Kitchens

[Macs]

We are renovating a house and are now looking at kitchen options. There seem to be 3 ways forward:
- local carpenter and builder put in cupboards/shelves and we get a marmista to make a counter top (probably good value, but the result may be abit harder to use than a traditional fitted kitchen and it will be harder to get all the individuals to work in tandem managing the process remotely from the UK as we are)
- local kitchen supplier (lots of lovely designs but expensive and tough to agree design when we are in the UK and our Italian is still limited
- use an Italian supplier with a UK contact (makes design and communications easy but looks like a very expensive option)

What have others done? Any helpful hints?

Worried cook

[AllanMason]

Originally Posted by Macs

What have others done?

We bought a kitchen from Ikea in Ancona, had it delivered and installed it ourselves. The appliances we bought from local shops.

It suits us fine, but it won't feature in any of those "Living In Italy" house style books and I'm sure some would say it was outrageous of us not to use local tradesmen who would have made us accept the sort of kitchen which they know a house in Italy should have.

Al

[Angie and Robert]

We did the same as Allan , and the kitchen looks good, we also bought the appliances locally from Euronics near to Fermo. Just from my experience though, we had the kitchen "fitted" by Ikea, surly workmen, missing parts, and it was our electrician who sussed out how to fit the fridge door behind its panelling (was beyond Ikea fitter). Oh and dont buy a brushed steel hob is really difficult to clean, and looks smeary unless buffed up with a dry cloth.
Ikeas planning for the units within the space available was spot on, but you need to arrive when the store opens to enable you to get the undivided attention of the helpful assistants.
I think Ikea works best when you can mix it with other styles, or with favourite stuff you have bought locally or from "home", I think you need to dilute the style, it then appears for me to fit in with a more italian setting, but I guess my style is a bit rustic for some tastes, and I dont like the fitted kitchen look, maybe if your kitchen is big enough you could add a really lovely wooden table and some free standing units?
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[Bruno]

Macs - Are you working with a geometra or builder as they should have good local sources. Also depending on where you are in Le Marche there are a lot of local suppliers/fitters for kitchens with showrooms where you can see how they may look. As you note sometimes there are too many options to try and narrow down your choices.

[Mrs Z]

Hi,
We got designs & estimates from 2 local suppliers and eventually chose one of them. They also fitted the kitchen for us. All was done in our absence (we live in UK too), but supervised by our a 'project manager'. Language was not a problem as husband speaks italian.
I'm not sure what your budget is, but I'm sure it would be possible to find somebody local who speaks both italian and english and could supervise the work for you. It will of course add to the cost, but then one always pays a bit extra for 'convenience'. Our kitchen is very basic and small, and we are very happy with both units and the workmanship.

[jepsonclough]

Hi
Don't know where you are but we have ordered our kitchen from marni in Servigliano - it's made by a company called Gatto which are local to Le Marche (unlike Ikea!) - very wide choice of both traditional and ultra modern. We have gone fro ultra modern with granite worktops and were very impressed with the price and quality in the showroom) - our house isn't white finished yet so kitchen hasn't gone in but should be in in the next month or so. They came out and did the measuring and design and will be installing it. We have bought appliances from Eletro Idea in Comunanza which was recommended on the forum and by people locally (our lawyer insisted on coming in with us even though we had been before!) - they have the very good prices and a wide range of types of appliances from lots of suppliers. They also have things on special offer - we have bought a fridge freezer with a slight scratch (on the side that will be against the wall so it won't notice) for about 60% of the list price.

Chris

[Macs]

Thanks very much - feel free to say no, but could ask you what your overall budget was (with fitting and appliances) and how big your kitchen is, as we are trying to work out, broadly, how much more or less the different options are.

Thanks

Annie

[Sally Donaldson]

I looked up Gatto. Very nice units Chris - http://www.gattocucine.com

[timwills]

we have done 2 kitchens, like most others we got the appliances separately.
we were warned against fitted fridges as the lifespan is reduced by about 5 years (to about a year after the guarantee runs out!!!)

the local supplier in Marina Altidona did both, the more expensive from Febal, the units were about €3000 (for 5 metres) the top class worktop another 1000 and the machines are Bosch and Franke, which added another 1,500, but it is really top notch.
The other kitchen (which we did first) was €2,500 for 4 m ex-machines but including a more basic worktop....

the supplier advised, revised and fitted and we are very happy with both

[Macs]

Is your local supplier the huge shop on the coast road? If not can you advise where it is as it sounds like a good place.

Thanks