Kitchen Reno

[vGolfer]

I'm in the market for a new kitchen. Have looked at a few places.

1. Some European kitchens..they seem very well built. Moderately expensive. Around $15K. Quality is very good.
2. Kitset Kitchens. Cheap and easy to assemble but they look pretty crappy...at least the ones in the showroom do.
3. Harvey Norman. I couldn't believe how expensive their custom kitchens are. They were quoting $25K for vinyl wrap cabinets...NO APPLIANCES (we already have). The quality was nowhere near as good as the European ones we saw.

We've also looked at Bunnings and Ikea, but I'm not a huge fan of them.

I live in Hawthorn in Melbourne and my inclination is to go for a moderately expensive one - around $15K as I am pretty sure this wouldn't be money down the drain. I think if we go Kitset or something similar with all laminates it will actually detract from the house if it came to resale.

If anyone has any hints and/or recommendations with respect to kitchens, that would be great.

ALso, if anyone can recommend a store that sells aluminium panelled light switches that would be appreciated.

Thanks

[shaunburgess]

The flat pack kitchens can be good, you can buy urethane cupboards, which are made to the size you want and then buy tops, doors etc the same as the expensive units. You just install, it something i looked at doing, and the saying goes, if i could do it anyone could.

[Trav]

Have you looked a joineries? They will often come out and design and price a kitchen for you for free.

As I'm not from Melbourne, I can't recommend anyone in particular, but you should be able to get something for less than $15k (unless you want a stone benchtop etc).

Trav

[ozwinner]

Try Dona (Spelling) Homes in Melton, they did our kitchen 7 years ago.

We got the whole shebang for $2500, compared to quotes of around $10,000 from others.
All the doors on our kitchen are 30mm thick KD hardwood with panels.

But now, if I was going to do it, I would make my own.

Al

[arms]

i have a internet store for kitchens and if you are handy and can install the kitchen yourself go here www.armstrongcabinets.com.au my average kitchen is around $8,000.00 delivered any where in australia

[Gaza]

What i would do after seeing the price that kitchen mobs want.

Get one of the really flashy mobs to come and give you a quote and hopefuly a layout / desigh then take this design or from memory to a smaller joinery shop / cabent marker who can knock it up for next to nothing.

If you want a stone bench top expect to pay min of $2000.00 for an island and a bench plus extra for thick edge, then add the cost of the splash back around $1500 - 2000.00 for average size plus the cost of installtion and general building work.

NB stay away from HN as they have to pay the big rent for the show rooms and they out source the manufactering.

[seriph1]

15000 might be a bargain or it might be ridiculous money - Hawthorn is mostly very up-market so you may not be over-capitilising. What are you wanting to achieve? What is the area? If you live in a period home, do you wish to have the same appeal in your kitchen without compromising on function? What configuration does the space lend itself toward? Galley...etc.?

[seriph1]

Aluminium panelled light switches should be purchaseable from Middy's Stores. If they don't have them, I feel sure they'll be able to refer you. I "thought" clipsal etc. provided a range of metal panel insert/covers for one of their ranges...... yup, just found it - http://www.clipsal.com.au/pro_cat.cfm and go to SEARCH TYPE - VISUAL, then go to POWERPOINT/LIGHT SWITCHES, then click on METAL PANEL RANGE

[elphingirl]

We have just installed a Kitset kitchen, and are really happy with the result. We also noticed that their showroom didn't look very good. We got all the cabinets and doors from them (the doors are made by Parbury), and sourced timber benchtops from elsewhere, because we didn't think theirs looked good enough.

Although their literature makes it seem very formulaic, we found that they were very happy to customise cabinets to fit tight corners, unusual depths etc. They are a bit disorganised though. Installation was very straightforward - but don't expect any help from them.
Good luck!

[Metung]

We had a kitchen done by Nuveau Kitchens about 6 years ago. The service and finish were very good and it still looks like new (well almost). They would certainly be worth contacting.

