Let's Hear it for the Soft Closer - No More Kitchen Door Slamming!

If there were a Nobel Peace prize for bringing harmony into the kichen, it might have to go to the inventor of the Kitchen Door 'Soft Closer'. This ingenious little item can be easily fitted to doors and drawers to top that awful slamming sound that you hear so frequently either when you're in the kitchen yourself - or when you're trying to relax in the lounge and all you hear is the constant 'thwack' as another kitchen cupboard closes while your supper's being prepared (how irritating is that!!).

What's even better about these quiet little gems is that relatively inexpensive - and straightforward to fit. Let's start with the simple plastic soft closer that can be fitted inside your existing cabinets. Pictured here on the right, this shows the soft closer pressed into a 10 mm hole - so that's all you need do to fit it, drill a nice even 10mm hole into the wall of your kitchen cabinet and then press in the plastic closer. It's a simple enough principle, as you push the door closed, it meets the end of the closer, which 'dampens' the momentum of the door - and then the pressure of the door on slowly pushes the piston of the closer back into its housing. Leaving a quiet, slow, gentle door close. Aaaaahhhh.

When you open the door again, the piston pops out - ready for the next time you close the door.

Using this method, you need only fit one per cabinet and they are a little over a couple of pounds each - so a typical kitchen will set you back a little less than £30 to fit on all doors. Not much to pay for a bit of peace and quiet is it?

They work on drawers too, so for an even quieter life, fit those too.

Now if you don't fancy drilling the hole into the cabinet, for an extra £0.18 per fitting, you can use a surface mounting unit to house the soft closer which you fit on the inside of the cabinet.

Then on the slightly more sophisticated level, there is the soft closer unit that fits onto your clip on concealed cabinet hinge. It will need to be the 170 degree example shown on the link, which opens sufficiently for the bit to clip onto the door piece of the hinge. This particular soft closer

(shown on the left here, looks a bit more sexy don't you think?) is even less obtrusive than it's plastic sister above.

But please be sure you have the right type of hinges (or are fitting the right hinges for example in your new replacement doors!) before you plunge in and buy. These little marvels will set you back all of £2.56.

There are few other variations to look at, but you'll find lots of information if you take at out soft closer section - and be sure to download the various pdf documents available.

So now the quiet secret is out, isn't it time for peace to break out in your kitchen?

Sagging Drawers? Hitch Them Up With New Kitchen Drawer Runners

Sagging drawers is a very common problem - and one that gets worse with age. BUT you'll be relieved to know that there is a simple and generally inexpensive solution.

First of all, given the title of my blog, I realise that this isn't the sexiest subject - and not very hot. But given we get so many people visiting our website in search of a solution, I felt the usefulness of the information warranted a diversion away from the more glamorous aspects of the kitchen.

So, back to the drawers. It feels fairly fundamental when the kitchen drawers start to fall away from the runners or the runners depart from the side of the kitchen cabinet (or kitchen carcasse as it is known in the trade(winks!!)), but it is often an eminantly fixable DIY job. All you need do is replace the runners. The difficulty is often in identifying where to buy the runners - and which ones to buy. That's where http://www.mykitchenstore.co.uk/ comes into the equation. We have a large selection of all types of kitchen drawer runners, from the most basic plastic drawer runner to the more specialised heavy duty zinc plated stainless steel runners (who said it wasn't sexy?). The fomer - more common- variety are very cheap (less than a quid), whereas the latter will set you back a bigger chunk. But generally speaking you will be able to perform a refit and fix your porblem for just a couple of pounds.

The best way to find the one you want (if you aren't an expert kitchen fitter or kitchen drawer runner spotter of course), is first to measure it and then probably to try a bit of picture comparison work. Remove the runner and hold up against the computer screen to judge best match if necessary (but possibly not if you're intending to go to an internet cafe to conduct your search!). Pretty much all runners come in pairs so you probably just need to buy one unit.

Then as long as the fixing points are sound, all you need do is take out the old ones and fit the new ones. The simple, straightforward and painless solution to saggy drawers - go on, you know you should, because leaving them like they are... well, that just pants isn't it?!

