Monday 17 October 2011

Now we're cooking with gas!

I mentioned a while ago that we'd had a new kitchen installed, well here are the pictures!
We went with IKEA, since they're very cheap, and we were impressed with the quality - I have a friend who had an IKEA kitchen 5 years ago and it still looks brand new.
I used the online design feature to put the layout together. Fortunately once we'd paid for it instore a fitter came out to measure and corrected all of the mistakes I'd made. Oops! My measuring mistakes meant that I didn't get everything I wanted - double sink, built in microwave and full sized dishwasher being the biggest dissapointments!
When we bought our place it'd been a student rental for a long time and the cheap kitchen was really past it. The oven door had lost its handle, and its ability to light the gas. The fridge barely kept anything cold and the freezer frosted up within hours. The sink was leaking and the cupboard doors were warped. In short - ready for the knacker's yard!
Before - uninspiring to say the least
The kitchen was delivered on a Saturday and we were overwhelmed with new things. That was like Christmas, as the men brought appliances and IKEA packages in. Very exciting times!
We ripped the kitchen out ourselves to save some cash and actually it was very satisfying! We ran into trouble with the sink, as the people who fitted it didn't isolate the water supply, so we couldn't remove the taps without flooding the house. Fortunately the buildres managed to sort that out.

The builders arrived bright and early on the Monday - the electrician first to sort the appliance plugs out, then the cabinet makers and the plumber. The benefit of using the IKEA recommended service, apart from getting some of the installation on their interest free credit deal, was that they knew exactly what they were doing with the units. Within a few hours the first cabinets, and the extractor fan had gone up.
And by Wednesday afternoon, they were finished!
We went for Ramsjo units in white, with a solid oak worktop. The door fronts do show every bit of dirt, but they wipe off easily. The work surface has been very easy to keep clean and we've not marked it yet! The sink is Domsjo and I love it - it's big enough to fit the oven trays in completely, to soak and handwash clothes, plus it's been easy to keep clean - I noticed it was getting a bit tea stained today and after putting some soda crystals and boiling water on it, the stains came off with a wipe. My only complaint would be that with a high tap like ours and a shallow sink, the water does tend to splash everywhere if you're not careful. Fortunately, since we're barely washing anything up any more it's not much of an issue!
I think the biggest change has been the use of space - we've fitted a dishwasher in to the kitchen, and managed to hide the recycling bins away without sacrificing any cupboard space. Plus the built in washing machine keeps it lookig tidy.
I've been very impressed with the IKEA appliances - they're all A and above rated and seem to have been designed with very sensible and practical use in mind.
We've made good use of space, with a carosel cupboard in the corner - the shelves pull out completely so you can get right to the back and it works better than I'd thought it would!
The drawers with a cupboard front were a bit of a wild card - we only got them because there wasn't enough space for a regular drawer unit. Actually, though, they work really well. The height of the bottom drawer lets me stand up cleaning spray and kitchen roll, while the top 2 drawers fit cutlery and cooking bits and bobs simply.

The obligatory before and after shots:

The island making the L-shape is a trolley, coincidentally in the same colour scheme as the kitchen. We went for that rather than a built in island so that we can get a big table in and, when we pull it out to seat 10, move the island to keep access all around the table. Using baskets on the trolley shelves lets us store our veg and large bags of pasta.

The 'dining' part of the room got some wall cabinets and a sideboard for storage. Using the alcove left by the chimney breast gives us more space in the room/ We're planning to buy a new, bigger table which will be the same size as the current table at full extention, seating 6, but pull out to seat up to 10. As we've used the length of the room there should be plenty of space for that.


It feels as though we have more space now, and the room feels much nicer too. As the front door opens directly into this room, it's helped to improve the feel of the whole house!
There's a lot of work to do still - tiling the cooking space, painting the walls, making a new blind, fitting new lights and, eventually, stripping the carpet off and doing up the original oak floorboards in the whole of the room. All we have to do is find the time and the money!
I have to say that I've been very pleased with the IKEA purchasing process, the fitters (who came back to fix a minor issue with the work top placement 2 days after I called about it) and the quality of the cabinets and appliances.

For reference;
Sink: Domsjo
Fridge: Framtid fridge freezer
Oven: Datid OV8
Washing machine: Renlig
Dishwasher: Renlig
Hob: Datid
Work surface: Numerar Oak
Sideboard: Stornas Buffet
Doors: Ramsjo white
Handles: Svep

Cost £3350
Fitting £3490 (IKEA approved firm DTW)
All but £1000 of that went on 2 years interest free credit.
The appliances are all under 5 year warranty, the units 25 years and the installation 3 years, so we're pretty confident it'll last!

If you're looking for a good value kitchen, I'd say that IKEA are well worth a look. They're well designed and the service is very good (we had a named contact to deal with). You can almost certainly save money by putting cabinets together yourself if you have the know-how and looking for a local firm to fit them and the appliances, though you won't be able to spread the payments that way.

36 comments:

  1. Looks so fresh and airy. Gorgeous finish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your kitchen looks beautiful!!!

