New kitchen: must haves or what to avoid?

VfM4meplse

Kirsty_A wrote: »

One thing I have always wanted in a kitchen is spotlights! Spotlights under the wall cupboards and also running along the underneath of the bottom cubpoards/drawers just above floor level.

A friend had this fine when he refitted his kitchen recently, they look the business and tbh the only element of the kitchen that was more decorative than functional (white gloss with grey / black surfaces and tiles). He was given a poinsettia as a housewarming gift and just that splash of red in the windowsill made the kitchen look amazing. Unfortunately not one for nurturing (or even watering) plants so it lasted no more than 2 weeks.

rosie383

Good idea about the splash of colour VfM. We had a think and are going to go for a red plinth under the base units and a red deco strip I think it's called, under the top cupboards. Just to stop the kitchen being very monochrome. Or we may go for yellow.
Also on 100k house they took plain black metal pendant lights to a car spray place and got the insides sprayed with bright yellow paint. We are going to do that as it will give a lovely warm splash of colour for not very much money.

JP08

Kirsty_A wrote: »

One thing I have always wanted in a kitchen is spotlights! Spotlights under the wall cupboards and also running along the underneath of the bottom cubpoards/drawers just above floor level.

As a quick DIY approach you could try something like this : https://www.ledhut.co.uk/led-strip-lights.html
Just peal off the backing and stick in place. The strips can be cut (where the line is between the contact pads), and a bit of wire (low voltage, low current so bell wire will be fine) soldered onto the pads to get round corners / unit gaps etc.

We've used it in the wardrobe - just stuck on the underside of the shelves. Very effective.

lindach

I have just bought a second
hand kitchen I think I have made a big mistake firstly husband is hopeless at diy so have to pay a joiner plumber and spark home is a mess my problem is I give money to kids well adults really and I buy second hand myself I have 360 in credit union but I need new work top ect I wish I did not buy it now but cant let seller down it was only 200 pounds a white gloss kitchen I am so stressed

VfM4meplse

lindach wrote: »

I have just bought a second
hand kitchen I think I have made a big mistake firstly husband is hopeless at diy so have to pay a joiner plumber and spark home is a mess my problem is I give money to kids well adults really and I buy second hand myself I have 360 in credit union but I need new work top ect I wish I did not buy it now but cant let seller down it was only 200 pounds a white gloss kitchen I am so stressed

£200 is still a bargain - just remember when you're paying the tradesmen their fees that it will serve you for years.

rosie383

Lindach I was just speaking to someone yesterday who put a white gloss kitchen in ten years ago and they said that it is so easy to clean and still looks fantastic. So look at your new kitchen in a positive way. And even if your hubby isn't very good at DIY, have a look at what you can do yourself. Face the challenge! My hubby and I are going to fit our kitchen ourselves in a few weeks. But then again, it is an IKEA kitchen which is designed to be fitted by the customer.

missbiggles1

lindach wrote: »

I have just bought a second
hand kitchen I think I have made a big mistake firstly husband is hopeless at diy so have to pay a joiner plumber and spark home is a mess my problem is I give money to kids well adults really and I buy second hand myself I have 360 in credit union but I need new work top ect I wish I did not buy it now but cant let seller down it was only 200 pounds a white gloss kitchen I am so stressed

But how are your DIY skills? (And what about "the kids" for that matter?)

rosie383

Deleted post.

Slinky

A tiny thing you may want to think about, we sited our cutlery drawer away from the main work area. This keeps it an awful lot cleaner as you don't end up knocking crumbs into the drawer everytime you want to get a teaspoon out.

rosie383

I was going to put the cutlery drawer one cupboard over from the hob, thinking that may be most useful but will take that into consideration. Thank you.