Anyone want to boast about their amazing kitchen so I can get ideas?

[SausageGoulsAndFruitSpooks]

So, we need a whole new kitchen but there's so many lovely one's to choose from I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

Tell me, what's your kitchen like? What floor do you have? Worktops, sink, appliances? Extra bits that you don't necessarily think about straight away? Is it exactly how you wanted it? Would you change anything now & if it's not too cheeky, how much did it cost in total and where from?

I sort of have an idea of what I want. I don't want wall cupboards, I would like a slate tiled floor. We need to get all new appliances apart from a washing machine as that's only a year old. I would like somewhere to hang tea towels where they are easy to access but not being an eyesore, fed up of hanging them
Over the oven handle.

Anything else I should think about?

Thank-you.

[abendbrot]

Our kitchen cost about 2K from Ikea. Run it alone one wall so you don't have corners. It's cheaper and looks better. An island unit running parallel if you have space. The advantage of Ikea is that you can add drawers, fittings, softclose tabs, lighting, all the gubbins, later on if that's what you want.

If you don't have wall units have drawers. For crockery i have one tall slimline shallow cabinet (around £40). And another for food, with pullout drawers. These take up very little space and I have them in the 'corridor' area.

You can get pullout drawers for all the Ikea cabinets. Put the oven under the hob because under the hob isn't a very useful space when you're cooking anyway. Eye level ovens are big space wasters IMO. I have 2 drawer units either side of the hob/oven and it houses all cutlery utensils, pots and pans, open food packets, food mixers, herbs and spices. Anything that I use regularly.

Put your crocks near the dishwasher, dishwasher near the sink.

But ultimately, don't get a kitchen designer in, they have no idea. Both of ours were charming MEN who you could tell didn't care about what our kitchen was actually used for.

Decide how you live, how you want to live, where you need the space, where you don't. Designers have a set idea about how things 'should be' and they nearly persuaded me to have an 8 seater island unit!

Try 'ikeafans' - a US site which has loads of mostly homebuilt ikea kitchens.

PS Ikea kitchens have deeper units (hence masses of drawer space - drawers pull out to the end) - so worktops need to come from them or be bespoke (2cm deeper).

[Gentleness]

Agree with everything the pp said about ikea - I love our kitchen beyond rationality.

Except I totally disagree about the oven/hob set up. I have 80cm wide deep pan drawers with a shallow utensil drawer under my hob and the oven at eye level opposite. This works perfectly for my way of cooking and for keeping my inquisitive toddler safe. I find it irritating cooking in friends houses where you can't get in or out of the oven while someone else is using the hob!

SO - while it is great to get loads of ideas from loads of people, in the end the very, very best thing I did in planning our kitchen was to think about it for years (while hating rented house kitchens), dream about it, notice the way I used space, kitchens I liked or hated working in. Not much help if you are in a rush, but so important. I ended up ignoring a lot of advice and LOVE the layout I have.

Anyway - things I love:

• sliding door cupboards are great - not as lifechanging as deep drawers for crockery etc, but pretty close
  
• extra deep worktops on the sink/hob run of units - a mn tip!
  
• pull-out tap
  
• franke sink
  
• karndean flooring
  
• easy-clean glass behind the hob
  
• totally flat doors - nowhere for dirt to hide - and gloss is surprisingly easy to quickly clean. I hate cleaning so I needed that!
  
• wide drawers - sounds obvious but you can fit so much more in an 80cm drawer than in 2 40cms - and they just feel spacious too.
  
• cupboard organisation that fits the way you cook - I love my 50cm spices/sauces/oils etc cupboard with pull out baskets and trays, positioned right next to the hob. I either use no tins in a meal or about 6, so I store them away from the cooking area.
  
• crockery & cutlery under the draining board
  
• cups above the kettle
  
• glasses opposite the fridge
  

I think I had better shut up now as in the end it IS only a kitchen!

[abendbrot]

Gentleness we must live in the same house - apart from the oven idea. I have 2 x 60cm 3-drawer units either side of the oven/hob. OP - These have one shallow drawer, one medium and one deep drawer. This means if anyone needs anything they can reach if I'm cooking. I figure people only need to get into the oven rarely (if at all in my house).

I have a shelf above the kettle and no wall cabinets. A utensil hanger by the cooker.

Microwave was a tricky one for me to fit in though, it's a bit awkward on a trolley unit but we are thinking of adding another unit there to house it.

[said]

What kind of look do you like?

I second the ikeafans website for inspiration and asking for solutions. Ditto spending a long time thinking about what you want where.

