Jump to content

Talking kitchens


mint
 Share

Recommended Posts

I've had limed Oak, and my last four kitchens were cream shakers with Matt Beech worktops (different houses each), stainless steel cookers and splashback, as for worktop splashbacks I've always used mdf tongue & groove board, looks good, easy to fix and paint whatever colour suits. The latest kitchen is sparkly gloss white with black granite worktops just to shake things up;
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 221
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I'd go for matt if you don't want to spend your life cleaning[:-))] and also a cream/white/neutral colour as what seems great at the moment can be SO last year too quickly[:)] not for the sake of following fashion, just it's going to be around for a while and tastes change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

High gloss or matt? I hate high gloss, however in vogue it might be - matt for me every time, and mine cupboards are white. After 'wood' for 30+ years I'm delighted with my lovely light kitchen. There's quite a lot of light coming into the kitchen, but also quite a lot of apple tree boughs hanging over too, so in summer it can be a bit sombre. The kitchen never looked small, but now looks enormous, with all white units and walls, stainless, black and red accessories and a few grey wall tiles and grey 'slate' floors. I found recently that breaking an almost full bottle of olive oil on my floor did no damage thank goodness, and eventually mopped up.

I must say I agree that the number of sockets needs to be quite large. We really just kept the same basic plan of kitchen as before; 30+ years old, but it had been re-wired by us, new worktops, sink etc about 20 years ago. My OH had installed dozens of double sockets everywhere, with probably about 6 in the kitchen about and maybe 4 more pairs next door in the utility room.

My lights under the top units (all of which open up and over, same as in France - much better than dodging open doors) are very neat, and use very little electricity. My worktops are a sort of mottled colour - probably meant to be a sort of granite stuff, mainly black with whiteish and greyish sparkly bits in them. they are brillaint at hiding bits - they get a good wipe over each day at least once, like my plain worktops used to, but they always used to look dusty and uncared for.

Your OH sounds to have had a brilliant idea, Sweet - excellent!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we moved into our house it was like a squat but one good thing it had was a lovely warm blue aga , something I had always wanted. so I wanted to match the cupboards to the aga , also I had always wanted a terracotta coloured floor ....  For the surface having had a wooden one before we said never again as it was constant work trying to stop water damage , so we went for a stone compersite in cream ....  I like the end result , especially as I got to design it my self so it works well for me .

My advice would be have classic doors that can be sanded and repainted when you change your mind or fancy a change a few years later , save a fortune in money not having to change everything .

Sit in your kitchen for a long time to make sure you design to how you work in the kitchen, imagine your self doing all the little jobs you do in there , and pay a deal of attention to the hight of your surfaces so your not stooping to wash up or chopping for hours or having to lift your arms higher than is comfortable for knife work..... also make sure you have lots of storage in different forms , drawers (big and small) cupboards with moveable shelves

From this

[IMG]http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z22/pads_03/pamspics095.jpg[/IMG]

to this

[IMG]http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z22/pads_03/garden038.jpg[/IMG]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pads, are you a giant? And what would you keep in the top couple of drawers?

In that respect I don't mind high cupboards as I will keep similar things in very high up cupboard and when I open the door will have some idea as to what is out of reach, me not being 'that' tall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Top drawer knifes forks etc. 2nd drawer tea towels table cloths .... 3rd drawer lesser used cutlery plastic food bags .... No not a giant but some one with a bad back ..

Rooster clock now in the garden shed ..... where all good plastic clocks belong !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re carcasses without services void. I strap the wall and plate it in plasterboard this gives depth for patresses, allows 'straightening' bad walls by packing the battens. ditto bad window reveals. Gyproc gypliner system but using the ceiling rails is a good tip too...we have used this in tanked basements where space is limited.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've had a few Ikea kitchens and have found them to be strongly made (25 year no quibble guarantee I believe) easy to fit and inexpensive. The present kitchen we put on legs rather than having a plinth because of underfloor heating, and I think it looks smarter. The on-line kitchen planner tool is clever and lets you 'try out' ideas. We have oak fronted units in the current house with very dark grey worktops, but we'll probably have a white kitchen with wooden worktops at the next house. I fancy having a double oven and probably an induction hob. Ikea glazed wall cupboards come ready glazed.

