Curved Island

BobbiB

Hi
We are currently in the process of renovating an old house and as part of the new kitchen i would love a curved island as a feature, the house is being turned from an early 70s bungalow to a dormer modern house. I'm just wondering if anyone else has gotten this in their kitchen, i reckon it could be very expensive so was thinking maybe of just curving the work top?? Any help etc would be greatly appreciated as i'm totally new at this

KevArno

It really depends on your budget and the idea you have. You should really take this into a bespoke manufacturer or joiner. You would be surprised how cheap you can get some lovely custom made work for.
One idea, to keep costs down would be to only curve one side. (ie less of a C shape, more of a D), that way you can have storage one side, and curve the back, where you could have seating. This curve could then be done with a flixi MDF or ply and so would be easily done.

By the way, I really really really hate the idea of using straight doors to step out a curve with a curved worktop overhead. It always looks terrible and cheap. If you cant afford to curve the doors, then dont. And just use a curved back panel as I said above as a cheat to add your curve.

Just look at this for how not to do curves... http://www.osdoors.com/images/products/kitchen/gallery/bigger/34-Tuscany-Natural-Oak.jpg

All imho of course!

BobbiB

Thanks KevArno

One question can u make a curve out of high gloss panelling??

KevArno

Ah for some reason, on reading your first post I assumed it was a timber kitchen you were looking at. Using higloss doors makes things easier. You can do all sorts of curves in higloss, for relatively little cost.

First option is the Ultra range from Kitchen Stori. See the different colours here http://www.kitchenstori.com/matte-and-gloss
They do flexi mdf gloss panels for the backs of islands, and best of all, they also do concave as well as convex curved doors, so you can create all sorts of shapes. The doors are a lacquered finish, so it is a lovely smooth gloss.

Next option is Second Nature. They do the same idea, but with a PVC door. They will be considerably more expensive though, so I see no advantage in looking there.
Both of these companies have a large amount retailers nationwide. A quick google will tell you.

There is another option, which is a little more specialist. It is the parapan higloss acrylic door range. They are solid acrylic doors, and can be thermaformed (Heated and shaped) to any curve. The doors can also be cut to allow a finger groove at the top and so leaving the kitchen handless. The only supplier that I know off hand are Alwood in the north. They are a very high end company, so I wouldn't expect small prices.
http://www.alwood.co.uk/sorrento.html

BobbiB

Thanks so much for your help, I was browsing another forum and saw a pic that you posted of a kitchen and its a picture of the exact style kitchen I want, so just wondering where you are based? I am in Cork

KevArno

Sorry BibbiB, forgot to reply here. I'm based in Trim, Co. Meath, so it is a bit of a trek to Cork