Viewing 30 posts - 1 through 30 (of 30 total)
  • Un-Fitted Kitchens
  • righog
    Free Member

    Anybody got a kitchen which is not the standard fitted type ?

    With open shelves etc, we are thinking of doing something like this but our plans are very vague at this early stage. We will probably have separate larder for the food storage if we go down this route. I could build some units or buy some second hand ones. It’s not really about saving money more just getting it right for what we want ( and if it’s cheaper that would be a bonus of course 😀 )

    We have done this kitchen in the past and the only storage we like are the shelves.

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    We did, now half and half with free standing cupboards and dresser – the biggest problem is keeping the things on open shelves clean. Ended up being a marathon each time we cleaned the kitchen and I’d rather be riding.

    flowerpower
    Free Member

    Ditto rogerthecat.

    I had an unfitted kitchen with open shelves. I also have two dogs which spend the night in the kitchen… Have now taken the open units and put them into the breakfast / dining room. Effectively splits the kitchen across two rooms, which is a pain, but at least my plates are clean when I want to use them.

    I also find that keeping the wall behind the unfitted units clean is a pain too. As the units stand slightly proud from the wall (due to the skirting board) you can see any dust / debris behind. I would go fitted next time.

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    righog
    Free Member

    Cheers, we are thinking of getting a dog so good advice, I found a better search term for google and came up with these.

    Yak
    Full Member

    That 2nd to top pic of 4 looks like my worst kitchen nightmare. It’ll need ‘Sleeping with the Enemy’ attention to tidiness to avoid it looking someone’s ransacked the room then tipped the whole room onto its side.

    However, I did have this once, back in my tidy days. I built it myself out of birch faced ply in floor to ceiling shelves and storage units of varying sizes based on the stuff we had. Some had doors, but most were open. Oiled the ply to get a nice finish. It was alright, but now I don’t have the time or inclination to make my stuff look nice on shelves. Its more, shut the door and hope nothing falls out.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    i looked into it , i like the look also

    practical nightmare.

    ikea do a line in kitchens that gives the look without the hassle 😀

    DezB
    Free Member

    practical nightmare.

    My thoughts exactly.
    I mean righog’s 2nd pic. What kind of Asda halloween outfit wearer would you have to be…?!

    jamiea
    Free Member

    That 2nd to top pic of 4 looks like my worst kitchen nightmare

    Who needs that much crockery anyhoo?!?

    Cheers,
    Jamie

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    I can image lesser used items, especially near the hob would get pretty greasy and dusty over time

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    i look at most kitchens and think i couldn’t cook in that.
    i’m going to ditch the whole top cupboard/cooker hood and raise the worktop/sink by a couple of inches when i move. i’m not really tall but at 6ft1 i find the worktops too low and the cupboards are always blocking the light and if you want to lean over and smell/taste/look at what you are doing i bang my head on them.
    maybe have 1 high narrow shelf for stuff that doesn’t get used much and some kind of rack/shelf lower down for often used essentials.

    flowerpower
    Free Member

    we are thinking of getting a dog so good advice

    You will find that no matter how clean you think you are – that little dog hair tumbleweeds will form behind or under any obstacle. The said tumble weeds will then proceed to dance across the floor the minute a guest walks in. At least with fitted base units you will be able to reduce the potential tumbleweed storage area.

    I also have open shelves on a large base unit and pulling out a dog hair lined dinner plate is never a great start to a meal. 😕

    I agree it looks great when everything is put neatly away, but the pictures above must just be for show. The bottom one looks most practical – but cutlery on the top shelf near the ceiling? Really? And books above the hob – tried that and now the pages are all stuck together 😳

    radtothepowerofsik
    Free Member

    They were doing this on ‘Homes for less than £100k” on BBC2 last night

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    tried that and now the pages are all stuck together

    I have some books like that too. They’re not in my kitchen though.

    DezB
    Free Member

    😆

    richc
    Free Member

    i look at most kitchens and think i couldn’t cook in that.
    i’m going to ditch the whole top cupboard/cooker hood and raise the worktop/sink by a couple of inches when i move. i’m not really tall but at 6ft1 i find the worktops too low and the cupboards are always blocking the light and if you want to lean over and smell/taste/look at what you are doing i bang my head on them.
    maybe have 1 high narrow shelf for stuff that doesn’t get used much and some kind of rack/shelf lower down for often used essentials.

    When I got mine fitted I thought that, but you have to bear in mind that the max height the levelling extension legs will go to, you can put them on blocks, but then you will have to biscuit join together two pieces of the lower screen underneath the cupboards or else there will be a gap and it will look terrible, plus any side panels will also not fit properly so also need to be cut and biscuit jointed as they will be to short.

    So its not as simple as saying “make it higher” as its a shitload of work, and hence cost.

    personally I just went with the max they would sit at so the side panels still fitted and only had to biscuit join a few bits for the lower screen.

    wool
    Full Member

    Are Ikea kitchens any good ? Had an estate agent mate say the looked a bit crap after a while but no real evidence.

    richc
    Free Member

    I had an Ikea kitchen (shaker style) in my old place and it still looked good 5+ years on.

    You do need to oil the wood though.

    It won’t look as good some other makes, as you do get what you pay for to a certain extent.

