New Kitchen, how much?

moneyistooshorttomention

I've checked out the Duropal website.

I was surprised to notice a comment they had made about not having pvc near it - as it could cause "whatever it was". I thought - "How do they reckon that? A lot of people wear pvc aprons - including myself. They seem to be saying I shouldn't wear that apron any more if I were using their worksurfaces. How odd!"

Added:
180 hinges/soft closers.:T

I've noted the concealed/handleless fashion - and rejected it. I'm going to have what I think are called "D" shape handles on the units (what I call - "resembling staples in shape"). The bigger the better. At that point - I did go off googling the kitchens in McCarthy & Stone places and, much as I hate to copy them in that respect, the handles that I like anyway are the type they use. Hence I figured they must be easy to use. So that's not an OAP/disabled adaptation - it just happens to suit that sort of thing.

I might have considered a higher built-in oven (I don't "think" that's just chosen by older people???) but that question doesn't arise anyway. My kitchen isn't big enough to have one of those without losing valuable worksurface - so I will be having a built-under oven underneath the hob set into worksurface. I presume very few peoples bodies get that "decrepit" that that would be a problem - so I'll cater for myself, rather than a very unlikely physical problem iyswim.

So I'll take into account "adaptations" - provided they are something a healthy person in their 20s/30s might have by personal choice anyway LOL. That is - I will "adapt" - but surreptitiously iyswim.

Furts

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I've noted the concealed/handleless fashion - and rejected it. I'm going to have what I think are called "D" shape handles on the units (what I call - "resembling staples in shape"). The bigger the better. At that point - I did go off googling the kitchens in McCarthy & Stone places and, much as I hate to copy them in that respect, the handles that I like anyway are the type they use. Hence I figured they must be easy to use. So that's not an OAP/disabled adaptation - it just happens to suit that sort of thing.

Good idea to weigh up McCarthy&Stone - they aim at the 50-55 upwards group and have a niche market. It sounds like they have given thought to their end users. By default you are following them. My comments were aimed at the volume builders like Barratt, Persimmon and so on.

phoebe1989seb

Money.......not sure if you've already thought of this, but it's worth considering deep drawers rather than cupboards as your base cabinets. These are far more user friendly, imho as you don't have to get down on hands and knees as you do to reach into the backs of cupboards (said as a fairly fit 49 yr old) :D

Our previous and current kitchen (not quite finished yet ) have had increasing numbers of drawers and I for one would never go back to all cupboards, even though our style is very traditional. The kitchen we are currently fitting (Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch) has just the one (double) cupboard beneath the double farmhouse sink, although at our last house the kitchen company we used even had a drawer for that purpose!

Furts

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

Money.......not sure if you've already thought of this, but it's worth considering deep drawers rather than cupboards as your base cabinets. These are far more user friendly, imho as you don't have to get down on hands and knees as you do to reach into the backs of cupboards (said as a fairly fit 49 yr old) :D

Our previous and current kitchen (not quite finished yet ) have had increasing numbers of drawers and I for one would never go back to all cupboards, even though our style is very traditional. The kitchen we are currently fitting (Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch) has just the one (double) cupboard beneath the double farmhouse sink, although at our last house the kitchen company we used even had a drawer for that purpose!

Good points for money to take on board. One other which was always a compulsory requirement around 30 years ago is a broom cupboard. This will also store a vacuum cleaner and ironing board. Modern kitchen designers seem to have forgotten this, and likewise shoe racks, newspaper and magazine areas and bookshelfs.

You may not require any of these but it does no harm to consider them. I doubt your designer will be drawing your attention to them all.

Davesnave

I fully agree about the drawers.

gallygirl

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

Money.......not sure if you've already thought of this, but it's worth considering deep drawers rather than cupboards as your base cabinets. These are far more user friendly, imho as you don't have to get down on hands and knees as you do to reach into the backs of cupboards (said as a fairly fit 49 yr old) :D

Our previous and current kitchen (not quite finished yet ) have had increasing numbers of drawers and I for one would never go back to all cupboards, even though our style is very traditional. The kitchen we are currently fitting (Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch) has just the one (double) cupboard beneath the double farmhouse sink, although at our last house the kitchen company we used even had a drawer for that purpose!

Davesnave wrote: »

I fully agree about the drawers.

Must just be me then as I've just had a new kitchen which includes two sets of deep drawers and they are the one thing I don't like . Whilst (as a 55 year old!) I like not having to bend down to retrieve pots etc, in my opinion they just don't hold as much. Luckily not an issue for me as I have plenty cupboard space.