I also avoided wall cupboards as much as possible but then think about how you will light the worktop in that area if you don't have under cupboard lighting. We put one spotlight on the wall in the corner over the IKEA metal shelves which looks good, I think but should have put another one at the other end

Best idea I stole from ikea was to have 2 fridge freezers next to each other and fitted them with stainless steel doors. Depends on space, of course. But agree that with ikea, you can just add some more if you change your mind.

And I have wooden worktops which just look lovely. Again, all depends which kind of look you prefer - I don't like the sterile everything hidden away look.

[abendbrot]

Two built in fridge freezers -

We have a carbuncle fridge freezer that just annoys me since we got our kitchen.

[said]

I know, it does sound like an indulgence but we had the space and it was cheaper than buying a separate fridge and freezer which would have to match. And what if one then needs replacing before the other? I can angst for weeks thinking about things like that.

[WhoIsThatMaskedWoman]

Drawers drawers drawers (including some extra wide ones for pans).

Double or 1+1/2 sink is absolutely essential.

Kickplate floor level cupboards to store baking tins etc.

At least one tall cupboard for ironing board/mop etc.

Eye level oven if you have tiny children, and a lockable cupboard for cleaning products.

A telly/DVD player (I do my best cooking and cleaning while watching DVD box sets).

A shelf for cookbooks.

5 ring gas hob.

Most important of all, go round your existing kitchen and look at everything in it. Where will you put those tins/bottles/trays/poster paints? Design a specific space for everything to live in, along with lots of all-purpose "storage".

[RedRubyBlue]

My kitchen is being ripped out this week and I am getting the Charles Rennie Mackintosh design with Karndean floors and black sealed granite worktops.

Slate as the flooring? I was talked out of this by every floor fitter I spoke to. Chips too easily, stains to easily and cracks too easily.

Wooden worktops? I have had them previously (Japanese cherrywood) and they looked beautiful but boy are they hard work. Linseed oil applied regularly and be prepared to get 'precious' about spills and hot pans etc.

If space is tight use wall cupboards as floor cupboards (they are half the width)

Spice rack on the inside of cupboard doors and knife block inside a drawer.

I am a munchkin so I have ordered a miniature step ladder that is concealed behind a plinth

Two heaters also concealed behind a plinth also

[abendbrot]

I've got pretend slate laminate - it looks real enough (to me) but only have it on a strip in front of the units. If you're doing the whole floor you would probably notice.

Ikea does a drawer for your trays etc under the oven unit. I made a space at the bottom of the sink unit for trays etc.

[BonyM]

We had our kitchen done 2 years ago and there's nothing I would change. Favourite things are:

Double eye-level oven. We are moving to a house with a built-under, single oven and I'm going to find this really difficult...
Quartz worktops. Look lovely, easy to clean and very hardwearing.
Tap with a pull-out hose - brilliant for swishing round the sink to clean and for rinsing fruit and veg etc.
Instant boiling water tap - don't know how I lived without it previously!
Lots of deep drawers instead of cupboards for pans, dishes and crockery - much easier to see what you want (and get it).
Two full height pull-out larders for tins and packet etc.
Small pull-outs either side of the drawers below the hob - fantastic for keeping spices and oils to hand.
Domino hobs - I have one induction (two burners), one gas (two burners) and one wok burner. The induction is my favourite and if it were just me I would have all induction but DH has a pacemaker so not supposed to use them, hence the gas as an alternative.
Warming drawer under the oven - REALLY useful.

Actually, one thing I would change if I could is the black glass finish on the hobs as it's really a pain to keep looking nice (smears show up something rotten). My old gas hob was white glass but not many manufacturers seem to do this these days.

[BonyM]

Oh - forgot cost. I think it was about 15K including appliances (Neff).

[WhoIsThatMaskedWoman]

Would second quartz work tops, more affordable than granite, lighter, and maintenance free.

[Sleepwhenidie]

I have just posted boastfully on the kitchen remodelling thread , too embarrassed to repeat it here but feel free to take a look!

Bony M you have lots of things like we have chosen, especially the gas and induction, DH and I disagreed on gas/induction so like you we are getting both, gas in a wok burner though.

[sonnybeaudelaire]

Bony M - how is your hot water tap? Do you live in a hard water area? I am really tempted by this but given the cost I would be gutted if it was covered in limescale in a month (like my kettle)!

(apologies for the thread hijack!)

[Gentleness]

I came back to this thread specifically to tell you to get plinth drawers - now that is obsession! So handy for rarely used bits. I have 2 empty ones right now, but with a growing family I don't anticipate that being a problem.... And now I'm back I am realising that apart from the oven debate, my kitchen is clearly almost identical to abendbrot's! The other difference is that I have wall cupboards. I like a lot of storage.

