wood kitchen and wood floor?

want2bmortgage3

Hi Emmalou, I am also deciding on a new kitchen. After looking in some showrooms I think I have decided on gloss white doors (pretty much everywhere sells them). A square acrylic edge worktop to go with it. I'm still undecided about flooring whether to go with ceramic tiles or laminate tile effect/wood.

Emmalou

Hi W2BM3
Whenever I've seen the white gloss in magazines it looks great with wood or ceramic floor. My concern about ceramic is that my kitchen is part of a big living area and I feel that ceramic may be too cold - looks-wise as well as underfoot (and I don't want to go down the underfloor heating route).

I'm looking at either an engineered wood floor (probably light oak) or the quickstep laminate which a couple of my friends have and it looks fantastic. Either option may be a bit pricey though..

What colour worktop will you have? I'm not sure what acrylic edge is - is that an edging that goes around laminate?

Doozergirl - I love those glossy tiles too and had a quick look for them in B&Q yesterday. I didn't have long to look, but I saw some oversized ones in slate grey/black, but not cream/buff. Again, probably I will stick to wood or wood effect, but they do look lovely. I wonder if they are a pain to keep clean?

want2bmortgage3

hey emmalou
acrylic edge is like this from homebase:
http://viewer.zmags.co.uk/showmag.php?mid=tshtw#/page84/
its got a squared edge and a sort of clear edge, unlike the top of the worktop. i think it goes well with glossy slab doors. its the top one out of the 3 small worktop pics. if you click you can zoom.
everytime i think of having wood in the kitchen i have a feeling it will look old. i seem to be wanting to create a modern look and with white gloss units, having a wood worktop or floor i think would not work.
i think i want that worktop in the photo, and a ceramic floor (as it's a seperate room) in some sort of white or grey slate. i might add some colour by painting the wall above the upstands.
what do you think?
i find oak a nice wood but i feel it would look better in a bigger kitchen, not a modern design flat.
my ideal 'big' kitchen would probably have those mocha colour gloss slab doors and that beautiful solid wood worktop (its a kind of wood pattern) i've seen in b&q, thats luxury.
if you look in the homebase brochure the one i am looking at is monza. i originally looked at como, but realised if i was going for white then it looks better with flat doors not shaker style.
i'm also after opionions on handles. i'm considering either bar or keyhole. if you get a sec could you give your opionion on that. i will do the same if you want any input.

vansboy

Doozergirl wrote: »

They're advertsing lovely glossy floor tiles in B&Q for less than £9 a square metre - they will be going in the next house we do I'm sure as it's a fabulous price (and we buy a lot of tiles!) The black ones were in the ad but I'm sure they do a cream/buff too.

Oh no you won't - not when you see them in real life!!

I think B&Q have made a bit of a mess up, here!

The tiles porcelain & the black ones just look so dull n dirty.

We bought some as a compare with the Wickes glossy granite - like the ones you've shown from e bay - million times better!!

However, it does look like the beige will be going in the big bathroom, they aren't anywhere near as dull looking, as the black!

VB

Ms_Chocaholic

Before we got our kitchen replaced, I was watching one of these home improvement programmes on the TV and they said that to make the kitchen look right, the worktops and the floor should be the same colour. That's what we did, black worktops and floor, beech shaker units.

Hope this helps (mind you, it probably won't, will just give you another dilemma, sorry).

Ms C x

Emmalou

Hi w2bm3
Agreed, I prefer slab doors to shaker, especially in a modern design flat. I like the edging on the worktops alot - gives the laminate a much more expensive look.
My only reservation about the gloss laminate worktop would be the upkeep - apparently the gloss does show up marks and needs a fair bit of polishing. I will probably go with a matt surface.
I would go with either the handles that they are using with the Monza in the brochure (very modern and sleek) - or I might be tempted by similar ones to those used with the como - I've seen those handles with a cream slab gloss in a showroom and they looked great.
I think it would look good with or without colour - or maybe just a blind could add a splash of colour?
I do like the B&Q kitchen that you mentioned but, but I think slab cream gloss is about as contemporary as I dare go! Would worry about the mocha dating, also although I love wood worktops I have been put off by the upkeep. So, most days I am still thinking along the lines of cream gloss slab, black or grey worksurfaces and light oak wood floor. On other days I am swinging back to wood units, cream tiled floor and dark surfaces.....

although that is not what they said to do on your home improvement programme Ms C - :eek: aarrghhhh!

