DIY Kitchens Fitted Office - Colours

[canalsiderenovation]

Me again!

 

Soooo, office design. We have looked at IKEA, Wickes, B&Q, DIY Homefit, Lark & Larks and DIY Kitchens and have got designs for all.

 

The quality and price for DIY kitchens is cheaper than all of the others and Howdens, even with my dad's trade account won't budge a penny! They have used base units and some dresser units to come up with something that works well for us and reduced height units.

 

And now, colours. The dresser has some open shelves so the carcass colour will be visible on these open shelves (bookcase like).

 

The design is based on a dark blue and we were sort of set on that but the carcass colour can't be blue and they recommended the graphite (very dark grey). The room isn't that big (2180*3630) and the floor is pretty close to the worktop colour (a grey/brown wood LVT). The walls are and will be staying white. (There is another base cupboard on the left hand of the plan and window you just can't see it) as it's hard for me to rotate and crop it).

 

 

 

And to now throw two options into mix:

 

Option 2: Wood worktop, darker grey carcass and open shelves, cornflower blue doors.

 

 

Option 3: Wood worktop, lighter grey carcass and open shelves, cornflower blue doors. I don't know if this is a bit wishy washy with the light grey especially as our walls are white so if the open shelves will look a bit dirty.

 

 

 

[gaz_moose]

will you be able to see the carcasses through the gaps in the doors? 

[canalsiderenovation]

32 minutes ago, gaz_moose said:

will you be able to see the carcasses through the gaps in the doors? 

 

Not really, like kitchen cupboards but you will see inside those tall ones on the right and left as they are open shelves with no doors. Whatever is on there will be the same for all carcasses.

[Adsibob]

@canalsiderenovation are you planning on sitting on stools for your office setup? That is really not great from an ergonomic perspective. You really want a proper desk height (which I think is around 75), or a standing desk (which depending on height is around 110-116). Those stools look like they are up against a 90-93 kitchen counter, which is really just not going to be comfortable at all.

i also think that desk alcove is quite narrow. How much space will each alcove be?

Edited March 11, 2022 by Adsibob

[canalsiderenovation]

25 minutes ago, Adsibob said:

@canalsiderenovation are you planning on sitting on stools for your office setup? That is really not great from an ergonomic perspective. You really want a proper desk height (which I think is around 75), or a standing desk (which depending on height is around 110-116). Those stools look like they are up against a 90-93 kitchen counter, which is really just not going to be comfortable at all.

i also think that desk alcove is quite narrow. How much space will each alcove be?

 

No, we won't have stools DIY kitchens put them on as an asthetic finish! They are using reduced height base units of 575 plus 100 legs (adjustable) so the joiner can shave down the 150 plinth and 40 worktop = 71.5cm. Actually 75cm is more for people of 6ft + high. We'd be more like 66cm ideally as we are both lacking in the height department! https://ergodesks.co.uk/blogs/news/what-height-should-my-desk-be

 

I measured the current desk (a cheap Argos one) and it's 71 high which is what we currently use (or the dining table which is marginally higher) so I think the base units will be fine.

 

Here's the plan.

 

The desk alcove for each will be more as we are changing the middle unit from 400 to 300 so I'd guess 900ish each. The middle one is for support of the worktop really. We would prefer not to have it but I think the 3630 worktop will need some sort of support. We both work from laptops and we will have the other length under the window of worktop if needed (my other half has long sheets of A4 plans paper so she frequently moves from a desk and lays them out along the kitchen worktop instead so that's why the extra worktop space under the window is useful)! We also need the storage below....

[ProDave]

Interesting idea to use kitchen units for an office.

 

Will you find the 600mm deep worktops adequate?  My office desk is more like 800mm deep and I would not want it any less than that.

[Adsibob]

28 minutes ago, canalsiderenovation said:

 

No, we won't have stools DIY kitchens put them on as an asthetic finish! They are using reduced height base units of 575 plus 100 legs (adjustable) so the joiner can shave down the 150 plinth and 40 worktop = 71.5cm. Actually 75cm is more for people of 6ft + high. We'd be more like 66cm ideally as we are both lacking in the height department! https://ergodesks.co.uk/blogs/news/what-height-should-my-desk-be

 

I measured the current desk (a cheap Argos one) and it's 71 high which is what we currently use (or the dining table which is marginally higher) so I think the base units will be fine.

 

Here's the plan.

 

The desk alcove for each will be more as we are changing the middle unit from 400 to 300 so I'd guess 900ish each. The middle one is for support of the worktop really. We would prefer not to have it but I think the 3630 worktop will need some sort of support. We both work from laptops and we will have the other length under the window of worktop if needed (my other half has long sheets of A4 plans paper so she frequently moves from a desk and lays them out along the kitchen worktop instead so that's why the extra worktop space under the window is useful)! We also need the storage below....

That all makes good sense. What Material worktop are you going for?

[canalsiderenovation]

7 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Interesting idea to use kitchen units for an office.

 

Will you find the 600mm deep worktops adequate?  My office desk is more like 800mm deep and I would not want it any less than that.

 

I think so, to be honest our current desk is 800mm and it's a pain as our plugs are on the wall (we had them put high rather than lower for practical reasons of having things on the desk) and I hate having to stretch over to try and reach them and both of us being small in height the 800mm does our head in! 

 

Working with kitchen units has its limitations in the availability of unit designs but DIY kitchens have been amazing. Things like the corner one aren't available online at the reduced height but they are doing it for us. The units on the desk are dressers with the single drawer at the bottom and 300mm in depth but good for what we need and books etc. 

[canalsiderenovation]

13 minutes ago, Adsibob said:

That all makes good sense. What Material worktop are you going for?