    How much are you thinking of spending?

    ditch_jockey
    Free Member

    As Richc – probably better than some alternatives which cost more. Any units made up with faced chipboard, whether it’s laminate or veneer, is eventually going to suffer with moisture penetration in a busy kitchen. The only way to avoid it is to construct something that’s solid wood, and that’s a lot of money and time unless you’re a dab hand at cabinet making yourself (in which case I am extremely envious).

    We had an IKEA kitchen with birch veneer doors in our last house which still looked good when we moved out after 5 years. I’m beginning to come to terms with the fact that I’m going to have to start work in the kitchen of our current house pretty soon, so interested in people’s thoughts/experiences here.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    estate agents – the font of all knowledge.

    ive seen ikea kitchens put in houses and unless they told you they were ikea you wouldnt know. ive seen expensive kitchens put in and unless they told you you wouldnt know. a good fitter makes all the difference – not just in the initial look but how they last.

    id just avoid most of the organiser gimmicks as they are tat.

    howdens do a range of “gimicks” that work/last much better – pull out larders and corner unit organisers etc – although i could live without both tbh

    transmute
    Free Member

    You could always go all post war style and have sliding glass fronts on the shelves?
    Cuts down on the dusting but keeps the basic visual aspect intact.

    mrmonkfinger
    Free Member

    Ikea are ok AFAIK, but they have no service void, which makes running pipes a bit tricky. On that basis, I’d avoid.

    As for unfitted kitchens – er, no. I’ll take the cupboards with doors, thanks.

    richc
    Free Member

    I found with kitchens you need to look at the whole price, as some places do cheaper units but the integrated stuff was very expensive, and most places hammer you for worktops.

    Personally, I got quotes from Howdens (OK quality, not great, but not bad but very easy to fit), Magnet (expensive!), Wickes (not great quality), John Lewis (mental prices) and a local kitchen shop.

    John Lewis units were the best I saw, but the price was stupid so after a bit of digging I found out that Mereway make most of the units for John Lewis so I tracked down a local kitchen shop who stocked Mereway and looked at what they had, as they were ~ 1/3 of the JL price.

    Quality of the Mereway units was much better than Howdens/Magnet/Ikea and Wickes so I went with them.

    Got the units from kitchen shop, appliances were on offer in a local department store (Rangemaster Cooker + Dishwasher) and got the Belfast sink (Shaws) electrics (lights etc) from Caple which are a much better quality than the stuff you get from screwfix etc. Worktop was from worktop express and is OK, and took them 3 goes to get to me undamaged which was a pain in the arse.

    Not sure if I would pick a wooden worktop again, as whilst they look good mine buckled under the dishwasher even after 8 coats of oil and a heat shield.

    mcmoonter
    Free Member

    Fitted kitchens have never been my thing. While they may be practical they are soul less. I lived with this for ten years and never found it a compromise. The Rayburn was even solid fuel. Horses for courses I suppose.



    richc
    Free Member

    Do you have a dog?

    glupton1976
    Free Member

    Ended up being a marathon each time we cleaned the kitchen and I’d rather be riding.

    Utter filth. 😀

    mrmonkfinger
    Free Member

    Fitted kitchens have never been my thing. While they may be practical they are soul less. I lived with this for ten years and never found it a compromise. The Rayburn was even solid fuel.

    I’ve got a fitted kitchen, a dog, and a solid fuel range* (which also runs the central heating). Will I die?

    * Although rarely cook on this beastie. Especially in summer, I’m not lighting the range when its 30 degrees. OTOH if its running, I’d make a stew or chilli (etc) on it every night if I could.

    mudshark
    Free Member

    Fitted kitchens tend to use space better so the smaller the kitchen the more sensible they are in that regard. In my previous house I extended the kitchen and really wanted free standing – the Ikea ones were top of the list – but when I worked out where I’d put units it didn’t really work out. Ended up with a fitted Ikea kitchen that I was very happy with – the units were on legs with a fully tiled floor which helped the look a bit for me.

    mick_r
    Full Member

    We’ve got a +5year old Ikea kitchen with solid birch doors (apart from veneer centre panel) for same price as vinyl wrapped chipboard elsewhere. No problem with quality and the hinges / door runners are same make as most other manufacturers. As with everything, it is the installation that really matters. Mixer taps were good quality and amazing value compared to some of the designer rip offs around. The birch doors were also cheap enough to buy extra and cut down to make quality infill / end panels etc.

    The plus point of no void at the back is that the cupboards are a lot deeper – some friends had a Magnet kitchen and you couldn’t fit a large dinner plate in the wall units.

    They do two heights of wall units – I’ve run the tall units right up to the ceiling so there is no wasted gap on top to gather dust and junk. And the shorter wall units (run to the ceiling) mean that the cooker hood is just high enough so I don’t hit my head on it 🙂

    Finally – the shelves are fitted on multiple holes / pegs – so you can choose and adjust the exact shelf height after installation (making best use of the shelf space). I’ve seen loads of custom fitted kitchens where you had to guess the desired shelf height when first installing (i.e. before you know what is going in them!)

    We spent the money saved on (non Ikea) fancier worktops and a posh (very solid) stainless sink.

    Think carefully about layout – i.e. so someone can be washing up, someone making a brew and someone cooking / preparing without getting in each other’s way (even in our tiny kitchen).

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    glupton1976 – Member

    Ended up being a marathon each time we cleaned the kitchen and I’d rather be riding.

    Utter filth.

    Dirtier than you can imagine! 😉

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Wot? Your kitchen gains a “soul” simply because the cupboards are not atta hed to the walls? Seriously?

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