Oldest kitchen?

I lived in a rental house when I moved to New Zealand for very much longer than I had ever intended. I have since moved to a far nicer house with a delightful modern kitchen, complete with a full-length lighted pantry, corner cupboards with a lazy Susan in one and a splendid mobile quadruple rack in the other, a dishwasher, a sizeable sink, double oven, separate hob, efficient over-hob extractor, attractive tiled floor with under-floor heating and loads of cupboard space.

The house where I spent six years before the move towards the end of last year had a very small kitchen that was probably constructed in the 1950s or 1960s. The cupboards were not proper kitchen units but simply wooden cupboards – without adjustable shelves – built to fit the space. The cooker was rusting and I did manage to persuade the landlord to replace it – with cheapest model on the market. The extractor was a great heavy fan in a hole in the wall with no cover that terrified the life out of me every time I cleaned it. The flooring was badly damaged vinyl that was almost impossible to keep clean.

Given that I have spent a very large part of my life writing cookbooks, this travesty was not really a comfortable place to be.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202002/medium-718197-003.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202002/medium-491830-005.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202002/medium-429738-004.jpg

Grammaretto, that photo does ring a bell alright! This is the kitchen that I, thankfully, got rid of in 2017. The photos are from Christmas 2007.

Our kitchen was refurbished in 1997, but, I do have a Kenwood Chefette (sp?). that is over 40 years old, and still going strong(ish).
It will probably take umbrage and fade away now.

Moggie57 the National Trust might be interested in that kitchen! There’s a similar-sounding one in the Tenement House in Glasgow.
peoplemakeglasgow.com/things-to-do/museums-galleries/the-tenement-house

They still do those swing bins

I had a large Kenwood Chef years ago but gave it away when the DC left home, something I regret.

Does this take you back? It isn't mine but could have been. I found it on t'internet.

I even bought a Kenwood chef Callistemon at Oxfam (when they still sold electrical goods) but it got very hot on first use and smelled as though it was about to catch fire, so I returned it.

moggie a National Heritage!

I wish I'd waited and paid extra for a Kenwood, Grammaretto, mine's OK and a known make but it's definitely not a Kenwood.

The lovely new kitchen we fitted in our new-to-us house in about 1974 was the light blue Hygena formica with the aluminium strips.

Wow! moggie57 that must have been amazing to see.

I am sure it is still possible to buy really good kitchen equipment but it isn't easy. I have a completely useless cake mixer from Lidl because I couldn't afford a Kenwood.

Your white Hygena with aluminium strips made me chuckle callgirl

You can get new doors and worktops fitted if the basic units are still in reasonable condition Lesley

my aunt can beat you all she lives at banstead surrey ,and her fridge runs on gas,she has one of those green cookers ,everything is 1940's ,not a bit of modern day fittings at all.nothing electric ,everythingworks by hand or by gas., her living room has a old fashiioned fire/with cooking stove .needs blacking every so often.you can boil water in the side bit...all her home is 1940's .everything is recycled.was amazed when we visited her for the first time. she is one of my mums birth family.

still got original 60s kitchen, but want a new one. All I can say is thank heavens I've not got an 80s one I'm wanting to replace, at least it will only have been the one layout of money

We installed our kitchen shortly after moved into this house...about 18 years previously. I really did t want the upheaval of a new kitchen..but at 66 did t want to leave it too much longer as I knew it would t last another 20 years. I got quotes for new work surfaced and cupboard doors. In the end we had it dipped all out and started afresh. I’m delighted with the fabulous corner storage and pull out racks. I can fit all my appliance in...it was so worth the 3 week upheaval.

I meant to add, Grammaretto, your photo could have been my grandma`s range, but hers was in the front room. She reluctantly, in 1957, agreed to let my auntie have it taken out and replaced with one of the modern, at the time, tiled fireplaces. Her face was a picture of misery when it was being taken out, she winced with every creak as the workmen removed it!

We moved in here in August 1985, and the kitchen had been installed 7 years previously, just basic white Hygena with aluminium strips across the tops of doors instead of handles. I replaced it 2 and a half years ago.

Cost a lot more than I thought it would.

My kitchen was 36 years old, gutted& re fitted this year. Hob & oven had never replaced & still working other appliances replaced. Glad we did it looks lovely, cosy a lot more than I thought it would.

I get new cupboard doors and drawers. The worktops, sink, taps etc were all perfect. Well dare anyone not have used one of the toughened glass chopping boards.
Also new trims below the cupboards and new hinges. We had got 28 new handles last year and kept them.

It cost £1900 and was fitted by one man in a morning.

We didn’t completely empty the cupboards just removed what was at the front to allow access to the hinges.

Brilliant job. Dh reckons it will see us our day. !!

We had cheaper quotes but this company had come recommended.

Mine was installed in 1985, it had oak doors which were as new but the insides had almost disintegrated. I had painted the doors many times to try to update it and it looked terrible tbh. New one last year which I'm delighted with but took 6 weeks to install due to finding problems with the electrics and floor joists!

Weve been here 25 years. The kitchen was old when we moved in. This is the year we do it up!!

Me too Bijou

Can you get the cabinets refaced to freshen it up without a complete renovation?

We moved into this house in 1979 and had the kitchen redone then. Brown surfaces and yellow door fronts. Visiting York Castle museum recently, where they have historic interior set ups, we astounded to stand in front of the 1970s kitchen and see one identical to ours. Gave us the spur we needed to get the kitchen redone. Shouldn’t have waited so long!

I do have a walk-in larder which I could not do without

Serious Bijou!

Mine dates to mid 80s and my daughter thinks I should replace it. Doesn’t bother me, I’m not very domesticated, don’t cook much since my husband died and certainly don’t want a kitchen that looks like an operating theatre, scary stainless steel everywhere and the huge operating table in the middle!
It might be even older than that, the round pendant light over the round kitchen table, scene of many happy family meals, has come back into fashion?

Most of my kitchen units are the ones put in by the builder in 1966. They are made of wood. Thankfully I don’t have high wall units because I would not be able to reach them. I do have a walk-in larder which I could not do without.
When my mother at the age of 90 was moved into a sheltered accommodation bungalow she could neither reach the wall units or the bottom cupboards. Nice to look at but not practical.
These days a lot of people have posh kitchens but only use the microwave to heat ready meals.