 

Only a laminate, we weren't set specifically on worktops from DIY kitchens but we had lots of samples from different places as we needed a 4m worktop on one side to avoid a join so that limited options. In the end this one was a close match to our flooring https://www.hcsupplies.co.uk/product/laminate-worktops/duropal-wellington-oak-2050mm-x-600mm-x-40mm 

 

We then realised it was cheaper and also available at DIY kitchens. We may have an od bits left about 500mm so perhaps a shelf for a plant or something....  

 

We are trying to avoid it looking too kitcheny. I think we may go for Option 2.

Edited March 11, 2022 by canalsiderenovation

[AccidentalSkydiver]

On 11/03/2022 at 20:45, canalsiderenovation said:

 

I think so, to be honest our current desk is 800mm and it's a pain as our plugs are on the wall (we had them put high rather than lower for practical reasons of having things on the desk) and I hate having to stretch over to try and reach them and both of us being small in height the 800mm does our head in! 

 

Working with kitchen units has its limitations in the availability of unit designs but DIY kitchens have been amazing. Things like the corner one aren't available online at the reduced height but they are doing it for us. The units on the desk are dressers with the single drawer at the bottom and 300mm in depth but good for what we need and books etc. 

This is a 2.1m x 620mm long desk.. I'm at it 90% of my (working) day... and 70% of my non-working day, I have plenty of space for all kinds of crap on there (including the brush I used to quickly sweep all the crap off it before this photo...). Monitor is a 34" UWHD screen for reference in size... and we've still got plenty of space

Had an IKEA 800mm deep desk before, it was flush with the wall on the crap legs it came with and but it was made of cardboard inside so I couldn't even drill through it for a cable tidy 🙄 - think 620mm with cable pockets is more than adequate- I personally wouldn't need 200mm more imo 

edit: 2nd pic shows full length of the desk while I was still decorating, filling holes in the crap wall and changing plug facia plates 😁 

 

edit edit: Should add, this was a 38mm thick (I think) Melamine coated worktop from B&Q.. back batton is a 30x30 1.8m batton secured to the wall, then this on top.. total build was <60quid with legs, then there was some 90mm cable tidy holes 38p each off ebay. I can put coffee cups and stuff on it without worrying it will ever stain or peel with moisture

Edited March 17, 2022 by AccidentalSkydiver

[canalsiderenovation]

23 hours ago, AccidentalSkydiver said:

This is a 2.1m x 620mm long desk.. I'm at it 90% of my (working) day... and 70% of my non-working day, I have plenty of space for all kinds of crap on there (including the brush I used to quickly sweep all the crap off it before this photo...). Monitor is a 34" UWHD screen for reference in size... and we've still got plenty of space

Had an IKEA 800mm deep desk before, it was flush with the wall on the crap legs it came with and but it was made of cardboard inside so I couldn't even drill through it for a cable tidy 🙄 - think 620mm with cable pockets is more than adequate- I personally wouldn't need 200mm more imo 

edit: 2nd pic shows full length of the desk while I was still decorating, filling holes in the crap wall and changing plug facia plates 😁 

 

edit edit: Should add, this was a 38mm thick (I think) Melamine coated worktop from B&Q.. back batton is a 30x30 1.8m batton secured to the wall, then this on top.. total build was <60quid with legs, then there was some 90mm cable tidy holes 38p each off ebay. I can put coffee cups and stuff on it without worrying it will ever stain or peel with moisture

 

I can't see your pictures but we ordered today from DIY kitchens. Minor adjustment to the wood laminate colour of the worktop but we are sorted and looking forward to having the storage too. It wasn't cheap but it does give us all the space we need. I'll update at the end of April when it's all in.

[canalsiderenovation]

So thought I'd update. We went for a slightly different worktop and the cornflower blue handleless doors ordered from DIY kitchens. We are happy with the quality but hell would freeze over before I ordered from them again. Ridiculous delivery charges and delivery arrangements and almost everything was damaged and had to be replaced including both the 2m and 4m worktops and not to mention items missing (still waiting on a replacement end panel). We had shelves that couldn't be lined up inside as holes had been drilled wonky and even feet put on the top of units rather than bottom!

 

We have ample space for us both (from laptops) to work and oodles of storage which we really needed. The joiner was great and we managed to use remains of some damage doors for shelves (brackets purchased seperately). It wasn't cheap but we were able to get exactly what we wanted storage and workspace, something we would have struggled to get from stand alone furniture. 

 

 

 

Just waiting for some office chairs to be delivered which match our navy Luxaflex blind and we are still sorting through things.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by canalsiderenovation
Typo

[canalsiderenovation]

The worktop is laminate and Duropal vi Diy kitchens - we got an almost identical match the for the LVT flooring and they did a 4m length (one side is just over 3.6m so we needed a longer length). The worktops were a lot cheaper than anywhere else getting them from DIY kitchens.

[SteamyTea]

Not sure what sort of work you do at home.

Guessing not film and video editing.

Map of the world is good.

I like the ones with lots of pink on them.

Edited May 16, 2022 by SteamyTea

[canalsiderenovation]

3 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

Not sure what sort of work you do at home.

Guessing not film and video editing.

Map of the world is good.

I like the ones with lots of pink on them.

 

Not my strength 😁

 

I love the map, it was from Ikea many years ago. I've resisted temptation to stick pins in it to mark the 75ish countries we have visited. 

[SteamyTea]

1 minute ago, canalsiderenovation said:

I've resisted temptation to stick pins in it

Was compulsory to do that in my office.  Became a talking point.

[canalsiderenovation]

1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

Was compulsory to do that in my office.  Became a talking point.

 

It's canvas and I think it would rip! I do have one of those scratch map thingsy which I like. @SteamyTeaheres something to get your brain working https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/