Got to make a decision soon, it's so much easier to help other people with their decisions!!

Doozergirl

vansboy wrote: »

Oh no you won't - not when you see them in real life!!

I think B&Q have made a bit of a mess up, here!

The tiles porcelain & the black ones just look so dull n dirty.

We bought some as a compare with the Wickes glossy granite - like the ones you've shown from e bay - million times better!!

However, it does look like the beige will be going in the big bathroom, they aren't anywhere near as dull looking, as the black!

VB

Ah, it was the biege I saw months ago, the big ones. I thought the black would look nice too The beige will be marginally easier to keep clean. I saw them after we'd bought the travertine but I really think they would have gone in if I'd seen those first.

want2bmortgage3

hey emmalou
i went in homebase today to get a plan drawn up on the computer. i had 30 mins look round beforehand as i got there early.
i've decided to put down laminate flooring, i think tiles would be too much hard work and as i've never done it before i can see problems with levelling it properly! i am going to go for the tile effect laminate - in the new flooring brochure they have a grey one that will go with the white doors. i may change my work top to grey to match the floor as ive also heard about matching floor with worktop.
then again ive also read that you should try to match the floor with the tiles on the wall!
i think that your cream gloss slab units will go well with a wood laminate floor, as they are more of a classic, warm colour, whereas my white are slightly more modern, although colder looking.
in the homebase book they have cream slab with wood floor AND worktop. i do agree with you thought that wood worktop could get dented/scratched easily and is more maintenance...
its not easy deciding is it! i never thought it would take me almost a month to make my mind up! i've gone from maple shaker to white gloss shaker then ash shaker to grey slab now ive finally decided on white slab! and thats before deciding on worktops, floors, taps, sink lol.......

want2bmortgage3

hey emmalou, did you make your mind up ?

babyblooz

We chose solid beech worktops and oiled them as we were supposed to do, but after sloshing water around by the sink, we found that we had really dark grey splash marks that wouldn't go away, and had to be sanded out.

We later discovered that it was the detergent (ie soap powder) from some handwashing I did in the sink. If you don't get every tiny drop up quickly it reacts with the wood finish and turns a dark grey colour. We also discovered that leaving the pickled onion jar out on the top did the same, and the olive oil bottle, so in the end I became paranoid about it. :mad: In the end, it drove me mad, so we changed them to a nice, hardwearing laminate, and my blood pressure has now returned to normal.

I just wish these designers who produce these sweeping statements about natural products being hardwearing and easy to look after actually had to live the lives that we do, where kitchens actually get used, are often left a bit untidy, and people actually cook in them, rather than just pose about a bit with a cookery book when a magazine pops over for a photo shoot!

Those flipping worktops cost us a fortune and I almost had a heart attack whenever I had to do any preparation on them!!! In the end, my peace of mind was worth more.

When we had new units (wood with a horizontal grain and plain slab doors) we had shiny brown marble effect worktops with an upstand, stainless steel appliances, stainless steel handles, plain painted walls in a white chocolate colour, and for the floor, we chose a warm feel heavy duty vinyl, in a creamy off white tile effect. It opens up the floor and is classic. It is extremely easy to look after, and I love it. The theme is warm wood, with white chocolate walls, high gloss dark brown marble worktops, with dark brown and black accessories, and stainless steel.

To help us decide, we looked at the kitchens of posh houses on rightmove. It is sometimes easier to decide what you don't want, after you have seen some examples of it. Another thing is that you don't have to decide everything at once. The way the units look when they are in-situ can change your original decision. Black floor tiles are lovely, but it would have been overwhelming in our large airy space. Ours is a large dining kitchen with huge patio windows. We saved the dramatic touches for some designer black wallpaper on just part of the wall, with floaty black voile drapes to carry the theme through. Its dramatic and bold, but with light and airy touches. I love it!:j