kitchen recommendations

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kitchen recommendations
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judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 2:46 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

Why are free standing kitchen units often so very expensive?

They are normally made from solid wood, for a start, plus the fact they tend to be one-offs, rather than mass-produced.
And because I want them

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 2:48 pm Post subject:
There are some really nice ones in a kookware shop up the road from here. Solid as rocks. Really expensive, though. I've got two stonking great potting shed benches along one wall in our kitchen. Sanded and varnished, they cost 15 quid each and a little work. Tough as nails. Eventually I've got to build a proper kitchen that she likes.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 2:48 pm Post subject:
Possibly because they are more fashionable, and have more 'bits' on display, hence a higher grade of material?

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 3:07 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

Why are free standing kitchen units often so very expensive?

It probably has a bit to do with the fact that they have to stand free - by themselves!
Kitchen units individually aren't that strong or stable, but as a compound structure, fastened to a couple of walls... much much stronger!

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 3:54 pm Post subject:

Hmmm... You guys are probably right on why they're cheaper, at least partly. I rekon that another factor is market size; so many people have been conditioned into nasty melamine and formica work surfaces at which they stand to open their plastic wrapped ready meals and on, in the mistaken belief that if it doesn't all fit together with no gaps it isn't good, that the market size for mix and match built in kitchens is massive. The number of people who even think about whether they want something else, who think about replacing bits or building bits to their own needs rather than ripping the kitchen out and having one put in must be really rather small.

I know that I'll end up building cupboards along one kitchen wall. I know that I'll put work and storage surfaces underneath. I also know that I've got a deep and abiding passion for the sound of a plastic drawer closing and the feel of self seeling hinged cupboards.

I think I have kitchen trauma

ele

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 814
Location: Derby

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 4:21 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

I know that I'll end up building cupboards along one kitchen wall. I know that I'll put work and storage surfaces underneath. I also know that I've got a deep and abiding passion for the sound of a plastic drawer closing and the feel of self seeling hinged cupboards.

I think I have kitchen trauma

I think one of the deciding factors for me on the fitted vs freestanding debate is how much effort is it going to need to keep clean. I spend as much time cleaning and clearing up the kitchen as the whole of the rest of the house put together. Unfitted kitchens are attractive but when I think that all gaps, shelves, nooks and crannies are going to get coated with that icky greasy dusty stuff that breeds in all kitchens it's a bit of a turn off.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 4:36 pm Post subject:

I see where you're coming from Ele, but given the choice I'd have something I can drag out and sweep behind. Something that if it makes a noise or I don't like the look of, I can have it out, upside down, filed down how I like it and put back. Something I can replace part of any time I want.

Besides, I don't quite see why free standing can't be wipe clean. I just haven't seen any made that way

[rant]

Another thing that really ticks me off is that in these 'enlightened' days people always stand up to make their food. We are told, by kitchen designers (there are kitchen designers... stop and think about that...) in pretty much any shop that your primary work surface should be in such and such a place, the fridge somewhere else, the sink somwhere else, to form a simple free flowing line... Ergonomic apparently.

Well, sod that for a game of soldiers! I'll be doing my work in the kitchen sat down, thank you very much, at a table,with a chopping board in front of me and a glass of wine at hand should I need it. I want my kitchen organised so I can get to my larder most easily, fridge next, freezer when I need to, and spice racks/jars and bottles of useful stuff at all times. And I absolutely require space for dirty great soil covered vegetables. I need space to bone out a bird, to butcher a hare, to lay out lots of jars for jam. And I want to get my legs under it to be comfy.

I don't want someone elses dream of what a kitchen should be like, and, unfortunately, that's what the all pervasive dream of the 'fitted kitchen' is all about.

And THAT means that I have to have something that makes our house worth less than it should be (bad thing) or I have to have something that I don't like (bad thing).

So basically, the world sucks.

[/rant]

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 4:50 pm Post subject:
That's a very fine rant cab completely agree with you!!

ele

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 814
Location: Derby

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 6:15 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

I see where you're coming from Ele, but given the choice I'd have something I can drag out and sweep behind. Something that if it makes a noise or I don't like the look of, I can have it out, upside down, filed down how I like it and put back. Something I can replace part of any time I want.