    My parents bought an Ikea kitchen a few years ago and it's great. My dad's too cheap to pay someone to put it together though so we had to do everything ourselves (he is also too cheap to pay for delivery so we crammed everything into the back of our van...somehow it actually all fit!) haha

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a change. Its lovely. I especially love the way you re-did the alcove in the dining room.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful, I'm very jealous. I'm stuck with a manky old kitchen with mouldy cupboards, the joys of renting *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks lovely! Of course, I'm biased as you've picked exactly the same cabinets, handles, work surface (well, wooden) and sink (well, mine's a double) as my kitchen so I would say that ;)

    Hell of a difference though, bet the additional cupboard space is a god send, I know mine was. Loving the cupboards in the dining room!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, it looks beautiful! I feel silly saying it looks straight out of one of those lovely kitchens pictured in the IKEA catalog, but, well, it does! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fantasic new room. What a joy to use. I would love to have a gas cooker, but there isn't gas in our village. And you designed it yourselves. How cool.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How lovely! Everything looks so fresh, crisp, and beautifully organized!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks great! I brought a kitchen from Ikea 5 years ago.... it was £600!!! It still looks good :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Looks beautiful! What a change from the old room! I love sitting in the kitchen, so the feel of that room is to me the most important in the house.

    Although I wouldn't want to furnish an entire flat with only Ikea-stuff (some people actually do that...) their kitchens are really great, and I have to admit to having one or two furniture pieces from them =)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I do love a kitchen makeover post! Looks fantastic, lovely and airy. I love going around Ikea and looking at their kitchen layouts. My kitchen is ancient and faling to bits but we need to do some major building work before I can get a new one.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ooh I've never been so interested in a kitchen before, yours is gorgeous now! Loving the sink, I always reckoned one like that would be handy space wise! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think you have my dream kitchen! We have been doing a bit of DIY but have decided not to replace the whole kitchen - there's nothing wrong with it, its quite new, its jsut not to my taste. Yours looks fab now, great job!

    ReplyDelete
  14. It has all the basic functions needed for cooking on the hob and comes with a stainless steel or enamel base and enameled pan supports. This hob, like all of the others, comes with Neff's signature oval controls. Best stainless steel automatic hob in India

    ReplyDelete
  15. It is definitely not easy being a parent or a cook. There are times when you are asked to cook up a feast to feed hungry mouths of a whole community - well, that is just an exaggeration. Whenever you are given the responsibility of cooking for big occasions, the most important factor is usually the space which you can work with to cook the dishes. Best 4 Buner gas stoves in India 2021

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great, thank you so much for sharing such an amazing blog. Ogen Infosystem is one of the leading website development company in delhi, visit following webpage for more information about website development and website designing.
    Website Development Company

    ReplyDelete
  17. Meet with the best website designing company in Lucknow and take the best website design for your business. We can give you a unique design for your online business.

    ReplyDelete
  18. There is no doubt that promotedial is known as the best SEO Company in Noida. You can connect with us and increase your online business & traffic towards your website.

    ReplyDelete
  19. We are known as the best web design company in navi mumbai. Connect with us and get unique design for your business website.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Exotica Housing is known as the best Infrastructure company in Delhi, and Noida. We can be the right choice for you if you are looking for the best flats or apartment. Connect with us for more information.
    Projects in sector 79 Noida

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks For Sharing Such A Great Article, Please Read Our Article And Keep Them Up.
    Best UPSC Prelims Daily Current Affairs

    ReplyDelete
  22. Steadfast Services is known as the best provider of Schengen Visa in Dubai. You can join us and apply for any kind of visa.

    ReplyDelete
  23. To make your business accessible to the people through the website, you will need a personal website of your own business, we will make you a good and bang website which will take your business forward very fast. Contact us for this
    To make your business accessible to the people through the website, you will need a personal website of your own business, we will make you a good and bang website which will take your business forward very fast. Contact us for this

    ReplyDelete
  24. Are you looking for a car parking service if yes we are the best car supplier company in UAE. We can provide you car parking shades at an affordable price, for more information please visit our website.
    Car Parking Shades

    ReplyDelete
  25. People are built on CSS Founder because we do our work with complete integrity and honesty, from website design to website SEO, etc. All kinds of services are provided by CSS Founder to its customers, for more information Contact us
    Web design company Wachira

    ReplyDelete
  26. There is a Website design company that is providing very good services related to website design, whose name is CSS Founder, CSS Founder is making a place in the top 10 website design company in the field of website design for the last 20 years. To join, visit our website or click on the given link Thank you Website design company Aqaba

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks for providing the best and nice information about it. This is very good. I hope, i will read your next blog soon.
    SEO company in Milan

    ReplyDelete
  28. Always so interesting to visit your site. Thanks for Interesting post. Best Place to Stay in Lansdowne

    ReplyDelete
  29. “America’s nurses are the beating heart of our medical system.” Patient Care Services in Noida

    ReplyDelete
  30. Oman visa apply Online is a service to get a visa for Oman. Visitsvisa is an online visa service provider that provide a hessle-free online application to get visa.

    ReplyDelete
  31. A 14-day Dubai visa is a type of visa that allows the visitor to stay in Dubai for 14 days. The validity of the visa is 60 days. This is a single-entry short-term visa. It is very easy to get by E Visa Dubai.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Are you looking for the best Website Designing Company in Ghaziabad? If yes then connect with CSS Founder.

    ReplyDelete