Advice Needed for kitchen with the 'wow' factor

bigg2001

Can only do quick reply at moment - anyone know what I am doing wrong??

Pimento - love love love your kitchen units but not sure I'm that brave! Also have 2 small and very sticky fingered children!

Getting more and more confused now - just need a fairy godmother with a wand and magic fairy dust - any takers??

pimento

Ha! I have two big kids who have sticky fingers too, but the units are actually quite easy to keep clean. A rub with a damp tea towel and they're done.

I thought about havng a white kitchen and black tops, but realised that it was the colour of the worktops and not the colour of the units that was importnat where light was concerned. I had white tops to reflect the light as my kitchen faces north and it has worked.

bigg2001

So - my current deliberation is do I put american fridge-frezer in utility where it does fit in the space I was going to have as a tower unit (for ironing board, mop etc) or do I put on the end of the longest run of units where the sink is so that it will be closest to the dining room?? Utility room would be neater but will it irritate me and will I lose some 'wow' factor by not having it in the main kitchen.

On a positive note, I have decided I want curved units on the island as I think this will be so much better and want wine cooler and bookshelf within this - not that I have decided between matt and gloss, white or black yet - still erring towards safe matt white burford!

Bibbitybob

We had a quote and design done by Howdens in Burford cream - we were also distinctly underwhelmed by the two rows of cream boxes they came back with for over £3k. We bartered the price down by another £1k, but have had a design from Magnet trade today. Simple shaker style units (Chilton range) but with a bit more design - different sized units and drawerline, some glazed doors, an integrated fridge freezer which just adds that 'something' that was missing from the design, flooring for the entire downstairs and an integrated dishwasher thrown in for only £400 more than Howdens which I'm happy with. I always assumed that they were mega expensive but if you're trade they will price match (also with Howden's October sale prices) and I've been very impressed with the service so far.

We're planning to put oak worktops and flooring. I think my kitchen is a lot more 'shabby chic' rather than ultra modern as it sounds like you're after? We're also hoping to add the 'wow' factor with the decor and accessories - we're having chandeliers throughout (it's an open plan L shaped kitchen, diner & living room) and pearlescent Laura Ashley wallpaper in golds and creams as a feature wall at either end.

ema_o

We have the howdens glendevon white combined with dark worktops (couldn't afford granite but bought worktops from international decorative surfaces, as unimpressed by choice in howdens or magnet).
We combined this with gloss black fridge freezer and oven. We also put in plinth lights, and a black granite composite sink. I absolutely love it and do think it has the wow factor with the combination of White and black gloss.

By the time we went to howdens we knew exactly what layout we wanted. We'd had designs done by wicked, moben, magnet, an independent shop (who weren't much more than we ended up paying, and howdens were the cheapest of the lot).

Do your research everywhere to find what you want. I used to go into a kitchen showroom on my lunchbreak and just look at the show kitchens, I even took pics on my phone for reference.

Only you will know what has the wow factor for you. The research will pay off, and once you decide what you want you can just get it from the cheapest or the one you feel happiest that will do what you want.

clairehi

^^^^ What ema_o said - only you know what the wow factor is that you want.

Also have a good look online at upmarket kitchen companies websites, especially small independent ones where they have pix of real kitchens they have installed. this will give you some examples of design ideas and you can then ask your kitchen "designer" if they can be incorporated into what you want.

my friend has a Howdens Burford cream kitchen and black granite tops,it really has the wow factor but not because of the units, it is how the units have been used in her kitchen that is really special.

she has a big L-shaped island with the sink and hob in it and a free-standing extractor over the hob.

then she has a bank of tall units along the whole of one wall with the fridge freezer and oven built in.

the opposite wall just has base units, no wall units at all.

It looks fantastic and not at all like a cheap kitchen,

charlysez

i love ikea kitchens, everything is mix and match and i am still wow'ed by mine every day. they have their own computer design system which you can
down load and its so easy to use, let your imagination run wild, you can always delete it!!

downshifted

Try Schuller units - ours were not that much more expensive than quotes from the sheds - and have a lot more variety - ours are aqua gloss and lovely

Doozergirl

Wow factor. Well, I wouldn't put your fridge freezer in the utility room! I also think you should have what you want in your wow factor kitchen because it's supposed to wow you the most! High gloss won't date quickly - I've been putting it into kitchens for over 10 years. Clean lines can't really date. I think every thread about Howdens I've read recently has been about the Burford if that says anything about fashion...

I don't put wall units into kitchens at the moment if I can help it. I like walls of larder units, two single ovens side by side instead of a double. And integrating the fridge freezer into the larder units. of wall and floor units. And a lovely clean run of base units with worksurfaces without wall units to keep the sense of space in a room.

Wow factor is all about the way the kitchen looks. And then things like pull out larders Symmetry is really important to me, I like to keep all handles horizontal, rather than pointing all over the place. The curved units are hideously expensive. When I'm looking at the budget, I look at the price of every single unit and when four curved units cost well over £1000 on even a lower range kitchen, I'd balance out where I want the money spent. Cutting stone worktops to fit those curves costs a huge amount as well. They are a new look but I'm not convinced by something which costs a great deal of money and provides me with less storage!

I'd write more but the layout of the page has been put out by the picture and I can't read what I've written properly! Your layout sounds similar to the kitchen we're fitting at the moment. Hoping that has wow factor!

oz0707

All the curves on that one pictured cost over 50% of the total kitchen price (ie howdens bill)!