New kitchen: must haves or what to avoid?

suki1964

Rosie, I bought the rolls of liners from IKEA

Not the cheapest option but really robust and easily washed

I got the clear. Think they do a grey as well

bouncydog1

Well mine is now ordered - maple and black granite. Wall of ceiling height cupboards, wine fridge, couple of ovens and nice curved doors at the end of the peninsular unit. Builders replastering, first fix electrics done, underfloor heating to install. Need to choose the flooring - flooring co advised we waited until kitchen and worktops installed so we can see what flooring looks like to make sure we get it right. Hope to be completely finished by Christmas. Undecided about splash backs - any ideas?

Teacher2

Pan drawers are brilliant. We couldn't afford a new kitchen so got the 'Kitchen Restoration' company to put new surfaces over our old cupboards and while they did a totally amazing job for a bargain basement price I regretted being stuck with ordinary cupboards instead of drawers. Still, it saved ten grand so that was that!

As for work surfaces I had a friend who had black, flecked granite and she never stopped trying to keep her worktop clean and shiny so I wouldn't recommend that. In our re-fit we paid extra to have solid wood surfaces and they look beautiful. The drawback is that they have to be oiled or waxed every six months or so and you have to keep large amounts of water off the parts round the sink. That said, I wouldn't change the wood as it looks so good and makes a standard kitchen look top of the range. I don't mind the oiling either as it takes little time to do. (Though when I ordered soft wax by mistake once that was a longer and more bothersome process.)

Cheapskate

I've just read the entire thread as we're about to have building work start in our kitchen/dining room on Monday! :eek: There is some very useful and valuable advice here, thank you all! We're in a standard 30s semi, with front room, dining room and a long-by-narrow kitchen (kitchen is part of a lean-to affair, part of the original build). The entire external wall will be extended, internal walls between dining/front rooms and between kitchen/dining room will be demolished, leaving an open plan area (although we're having sliding does between front/dining rooms).

A xo

Cheapskate

And they start work on Monday, so I've discovered this thread in the nick of time...!!!

rosie383

Thanks for the tip about the drawer liners Suki. I thought I bought a roll of them at the car boot, chuffed at snapping it up for 50p. Got it home and realised it is actually a roll of some kind of stuff to stop rugs slipping. Still may be able to use it but I think there are wee holes in it.

Love my new quartz worktops. Grey with mirror fleck and they don't show crumbs or streaks really!

Still waiting to use my new kitchen properly. Got a leak under the sink which is defeating dh just now so I'm still washing up in the bathroom sink.

Got up a ladder yesterday and cleaned all of the cupboard tops. Will buy a cheap roll of wallpaper in the CS later to line the tops.

Still haven't got our splashback or decided on dining wall colour!

Oh, I did spot that Currys have the Breville Halo plus fryer reduced to £79 so I'm going to treat myself. Looks very space age and funky!

rosie383

Good luck with yours Cheapskate. I hope it all goes to plan. Sounds similar to what we did. Started 7 April and just finishing now. Did have a month of no work in the middle due to a builder error/dispute.

spendingmad

Waste disposal- once you have one you will wonder how you ever lived without it!

se_ren

Talk to a kitchen designer/builder - think about how you use your kitchen and what is important to you. A builder will also tell you what can be fitted and will work well in the space you have and look asthetically good. Ultimately I think work with space you have and decide what's important to you and what you don't care about. This is unique to each person
Advice I was given on wooden tops - they look good but be prepared to oil them once every 3 months. May need a day to allow them to dry off. To me this is a pain and impractical so I went for laminate. Have a look round a few places at samples though.
I just had my kitchen done and was there when they fitted it. This worked well as I was on hand to answer any questions they had about how to proceed with the build if they needed to adjust anything in the design. I ended up with what I wanted as a result.
good luck

se_ren

bouncydog1 wrote: »

Well mine is now ordered - maple and black granite. Wall of ceiling height cupboards, wine fridge, couple of ovens and nice curved doors at the end of the peninsular unit. Builders replastering, first fix electrics done, underfloor heating to install. Need to choose the flooring - flooring co advised we waited until kitchen and worktops installed so we can see what flooring looks like to make sure we get it right. Hope to be completely finished by Christmas. Undecided about splash backs - any ideas?

I'd look at flooring options now - you can pick up laminate/LVT samples, or buy sample tiles to take home to try and get a feel for how it looks. depending on what option you go for, this might be better being installed as the kitchen is being done. so the flooring runs under the kick boards rather than up to them. Check with you kitchen fitter. NB. if you go for laminate, it needs 48hrs to acclimatise before fitting.

Splashbacks - just tiling is an alternative to a metal splashback. I have this in mine and its lovely