New kitchen: must haves or what to avoid?

Islandmaid

rosie383 wrote: »

If I can't afford granite, and wood is a pain, is Formica the only option? And can it be tough?

There are composite materials going under the trading names of Himax and Corrian etc these are the 2 we looked at - they have similar properties to marble and granite, but because they are manmade you can get a huge range of colours etc. I,m not linked to these companies BTW.

missbiggles1

rosie383 wrote: »

Thank you again so much.
Maybe we won't go for wood worktops now. It was solid oak that I wanted but two of you (plus someone else mentioned it time the other day) are saying you hate them and wish you hadn't got them.
If I can't afford granite, and wood is a pain, is Formica the only option? And can it be tough?

What about composite?

jungle_jane

There is a new thing called earthstone - not sure if that is formica? it looks like granite and fits nicely - you can't see any joins and its very hard wearing. Its speckled in various colours so hides dirt. Not as cheap as laminate and not as expensive as granite.

My DH is a kitchen fitter - he gets a lot of kitchens now with earthstone...it's very heavy and durable. I will ask him when he wakes up if its the same as formica

suki1964

We thought we couldn't afford granite, but we could with carefully shopping around. We found a lovely independent store who cut and finished their granite themselves . We went and looked through what they had available, said how much we could afford, showed them a rough sketch and measurements, and they found us enough from a previous cutting that would do us. Obviously we couldn't be too fussy about the colour but seeing as I was having cream gloss doors it didn't matter. So I got the counters, the splash back, the up risers and window sill with sink and hob cut out and draining grooves for under £1500. They done a fantastic job templating and fitting, it makes my ikea kitchen look like a top end one

I love granite. I cook a lot. I make pastry and bread and pasta and it's just brilliant in that I just use the counter Obviously I have my butchers block and chopping boards ( I take care of my knives) for cutting on but the granite takes a great battering and not a mark. Not even a curry stain to be seen

It's easy enough to keep smear free, a microfiber cloth for glass works wonders and once a week I use a granite spray

jungle_jane

Here's my lovely kitchen:


and here is a close up of the reality of this lovely kitchen!!



:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

rosie383

Ah. I see what you mean! That would be really annoying.
The granite does sound great Suki but even with shopping around we couldn't afford that much.
Will look into composite as I hadn't even heard of it.

And will definitely be lining the tops of the cupboards with newspaper. As said, so easy to change the newspaper when you can be bothered and never have to worry about all that grease build up. We only moved in here about six months ago and I noticed the other day that the top of my fridge freezer is already all greasy and grimy. No idea what the top of the existing kitchen cupboards is like! I really don't want to know!

lessonlearned

What a shame, will the black ring sand out.

We have got wooden worktops. Bought them online and they were no dearer than laminate from the DIY sheds.

I refinish them twice a year, but of a faff but worth it. Yes you need to keep the windows open, the oil pongs a bit.

I have two metal trivets for hot items, always use chopping blocks - so far so good.

I did once put a very hot very heavy cast iron frying pan on a laminate worktop. Not my finest hour. :rotfl:

Loving some of the ideas, I like the slide away door on the oven...I also agree with having drawers rather than cupboards and no more under ovens for me.

lessonlearned

Granite.......there a number of quarries that sell granite direct to the public. They will cut it for you. Don't know what the shipping costs would be.

lessonlearned

Thanks for the tip about lining the top of the cupboards, great idea.

But I really like the idea of Infilling the top few inches with trim. It really finishes the room.

dirty_magic

jungle_jane wrote: »

Here's my lovely kitchen:


and here is a close up of the reality of this lovely kitchen!!



:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Looks lovely! Shame about the worktops, but I think they'd be salvageable with some sanding!