My new kitchen thread

Adam · 16 Apr 2017 at 20:33

Big changes after the quartz was fitted, I'm really pleased with the outcome. Some of the doors haven't arrived yet so I'm missing 9 in total, not a huge problem as they'll be fitted mid next week. The flooring will also be fitted at the end of the week too.

And finally a couple of touches I was particularly pleased with such as the sink and tap (bargains!) and the pullout unit.

Buffman · 16 Apr 2017 at 21:55

Is it not easier to fit the flooring prior to all the units?

I like the worktop but I don't think I could afford it!

rexehuk · 16 Apr 2017 at 22:07

Nice kitchen. Are you able to reveal the supplier?

@The Craig worktops are indeed expensive. I saw a beautiful granite yesterday, and asked price only to be told "that one is £6000 sir". Put me back in my box

Dolly · 17 Apr 2017 at 09:02

Beautiful worktop

glitch · 17 Apr 2017 at 13:12

I've been watching this closely as on the face of it your ideas seemed pretty close to what I have in mind for my new kitchen, but the end result is not what I was expecting - personal taste and all that, but I find your choice of colour scheme extremely dull and lifeless. Not convinced by the grey on grey at all.

What made you go for quartz and in such large amounts? Was the splashback always going to be a feature or was it something that came about during planning? And what's with the odd-shaped sink - did you not want (or was it not possible) to have the quartz cut so the bridge between them was covered up?

Nanoman · 17 Apr 2017 at 15:53

In my opinion it all looks great apart from the splashback wall above the cooker. I think because it's stretched out across the entire width of the wall and is single colour it just looks a bit dominating. I think some design tiles or it's kept the width of the cooker may look better? Great job overall anyway.

Adam · 17 Apr 2017 at 16:37

The Craig said:
Is it not easier to fit the flooring prior to all the units?

The cooker, washing machine and tumble dryer will need to be pulled out and the flooring go underneath as they are freestanding but everything else is integrated so only needs flooring up until the edge. Once that's done the fitter comes back to fit the plinths, skirting and architrave.

rexehuk said:
Nice kitchen. Are you able to reveal the supplier?

It's a small independent firm who manufacture the carcasses themselves. Happy to pass on the details if you are in Essex or the surrounding areas.

@The Craig worktops are indeed expensive. I saw a beautiful granite yesterday, and asked price only to be told "that one is £6000 sir". Put me back in my box

[/QUOTE]

I had some quotes in the region of that but it wasn't quite that much

glitch said:
I've been watching this closely as on the face of it your ideas seemed pretty close to what I have in mind for my new kitchen, but the end result is not what I was expecting - personal taste and all that, but I find your choice of colour scheme extremely dull and lifeless. Not convinced by the grey on grey at all.

What made you go for quartz and in such large amounts? Was the splashback always going to be a feature or was it something that came about during planning? And what's with the odd-shaped sink - did you not want (or was it not possible) to have the quartz cut so the bridge between them was covered up?

It does look a bit different in the flesh. The cupboards and carcasses are cashmere with a dark grey trim. The tiles will add a bit of colour as will the floor. See below for the splashback.

As for the sink, I'm pretty sure that's how it's meant to be? When I google "under mount sinks" the majority of the 1.5 sinks are exactly the same as mine. It's quite narrow and hard to fit a standard sized bowl in anyway so it would be obscured even further with an extra piece of quartz in between them. The manufacturer is also printed in between the 2 sinks as well so I'd imagine it's not intended to be covered up. I might be wrong though!

Nanoman said:
In my opinion it all looks great apart from the splashback wall above the cooker. I think because it's stretched out across the entire width of the wall and is single colour it just looks a bit dominating. I think some design tiles or it's kept the width of the cooker may look better? Great job overall anyway.

The splashback wasn't planned before hand. Well it kind of was in the fact that we were having a matching splashback but due to how much material they had to order for the kitchen we were given the opportunity to fill that entire wall. It would only have been wasted otherwise. It certainly makes cleaning easier

We are having both walls tiled in between the worktop and wall cabinets, probably the sage green colour in the picture with the sink.

The_One · 17 Apr 2017 at 21:36

Great job, look forward to the finished article

I hope the cupboard surrounding the boiler doesn't have a bottom on? i.e open at the bottom

Sparx · 17 Apr 2017 at 23:24

Adam said:
As for the sink, I'm pretty sure that's how it's meant to be? When I google "under mount sinks" the majority of the 1.5 sinks are exactly the same as mine. It's quite narrow and hard to fit a standard sized bowl in anyway so it would be obscured even further with an extra piece of quartz in between them. The manufacturer is also printed in between the 2 sinks as well so I'd imagine it's not intended to be covered up. I might be wrong though!

