First-time house renovation

Josepina

Latecomer - I don't think you are being unreasonable with architect although they do seem to take their time. It took ours about 1 month before he could measure up then I waited about 2 months for him to do drawings, which then needed correcting! They seem to live in a different time zone. Have you looked into getting an archetectural technician, thats what I used, works out cheaper.

jamtart6

Hi Latecomer - no I don't think you are being unreasonable (nor will I be fobbed off with the data protection rubbish!). I would highly recommend our planner man if you are in the North West? He has been super, fit around to our needs, undercut our other cheapest quote by £150 and the most expensive by £650 and had plans to us after 4 days (ok its only a simple extension but still!) and revised plans after another 48 hours. He came round collected the cheques and submitted the plans. Had them checked by a builder who said everything was in order and its been the least hassle of any of the people we've dealt with. Highly recommended.

TomsMom - thanks so much for your kind offer, in fact andrew-b on this thread has pointed a few out for me, so I will be investigating those I am just narked because the quality of the bath we've picked is actually very good for the price (unlike the cheapest B&Q bathrooms which bent when you sat in them!) and all the others I like seem to be much more expensive!



Have been to a kitchen shop today (not B&Q have learnt my lesson!!!), the same people who did my parents kitchen. When I said I wanted a Belfast sink (a cute farmhouse style one) apparently you have to have solid wood or proper granite worktops which could be £2000+ without any units. May have to rethink the cute sink!!!!! (or get saving!) I'm having real difficulty picturing what the units will look like too.

I want this kind of look (but with black/dark surfaces) but am acutely aware that cream/white can look tacky if it isn't the correct shade. I got slated for my 'old fashioned' taste and told that as I lived in a 3bed semi and not a farmhouse, it probably wouldn't look at all right - so I'd be interested on your thoughts on that!

I also got slated for wanting a free standing range oven rather than built in!

Luckily I know and like the kitchen bloke or I may have decked him on the spot, but after saying that, doubt has now crept into my mind! So any thoughts on freestanding vs built in cookers and cream kitchens vs wood would be much appreciated!

latecomer

Am about to head home and see if there are any plans waiting.....

Also I've just had an email from the timber yard to say that the missing 5 boards were taken back by the supplier (who only replaced 4) on thursday, without his knowledge. He has said he will order 5 replacements tomorrow (FOC) as he couldn't get hold of them today. that will take us back up to the 14 boards we should have had and provided they are good quality then it should be enough. fingers crossed.....

Josepina

I also like the cream shaker style kitches Jamtart!
This looks good and 40% off in wickes til end of may Evesham http://www.wickeskitchens.co.uk/KitchenRanges/KitchensProductPage.asp
Can't copy pic sorry

jamtart6

will keep fingers crossed for you latecomer

Thanks for the link Josephina - are Wickes kitchens good quality? (Despite the bathroom saga I am usually loathed to go with large companies like this!)

Josepina

I thought quality looked much better than Homebase and seemed pretty good to me but I've only just started out looking so I'm a bit of a novice. I'm going to use that in my utility room with belfast sink and hopefully my savings will buy a budget granite worktop.

TomsMom

Josepina wrote: »

I think my main concern was whether the carcasses would fall apart when I try to move them into the utility room, they aren't that old, builder thinks they will be fine.

Jo, we have moved the original kitchen units into our utility. They were quite a good quality unit and we've had absolutely no problems. They were disgustingly filthy (I even considered chucking them out and trying to get some new ones in the Wickes sale but they hadn't got all the sizes I needed and they went very quickly online as the prices were so good) and they've been cleaned twice with my steam cleaner and moved in and out of the room a couple of times with the builders being here. As long as yours aren't cheap flimsy units they will probably be fine if you move them.

BB1984

STOP PRESS! The evil trees of doom have been conquered! Mwah ha ha haaaaa!

(sorry about that - can you tell i'm excited?!)

That's right, on Friday afternoon (we took the whole day off work, doing wedding-y stuff in the morning), David, Bruce, his apprentice (electrics, not tree-surgery!) and I set to work with a rope and a chainsaw, to chop down those cursed trees.

I'm just about to toddle off to update my blog with some photos, so come and have a look - you'll be amazed!

By the way, although I've been quiet on MSE, I have been keeping an eye on all of your blogs - I've got them all on my Google homepage so I see all the updates. I've had lots of work stuff going on lately (watch this space) so haven't been online much to get on here.

