My kitchen [start to finish] - Opinion & tips please!!

suniil

Last couple of months i've been looking into various options to replace my kitchen after moving to new home [please see this link for living room refurbishment]. I've no money constraints but don't want to spend a fortune on kitchen as trends / plans changes frequently

My search was circling around high gloss black kitchen mainly, in magnet / wickes / MFI etc. In my experience the so-called design consultants were too lazy in accomodating all my needs and satisfaction. Also no proper tools to do it ourselves. Most of the quotes were around £10,000 including appliances, but excluding installation. Also the estimated delivery time, is very long for all these suppliers.

Started looking back again into Ikea stuff, I'm sure they don't do high gloss black stuff! My choices are limited to high gloss white or red. Downloaded the design tool, measured up and designed to my needs. i'm really surprised, the tool came back with a quote of just £1500 for cabinet & fittings. (will post pic later here)

Ok, i'm off to ikea tomorrow to buy the kitchen. the planner says i can save the design to online and download while i'm at ikea. nice bit of functionality

Need some recommendation & tips

a. Personal choice i know, but which one looks better White or Red? [floor will be black polished porcelaintiles, worktop could be white or dark oak], fully covered splashback (ikea imperativ).

b. Shall i get worktop from Ikea or source elsewhere?

c. Anything wrong in getting appliances from Ikea? (they comes with 5 year warranty)


Many thanks in advance

daniellaB

Have you looked at an internet supplier? National Kitchens sell fantastic kitchens from their website http://www.nationalkitchens.co.uk

We bought our last kitchen from them and I love it. The build of the units and the quality of all the soft close bits is the best we've had, certainly much better than the ikea kitchen we used to have.

Unfortunately I'm moving to Australia soon and will have to say goodbye to my lovely kitchen On the plus side, I get to revamp my kitchen all over again

suniil

Thanks! cool, another opportunity to show the skills

daniellaB wrote: »

On the plus side, I get to revamp my kitchen all over again

vansboy

We're great fans of Ikea kitchens!

Had the gloss black, of theirs, which is now discontinued unfortunatly, in our last house. Looked really smart!! Had a Homebase worktope which is also discontinued!!

Got their red one here, at the flat, with stone effect black worktop - please ask if you want pics!!

Getting gloss white & possibly black or grey worktops, for new place www.theupsidedownhouse.9f.com if interested! Even looked at the Silver Frost worktop in the NEW B&Q range, but looks green in different light!

Remember to apply in store for Ikea card (assuming you pay it off in one go - gets you 5% off first order, so you might want to do a bigger Ikea shop, while there!

Units don't have a space behind them, so annoys some electricans/plumbers, by having a flat back.

Dont rely on the plan being available in the store - never was for ours, so take a copy.

Also listen to the really helpful staff, when they go through the order with you. They might have a few hints n tips.

Forget the Ikea appliances - much cheaper elsewhere. Except the consetina Whirpool xtractor, thats cool!

Dont bother with their sinks, poor range, hard to clean & look like nothing!

Agree with your ideas about kitchens being a disposable item, but Doozergirl will try to get you to spend more on £$£$£ worktops, when she answers!!

Have fun!!

VB

majjie

Personally I'd go for the white high gloss - because IKEA cabinets are in white only and you wouldn't see the little strips of white carcasse between the doors. If it wouldn't bother you, then you could go for the red - but it also restricts your colour choices much more.

A timber worktop would warm up the white scheme but real timber is a bit of a pain to look after - and I think with a dark floor I'd go for something less dark - like natural oak.

I also like the laminate worktops with acrylic, flat edges, some of which are in wood effect ... what about the extra thick ones (though they are a bit pricey!)

If you think there might be a problem with pipes behind the base units, you can always get extra deep worktop and pull the cupboards forward a bit ... bearing in mind you'll need to fill the gap at any end that shows.

