Am in the early stages of having a house built in Thailand and am looking for ideas with regards to furnishing the kitchen / bathroom with cabinets and work surfaces etc. Not sure if I should buy ready made stuff to get fitted or get the builders to make something more permanent. I was wondering if anyone has any pics of their own builds here they wouldn't mind sharing or just some ideas?

Thanks

Uninspired of Bangkok

I would look around and have things made. Its not terribly expensive and you can get cabinetry made from real wood. Most of the ready-made is sawdust and glue.

This a pic of bathroom cabinetry in my house. There is a shelving unit attached to the left side of the mirror out of frame.

I had 2 identical units made and installed, total cost was 19,000 baht for 2 bathrooms. Sink and granite countertop were extra of course.

The same man made and installed my kitchen. Total cost was 87K baht for two lower cupboard units, one upper cupboard unit, granite counters, dishwasher, sink and laundry washer hooked up and a range hood/fan installed with venting to outside.

Bathroom and kitchen each took about one week from measuring to installation.

A word of caution: if you have a contractor/carpenter make wood cabinets for you, make sure you find out what kind of wood he is going to use. The common type most use have some kind of bugs in them and after installation, you will begin to see little piles of like sawdust on the tops of cabinets/floors where the bugs are eating through the wood surfaces. The contractor then has to return and he sprays insecticide into all the crevices, holes, and other places where he thinks the bugs are congregating. I hear from Thai houseowners/condo owners that this is a common affliction of having cabinets made by carpenters, etc.

Have others who have had cabinets built in have this problem? My contractor has been back twice to deal with this bug problem.

So far, so good after one year in my place.

Here's a few pics of my kitchen, the website is a bit slow, (on my computer at least!), but its a day by day picture set of the building progress.

http://web.mac.com/suaysilk/iWeb/Kitchen/Welcome.html

Nidge

i used for kitchen and bathrooms the same cabinets:

Naam,

Looking at your kitchen, the ceiling is so high, most Issan families would want a second floor put in and double the living space!

We are also building a house and what we did was to go to Boonthavorn (http://boonthavorn.com) and have the kitchen department using it's software progam design a kitchen we liked. The cost was 82,000 baht, We got a copy of the design and when to a Bang Po near Bang Sue and had a build-in shop take the design we liked and give us an estimate. It cost 53,000 with real wood.

Naam,

Looking at your kitchen, the ceiling is so high, most Issan families would want a second floor put in and double the living space!

If you've seen Naam's floorplan (which he has posted on here before), then you'll realize that he doesn't need any more living space .

Here is what I did here in Sa Kaeo

Before and after

Naam,

Looking at your kitchen, the ceiling is so high, most Issan families would want a second floor put in and double the living space!

If you've seen Naam's floorplan (which he has posted on here before), then you'll realize that he doesn't need any more living space .

our home is not really big. a mere airconditioned 600m² which is barely enough for two persons and a little dog the kitchen is functional, meant for cooking/food preparation and not for dancing or entertaining guests

Naam,

Looking at your kitchen, the ceiling is so high...

except for three rooms (where one steps up) all ceiling heights in our house are 3.60m Nidge.

i used for kitchen and bathrooms the same cabinets:

Looks nice - Although the toilet looks a bit small in the colosseum.

i used for kitchen and bathrooms the same cabinets:

Looks nice - Although the toilet looks a bit small in the colosseum.

Only mere mortals use toilets. That my friend is a throne! All hail Naam!!

i used for kitchen and bathrooms the same cabinets:

Looks nice - Although the toilet looks a bit small in the colosseum.

all our bathrooms have standard size toilets (as opposed to most of the thai style ones for dwarfs ) and the "colosseum" isn't the master but the "missus"-bathroom. mine is not as fancy, just functional. but then i don't live in my bathroom as women do

i used for kitchen and bathrooms the same cabinets:

Looks nice - Although the toilet looks a bit small in the colosseum.

all our bathrooms have standard size toilets (as opposed to most of the thai style ones for dwarfs ) and the "colosseum" isn't the master but the "missus"-bathroom. mine is not as fancy, just functional. but then i don't live in my bathroom as women do

The same man made and installed my kitchen. Total cost was 87K baht for two lower cupboard units, one upper cupboard unit, granite counters, dishwasher, sink and laundry washer hooked up and a range hood/fan installed with venting to outside.

Bathroom and kitchen each took about one week from measuring to installation.

You got the same fridge as me but I was able to get the stickers off mine

Its just my aesthetic, that's all ...

Some great replies there thanks, what kind of materials did you guys use, some of it looks like PVC or is it just gloss paint?

I think it seems favourite to get the stuff made rather than buy ready made cabinets, I don't want the hinges dropping after 6 months.

Some great replies there thanks, what kind of materials did you guys use, some of it looks like PVC or is it just gloss paint?

I think it seems favourite to get the stuff made rather than buy ready made cabinets, I don't want the hinges dropping after 6 months.

in my case it's a baked-on enamel paint. PVC coating is better (i think) if properly done. otherwise ugly blisters develop.