With so many kitchen styles around these days it can seem like a daunting task deciding on which style to go for. The Handleless kitchen offers unique benefits that other designs cannot match. This guide aims to give you everything you need to know about Handleless kitchens, to help you make the best choice possible.
Why Buy A Handleless Kitchen
The Handless Kitchen has been around for some time now, once considered niche, its popularity seems to only be growing stronger and stronger. At Designer Kitchens for Less, we’re finding that 80-90% of our sales are Handleless kitchens, and this is only set to continue.
The nation seems to have fallen in love with Handleless kitchens, and with good reason! As more people go for a more minimalistic styled kitchen with clean sleek lines , Handleless has become the design of choice. Available in a large range of finishes: gloss, matt or wood in a wide spectrum of colours, this design can be easily adapted to accommodate all tastes.
The Handless design is a very popular choice for open plan living spaces and very often-using two contrasting colours for doors and worktops. When you want to achieve an open and airy feel to your kitchen, Handleless kitchens are perfect.
The True Handleless Kitchen
It seems that every kitchen retailer is selling Handleless kitchens, but what is the difference between them all? How do you know what is worth the money?
There are two types of Handleless kitchens: True Handleless kitchens and everything else. We only sell the True Handleless Kitchens here, which our German supplier has engineered to a fine art.
If you go to your local Homebase or B&Q, you’ll often find that their Handleless kitchens are built using the ‘J’ grip (see image below). These grips only leave a shallow channel to grab onto, often making then annoying for larger hands or anyone with long nails. Also, the material which is left behind the channel is much thinner than the rest of the door, this means that it is susceptible to cracking or splitting.
The True Handleless kitchen units are different, instead of the ‘handle’ being built into the door, a channel is attached to the carcase to allow the door to be opened from the top or the side. The channel that runs along the top of the door is a beautiful clean line.
As with a lot of things in life, you get what you pay for. The True Handleless kitchen door will give you that stunning and sleek Handleless kitchen design with unbroken lines, rather than looking like a plain door missing a handle. The True Handleless ‘handles’ are easier to grip and will stand up to more daily use. Plus, because the channel is separate to the door panel, you can have a contrasting door to the channel (such as aluminium), giving you even more design options with your kitchen.
What about appliances in a Handleless kitchen??
The idea of the Handleless look is that you are trying to create clean lines, to avoid spoiling this look, avoid freestanding appliances and instead aim for integrated appliances that you can effectively ‘hide’ from view. It’s important to keep that Handleless rail flowing continuously through the kitchen. Poorly chosen appliances, whether it’s their size or type, could affect this line. You will need to check your appliances because not all appliances are compatible.
It is worth seeking the help of a professional to avoid later problems when installing appliances. But do not worry, we here at Designer Kitchens for Less have a wealth of experience and will make sure that your design will suit your lifestyle perfectly.
Designing your Handleless kitchen
It’s always best to get a professional involved in your kitchen design, we have so much experience and expertise from years of working on different kitchen projects, we can offer you advice and design options that you might not have thought of. However, if you are considering putting together a design yourself, here are a few things to think about…
- Carefully think about where your appliances are going to be sited and whether you’re going for drawers or cupboards. The large drawers that a lot of our handleless customers opt for often look best all in a line together (see image below), similarly with the tall storage units; they look best when together.
- How minimalist do you want to go? Decide the look and feel you want to give your kitchen first. If ultra-minimalist is your thing, then go for basic colours and pattern-less doors and worktops. However, if you’re looking add a bit of character, then consider playing about with colourful units or patterned doors.
- You may want to consider contrasting textures or colours, whether that’s contrasting the units with the walls, or contrasting floor and wall units. The options are endless!
- Corners in Handleless kitchens can look fantastic (see examples below) and really give your kitchen the wow factor. Something which is not achievable using other unit types is the ability to continue your design lines around corners.
- Storage is another consideration. If you’re after the clutter-free or minimalist look to your kitchen, you should look carefully at the storage units available.
Get in touch with us if you’d like a kitchen design, visit our kitchen design service page here.
How much will it cost?
As you can probably guess, it depends on how big your kitchen is and what storage units you’ve chosen. However, we’re not called ‘Designer Kitchens for Less’ for no reason, our prices start at as little as £2,860. We’re a supply only business, meaning that we can offer units at a discounted price. We can offer you better quality units at a cheaper price than most high street retailers, giving you more money to spend on better appliances or innovative storage options. Plus, we only work with German manufacturers for our units, giving you incredible quality that will last for years.
Handleless kitchens are more expensive than their handled counterpart, but they’re rarely more than 10-15% more expensive. This is a small price to pay to achieve such an incredible finish to your kitchen.
As with all things in life, there are cheaper imitations that offer an alternative to a True Handleless Kitchen. However, as described above, the cheaper Handleless imitations will simply not give you the look that our True Handleless kitchen does. Furthermore, because of the design they simply do not last as long, if you’re spending thousands of pounds on a kitchen you should be looking for it to last 15 years at least.
Should you buy a Handleless kitchen?
As open plan living becomes more of a trend and, indeed a necessity in smaller properties, Handleless kitchens have become the go to option as they offer a smooth transition between living spaces and the kitchen area. There are other advantages that Handleless kitchens have over other kinds of kitchen designs:
- More hygienic as there are less places for dirt and grime to hide.
- A Handleless kitchen design can offer a seamless divide between kitchen area and dining/ living areas.
- Safer than kitchens with handles on their doors, no awkward handles for children to run into.
- Choosing a handless kitchen does make choosing your kitchen easier as it eliminates one of the items it can be hardest to decide on.
- Handles are a giveaway that a kitchen is older. Handleless kitchens don’t look outdated as quickly as kitchens with fussy doors and handles.
Summary
Handleless kitchens are here to stay, they represent a growing trend among home owners to focus on clutter-free simpler stylings with clean lines. Less is more when it comes to these kitchens. However, there are lots of design considerations which need to be taken into account, it’s important that your design is well thought out, otherwise you could hit problems during the installation. And it’s important that you get the right type of Handleless kitchen to suit you, whether that’s our True Handleless design or the cheaper J grip type.
At Designer Kitchens for Less, because we’re able to offer you incredible quality at great prices, you are able to focus on getting the appliances, storage options and worktops that you want. We are buying in at large quantities and can pass on to you the best price on the market. You shouldn’t have to compromise on your dream kitchen!
We work with German kitchen manufacturers, which are world renowned for producing incredible quality units. This means that they’ll not only look great when installed, but continue to look incredible for up to 15 years after installation.
If you’re interested in getting a quote on a True Handleless kitchen then speak to us today. We’ll talk you through the process and discuss your design to give you your dream kitchen for less than you think. Call us today on 01279 504230, or email info@designerkitchensforless.co.uk.