talks. What would such a kitchen say, I wonder?
[/quote]

Well, Betty, if the voice is going to be female and authoritaire and sounds like a SatNav, then I shall be taking a sledge hammer to the kitchen, no two ways about it!

I can't thank everyone enough for their input.  I have made a note of all the relevant points:  where to get beech worktops if I chose wood, which sort of corner mechanisms if I have corner cupboards, lighting, kitchen make etc.

OH also said Howden's are very good quality but I thought their ranges look a bit "utilitarian".  Don't get me wrong, the kitchen is not for "show" and I'd go for functionality over looks anytime.

I have always had freestanding kitchens and I also had a large table on which to prep everything.  However, the proportions of this one is going to be modest.  I've just paced it out and I think it's about 4 metres by 3 and a bit metres.

I'd thought long and hard about changing the kitchen as the existing is quite a new one but what with the wretched overlarge oven and the fact that it doesn't work very well makes me think that I might as well grasp the nettle and install one that is more user-friendly.

Also, I am very fortunate in that OH had this brainwave and said why don't we turn the present living-room (which used to be a principal bedroom in another life) and use the present large dining-room with smallish kitchen as a living space?  It felt like the heavens opened and a thunderclap sounded in my head.  OF COURSE....whyever didn't I think of that myself?

As it is we have a kitchen that doesn't work, an overlarge dining space and a cramped sitting-room.  So, with one masterstroke, we will have a good, usable kitchen and a larger sitting area with still plenty enough space ,using the existing kitchen, to house the dining table and chairs!

Although we usually ate in the kitchen in the last house, I am really one of those people who like to prepare food away from others (no one to witness the mishaps) and I like to sit down and eat away from pans soaking in the sink and the work surfaces littered with the detritus that seems inevitable with meal preparation.

Luckily, and I am saying this for the technically-minded (yes, Teapot and Quillan mainly), I shall be able to site all the electrical appliances, sink and waste, etc on the wall that is now shared with the present kitchen.  It's only necessary to drill on the other side, bring the waste pipes, etc. over and there we have it.

The beauty is that the new kitchen can be installed without dismantling the old one first!  Then, when all is ready in brand-new kitchen heaven, we will set about taking down the old one.  Bien simple, or what?

OK, then, next big question:  high gloss or matt? I don't think I want wood; had wood in the last one which suited the "vielles pierres" but this one is a modern house and I also want the kitchen to be extra light.

Pale colour or stick with safe white or cream?

Also, I do think I will have a hood but I will make sure that it vents outside through the roof and not recirculate all those cooking smells like the present one does!  I just don't understand why anyone would want to recirculate cooking smells but some people seem not to have a lot of sense.

Whatever ventilation system we have, it will need to be a very good and very efficient one because our bedroom will be next door!

On the plus side, there are large French windows on to the verandah and all the glass panels there slide back.  Whenever I cook, I always open a window in any case as nothing smells worse than boiling cabbage or fried onions [:(]

If anyone can think of anything else, please do take the trouble to post.  Your remarks could be helping a lot of people besides me!  OK, I only said that so that I can glean info from all your wise remarks but I don't want to sound completely self-centred (although there is a great deal of the "me, me, me", for sure![:$])

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re crédences, tiling and prises murales, I second what Quillan says about crédences, overpriced tat not needed by a competent DIY'er but loved by the French kitchen fitters.

I used 60 by 40cm bêton ciré floor tiles for my splashbacks and they look great against the beech worktops and piano black units, its minus 5 up in the loft rooms at the moment and they havn't fallen off the plasterboard so I think that they are there to stay.

I precut round holes for the wall sockets using a diamond core bit without the pilot in a drill press, the dimensions worked out quite well so that I could use the pillar as the back stop and they are all at the exact same height.

As I use 2 single sockets side by side instead of doubles (far more expensive) I had to be very carefull to get the entraxe dimension exactly to 68mm, it was a slow process but the finished result is well worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I put a pale green one in my last house, as I knew I wasn't staying and I wanted to see if I could live with it. My friend had bespoke free standing pale green units made at about the same time, both chosing independantly of one another. I'm glad I've left mine behind. I've gone back to oak. I'm happy with oak and an off white worksurface, melamine, I find it very practical. My friend who had her bespoke units had their work surfaces in cherry wood.

We all have different tastes. A few years ago everyone I know was having black granite worksurfaces. Now it's white units, often shiny. I always have been on the sidelines and do my own thing.

We eat en famille in the kitchen, and have done when just a couple of friends have been round, but I too like my dining room to be well away from the mess in the kitchen.

If I ever have the money I would have gold/beige granite work surfaces in my kitchen, I have that on my hearths and love it. If I ever have the money, I'll have a new cooker[:-))]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...