Costs (approx) - bit tricky as we had an extension built as well so some cost were all-in, but I reckon that minus the building work itself it was around £7k (including fitting and 1k of that was the Karndean). I did get the oven I wanted at a bargain price on ebay (a return) and already had a beloved fridge-freezer and a washing-machine I wish would die. I worked pretty hard to keep the costs down and was disappointed they got so high, but others seem to think that is pretty low...

[Gotarty]

Have induction and a wok burner too - mostly because I couldn't let go of my favourite pans. Have pull out taps too. Sink on back wall and on the Island (I think the one in the island was excessive). Ceiling mounted extractor with an external motor - it's white, so does stand out and is so so quiet - definitely recommend. Have lots of deep drawers, a larder cupboard with pull out drawers. A very tall integrated fridge. Saved money by putting a microwave in a tall cupboard - it's not a thing I wanted to flaunt anyway and works really well. But my favourite thing, is something I spotted in a kitchen glossy and got the jioner to make for me and that's vertical shelves inside a cupboard to store my vast quantity of baking trays and chopping boards...the joy of having properly organised flat things is not to be underestimated. I didn't go for a hot water tap and I don't regret it - the induction boils water very quickly and I'm not a bog tea drinker.

[Gotarty]

Cost for us was £25k including appliances & fitting but not including splashbacks or floor - it's a big kitchen!

[MissBeehiving]

We put our kitchen in about 2 years ago and I love;

Ice maker/chilled water tap
Boiling water tap
Double eye level oven
Induction hob
Warming drawers
Wine cooler
Granite worktops
A corner unit which slides forward and out when you open the door.
Plugs set into the worksurface which you pull up to use.

A bit "meh" about

Pull out larder unit
Carousel fittings in corner units
American style fridge/freezer

[Sleepwhenidie]

Glad about your view on the sink on the island Gotarty, I wanted a small one but can't because the drainage doesn't run low enough in our house.

Our kitchen is coming from LKK and is about £30k, which sounds a lot but it is a very big kitchen with lots of (mostly Siemens) appliances and a lot of Corian, also bronze mirror splashback along the wall.

[Gotarty]

Bronze mirror splashback sounds lush - can we have a link please? I haven't chosen my splashback but I want something other than coloured glass - it's everywhere and I just can get enthused over it.

[Gotarty]

Meant to say my ceiling extractor is white so it doesn't stand out!

[SausageGoulsAndFruitSpooks]

Wow, lots of replies & am now insanely jealous of all your beautiful sounding kitchens.

So slate floor is a no go? My mum had it and it was great, no chips or cracks, easy to clean & still looks good after 6yrs but she doesn't have a one year old and a two year old stomping around.

What is Karndean flooring.

I'm liking the idea of Plinth Drawers, especially with not having wall units. It's a fairly small kitchen so don't want to overcrowd with units.

Also like the vertical shelves in a cupboard for baking trays, chopping boards.

Will definitely be looking at sliding drawers with internal racks toehold herbs, spices etc next to cooker (slimline range cooker so can't have it at eyelevel)

If I had space for 2 dishwashers that would be fab but still trying to make room for one.

So Quartz Worktops and Wood Worktops seem to be highly recommended. I really like the look of wood but is it really difficult to look after? Bearing in mind I have two young children?

We have a HUGE cupboard under the stairs so we are going to block the door off in the hallway and move the door around the corner into the kitchen. I'm then going to shelve it all out and use that as my "pantry" so won't need any extra cupboards/units for them.

I'm trying to keep it as cheap as possible but that's looking more & more less likely now.

Right, I'm off to look at that ikea website and I'll be back later.

Thank-you.

[Sleepwhenidie]

We were struggling with coloured glass splashbacks too Gorarty, but when we went to the showroom they had the bronze mirrors installed in one of the kitchens and DH and I fell in love with it immediately. Then the salesman informed us that it was twice the price of normal mirror or glass . we still couldn't resist though and they did do us a very good deal in the end. Sorry, can't find a pic but it's exactly as it sounds, soft and glamorous and I think will be useful for watching DC's behind me when stood using wall units .

Sausages, I think quartz may be more practical than wood for worktops, it's not so much anything to do with young DC's but wood needs a bit more tlc, such as scrubbing and oiling, than quartz would.

[ChippingInToThePumpkinLantern]

Oh what a brilliant thread - will be watching with interest!

[BonyM]

Sonny - we don't have a limescale problem with our hot water tap, but then we are not in a particularly hard water area. I have to say though that it is one of the most used items in my kitchen - fantastic not having to wait for a kettle to boil and also great not to have a kettle cluttering up the worktop. I actually bought it from eBay (insinkerator) and it was quite a bit cheaper than full price.

Although we are going to eventually have a new kitchen when we move, dh and I have both said that we will get a hot water tap fitted straight away into the existing kitchen as we can't imagine not having it now.