Do I have awful taste in kitchens.

No you don't have bad taste I would love a dated kitchen

When I meet my DH 21years ago he lived alone in a house he brought 12 Months before that had no kitchen he picked one up from local sale site £100. Beautiful solid wood , fitted it himself I loved it cared for that wood for 10years . Then we decided to treat ourselves to new kitchen spent many hours looking. Then made a choice replaced tiles with large white ones new workshops matt gray, and painted all the units white. We live in L shape, plenty of light, my kitchen is used has flow, just finished a repaint you can keep shiny no sole kitchens I love my old kitchen

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202201/medium-549330-c8f09523-f20b-4a0f-9e2b-c1989f1da77e.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202201/medium-984392-e2143497-d371-4441-a350-a4473cdf5036.jpeg

I love an all white bathroom suite. Variety can be added with bright tiles, plants, pictures and towels.
Also don’t agree that a modern kitchen can’t have character. Mine is in between. I still have cookbooks, plants, pictures, baskets, probably not enough character for some but suits me.

I have recently had a kitchen makeover. It's not a big area within a dining/kitchen. White units with a muddy brown work to. The flooring of light porcelain tiles was in the original and was retained. Small breakfast bar area. The change was really due to units in the wrong place, and lack of light. I have to say I enjoy working in the new version compared to the awkward pretend oak style with loads of edges that drove me mad wiping to keep clean. The new kitchen was custom made by a local contractor. All the equipment was selected by us, the contractor ordering and even collecting from stores on our behalf. I have added a touch of colour with a terracotta coloured remote controled blind. I do agree though that a lot of kitchens shown in magazines and on tv shows do look clinical and cold. Yes I too am amazed at how some people seem to renovate a whole house with new central heating, kitchen, bathroom, double glazing, electrics, plastering for about £10k. Including equipment I paid £15k for a kitchen. Worth every penny.

I agree. I like painted Shaker style cupboards with pretty curtains etc. Not too much clutter, just enough to look cosy. I hate galley kitchens, it has to be square and accommodate a decent table and even a sofa. Islands I can take or leave as long as they don’t dominate the space and Agas, don’t even consider unless you also have a conventional oven. They’re really just for show these days, not like when they took care of the heating and hot water as well. Another thing I hate are stone flagged floors, I grew up in a farmhouse and they are cold, unforgiving and horrible to clean.

Yes GagJo it has become a sort of tyranny.
The open plan, plain walls, dreaded cream carpets or worse still “ tippy tappy” laminate flooring and ludicrously inadequate kitchen sinks unfit for purpose.
My current grrr is complicated bath taps and plugs and horrid flush buttons on toilets.
Also a bit fed up now with the ALL WHITE bathroom edict.
Some variety please?

I have a modern kitchen...shiny black doors which looked stunning in the showroom. What a nightmare they are to keep clean. I just want to have my old, dated kitchen units back much to my husband's disgust!

I had a modern kitchen diner in my previous house, it was a nightmare! It showed every finger mark, the floor cream tiles showed every footprint and dog hair. It felt cold and uninviting no matter how much we tried to warm it up.
There were no window sills to put photos, plants etc on as it had bifold doors all the way along one wall. When you wanted fresh air or it got too hot in there you had no window to open so had to open the door. The dog would escape to the garden which if it was wet out the wet was brought in! Also my friends toddler kept escaping out there too! Nice ideas? Definitely not practical in my experience and view!

Agreed, Quaver22. Hard to understand in a country when on so many days, you only have to look out of the window.
(Though it’s bright sunshine here today!)

From all I’ve read or heard lately, grey is very passé now, though.
Whatever the next decor trend is, that will also be passé in x years.

I prefer kitchens with character rather than the streamlined grey look that is popular. I have china and cookbooks on show....

I just can’t understand the obsession with the colour grey in home decor. I have recently decorated my bedroom and when I visited carpet showrooms I was amazed to find that about 70 per cent of the samples on show were various shades of grey.
To me it is the colour of fog and mice!

My friend and I used to cater for parties in our spare time. We once did a party for a local GP and his wife, They lived in a lovely old farmhouse with a huge kitchen, all custom built units, two ovens and a microwave all built in. My friend looked round the kitchen and said "No one actually does any cooking in here at all do they?" It was quite true, very attractive but nothing had ever been used.

