Do I have awful taste in kitchens.

These ultra modern kitchens are probably bought by the people that have their own website, full of photos of food that they probably didn't even cook but were downloaded from somewhere like Pixabay. I'm sure no actual cooking takes place in these kitchens. The kitchens like the one the OP speaks of, I would imagine, is very cosy. A place where the kids play or draw picture whilst sitting at a huge country style table. If I had a huge kitchen, I'd like it to be homely.

I don't understand the obsession with kitchen islands. And why have a kind-of breakfast bar with high stools when there's nearly always a perfectly good table close by as well? I'd far rather have a huge table in the middle of my kitchen than a bulky great immovable island.

having moved a lot and lived abroad I have had all sorts of kitchen in my time .In portugal I had marble floors and parquet , 2 different doors in and out of the kitchen. Very useful when I had a pancake party for about 20 people and they could come in one door and out the other as you tossed their pancakes and they choose their fillings. In damascus on a ground floor had metal cupboards to ensure no creatures could get into the food and a whole range in between. I have lived with whatever there was and organised it to suit me and only once had a kitchen with little or nothing in it . There I was able to kit it out with lovely wooden cupboard doors etc and bought it from some one who was "upgrading " their kitchen. It saved me a whole load of money, recycled perfectly good units and lasted for 20 years until I moved. The only time a kitchen made a difference was when we looked at a house and the bathroom was totally dark blue and the kitchen filled with bright orange cupboard doors. Couldnt face living with them , but they were perfectly serviceable and did not buy the house! I have cooked in earthquake areas where you had bottled gas (which would run out without in those days a warning whistle) provided meals for visitors when I had to have enough to feed 8 people with the equivalent of a baby belling cooker with bottled gas and at one time had to cook for a short time on a camping stove to provide all food for a family, and sailed quite a lot when the pressure cooker provided invaluable and safe cooking while at sea. Each to their own but I preferred to save my money for experiences and activities and not spend it on just the actual furniture of a kitchen. The thought of the landfill amounts with kitchen and bathroom changes every time a house changes hands is very sad to me. Set your kitchen up to provide you with the best working area you can and ignore what other people do. Your place , your choice.

noni123 yes, my type of kitchen! I especially like the French doors on to the garden.

Paperbackwriter

I don't understand the obsession with kitchen islands. And why have a kind-of breakfast bar with high stools when there's nearly always a perfectly good table close by as well? I'd far rather have a huge table in the middle of my kitchen than a bulky great immovable island.

I have an island with a breakfast bar at one end. I use it as a perch to sip my morning coffee and to eat a croissant while skimming GN on my phone or reading headlines on my tablet. I also check the post, write out recipes, pay bills and make calls while at the breakfast bar so I guess it kind of becomes a little paperwork station. It feels like a trendy coffee shop!
My hob is also cut into the island so I can watch the pots bubbling away while I sit there. I once had an island with the sink cut in it, but it was annoying to have the dirty dishes near my papers. I prefer to eat my meal at the proper dining table.

No table in my kitchen. Table in the dining room where we dine and sofas in the sitting room.
We do spend lots of time at our island, often perched with laptop or a board game. The grandchildren love it and call it grans bar.
Not for everyone obviously.
As long as we’re all happy with what we’ve got then it’s okay.

Sink not a problem Josiann as everything goes straight in to the dishwasher. Works for us.

Oh, oh...I think many of you would hate my kitchen. I've knocked through into an unused bedroom, it's a bungalow, so I can have french doors to the garden. The kitchen units are white and I have large larders down one side with eye level ovens built in, but I have painted teal around them to add a bit of colour. The worktops are grey and I've added a teal sofa, rug, etc down at the French doors beside the dining table. I'm sure a lot of you are hating the sound of it, but it suits me. I've had the country kitchens, etc as I moved every couple of years, I'm loving the clean lines of this one. Oh, I never did the island thing, it would be in the way for the dog who loves to charge from one end to the other so why stop her fun lol.

Now, dogs are a real problem in an open plan kitchen Alioop. From grubby paws scratching cupboards and worktops, to charging round like lunatics and shedding fur. My breakfast bar works a treat because I barricade the puppy the other side of the preparation and cooking area, then I pass the serving dishes across the counter to people the other side.
I like the sound of larder cupboards housing eye level ovens, but what do you do to incorporate the fridge if it is a different colour?

