Kitchen dilemma. Will I won’t I ?

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ah well

yes, love those cupboards Norah.

paddyann54

I've never paid 30k for a kitchen in my life ,we buy direct from suppliers and fit them ourselves last one was @ 4k.
During covid all our neighbours landscaped their gardens,costing in excess of £8-10 k and twice that in one case .
We did our own,just my OH and me ,cut down 20 odd 15 foot tall Leylandii, well I cut off all the branches with secateurs and OH cut down the trunks with a chainsaw and we built a new 8 foot fence ,built a 12 x10 shed from composite materials lined and insulated it ( no painting required) re roofed the other shed ,and landscaped the garden with new, built by us,planters and plants .Its beautiful ,according to the stream of neighbours who have popped in for a nosy and it cost us @£3 k in all .Took 8 days for the trees and fence and a week for the sheds.
I did say it needn't cost the earth Fleur all the OP needs is someone to build the kitchen if she buys it off the shelf.
We have always been fortunate to be fit enough and to enjoy DIY

We must be real cheap-skates!

We landscaped our own garden, DH built little walls, extended the patio, built fences, terraced it, we still have the same kitchen, some old furniture, some inherited.

I think Fleurpepper used the term 'cost the earth' in its other, environmental, meaning, but if your old kitchens and furniture have been recycled, re-used then that's fine.

Norah

None of you have old, non insensible wood cabinets, as this, in your kitchens. I'm content. We really are all different.

I think non insensible means sensible 😁

I'd keep them!

Did wonder about that lol

Irreplaceable?

Stupid auto-correct.

What is non insensible? I've no idea and I'm reading my own words.

Norah, love your cupboards!

Norah those are stunning

Oops that went too quickly, Now widowed, not so much happens in it. Much prefer to spend any extra monies on trips which don’t cut into life savings.
The best meals come out of the worst kitchens design wise which are often full of character.

Norah 'I'd imagine there is not a person here who would live over 60 years in their GPs (and GGPs really) old home whilst only adding on and never fitting a whole new kitchen.'

we re not talking about 60 years here (although that would be about right for our kitchen here) - but every 6 years- again and again. It does not make any sense to me- and this is the subject of the OP. My opinion, my reasons- it is a discussion.

None of you have old, non insensible wood cabinets, as this, in your kitchens. I'm content. We really are all different.

I've never paid 30k for a kitchen in my life ,we buy direct from suppliers and fit them ourselves last one was @ 4k.
During covid all our neighbours landscaped their gardens,costing in excess of £8-10 k and twice that in one case .
We did our own,just my OH and me ,cut down 20 odd 15 foot tall Leylandii, well I cut off all the branches with secateurs and OH cut down the trunks with a chainsaw and we built a new 8 foot fence ,built a 12 x10 shed from composite materials lined and insulated it ( no painting required) re roofed the other shed ,and landscaped the garden with new, built by us,planters and plants .Its beautiful ,according to the stream of neighbours who have popped in for a nosy and it cost us @£3 k in all .Took 8 days for the trees and fence and a week for the sheds.
I did say it needn't cost the earth Fleur all the OP needs is someone to build the kitchen if she buys it off the shelf.
We have always been fortunate to be fit enough and to enjoy DIY

I’ve never desired a ‘dream’ kitchen. It’s just a place for me to pop in and out of (mostly out…)
It was bespoke, not wood and my daughter thinks I should upgrade. New blinds and new flooring is as far as I’ve gone. I remember the awful upheaval when it went in maybe 40 years ago, don’t fancy that now as it’s reasonably large with lots of cupboard space.

Oh dear!

Everyone spends differently and watches their carbon footprint in ways that are not embraced by all. Like everything: to each their own.

We love river cruises and we fly. We would never put our petrol guzzler 4x4 car on a filthy ocean ferry on our way over to ski. Others would stay in the UK. Fine by me. Paddyann likely doesn't fly all round, she has new kitchens fitted - so what?

I'd imagine there is not a person here who would live over 60 years in their GPs (and GGPs really) old home whilst only adding on and never fitting a whole new kitchen. Knitted floors, mismatched cabinets and worktops.

We're content. I'm even happy with our carbon footprint.

Must be arguing Sunday! I'm sorry paddyann.

If paddyann's old kitchens are passed on and recycled then fair enough.

No-one would want our old, solid wood kitchen so it would probably go into a skip and landfill ☹

I think that paddyann has a point though - we all have different ways of limiting our carbon footprints. I will never forget someone I know posting on FB about non-vegans being cavalier with the Earth's resources when she was running a yoga retreat on Bali and flying to and from the UK several times a year. There is a lot of hypocrisy sometimes, and we have to make our own choices based on what is important to us.