Getting a Handle on Quick Kitchen Makeovers

With the credit crunch biting and the housing market pretty stagnant, folks are turning towards a bit of DIY both to make their living environment more enjoyable and to potentially maximise the value of their property when the time does come to sell again.

John Lewis recently reported an uplift in sales of kitchen replacement and refurbishment products in lieu of investment in complete new kitchens - and several reliable sources in the DIY market reckon to have had an increase in sales too. So here are a few tips on giving your kitchen a bit of a makeover to help brighten your day.

Let's kick off with something simple like kitchen drawer and cabinet handles. These come in a huge variety of styles and sizes and can make a major difference to the look and feel of your kitchen. Traditional and cottage style kitchens can change personality with the use of a different door knob or handle. Replacing a simple wooden pine door knob (which come as standard in so many kitchen designs) with a finely crafted antique pewter style twisted bar handle will lift your room from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary - and believe me it really is quite extra-ordinary that something seemingly to small can make such a big difference. Kitchens require on average around 20 drawer and cupbard handles - so for about £40 you can cheer yourself up with a new twist on your existing style.

If you want to push the boat out when it comes to handles, then solid pewter handles can create a stunning effect. They are more pricey - at around £15 each they are definitely more of a luxury, but well worth it for a superb finish.

For those of you with a little more ambition in the DIY area, Replacement Doors are pretty much like having a completely new kitchen - and they are suprisingly easy to fit. They come in a myriad of styles and colours, contemporary replacement doors tend toward the more sleek and simple designs in a variety of colours and wood effect finishes. Classic doors have more detail but retain the simplicity that makes them timeless favourites and traditional replacement doors are more elaborate and tend towards the wooden effect finishes than colour.

So what's involved with fitting replacement doors? Well in most cases, it's really very simple. The vast majority of kitchen cabinet doors come in standard sizes in width and height and are secured using standard fittings. If you open your kitchen door, you will generally find two hinges on the inside; these will usually be concealed cabinet hinges (also often known by a well know brand, Blum hinges). The hinges fix via a small back plate that screws onto the wall of the cabinet plus the hinge itself which in most cases sits inside a 35mm drilled hole in the door, secured using a couple of small screws. The hinge part fixes to the back plate part either by sliding on and securing with a single screw, or by clipping on. To release the door from the cupboard, all you need do is either flip the clip or undo the screw.

Once you've removed the door (and please don't be worried about doing so, it's very easy to put back on!), then you can take a look a the condition of the hinges. As long as they are working ok and still nice and clean, then there's no need to replace them, just use them again on your new doors. If not, you'll need to buy the same style and quantity to refit with the new doors. You can see Clip on Concealed Cabinet Hinges here and download a more detailed guide to replacement doors and fittings by visiting this link and downloading the pdf on the link labelled Replacement Door Guide

So, the next step is to measure your doors, width and height. (Click the following link to see standard sizes for replacement kitchen doors are shown in the table on this page. Then you have a choice whether to have the 35mm holes for the hinges (mentioned above) pre-drilled into the doors when you order them. To do this you will need to provide the supplier with the exact locations of the holes by measuring the distance from the top and side of the door to the hole centers (this is covered in the guide you can download above). If you want to DIY it, then you can use a 35mm Forstner bit (pictured right) attached to your standard drill. There is some leeway for adjustment both vertically and horizontally in the concealed hinges, so get it as accurately centered as you can, but you can make adjustments if necessary.

So you've measured all your doors and drawer fronts and assessed how many cabinet hinges you might need - now you just place your order!. When the doors arrive, fix the hinge part of the concealed hinges into the 35mm holes in the door, and simply attach them to the back plates affixed to the inside of the cabinets.

That's it! New look, new feel kitchen in a few easy steps. Of course if you have any doubts at all, contact a local carpenter of joiner, or kitchen fitter for advice. And if you have a bespoke kitchen you may need to contact your supplier to discuss your requirements.

Please note! The above tips are provided for guidance only and I take no responsibility for the success or otherwise of your project (unless of course, you are truly ecstatic with your new look kitchen and want to express your undying gratitude!!)