I live in a rented 1960’s bungalow and I don’t think the kitchen has ever been updated. It’s a museum piece but I quite like it. There is a pine ceiling and fake cork Lino floor. I have added a book case where I store beans, lentils etc in jars. There is a square IKEA table in the middle where I make bread etc. It has a very peasant like feel, but it is a proper working kitchen and I would feel a bit intimidated by some of these showroom kitchens.

I hate anything Grey in a house especially the new craze for grey front doors. Yuck

noni123

Zoejory

noni123, your kitchen is my kind of kitchen!

Thank you x
For anyone that is interested we had the 'Kitchen Sprayer' when we had the units repainted. This was quite inexpensive & we didn't even have to empty the cupboards or scrub them beforehand. We could have had any colour we liked. They were in and out in a day & we had a new kitchen!

Very interested in the Kitchen Sprayer - have messaged them! If you were to replace the worktops and tiles, would you do that before the respray?

I'm definitely in the "ecletic" camp. I tried to do the minimalist look when we moved in and hated it. Had the fitted kitchen ripped out. Totally understand its not for everyone but it's me .

Sounds lovely

I recently had my original late 50s kitchen replaced, and had a bonus little bit of extra space as a hot water tank was removed from the cupboard under the stairs. I'm really pleased with the outcome, not enough space for an island but room for a dishwasher and a tumble dryer which it didn't have before . It's a simple shaker style one, no built in appliances as I preferred to have a wider choice of what I got. Cream, simple shaker style cupboards with a sort of mottled dark textured counters, and led lights under the wall cupboards. A touch of colour in the tiles, sort of greeny, bluey, greyish, warm pale blue paint. The laminate flooring is pale greyish wood but it looks more silvery than grey. The cupboards remind me of a victorian kitchen in a house I lived in when I was a child, although the colours were slightly different
I'm pleased with it, I'd have b~n happy with wooden doors but to get the sort I'd have liked would have been a lot dearer
We need to be happy with our own kitchen

Hi glad that was a useful contact. I don't think it would really matter but have a chat with Michael at The Kitchen Sprayer . Ours was already insitu it's just that the painted cabinets we're getting a bit tired but I know they can spray unpainted kitchens as well We changed the colour but only slightly but as I said could have had anything. There are before & after samples on their site. Did'nt even have to clear the cupboards out. The only downside was the smell which hung around for a couple of days but the finished article was great-like I said a new kitchen at a fraction of the cost. Honestly couldn't recommend them enough-ours was done 3 years ago & it's still looking good.

Sorry that was for Kathy73

Josieann the fridge is integrated in the end larder. The dog and I spend the day in the kitchen, especially in the summer and then go into the sitting room in the evening. She's only a little dog and doesn't really bother when I'm cooking, etc she's too busy lying on her bed watching the birds in the garden. She's 8 yrs old though, it might be completely different if I had a young puppy.

Calistemon

noni123 yes, my type of kitchen! I especially like the French doors on to the garden.

Ahh thank you

I'd like to completely refigure ours but probably left it too late now for major upheaval.

My friend had moved 6 times to my one…. she always insists on new houses! Her latest and last move has given her ‘the kitchen of her dreams’ . It’s twice the size of my kitchen …which can only accommodate two people at most. No room for table or even a stool! But….. I have twice the cupboard space she has! She just doesn’t check out the details enough ….. for her , the bigger the kitchen the more storage. She’s annoyed that I’ve got two cupboards that are actually empty. Fashion blinds her and others to utility!

Beswitched, if you have bad tasting kitchens, then so do I. My cabinets are 70 years old and have been painted. I love them! I live in a house that has beams and a brick fireplace can beadboard, and I wouldn't change a thing. As I keep explaining to people who have suggestions about updating this and updating that: this is a cottage style home, it's our little Hobbit House. If we wanted something that was all gray and glass and marble, that's what we would have chosen. A kitchen like that would look utterly ridiculous in this type of home. This home has a charm that will long out last the latest trend in decorating.

If I had to buy a new kitchen (unlikely as I rent) I would want modern all the way. Don’t like wood or clutter and the laboratory look, I think, is clean and fresh looking. I can dream.

I agree Beswitched. I just bought yellow kettle, toaster ,bowl, fridge stickers trying to cosy up my rented flat's kitchen! It's not easy as everything in the shops/ online seems to be grey ,black or white !

I have a model n kitchen as its a new house. Yes its grey, I chose it no island but a large table and chairmen to the big fold doors. It's lovely to cook in which I do every day from fresh. We eat at the table every day breakfast and dinner, do crosswords and read . I sometimes use it as an office. It's modern but cosy...you can combine the two.