One thing I will do and that's order a second wire oven shelf. I can't understand why ovens nowadays come with just one wire shelf plus two solid ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

We want to change from plain ceramic hob to induction - I'd bet that this hob is slower than my last one, but it does have a spot just for keeping stuff warm or resting meat which is useful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Pads"]

Rooster clock now in the garden shed ..... where all good plastic clocks belong !!

[/quote]

Ah, that's why! It didn't look plastic[:$] ours is in the outhouse, one of those 'the old mill' thingys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our kitchen is matt cream kind of shaker style - in our first house I learned that you can soon get tired of things you are keen on - we had Habitat 'Redcurrant' tiles and curtains (well it was the 70's !) within a year they drove me mad, but actually everyone who viewed the house seemed to like them !

As for tiled work top, the house next door to that one actually sold because it was the second one the viewers had seen and the first one had a tiled worktop, the viewer couldn't work out how she would be able to roll pastry ![:)] (She was young and had bever heard of a pastry board obviously !)

Sweet, I think Howdens is trade only so if you go for that I hope you know someone who can get it from you. My kitchen (and probably GG's came from Caple, http://www.caple.co.uk/default.aspx  and I think they are the same, trade only - pretty much Optiplan for quality, but in my view more economical.

Sweet, I may have read this and forgotten, but who is going to fit it ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More useful comments, how wonderful!

JJ, I know what you mean about quality.  In our very last house in the UK, we had a German Rational kitchen and we were told that after 10 years, it would still look like new.  It was all in white with beech laminate work tops and, indeed, when we sold up 13 years later to come to France, the kitchen still looked wonderful.

It wasn't a properly fitted kitchen as such as it was an old 30s house and there were little recesses for a fire (we put in a cast iron stove) and for the sink....very quaint and perhaps not spot-on efficient but I loved it!  So, it was just a long run of units and another shorter run somewhere else to put the toaster, etc. on.

Now, you know my house, JJ, wouldn't it be just brilliant to have a blank canvas where the living-room is now?

Pads, thanks for the pictures and I am so glad you showed your sink.  Do you sense the next question coming up?[:D]

YES, the sink!  Ceramic or stainless steel?  If ceramic, Belfast type or double?  Inset or standing on a unit like Pads'? If stainless steel, double or one very large?

Q and Chance, do you mean that  you don't have tiled splashbacks?  In fact, apart from where the hob is and where the sink is, is there any need for splashbacks?

I am not sure I want tiles on the floor.  They are so cold and unkind to dropped crockery.  Perhaps a vinyl cushion type?  A cinch to clean would be good![:D]

BTW, no granite, marble or other "stone" work tops for me.  Wood if not too much work to look after but I have always found that the laminates are both practical and can also look nice.  Also, as someone has pointed, it's a bonus when you can put hot pans and dishes down and the top is not affected.

Must find out from the previous owners where my present work tops are from.  They are wood effect but non-scratch, non-burn, non-anything.  In fact, they are about the only things that I do like in my existing kitchen.  Er...no, actually, they are not!  They do not overhang the base uits and any liquid spilled makes runnels all the way down the front of the unit doors to the floor![+o(]  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I started out with no splashback behind the sink but after a year it started to look a bit tatty so we used red glass tiles with cream grout and sealed the grout to keep the colour fresh (we hope). The cooker splashback is stainless steel, and as has been discussed here before, it can streak and mark - we may change that for red glass tiles too some day. Actually I really like glass tiles, they have more depth somehow than ceramic which is good if you like plain things as I do ( I collect Quimper and thats quite enough 'design' !)

We have a Karndean floor,http://www.karndean.co.uk/site/index.cfm a kind of budget Amtico, but I believe Amtico themselves have less expensive ranges now...we are pretty happy with the floor and if we damage one bit we don't have to replace the whole floor as you might have to with sheet vinyl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your latest posts, RH.

Well, as stated, I am not going to "faire" it but "faire faire" it!  That is, someone else will be doing the work![:D]  The combined DIY skills of OH and me probably amount to not much more than putting up a washing line.  I know because we did put up a washing line, one of those with metal poles with cross pieces so that you thread 4 or 5 lines through the cross piece.  And I can relate that it took several hours and no end of measuring with a spirit level, digging of holes and mixing of concrete so, as Coops would say (and HAS said), it is deffo a GALMI (get a little man in) jobbo.

