kitchen confusion

Having lived in old houses before, we set out house hunting with certain proportions in mind, large rooms and high ceilings would fit the bill. But when we discovered our house the large kitchen was a massive selling point to both myself and Mark, and something that we didn't think that we would get, as most older houses like ours have narrow but long galley kitchens. So seeing past the badl fitted, cheap units we (I) started planning what we could do with the space. Three years in and we still have the same units in place (despite my many protestations) we have, however, painted the units and replaced the old work surface but we both feel that it is time to invest in the houses busiest room.

Mark and I love to rearrange our furniture and artwork quite a lot and like to have the opportunity to change them again if something doesn't work, so a fully fitted kitchen doesn't seem to fit the bill. Thankfully there are more and more freestanding kitchens coming to the market ... in fact so many that it is quite hard to choose, I'll be stuck with the old units for another three years if I don't narrow it down!

Here are my top three...

On a recent trip away I found myself in habitat (the first time for a while because I could spend a fortune in there) and there is was, stood proud in solid oak, the massello kitchen. The quality was brilliant, with everything that you would expect from a top of the range fitted kitchen.

But friends of ours have wooden work surfaces and struggle with the maintenance, I think that we would too as the space is used so much (and I'm a clumsy cook who tends to spill). I like the mixture of the gloss white and the wood of the ikea bravad kitchen, which may be easier to maintain in the long term, as units come with a choice of stainless steel or wooden tops.

But then the sheen of the stainless steel draws me to images of a more industrial looking space, I have seen many images where people have installed the ikea udden kitchen which look fantastic. Now I'm thinking that a mix of these units, along with a traditional wooden butchers block would look great in our space. I'm still confused!

Colour ... I'm loving the herbert cookware collection at habitat, designed by Annika Standsteth.