My kitchen in Spain cost the equivalent of £15.5k. For that I got:
Full height broom cupboard
2 full height larder units
2 full length cupboards (including one with a pull out shelf at worktop height and as there is a power point in the cupboard I use the food processor without lugging it in and out :smileyhea)
Double oven (well, a small and large oven one on top of the other, can't get doubles here) with unit above and two drawers below
2 corner units with pull out carousels (similar to THIS, much better than the traditional ones)
Large drawer unit with two concealed drawers - one for cutlery and one for herbs and spices, the latter lined with THIS - probably my favourite part of the kitchen :smileyhea)
Sink unit
Bin cupboard with built in bins
2 single wall cupboards
3 double and 1 single wall cupboards, used as base units as narrower (I've done this before and it's wonderful - they hold much more than you would think, take up less room that you would think and give extra work space :smileyhea)
Appliances - Bosch American FF. Hob, extractor, wall mounted heater/cooler.
22m2 floor tiles (THESE, bargainsville at €11m2)
10m2 wall tiles, white rectangular, laid herringbone, similar to THIS only larger, looks stunning - warning - more expensive to have done as takes longer)
10m2 wall tiles behind base units (just how it's done in Spain!)
2 double ceiling lights and 3 individual wall lights
1 replacement window and 1 new one (scaffolding needed)
Removal of wall, install lintel, build stud wall and replaster ceiling
Almost 7m of 4cm granite worktop and upstands. The 'common' one like this - but looks great :smileyhea
My beautiful sink that's similar to the one I had in the UK :smileyhea
Soft closing drawers & doors

I think for what I had done it's a very good price. Tips from what I've learned -
I'd think about whether it would be helpful to have power sockets inside cupboards - like me with my food processor, or for dust busters etc.
More power sockets in general. Everywhere.
Think about how you will actually use the layout - mentally make a cup of tea, prepare dinner, do the dishes etc.
'Do the layout' in the room with newspaper - that really helped me, for example I decided to use the wall units as base units to give more width on the floor.
Are you short on storage elsewhere - what could be incorporated here? I have my printer plugged in on a shelf in the broom cupboard and most commonly used paperwork in a base unit.
Shelves inside cupboards. Lots of them! Some of my shelves are only 15cm deep but are perfect for what I want to store there - far better than having everything piled up on top of each other.
Don't forget the bin and teatowels!

Rain_Shadow

always_sunny wrote: »

£34k?
9mx3m??? Is it an industrial kitchen? I must ask for a reference photo to grasp the concept!

Here you go.


url=https://postimg.org/image/70r3xv253/][/url]

fuzzylu

We are just putting the finishing touches to our new kitchen we have been carefull on what we spent but still had whatever we wanted

All kitchen units plus work top cost was £2500 (from diy kitchens)
Appliances £1200. Induction hob, oven, extractor fan, sink, tap and dishwasher (already had fridge) these are from a local electrical shop.

Tiles cost £72 we then paid a tiler £350 to do tiling and skim one wall.

Also paid a plumber £100 to move some pipes.
So that's £4022 for the whole kitchen
We didn't change the floor as we already had a nice tiled floor and recently had a full house rewire so haven't added any electrical work on.

Only thing left to do is paint

Rain_Shadow

ratrace wrote: »

From a mse point of view

Buy a modern used kitchen from flebay for around £500 already built
the novelty soon wears off fairly quickly and they go out of "fashion" faster than iphones

£34k on a kitchen why? to impress/please people when they come around for dinner, then leave and go back to thier own houses while your left with a huge debt. with that money you can pay off a large chunk of the mortgage

its madness how much debt we get in to just to impress and fit in

No one apart from the people who live here have seen the kitchen in RL so it certainly isn't to impress people. I knew what I wanted and went for it. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

I haven't borrowed to pay for it and it is only a fairly small portion of what I have spent on the house in the last couple of years. I haven't borrowed to do that either.

Rain_Shadow

saverbuyer wrote: »

I get the sentiment, but still think it's guff to be honest. 34k... It's all relative. For some it could be several year's work. For others a few months.

Exactly. It's the old 'more money than sense' argument, which actually boils down to 'more money than you'.

apart from four years in the 80's, when I had a new kitchen in a new build that I had no choice over, I have spent 36 years cooking in other people's choices of second hand kitchen. Now I have exactly what I wanted within my budget.