I too would recommend getting appliances, sink and tap elsewhere.

never_enough

Apart from the pipe space issue at the back the only other real problem seems to be bits missing. Seems to have happened to a few people, so don't be surprised if you have to go back to pick up a few things.
My choice would be white. I love the idea of red but know I wouldn't want to live with it.
Source worktops & appliances elsewhere to have better choice/save money. It can become quite time consuming but you'll reap fantastic rewards.

suniil

Thanks vansboy for the tips, If we get 5% i'll pay full in one go.

vansboy wrote: »

Remember to apply in store for Ikea card (assuming you pay it off in one go - gets you 5% off first order, so you might want to do a bigger Ikea shop, while there!

suniil

I already have the white colour scheme in place with pale green walls etc, but OH likes RED. I'll go there and see what impresses more.

I will go for a timber effect laminate work top.

Pulling the cabinets forward or cutting holes at the back of cabinet, which way to go? i've 2 piples running behind the cabinets

Thanks
sunil

majjie wrote: »

Personally I'd go for the white high gloss - because IKEA cabinets are in white only and you wouldn't see the little strips of white carcasse between the doors. If it wouldn't bother you, then you could go for the red - but it also restricts your colour choices much more.

A timber worktop would warm up the white scheme but real timber is a bit of a pain to look after - and I think with a dark floor I'd go for something less dark - like natural oak.

I also like the laminate worktops with acrylic, flat edges, some of which are in wood effect ... what about the extra thick ones (though they are a bit pricey!)

If you think there might be a problem with pipes behind the base units, you can always get extra deep worktop and pull the cupboards forward a bit ... bearing in mind you'll need to fill the gap at any end that shows.

I too would recommend getting appliances, sink and tap elsewhere.

suniil

That will be real problem for me as I neither drive nor owns a car

never_enough wrote: »

Apart from the pipe space issue at the back the only other real problem seems to be bits missing. Seems to have happened to a few people, so don't be surprised if you have to go back to pick up a few things.

Ok, got the *raw* plan ready. left corner is yet to complete as there is a duct running across all the floors (which was life saving when running CAT5Es across the floors). Right end need to be filled in with some panels. Also have to check the possibility of built in washing machine.

little_miss_messiah

Hi

My boyf is a carpenter and fits tons of kitchens - his opinion is if you gett decent plumber and sparky there shouldnt be a problem with no space at the back - it means their work is on show and SHOULD be neater.

We've got the MFI space burgundy (paid for mainly on tesco clubcard ponts - £2k worth - them were the days) with walnut flooring and solid walnut worktops - which cost a fortune I must say. However he says the oak worktops from ikea are obscene value for money and should be snapped up - as long as they are cared for they will look superb for years. Also if you want any shelving buy an extra wide breakfast bar length (hardly any more cost) and trim the back for a well co-ordinated bit of extra shelving if you need it. The shleves you get out of it would easily cost £100 or so if bought seperately elsewhere in solid oak.

Oh yeah and I forgot - although we didn;t use them in the kitchen, but in the bathroom, the REALLY dark laminate (think they call it black/brown - but it's lie a dark wenge colour) with the aluminium strip also looks great witht the read and is isal reasonable.

Hope this helps

Canucklehead

little_miss_messiah wrote: »

Hi

My boyf is a carpenter and fits tons of kitchens - his opinion is if you gett decent plumber and sparky there shouldnt be a problem with no space at the back - it means their work is on show and SHOULD be neater.

We've got the MFI space burgundy (paid for mainly on tesco clubcard ponts - £2k worth - them were the days) with walnut flooring and solid walnut worktops - which cost a fortune I must say. However he says the oak worktops from ikea are obscene value for money and should be snapped up - as long as they are cared for they will look superb for years. Also if you want any shelving buy an extra wide breakfast bar length (hardly any more cost) and trim the back for a well co-ordinated bit of extra shelving if you need it. The shleves you get out of it would easily cost £100 or so if bought seperately elsewhere in solid oak.

Oh yeah and I forgot - although we didn;t use them in the kitchen, but in the bathroom, the REALLY dark laminate (think they call it black/brown - but it's lie a dark wenge colour) with the aluminium strip also looks great witht the read and is isal reasonable.

Hope this helps

Good morning: We've used the Ikea oak in 3 projects...as said excellent value...OH used sink and hob cut outs to create shelves...our buyers loved them;) We used Osmo hard wax oil for the finish. A good plumber/spark should be able to cope with the pipework but those who haven't been 'house trained' would make hard work of it.

Canucklehead