TM - your builders are so lovely and your house looks FANTASTIC! I'm so pleased for you.

BB

TomsMom

jamtart6 wrote: »

I want this kind of look (but with black/dark surfaces) but am acutely aware that cream/white can look tacky if it isn't the correct shade. I got slated for my 'old fashioned' taste and told that as I lived in a 3bed semi and not a farmhouse, it probably wouldn't look at all right - so I'd be interested on your thoughts on that!

I also got slated for wanting a free standing range oven rather than built in!

Luckily I know and like the kitchen bloke or I may have decked him on the spot, but after saying that, doubt has now crept into my mind! So any thoughts on freestanding vs built in cookers and cream kitchens vs wood would be much appreciated!

Jamtart - I thought long and hard about choosing a kitchen, and I changed my mind many times. I looked at no end of designs in the DIY sheds and kitchen suppliers and had a mountain of brochures.

This is the one I eventually settled on. You can't see but it has a double rebate round the door panels and the panel has a horizontal grain rather than a vertical one. It has light oak doors and iron bar handles. It's not trendy, it's not old fashioned, it has a touch of shaker about it and it's a nice change from the usual wood kitchens in that it's nice and light, it's not heavy looking and doesn't have the old style cathedral arch which is what the original kitchen in our new house had and that's now in the utility. It was the first one I saw and liked in our local independent home centre (you wouldn't believe how many things I've gone back to which were the first thing I saw and liked after spending hours looking for something better :rolleyes: ).

Thing is with kitchens, designs come and go. e.g. round sinks/drainers - I replaced them in a previous house in the mid-80s as I found them impractical and they'd had their day. Now they're back again. If you buy fashionable, and are a slave to trends, chances are in no time you are wanting something new because it's more trendy. Also, it's personal choice.

But I do think that you need to take into account the style of your house.
I considered one like the picture you posted. I decided against it for a couple of reasons (1) I knew that it really didn't suit the style of house and (2) I really knew that I'd go off it eventually.

The new glossy kitchens with the new colours like aubergine and lime etc., are stunning and would look fantastic in a really modern home, new build, etc. But they would look totally out of place in an old character cottage (and my house). Plus fashion will dictate that they are "out" quite soon.

Decide what style you really like. Then think about the practical aspects. Is the sink deep enough if you want to do some hand washing? Is it big enough to wash your oven shelves? Do you want a half bowl as well? I've had a half bowl with mine as I've had a waste disposal unit (£80 on special offer at B&Q) which will be very handy when our bin collections go to fortnightly - I don't fancy having food waste hanging around for two weeks. This is our new sink. I wanted just a few straight lines on the drainer, again for practical reasons. Too many and they can get gunged up and take ages to clean. The drainer sits low enough from the lip of the sink surround that water shouldn't be a problem with splashing over and getting onto the worktop. And I've had satin finish because I know the polished ones will show the scratches more.

Decide how long you want it to last - 5 years, 10 years or more? If 5 years then follow the fashion if it suits and be prepared to change it, if 10 years perhaps choose something a bit more classic that people wont tell you is old fashioned after a while.

Cookers - again personal choice. I've had a built-in for practical reasons. (1) I'm used to it and like not having to bend down to take something out of the oven or see how the food is grilling. (2) In a few years I'll have got to the age when I may find it difficult to bend right down and get something out of a built-under oven - and a free-standing oven would be the same. Plus, I've had a gas oven because I like the way food is cooked in a gas oven/grill, despite the fact that they are more difficult to find now as electric seems to be the thing. I've had both and prefer gas.

If you want a range cooker then have one. My d-i-l has one and is thrilled with it, it has three ovens and she cooks a lot so it gets a lot of use. There are some very nice ones and I'm sure you would find a style of kitchen to go with it.

Your kitchen doesn't have to be the sleek, modern design the salesman wants you to buy with the appliances he wants you to have. It's YOUR kitchen, do your research then YOU decide what you want and have that. If people tell you it's old fashioned then tell them to naff off, it's your kitchen and you can have what you want .

Oh my, I think I've got my practical head on tonight :rotfl: .

Josepina

You need to do this stuff as a job, want to be my project manager
That was really good post and I agree with everything you say, to me the kitchen will be my most important room (i love cooking) and so its essential to get it right and not rush into anything. Only problem is that also makes it really scary!