And THAT means that I have to have something that makes our house worth less than it should be (bad thing) or I have to have something that I don't like (bad thing).

So basically, the world sucks.

[/rant]

Oh I can totally see how in your situation a freestanding kitchen is better, I like to be on my feet in the kitchen so I can empty the dishwasher whilst cooking the tea whilst answering the phone. But that's a personal choice.

But this whole property thing... surely what matters is that your kitchen helps sell your house, and if you have a lovely freestanding kitchen that might work, depending on who/how you are marketing it. I remember an estate agent saying that he moved house every couple of years, ripped out the rubbish kitchen and put in a freestanding one, sold the house at a profit and took the kitchen to the next one. He was probably working at the top end of the market where people wouldn't necessarily be miffed that they had to buy a kitchen, but it worked for him.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 6:16 pm Post subject:

Penny wrote:

That's a very fine rant cab

completely agree with you!!

Me too! Though I stand by my earlier post about a compromise if you are refurbishing a fairly standard type of house to sell

cab, I LOVE the sound of those potting benches!! I'll be refurbishing a kitchen soon and intend it to be fairly unfitted. Maybe there's scope for another thread on unfitted downsizery kitchens? Or even an article? Someone? Pretty please?

tawny owl

Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 563
Location: Hampshire

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 6:17 pm Post subject: Re: kitchen recommendations

dougal wrote:

1/ One to avoid (though with several trading names) is "Kitchens Direct".

Definitely! I had one of their sales people in, and after the third reduction in price, I asked her to leave. IMO, anyone who reduces the price on protest isn't worth dealing with.

dougal wrote:

2/ Ikea cabinets are pretty good value and (I believe) use purpose-grown timber. BUT their design can be unusual - extending right back to the wall. This means there is no wasted "plumbing space" (but there is no allowance for plumbing!) Accordingly the install may need a little more carpentry skill. But it can be a low price high style solution.

Their wall cupboards are in two heights as well, so you don't waste space, and you can mix and match doors and handles. Of all the budget suppliers, I would go for Ikea over the others every time. They have a kitchen planner on their website to download, but unfortunately, they don't have pics of the kitchen doors.

Bernie, as you're planning to move, I would recommend getting their basic white kitchen with a beech worktop and if you're not a good DIY-er, pay someone to fit it for you. A good fitter can make a cheap kitchen look fantastic, and unfortunately, the reverse is true as well. And following the moans on this line about them, do not get a plastic sink!

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 6:30 pm Post subject:
My BIL's got IKEA with stainless worktops that he knocked up himself, they're amazing for the price.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 6:49 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

[rant]

Well, sod that for a game of soldiers! I'll be doing my work in the kitchen sat down, thank you very much, at a table,with a chopping board in front of me and a glass of wine at hand should I need it.
[/rant]

That's another reason for only fitting one side of our kitchen and having a table on the other side. It's a sturdy cheap table that can be used as additionl worktop space and you can sit down at it (when it's not covered with plants that are keeping warm due to the unexpected cold snap we have been having recently).

Mind you, as I spend most of the day sitting down I like to stand in the kitchen, also stops hens hopping onto my lap.

Naomi

Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 1945

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 6:54 pm Post subject:

I have kitted my kitchen out with nearly all recycled bits of free standing furniture,some items found in skips and other bought for very little at boot fairs and junk shops etc .
My OH and I made the odd fitted bits around the belfast sink ourselves and they are solid wood ,even the interior shelves, so look good inside and out.
It has cost us far less than a fitted kitchen would and it has character that I find lacking in mass produced fitted kitchens. At least the ones I could ever afford! Also we have added to it as time has gone by and so it wasn't a big outlay all at once.
I know it is a matter of taste, but I think nothing is more welcoming and homely than a house furnished with lucky finds, and individual pieces that have been cleaned and waxed and brought back to life by your own hands. Each piece has a story to tell and being freestanding you are able to move bits around and change the look of a room. I wouldn't have a fitted kitchen now, even if I could afford one, but that is just my own slightly eccentric opinion.

Last edited by Naomi on Tue Nov 29, 05 7:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

ele

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 814
Location: Derby

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 6:57 pm Post subject:

Naomi wrote:

I have kitted my kitchen out with nearly all recylcled bits of free standing furniture

don't suppose you've got a photo to post?

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