I will indeed look up the links you have so kindly provided and also the used kitchen link that JJ has given in his post.

Sounds good about not having to replace the whole floor if a bit gets damaged.  In fact, would be as well to get a couple of spares for when someone or other (me probably) drops something heavy on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those Amtico and Karndean sticky back plastic tiles are a bit expensive arent they!!!!

You can get a virtually identical product in Leroy Merlin called "Lames Senseo", I have done 2 rooms with it and it is very very hard wearing but kind to dropped crockery, in fact I much prefer it to laminate flooring.

I only use the laminate floor that has the grain impressed into it and chamfered edges, its the most realistic but you still know its a laminate, the Senseo tiles if fitted with a little imagination cannot be detected from real wood even if you crouch down and run your nail across it, I used a bleached oak finish and it even had sawmill marks on it, I laid them with a matchstick joint between them and then caulked the join with a sous marque Sikaflex, the result looks like a boat deck and everyone is convinced it is wood, it is also warmer underfoot than laminate flooring.

When I bought mine they didnt sell it with a chamfered edge hence the above method of pose, now they have a cunning printed irregular chamfer on all edges and the model that resembles closest to what I achieved they have named "Pont de bateau" the bloomin plaguarists!

The Senseo flooring is around €12 per M2, Brico-depot sometimes have one on arrivage far cheaper than that.

Mine is in a high traffic area and I have fiends who have used it in their hallway and there is no wear showing after 5 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Sweets - I'm being a bit naughty here as I've skipped to the end of this thread without reading every page... so I'm sorry if I'm duplicating.

We  built the walls in our kitchen so we were able to plan the space perfectly for our ikea kitchen.  We did a bit of research and asked the same questions as you and in the end we liked the flexibility and choice at Ikea (and the prices).

They have a great virtual kitchen planner which we used and we were able to create a complete shopping list from the software and simply take it in to Ikea when we purchased.

I have all drawer units apart from two... one in the corner and a small single unit... when we next go to ikea we're buying drawers for this little unit as the drawers are fantastic.  Easy to organise, easy to clean and easy to find anything.

It's a nuisance if they dont have everything in stock - we had to make a couple of trip but I'm happy with our purchase and I'd buy another ikea kitchen.

good luck - feel free to pm if you want any more information

xx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="sweet 17"]

YES, the sink!  Ceramic or stainless steel? 

   [/quote]

NOOOOOOOOO! Not stainless steel!!!!! They turn you into a Stepford wife in an instant[:-))] I had one fitted, it looked so good with no splashes or scratches... so every drop of water was wiped away, every chance of a scratch avoided....... it was a nightmare[blink]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chance, thanks for the astuce about the floor.  If I'm not spending unnecessarily on the floor, I'd have more to spend on other things, n'est-ce pas?

Big Mac, how are you feeling after your stroke?  I do hope you are keeping yourself well and I trust you will be able to come back out to France soon to enjoy your house.

Wish you lived nearer me, then I could come around when you are working and pester you for tips and advice as I know you are very good at what you do!

Jo, you make me laugh about your sink and I more than suspect that, if I had a stainless steel one, I'd sharing your nightmare![:)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Sweet,

Thanks for the message and yes I am very much better...I was fortunate in that the type of stroke was minor and  didn't cause any paralysis or anything like that..The legacy is/was in speech and memory and now pretty much resolved...It's a bit weird remembering things you thought you had forgotten from when you were 7 to not remembering who the next door neighbour is or the name of your village can be a pain.

6 months out of work have really taken their toll but I start a new job Monday....hopefully 2012 will be a little kinder.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, indeed, Big Mac, I wish you all the best in 2012 and beyond and, more immediately, in your new job!

My OH had a stroke when he was 71 and, like you, he had some memory problems and he felt very tired for a few months.  But, because he worked for himself, he just carried on after a couple of days' rest and then working half days for a few weeks.

Touch wood, he's had NO further problems so I hope your stroke is just like his and you will soon forget that you ever had one!

Look after yourself, BM!

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...