Every time you look at an interiors trend or someone else’s house you will possibly question your own taste
I have learnt to not follow trends - this years yellow kitchen will be next years blue one - mine is totally white with white grey marble because I wanted light and bright streamlined and efficient storage etc. every time is see someone else kitchen I question my decision !

kittylester

I was reading the other day that wfh means people are looking for separate rooms now more than huge spaces.

Just depends on what other rooms are available, I suppose.

We have no dining-room btw, but very lucky to have a second large kitchen at the back (Ye Olde Parish room) and I cook there if we have visitors so our kitchen stays clean and tidy, but warm and welcoming.

Aveline

We had open plan sitting room/dining/kitchen when the children were young and I longed for separate spaces. Watching all these 'homes' programmes on TV I wonder if the fashion will swing back to more separate spaces and bossy Kirsty will have to be advising building walls rather than knocking them down?

I agree. It's a way of those living in small/medium houses to make believe they live in a much bigger house! But at what cost? I think th cure all knock it down mentality exposes a sheer lack of skill and planning and an inability to work within ones parameters.silly ideas for people who are always yearning for someone else's life? I wish this aspirational 'celebrity' culture would go, it makes for dissatisfaction with what we do have and can afford. Cuting cloth to fit is a long forgotten ethos and mores the pity.one of our DS spent over 55k extending a beautiful 30s huge semi to placate a demanding missus. Only to separate before the plaster was dry - literally! Lost most of the equity in the house so hobbling his recovery. The other one came to the feast with nil ,so she was quids in anyway. All fur coat and no taste! His current home is also gorgeous but him and partner #2s already now moaning about the "small" kitchen !! Which is only 3 years old!! I wouldn't mind but they live on meals out and order in!!!

I have never had a new kitchen installed. Whenever we've moved we have used the fittings that were there.
However was watching an Italian Christmas with Nigella and fell in love with her stainless steel setup. It looked silvery and beautiful.
Will buy some lottery tickets.

Sago our kitchen is very much like yours. We have similar sink, similar tv on the wall, similar cooker but ours is the induction version and yours look gas. We also have a large pine table with a mismatch of chairs down the other end of the kitchen. Our units are the reverse of yours as we have dark units and white worktops plus we have an island. I love our kitchen as it is both modern and cosy at the same time.

I do agree about open plan living. Having experienced both I am now happy to have separate rooms. We can eat in the kitchen when there are only two of us but use the dining room when we have guests. I prefer having a sitting room too, no cooking smells in the soft furnishings and no kettle boiling in the background while I’m weeping at a sad film or trying to
Hear the punchline of a good joke on tv.

Agree with you

Ours is a working kitchen and I love it. Not to everyone’s taste though but I dont care.

I did replace my cottage feel kitchen with a pure white high gloss jobby with fantastic plain surfaces easy to clean lots of clever storage in what's considered a small kitchen i.e. average 15x12 space! It's the easy cleaning I love cupboard go to the ceiling so no clutter or dirt shelf! No handles no dirt trap. It looks like a bomb's hit it whilst I'm preparing anything but the clean up is amazing. BUT I hate the way these programmes are rude enough to criticise and ridicule ANY style, each to her own I say. Usually the younger gens yet again thinking they reinvented the wheel. I've had German style country home for 45+ years. now I don't. I've morphed into a comfortable mid century style reminiscent of my childhood, and love it!

Well, my kitchen was renewed about 12 years ago. It’s definitely “Country Kitchen “ style. However, it was done on a very tight budget and I used 2nd hand units I bought on eBay. I was very determined that I wanted solid wood.
I was fortunate enough to find a “Smallbone” kitchen at a really cheap price. In my opinion the Creme de la Creme of kitchens. These units will last a lifetime. I did splash out on granite work tops though.

Yes, Aveline. Me too, as a newly wed. Looked gorgeous. All large white planes of walls with views from windows on all sides.

Also cooking smells throughout the house and nowhere to get away from each other or way to do contain the dog.

I love a new modern kitchen with an island. However if it was in a cosy cottage it wouldn’t work, so then the old fashioned farm house one, would be just as lovely.

When we moved here 20 years ago we pulled out a solid oak kitchen and replaced it with cheap tat. I dont know what came over us. The oak would still look good today, whereas the cheap tat needs replacing.