You're right, I used to work for a kitchen/worktop manufacturer. You can't cut quartz/granite that small and have it securely fit, well you can... But it's really not recommended!

Really nice though! Colour not to my taste, but the quartz is nice and slick.

Adam · 18 Apr 2017 at 11:10

The_One said:
Great job, look forward to the finished article

I hope the cupboard surrounding the boiler doesn't have a bottom on? i.e open at the bottom

Yes there is a big gap, there is a baton going across the front with about 75% open. Presumably due to the heat the boiler throws out?

jpaul · 18 Apr 2017 at 16:02

+1 colour - Looks good, I like the professional (Germanic?) greyish colour.

About the sink : what was your thinking to not continue with larger Stainless sinks, maybe with a drainer,
so that you have excess space for the washing up larger pans,woks,30cm+ dinner plates ?
an accompanying drainer with ridges&rim can help prop up dishes for draining
..... but maybe the quartz drainer has more contour, on front in particular, than the picture reveals.

Do you have a utility room with another sink ?

The_One · 18 Apr 2017 at 17:58

Adam said:
Yes there is a big gap, there is a baton going across the front with about 75% open. Presumably due to the heat the boiler throws out?

No its not needed for that its so you can get access to the bottom screws to remove cover should it ever need fixing

Glad your fitters been sensible and left access, most don't!

Adam · 18 Apr 2017 at 20:35

jpaul said:
+1 colour - Looks good, I like the professional (Germanic?) greyish colour.

About the sink : what was your thinking to not continue with larger Stainless sinks, maybe with a drainer,
so that you have excess space for the washing up larger pans,woks,30cm+ dinner plates ?
an accompanying drainer with ridges&rim can help prop up dishes for draining
..... but maybe the quartz drainer has more contour, on front in particular, than the picture reveals.

Do you have a utility room with another sink ?

Do you mean a sink like this? http://www.screwfix.com/p/franke-ascona-inset-sink-s-steel-1-bowl-1000-x-175mm/37197

We did have a sink in the utility room (see the first pictures) but I removed it in favour of the larder.

The_One said:
No its not needed for that its so you can get access to the bottom screws to remove cover should it ever need fixing

Glad your fitters been sensible and left access, most don't!

Ah that makes sense, I never considered that. Yes he has done a great job actually, very pleased.

jpaul · 19 Apr 2017 at 08:17

Adam said:
Do you mean a sink like this? http://www.screwfix.com/p/franke-ascona-inset-sink-s-steel-1-bowl-1000-x-175mm/37197

yes like that, with ~43x35cm main bowl access, for big utensils , .. maybe entrance to underhung sink is a similar size

Furyus · 20 Apr 2017 at 12:44

this is amazing! I love kitchen threads! Wish I could afford something like this!

chris06 · 30 Apr 2017 at 08:53

@Adam Any pics of the finished article yet?

Vimes · 30 Apr 2017 at 10:30

Amazing transformation and a very big well done.

I must admit tho to liking the before kitchen, but my tastes don't count for much as we still have a avocado green bathroom suite.

Adam · 30 Apr 2017 at 20:14

chris06 said:
@Adam Any pics of the finished article yet?

Finished article, no. I do have an update though:

Since the last post I have had the flooring (laminate), tiles (sage green metro) and the architrave and skirting fitted. I decided to pay a painter to paint as a) I don't really have the time and b) it will be very fiddly around the cabinets and quite frankly I don't think I'll do a great job.

I'm still missing the last of the doors (they are with my kitchen fitter but I have asked him to hold off until after the painting is done so he can fit the towel radiator afterwards.

The laminate isn't the ideal choice and I was originally looking at Amtico/Karndean. This was coming in at over £800 for 15sqm whereas I had a couple of boxes left of the laminate from when we did the living room, dining room, hall and conservatory. I like the idea of keeping things consistent. Also I couldn't find much that I liked and most of the wood effect ones would have been different to what we had in other rooms. My carpenter used some click seal to hopefully seal the joints. Only time will tell if I have made a terrible decision

Adam · 8 May 2017 at 20:30

Pretty much finished besides some caulking, some trim around the windows and putting right the poor job the painters did

bsoltan · 8 May 2017 at 20:33

Looks great, much better than the original. Enjoy and thanks for sharing.