[ian]

I'm in the market for a new kitchen.
If anyone has any hints and/or recommendations with respect to kitchens, that would be great.

Kitchens are basicly a set of boxes fitted with shelves, drawers, doors and a counter top.
It's real easy to assemble the boxes from flat packs, the only real challenge is getting the fronts all in one line and the tops all at the same level.
Doors and drawer fronts are pretty straight forward for a cabinet maker.

Some tips:
make sure the boxes are made from moisture resistant fibre board.
have the boxes and shelves faced with laminate — it's easier to clean and seems to wear better than melamine.
If you have exposed shelves solid timber withstands the every day knocks much better than veneer – also check to make sure the shelf spacing matches the height of your cook books, etc.
many "custom designed kitchens" aren't. The designer places as many standard sized boxes side-by-side as will fit and fills in the remaining space with a bulkhead.
making plastic bags, cling wrap, alfoil, etc accessible and not a mess can be a real pain.
two or three really shallow cutlery is drawers is much better than one.

However, the money in a kitchen is really in the "extras" the hinges, the drawer slides, and the fittings inside the cabinets.
will you have a pantry cupboard? how will it be fitted out?
will you have corner cabinets? how will you access things in the back corners?
will the drawer slides support a drawer full of cast iron pots?
look at the kitchen pages at www.leevalley.com and www.hafele.com.au for some ideas on slide-out shelves and pantry units and units that make the stuff that congregates at the back of a corner cupboard readily accessible.

Some ideas
You will need to decide between drawers and shelves — SWMBO and I prefer drawers because the contents are much more accessible than they would be on a shelf.
rather than kick boards, you can get fit drawers under your cabinets.
what sort of sink will you have? insert or underslung? if you go for an underslung sink and solid counter top (stone or coran) you can have a drain board milled into the surface.
have all the electrical and plumbing work done before the boxes are assembled.
arrange power points at strategic locations — at the back of the box the microwave will sit in, near where you want the kettle to be, near the cook top so you can use an electric blender in a pot on the stove, etc – we've got a 4 plug outlet at one end of the bench that services the toaster, radio and coffee machine, with a spare outlet for the phone charger or sandwich maker
where will the TV screen go?

Even if you use a kitchen designer, you and/or SWMBO will spend a lot of time there so think about how you like, or want, to work in the kitchen.
is the person who usually loads and unloads the dish washer right or left handed,
where will the plates and cutlery be stored in relation to the dishwasher, table and counter top,
do you want 2 sinks,
is there somewhere for a person to sit or loiter while the kitchen is in use? — again using our example, when replacing our kitchen we recognised that the kitchen becomes the centre of activity when the kids are doing their homework or when friends drop by. So rather than an island, there's a table to sit arround.

installing a new kitchen is a great opportunity to fix ALL that is not right with your existing one.

ian

[LadyDIY]

arms

i have a internet store for kitchens and if you are handy and can install the kitchen yourself go here www.armstrongcabinets.com.au my average kitchen is around $8,000.00 delivered any where in australia

I'll be in the market for a small kitchenette and laundry soon so I will keep you in mind.

[vGolfer]

Thanks a lot for the great tips everyone.

[jackiew]

don't forget to think about what height you want your working surfaces.

Either use an existing table or make up a little table from scrap board ( ikea do very cheap packs of 4 legs which you can use for something else after) and vary its height up and down until you find a height which suits you personally. Just because a particular height is "standard" doesn't mean you have to conform - you want a kitchen which fits you.

there is no such thing as too much working surface. We finally ripped out the tiny bench next to the sink at the weekend and built a 1.8m x 1m kitchen table with adjustable legs. It only took us an hour or so and after I said "why didn't I do this two years ago"

Don't forget to have space either side of the cooker to put hot pans down on or plates to dish up onto.

And I agree about the drawers ... I rented a house which had drawers for saucepans and when I do my kitchen i'm going to have them too. Far better than a cupboard.