It does remind me that, we try to teach children about environmental cost at school. So when we teach about animal habitats that leads to why those habitats may be lost, what they are being lost too and what they can personally do to make a difference... which leads to much less wasted paper in classrooms

It is always something worth considering when we plan changes

Fleurpepper. It is the environmental cost that would inhibit me from changing my kitchen too often.

We put a new kitchen when we moved to our current house, the pevious one was 30 years old, and we didn't change it for 20 years.

I do think, generally, not any case in particular, that as with clothes and everything else we should consider the environmental costs of our home renovations and refurnishings.

I'm starting to feel guilty for even thinking about changing my kitchen now but the current one is 25 years old - I know as we put it in when we moved in.

I also think that if you have a massive space you can accommodate new inventions as they come along, but kitchens didn't used to have freezers, dishwashers etc - even fridges - so really old ones only go on forever if you are prepared to forego appliances which nowadays are considered standard.

Mine is a reasonable size, but the position of doors and windows means that I don't have a lot of choices when it comes to layout, and I want to preserve the 'triangle' of fridge, sink and cooker that might be more difficult in a traditional non-fitted kitchen in which you could add large white goods wherever there is a socket. This means moving things about to get the most practical use of the space.

I was in a similar position OP. Didn’t want to alter the layout of the kitchen and the cupboard carcasses were fine. So, I had the doors, trims & plinths replaced by a company called ‘Dream Doors’. It cost a fraction of a new kitchen and was done in 2 days. Really pleased with the outcome - looks like a new kitchen!

My comment was not 'personal'- but a general remark about the principle of chainging kitchens regularly- in your case, every 6 years. I did try to curb what I was going to say- but will say it now- I do think this is madness. My opinion, my choice.

Fleurpepper

paddyann54

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and ours is replaced every few years ,if its important to you, do it,Look at Ikea for a reasonably priced range and maybe your family could build and fit it .It needn't cost the earth

Sorry, but find this quite 'shocking' - what do you mean by 'every few years?' - the cost is phenomenal, but the environmental issues are even bigger. Sorry- but really made me jump.

What do you mean by 'not cost the earth'?

Aveline you didn't think THIS was rude ? I dont pass judgement on what other people spend their money on why do they and you think its OK for Fleur to criticise my spending?

I’ve lived in my house for nearly 50 years. The first ‘fitted’ kitchen was hardly that: just a few melamine cupboards. The tiles are terrazzo and actually quite good but I keep hoping they’ll come back into fashion one day. We had a new kitchen fitted @ 30 years ago. Solid wood doors but the sort of pine that yellows with age. The worktops are beige and stain horribly. The extractor fan over the cooker is very dated. It was the first thing in the house that my ex allowed someone else to fit: prior to that he did everything himself which took weeks, months, sometimes years. I’ve never forgotten the thrill of having a whole new kitchen in just one week! Annoyingly the wooden doors had pretend woodworm chiselled into them to make them look dated so I can’t really paint them! Although the doors are solid wood, the sides of the cupboards are synthetic… not sure how they’d paint. Like Fleurpepper I’m afraid I think twice about replacing anything if I can avoid it. I save all sorts of things and when the wonderful village handyman fixes or refits anything he’ll go through what I’ve got to see what we can reuse. I’m also having a guilt trip about paint that I’ve had to throw away and my new resolve is to be more careful when buying and storing paint. As with the fashion industry decorating is causing a lot of pollution. It’s fine if things are passed on but it’s heartbreaking to see things just thrown into skips: that happened to an empty house in my street. A van turned up one day and took loads of stuff away. We all said ‘bet that ends up in a ditch somewhere’.

Of course it is none of my business- but this is a conversation, and you volunteered the information about having new kitchens regularly. And it did made me think. 5 kitchens at about 30.000 - that is a LOT of money, for most people.

How do you 'pass on a kitchen'- I'd be interested to know.

Your money, of course- but I reserve the right to comment- on an open Forum- that I personally think it is just incredible- 6 years per kitchen, at that huge cost. My opinion, my choice ;)

Well that's you told Fleurpepper! In her inimitable 'charming' way.
I'm tempted to say 'calm down' paddyann but I suspect she'd combust!

Fleurpepper Not that its any of your business but the longest we;ve had a kitchen is around 7 years .I DONT THROW ANYTHING AWAY! Neither do I sell them they get passed on the same as all the other furniture etc that I also change regularly.My money MY choice ,I dont fly or cruise around the world and like to keep my home modern and fresh ...oops in between new furniture the house is usually redecorated from top to bottom.
Been in this house 33 years had 5 kitchens ,the recipients of all the stuff we change are all very happy to have it and often ask if we're due a refurb for the next stuff .
How is your carbon footprint working out?