What do you regret/ love about your fitted kitchen?

[QueenOnAPlate]

We are just in the process of having a new kitchen designed. The designer suggested a wall of cupboards and units and then an island, which does seem to be the trend, but I’ve come home wondering whether that is going to be right for us - we love cooking and have lots of appliances - kitchenaid etc, and they would all have to go on the island which would make it cluttered and reduce the workspace.

I’m also torn about style. Part of me wants all white units and worktop, but I’m worried it will look like a lab!

We are a big family and the kitchen will be very lived in. When we last had the kitchen done (15 years ago) it was really flawed - too dark, fridge in conservatory so not ergonomic, and not enough cupboards. I want to get it right.

I’d love some comments from others to help me decide, particularly about worktop space.

It’s a big space, we are extending and making it open plan, so anything goes!

Second the hose kitchen tap, it’s brilliant.

What’s going to be on the floor?

I’ve got larder presses either side of the fridge. Behind the door on one of them is a huge spice rack.The shelves are recessed back to allow the space for it.

I regret getting white. The doors yellowed in the sun, and they show every splash. I'm gearing up to paint the doors a darker colour.

But my kitchen gets lots of light.

Drawers are better because they pull right out and you don't have to crouch down raking around.

Storage

Boiler tap

Drawers on the base units over cupboards.

Storage

Plug points

I didn't have power on my island, big mistake. Otherwise I recommend getting square paper and designing your own rather than relying on a designer (they messed up mine). Howdens catalogue shows all the many options and have lots of colours. I wouldn't have white work tops if you actually cook, they stain!

I don't have integrated appliances as they often aren't great quality, get twice as many plugs as you think you need, as many cupboards as fit ...

Make sure u utilise every inch of space, my that I mean no voids. We have an island with built in microwave and wine fridge, on the opposite side we have narrow cupboards so one cupboard could only be about 12cm deep, but great for spices, the other is about 20cm which I use for tins. Some fitters would have not used this space. Also hot tap and waste disposal. Also got full wall of cupboards which I love.

The best thing I did was have a wall of shallow cupboards by way of a larder, so I no longer end up with 5 year old tins of food I didn't know were there!
If I was doing it again I might consider having the dishwasher at a higher level - I feel like I'm always bending to fill and empty it.

I haven’t even thought about the floor! We had dark wood effect Karndean last time which was actually the only thing I liked about the whole kitchen, but would that be too dark with white?

Currently we have a range built into the chimney. Our designer suggested we build a straight wall of units along that wall which would mean a lot of dead space behind ( to bring it flush to where the chimney breast sticks out). I’m really unsure whether that’s the right thing.

Kitchen designers are in the business of selling you as much kitchen as they can. Why not speak to an architect instead, work with them on your space and how you use it?

We did our kitchen last year and I agonised for hours over this type of thing. I measured all of my current units and measured all of the future units to make sure I wasn’t losing space. I didn’t quite understand how useful drawers were but MN wisodom persuaded me and I have all of my crockery, saucepans and Tupperware in my island drawers. I have a drawer under the job for spices-900mm wide so massive and have jar storage racks from amazon so that you see them all. We have shallow depth cupboards under the seating area on the island-in these I store kitchen aid, food processor, blender, Icecream machine. Very easy to access and nothing on display.
If your not happy with the design get a second opinion. We had two designs and then I planned the detail myself on diy kitchens. Loads and loads of graph paper and minor amendments to get where we are now. Look up white kitchens on Houzz or Pinterest to get more ideas on what might work for you

Drawers are very useful, for fully accessing the contents at the back. I would love more work surface but I have as much as I could fit in my smallish kitchen. I absolutely love a big sink. Staying in holiday rentals with small sinks which barely fit a saucepan is so frustrating, I've washed children and pets in my Butler's sink. I also really appreciate more than one oven. Due to lack of space one of my ovens is a combi - ie it's a microwave, grill and oven. Not cheap but very useful. If I had more space I would have a much, much bigger freezer. Personally wouldn't bother with a boiling water tap as lots of people who have then find they stop working.

I said ‘no gloss’ I was sick of trying to keep the units smear free.no matter how often I cleaned them or what I used, the sunshine through the window showed smears. I would love a larder/pantry (I store most of my spices inside my slow cooker in the cupboard and take them out to use the slow cooker.

Drawers are good because you can pull them right out, so nothing ends up lurking at the back!

We also prioritised worktop space. We got a bowl and a half sink without a draining board which has been a massive success. We put 99% of stuff in the dishwasher anyway!

I love my pull out larder.

And I've got one of those tilted cooker hoods so I don't bang my head on it anymore!

Built in mid height oven and microwave.

Pull out corner carousel. Might not be the most efficient use of the space but does mean stuff doesn't get stuck at the back!

Another vote for drawers. I hate my built in fridge and freezer. Nowhere near enough space. Good corner carousels are brilliant for making the best use of spaces. I'd say go for a Karndean floor again ours has coped with loads of abuse. Eye level grill and middle height oven so no stopping with hot trays.

My first is to do with the construction of the kitchen. We extended the house to get a decent sized room but rather than pay extra for supporting beams and underpinning we opted to keep a pillar in the room that supports upstairs. It means that we can only fit a bistro table in there which isn't big enough for 3 people.
Secondly we had a pair of glass fronted wall cabinets with internal lighting to show off our best china. Who was I kidding? It's used for storing biscuit and cake tins and anything else that won't fit in the larder cupboard.

Yes to deep drawers, I use one for mixer/large items. Also pull out shelves for saucepans are really useful. Something not mentioned sink - definitely double or at least one and a half, would never go back to single sink

We’ve almost finished ours and have a dark island (chocolate brown units and dark worktop) and white wall units and worktop on the side. Works brilliantly as the room is still light but definitely not clinical.

Our appliances are in an appliance garage with pivot doors. This is like a giant wardrobe with doors that slide back once opened. It means that the Kitchenaid, toaster and coffee machine are hidden when not in use, but that we can just open the doors and use them straightaway without moving them.

Lots of drawers....best thing ever. We have two cupboards that when opened, reveal draws as well as four other huge, deep drawers. Our pull out bin &recycling bin are fab too.

This is the pivot door system. A few places now do them - genius for keeping worktops uncluttered. You can also get a sliding down garage type shutter door which is a bit less expensive.

If you don't have drawers, make all your cupboard shelves the pull out kind. Saves a lot of hassle and reduces food waste!

Plenty of wall sockets.

Consider where tw kettle will live, ie not under a wall unit but near the mug and tea cupboard.

Spices can go on special little racks attached to the inside of cupboard doors.

I bought my kitchen inB&Q. Its great! But dark. When i went to look at them i chosea shaker style in a colour with DH. Light oak. Went with my friend and she said it would be better in a darker colour, like lighter mahogany type. Thinking “yes, i prefer it” its what I bought . Then it was fitted and its wayyyyyy too dark. I have 2 small windows ond no scope to make them bigger without dynamite as the walls are 1m thick.

Every bloody thing in the shios looks fab as they have damn bright lights everywhere. If I had the money id change them to white.

Lesson learned.

Don't have Oak worktops. I hate mine. I never feel like they are really clean and oiling them is a pain. Love my one and a half sink and my tap with pull out hose and squirty function. I have a white gloss kitchen with one black unit with silver roller doors to break it up. Colour is on my walls.

Oh snd i only have 3 drawers. Hate drawers and everyone has that one drawer with shit in it, and I didn’t want one!