ᐅ Kitchen – handleless, or better with handles after all? And would you prefer a stone countertop?
Created on: 6 Jun 2018 00:42
A
Arifas
Hello,
I have an appointment at our kitchen studio tomorrow morning and want to finalize our kitchen design. We chose a handleless front in a light concrete look.
Now I’m wondering if handleless is really a good idea?! We have a bunch of kids, and I’m concerned they’ll never know which side to open the tall cabinets from, which might result in the whole kitchen constantly being sticky and dirty.
Does anyone have experience with handleless fronts?
Regarding the countertop: I would like the sink to be flush-mounted. Is that only possible with a stone countertop? I actually find stone too cold and “loud” when placing items on it.
The extractor hood is supposed to be, unlike the picture, one mounted on the ceiling that doesn’t hang down.
I’m attaching some pictures...
I have an appointment at our kitchen studio tomorrow morning and want to finalize our kitchen design. We chose a handleless front in a light concrete look.
Now I’m wondering if handleless is really a good idea?! We have a bunch of kids, and I’m concerned they’ll never know which side to open the tall cabinets from, which might result in the whole kitchen constantly being sticky and dirty.
Does anyone have experience with handleless fronts?
Regarding the countertop: I would like the sink to be flush-mounted. Is that only possible with a stone countertop? I actually find stone too cold and “loud” when placing items on it.
The extractor hood is supposed to be, unlike the picture, one mounted on the ceiling that doesn’t hang down.
I’m attaching some pictures...
Arifas schrieb:
We did a lot of calculations, made some changes, and now the stone countertop comes at an additional cost of about 800 instead of 3500 euros. Hmm, don’t you get the feeling you’ve been taken for a ride? I mean, negotiating from 3500 down to 800, almost an 80% discount??? How can that be serious? Okay, XXXL Lutz, I take back the “serious” comment [emoji6] I’m just saying offsetting accounts... [emoji849]
Anyway, enjoy the kitchen a lot!
Stone countertop: how does it hold up against natural acids, red wine, and hygiene in general? I seem to remember that due to its open pores, stone isn’t exactly top-notch in terms of hygiene. Stainless steel > laminate/surfacing material > stone > solid wood, if I remember correctly...
What do you mean by XXXL Lutz? What is that?
No, the price didn’t go down through negotiation. We cut out quite a few things we didn’t really need. Didn’t I mention that above? We replaced the very high-end lighting with standard options, switched to a cheaper model for the extractor hood, removed the second oven but kept space to install one if needed, changed from handleless to handles, got a different cooktop, and so on.
I don’t care about the open pore finish. I prefer a flush-mounted sink and don’t mind if water stands on the countertop sometimes.
Ruppsn, now that I’m reading your post again, it somehow sounds sarcastic to me. I don’t understand.
I’m glad we finally got the countertop at our target price, and compared to others, I think the price is fair. We have compared offers from 4 kitchen studios plus Ikea by now. And lower-priced appliances bringing the price down isn’t a “rip-off,” is it? It’s actually nice to find something within your budget where everything you want is included in the price.
No, the price didn’t go down through negotiation. We cut out quite a few things we didn’t really need. Didn’t I mention that above? We replaced the very high-end lighting with standard options, switched to a cheaper model for the extractor hood, removed the second oven but kept space to install one if needed, changed from handleless to handles, got a different cooktop, and so on.
I don’t care about the open pore finish. I prefer a flush-mounted sink and don’t mind if water stands on the countertop sometimes.
Ruppsn, now that I’m reading your post again, it somehow sounds sarcastic to me. I don’t understand.
I’m glad we finally got the countertop at our target price, and compared to others, I think the price is fair. We have compared offers from 4 kitchen studios plus Ikea by now. And lower-priced appliances bringing the price down isn’t a “rip-off,” is it? It’s actually nice to find something within your budget where everything you want is included in the price.
Ypg, yes, you’re probably right about the doors [emoji23]. But if, for example, they have to unload the dishwasher, they definitely won’t find the right drawers [emoji23]. That risk is too high for me. Besides, we often have visitor children who sometimes help set the table, etc. In that case, “normal” handles are probably easier. Even if the other option is probably more stylish [emoji41].
@ruppsen: I just want to clarify what I meant earlier about needing to “save” something. That wasn’t clear enough. But I don’t mean to compromise on quality. Or maybe just a little bit. Mainly, it’s about checking again whether every single fancy feature in the kitchen is really necessary, to see if there’s potential to save without regrets. And that has worked well so far—the friendly kitchen consultant actually spent two hours going through catalogs with me, looking for cheaper options that still meet our requirements.
Regarding the wide oven: since I really want it to be built in at eye level, that wasn’t possible at the kitchen studio. So far, though, a standard oven has been working well. For example, we need to bake three pizza trays one after another, which really isn’t a problem.
@ruppsen: I just want to clarify what I meant earlier about needing to “save” something. That wasn’t clear enough. But I don’t mean to compromise on quality. Or maybe just a little bit. Mainly, it’s about checking again whether every single fancy feature in the kitchen is really necessary, to see if there’s potential to save without regrets. And that has worked well so far—the friendly kitchen consultant actually spent two hours going through catalogs with me, looking for cheaper options that still meet our requirements.
Regarding the wide oven: since I really want it to be built in at eye level, that wasn’t possible at the kitchen studio. So far, though, a standard oven has been working well. For example, we need to bake three pizza trays one after another, which really isn’t a problem.
Arifas schrieb:
So, the appointment was successful. We did some back-and-forth calculations, made changes, and now the stone countertop comes with an additional cost of about 800 euros instead of 3500 euros. It’s a black one with a wavy surface. We decided against the handleless fronts and are now going with regular handles. You can immediately see in which direction the cabinet opens, which I find more practical for us. The final price is yet to be confirmed. We have had a handleless kitchen in high-gloss white with a quartz countertop for almost three years, and cleaning has never been easier—no handles to get in the way. I clean the surfaces with just water and a sponge, then dry with a microfiber cloth, and it’s done.
Opening the drawers and doors is intuitive as well. You reach into the upper drawers from the top and the lower ones from the bottom. The wall cabinets work the same way—you have a recessed grip that lets you open the door either to the left or to the right only.
Arifas schrieb:
What do you mean by XXXL Lutz? What is that?
No, the price didn’t go down by negotiating. We removed quite a few things we didn’t really need. I already mentioned that above, didn’t I? The super high-end lighting was replaced with standard ones, we chose a more affordable model for the extractor hood, removed the second oven but left space to install one later if needed, switched from handleless to handles, changed the cooktop, and so on.
...
Ruppsn, now that I’m reading your post again, it sounds kind of sarcastic to me. I don’t get it.
I’m glad we still managed to get the countertop at our target price, and in comparison, I think the price is fair. We have compared four kitchen studios plus Ikea by now. And cheaper appliances lowering the price isn’t “a rip-off,” is it? It’s great when you find something within your budget that includes everything you want. You completely misunderstood me, probably because of my somewhat awkward phrasing.
Somehow, when reading about the XXL appliances, one of my brain cells went on vacation and I was mentally at Lutz instead. The fact that downsizing made the stone countertop possible didn’t register with me at first. Now it makes sense, and I have no objections to that. By the way, the congratulations and wishing you lots of fun with your kitchen were sincere. But I understand how my clumsy wording might have been interpreted differently, like you did. It’s definitely a frustrating feeling when you’re happy that the desired stone countertop could be made possible, and then something that sounds negative or grumpy shows up. Sorry, that wasn’t my intention. Let me try again: good decision and enjoy your new kitchen [emoji1303][emoji4]
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