Maybe this is an impossible question! We're getting a new kitchen and want a design that we not only like, but will not look hideously dated in 5 or even 10 years time. We thought that was the case with our current one when we installed it 10 years ago (a dark, shiny, "cathedral" sculpted oak, admittedly cheap). Now it looks dated and dowdy.
My thinking is that a natural wood finish is still a reasonably safe choice. And given we want a lighter finish, maple seems like a good choice (plus, we've seen one we like at a good price). Or is it a bit too "Ikea-like"?
Can anyone look into their crystal ball and offer an opinion?
I like wood. Maple is a very nice choice. If you're a slave to fashion then everything you purchase will be outdated in 5 years time. That's how fashion works. You're supposed to work harder and keep updating your goods and chattels. You know it makes sense. How would the rich stay rich otherwise?
If you want it to last then don't have a fitted kitchen but buy real furniture instead. Tables, chairs, cupboards, dressers etc etc, Can be cheaper new secondhand or antique, easily re-arrangeable, portable if you move, can last a lifetime.
Quote the last plumber we had in. "Everything in a kitchen seems to be made of the wrong material.
Certainly commercial chipboard cabinets deteriorate like nobody's business in the presence of moisture, condensation creating a breading ground for insects like something out of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of doom" etc.
See also:
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Joe Stahelin.
Who doesn't seem to have been around for 5 or so years.
Seemingly by _not_ updating their goods and chattles .... 'Here's the original cabinet purchased by the first Duke in MCCCLIV .... "as 'they' are always saying to the TV presenter :)
First. Can you not consider smartening up your existing units? Re finishing? New doors?
If not then use solid wood, traditionally made up solid doors, and make sure they are solidly fixed. Kitchen units have to be repairable if they are to last. (And if they are repairable they are probably tough enough to not need repairs.)
Then it comes down to planning. If you plan badly then however long lasting the units are you'll find yourself changing them anyway. Consider how long you'll stay in the house. The units should still look good to the viewers even if they will rip them out.
Maple darkens a bit.
We moved here nearly 20 years ago and one of the first things I did was to refit the kitchen. I used Maple units from Winchmore
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. The ones we chose were their Dalham design which I'm amazed to see are still available.
I'd used Winchmore in a previous house (c.1976) but then the units came as "white" and needed finishing off. I chose them because they were so extraordinarily cheap and because I liked the unusual construction. In the mid '80s I chose them again but this time they came ready finished and were a good deal more expensive.
I don't know how they compare on price now - but I'd choose them again if I could possibly afford to. (If we stay here I won't need to.)
The chipboard carcases have a solid wood (detachable) door frame on the front and the solid wood doors are hung on these with simple external pin hinges. I think they are very solid.
Our idea was that the units would last out our time in this house. So far they've exceeded the expected time and I can't see why they should not last as long again.
One of the "features" I liked was the absence of door handles. Instead the doors and drawers have shaped edges to provide a finger grip. I think it looks very uncluttered like this. However now these parts are beginning to show wear and my wife is beginning to find difficulty opening the doors. So I'm considering fitting knobs and re finishing the door fronts.
But less easy to work in. Tables are generally around 75cm high, whereas modern units are 90cm high, and much less strain on the back. Having long runs of uninterrupted worktop makes life easier and safer in the kitchen. And sinks and cookers are going to need some degree of fitting anyway.
Cleaning an unfitted kitchen is more difficult too. At least once a week you should heave all the furniture out from the wall and clean well behind, or else pests will become a problem.
And finally, if you plan to move house, remember that buyers expect to see a fitted kitchen.
Had a look at winchmore kitchens. Hideous, expensive and CHIPBOARD carcasses!!. Rubbish. At those prices you could fit out the whole house with real furniture.
The 70s seem to be in at the moment, so probably the 50s will be next.
A neighbour has a post-ware kitchen dresser unit made from aluminium (because of the timber shortage and spare capacity in metal-working factories) in her workshop. It was probably painted originally, but I think if cleaned back to bare metal and polished it would look stunning. I've seen that done with a Land-Rover.
I think it's for MFI, the current TV advert about objects that sum up people's lifestyles. "We're into takeaway pizza" say one gormless couple from tellylalaland, so the kitchen designed for their lifestyle obviously has to include a stainless steel range the size of a double bed and a dishwasher "to make life easier". FFS, they don't even have to wash the pizza wheel if they asked the shop to slice it for them[1]
Owain
[1] Unless they buy B&Q pizza with a separate cutting fee.
Pests can become a problem in a fitted kitchen too, they're just less visible and less easy to find. That's why commercial kitchens usually aren't fitted.
So take your nice expensive unfitted kitchen with you, and whack in some B&Q Value units the week before the house goes on the market.
Trad kitchen tables are higher than dining table true. So if you need one get a high table!!. You don't have to move everything once a week! Once a year more like, if that. What pests? Fitted furn can be a major pest prob because of the pest accessible voids. Worst scenario - dead rat under a built in unit. Buyers may or may not like you particular kitchen design, it's impossible to know. The best thing you can do is make it how you want it - and if you sell up hope that the buyer will share your taste. If you try to guess what a buyer wants you might get it wrong, and you have to live with something you don't like.
And decent solid wood will always look good, and can always be painted.
Laminate over chip.MDF will fall to pieces long before it looks any more crap than the day its fitted,..which is why you can buy replacement doors anyway.
I have attempted to solve this issue by making the whole house look like it was built in the 17th century. It looked dated the moment it was built.
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