Have any mums got awesome kitchens?

[tarafitness]

Nice kitchen!! :-)

I really like the utensils hung above the cooker on the splashback. Do you find they pick up oil residue when you cook?

We're getting a large pan rack to go above the island, but that would be great for spoons and fish slices, etc

[snowboarder]

No they seem fine. The splashback itself gets a bit smeary as stainless steel does but the utensils always seem clean!

I am still in love with our kitchen a year after we did it..:-)

[sb]

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[Fmm]

Thanks for the info Tara and Snowboarder. Your kitchens are beautiful! Snowboarder where's yours from? *hopefully local as I think you are now based near to me in BR6*

[snowboarder]

Fmm :-)

We got ours from a tiny kitchen shop in Hamsey Green, south of Croydon called Cathedral Kitchens - the website doesn't really do it any favours but they are great! I kind of had a bit of a lightbulb moment when I realised Magnet/Howdens/Ikea were not the only options for kitchens. The small kitchen shops can order you parts from different suppliers and really customise the design to your needs...I love ours...I think it's a 'Crown' kitchen but possibly with different doors. However the smaller shops/suppliers don't really seem to offer the same deals on appliances etc. We had an amazing kitchen fitter who came via the shop and was so great.

The only thing I would change in our kitchen is the pull out larder cupboard. I hate it and just want a basic cupboard!

[simonethebeaver]

We're just having a Crown kitchen fitted after a similar lightbulb moment.

[MumtoBea]

We had our kitchen done last year when we had our extension done (and a new baby, must be bonkers!). We ended up going to Simon Benjamin Furniture after looking at places like Plain English, Higham and Devol. I really love our new kitchen! we went for their Classic and its such good quality and not too expensive. I'd definitely recommend www.simonbenjamin.co.uk

[montassa]

thanks - but they are 1 1/2 hrs out of london !!

any recommendations for bespoke in London.. and preferably south london?

[LalKJ]

Montassa

We use Dulwich Design Kitchens, and they were great - very local, on Grove Vale. Pm if you want more info or photos of our kitchen.

[Piaf]

We also used Dulwich Design Kitchens and would also recommend. We had done the usual Wickes, John Lewis, Magnet rounds and found that DDS came in at less than JL and only a little bit more than the others. Its not cheap but they do tailor to your needs and are very good at helping with suggestions on the design etc and being honest about which gadgets or add-ons you dont really need. The kitchen units are good quality (German) and I really liked going somewhere local.

[MumtoBea]

Sorry just saw your reply! We are in South london too and they apparently mainly cover this area, hope the search is going well...

[Tallulahdoesthehula]

We are about to order a 'Neptune' kitchen - anyone have any experience of them, good or bad?

Having had numerous companies round they were the ones that came up with the best design and the kitchens seem very well made (and made in the UK).

[amydown]

We have Neptune and are very pleased with the quality. We got them through Woods of London in Blackheath. The cabinets are really solid and lovely.

[Tallulahdoesthehula]

Ooh which one did you go for Amydown?

Thank you, it's good to hear good experiences :)

[amydown]

We have the Suffolk range I think, with leathered black granite.

[mooncake]

Returning back to this post as we finally moved into our house at the end of the year and have (almost) finished fitting our very own awesome kitchen.

I posted for opinions previously on whether or not to install a utility room and Amy kindly let me come over to see hers (and yes her kitchen IS awesome!!). I am pleased to update that we went for it (though a v small one), and I love love LOVE it! It's fantastic to be able to shut off the noise of the washing machine, plus we packed it with storage and lots of plug points for the appliances I don't want cluttering the main kitchen surfaces.

We actually also ended up redesigning our family bathroom upstairs in order to accommodate a laundry chute straight down to the utility room... after someone put the idea into my head on that thread...

[david_carnell]

mooncake Wrote:

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> We actually also ended up redesigning our family

> bathroom upstairs in order to accommodate a

> laundry chute straight down to the utility room...

> after someone put the idea into my head on that

> thread...

We don't have a chute but in our new house our washing machine and tumble dryer are stacked above one another in a cupboard in our family bathroom upstairs. I have to say it seems an excellent idea so far. Our laundry basket is upstairs so the transfer from basket to washing machine to tumble dryer to wardrobe is much less faff. It might be different when the weather improves and we want to hang things out mind you. The only downside is the noise upstairs means not putting on a wash late at night.

[ladyruskin]

We're about to embark on our kitchen remodel and have been watching this thread with interest. We have had an architect friend do some drawings for us, but I am wondering if there is such a thing as an independent kitchen planner/designer?

I am willing to pay someone to plan our kitchen, ensuring that it is the best layout, doors can open etc. but don?t necessarily want to get this done by Howdens et al and be beholden to buying our kitchen from them if that makes sense.

Does such a person exist and could they provide recommendations as to where to source particular elements from?

Thanks

[ClareC]

We had 4 designers round, 3 were unimaginative and we were unimpressed (free), the fourth was really good! We paid for that one, (?150) but the fee is deducted from the price if we buy a kitchen from them (Neptune), which is fair enough.

Plain English and Fired Earth also have a "paid for" service. The fee is @?1000 with one and @?250 with the other.

We actually are ordering the Neptune kitchen however there was no obligation to do so and we didn't feel we had to at all.

[ClareC]

Just to add, we used an interior designer for the rest of the house (big renovation), didn't realise at the time but they will design kitchens too as will some architects.

[BigJoe]

If you require high standards defenitely u should check out this number 07581362969. Name Damian. Ive used his services in my old house and it was fabulous. Now im moving to new property in next week and i will use him to fit my new kitchen and two bathrooms and some other jobs as well.

also i got sofa to give away if anybody interested pm me. Its leather sofa 3 seats

cheers

[ClareC]

amydown Wrote:

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> We have the Suffolk range I think, with leathered

> black granite.

That's the range we have been quoted on :)

Do you happen to know where the kitchens are produced?

[sb]

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[mancity68]

This is a really silly question I'm sure but how do I get companies to come and do designs? I've tried a few but they all seem to want you to sign up to their sales in principle based on designs done in store before they'll come out in person. I've got a very odd kitchen and really need designer to come round in person. Maybe I'm giving out t he wrong gibes!!

[mooncake]

I believe Howdens and Wickes do free home visits and measure up for you... but you might then need to be a little sneaky to grab their measurements for use at other stores!!

Otherwise there's a paid for service at John Lewis where I think you can keep the plans whether or not you go ahead (online it says it costs ?50).

The kitchen designer we ended up with must have spent at least 14 hours in total actually with us present, carefully designing all of the details - and that was even though we already had a strong idea of the layout and appliances we wanted. That meant that by the end of it, we were essentially already committed as couldn't bear to go through the whole process again with anyone else!! In hindsight that made it difficult to negotiate on prices - particularly as we had to get the kitchen ordered in time for moving house / tied in with the building work.