Best thing in your kitchen to make your life easier!

[Happyspud]

I'm just at the last stages of planning/building my new kitchen and am curious what other people found to be the most useful or best loved thing in their kitchen that makes your life easier. I have 4 small kids and they drive me crazy needing things all day so I am designing with them in mind. I have planned:

• A kids cupboard beside the fridge for easy access to all their cups and bowls.
• A fridge with a cold water tap for them to get their own drink
• A pull out built in footstool/step for beside the sink

And for my organisation

• A sheila maid on the ceiling above the Aga (old inherited with house Aga being moved)
• A filing cabinet built in where letters etc. usually pile up
• USB sockets everywhere including 4 on the island
• Mostly deep drawers rather than cupboards
• A walk in larder

I'm thinking of getting a Roomba or similar to keep on top of the floors while we sleep.

Any other ideas for things that have just made life easier?

Also getting a boiling water tap which Im very excited about!

One thing I wish I'd done is argue more with the designer when I said I didn't want the dishwasher door to block the fridge door. It drives me mad to have to keep shutting the dishwasher when someone wants milk but that's very specific to my kitchen .

I also wish we'd gone for a double sink instead of one and a sort of half sink. We also need one full of hot water and suds and another to tip, rinse, wash hands etc.

Separate utility is a godsend though. Ours is more of a long cupboard but has a sink, airdryer and dozens of hooks. Keeps all the laundry nonsense away from the already messy kitchen.

Agree with the roomba idea. We have a cheaper version and I love him more than my children (sometimes)

A dishwasher without a shadow of a doubt. With four kids, consider having two.

We had a waste disposal fitted and that’s great.

Thanks both. Yes, have a dishwasher and am leaving an overflow one in the utility/laundry room beside the sink there. So although it will be separate, I will have 2 for big meals etc. I was at my friends house recently and she had two side by side! It was amazing! And nothing ever got left and forgotten in there like I expect might happen with my set up but I cant fit two in the main kitchen where Id want them.

Deep drawers - yes,

Larder yes, though an utility room would be better, but I suppose, from reading your post you have this planned as well.

Extra socket yes, but the rest is gimmicks. You’ll spend more time wiping the water the’ve spilt from the cold water tap that you’ll save, also, you do presumably have a sink and taps?

A kids cupboard? How is that different from any old cupboard?

Pull out thing by the sink? Just use a chair, or ikea have sturdy steps, job done.

I have a wall with a cork board, white board and letter holder thing on it. DC write on the white board what they're doing that week, theres a shopping list thingy on it and they pin their school letters on the cork board. Post goes in the upright letter holder.

It's not a kitchen gadget but its really helped me stay organised.

A double oven is very useful though.

Cold tap water tap isn't a gimmick it's great. We have one in work and it's so lovely. It's used all the time!

Layout with the kids. We have the cooking area, the island and then a big pantry unit and the crockery. It means there is absolutely no need for anyone to walk through past the hob and oven to access the dining area or utility room. Love our usb ports too and we have a magazine rack on the wall with a section per family member next to a blackboard area and wall planner. There is a shelf under the planner where keys go, suncream, first aid kit etc so easily grabbed.

One of my fave things too is my spice cupboards. Again depends on layout but our range is in the chimney breast. Either side it just needed a small amount to bring the worktop in line but instead of having false fronts we've got really shallow cupboards that are just the depth of a spice jar, it's great.

Boiling water tap for us 100% every time. Ours feeds the kitchen hot tap too so we're not running hot water from the hot water tank two stories up.

Wish I'd spent money on worktops I can put hot/staining stuff directly on.

Also next time I will have a lower section in the worktop where I can use my instant pot/magimix etc comfortably. I'm 5' 2" and have finally realised that the standard height of a kitchen worktop is about 6" too high for me.

Also our F&P double drawer dishwasher, but we're empty nesters so you'll probably be fine with two big ones.

One of those £8.99 folding step stools that fits in the inevitable left over gap between units.

Plan in plenty of space for all the different bins.

I was worried about the tap leaking but the kids are pretty well trained about mess and spilling so I think I can make sure they wipe any missed bit. Good point though, might need to plan a cloth holder beside the fridge! Ive used chairs and the Ikea stools to now and the kids wreak floors dragging chairs and steal stools for mischief and also leave both behind (training on that one hasnt gone so well). So having a proper fitted nook for the kitchen only stool will hopefully solve that. My mum who stays often is also very short and I know will be glad of it to get glasses out of the cupboard. The kids cupboard is for only their stuff and I hope to keep them away from all the breakable stuff by doing that. Its also right beside the fridge (which is across the room from everything else) and very accessable beside the larder for them. Its just a couple of deep drawers but placed perfectly for the majority of what they can and need to do.

I've the Aga for 2 ovens but am also getting an electric slide and hide one in the island because my baking is always a fail in the Aga! And when I do big meals, I find the juggling tough for certain things.

DH does all the washing up - that definitely makes my life easier

At our previous house we had a range oven - make cooking much easier - especially toast dinners. When we get a new kitchen at our current house that will be one of the first things we buy.

I want a hot water tap!

Think about whether some of the built in things are actually going to be dirt magnets. We are moving to a more freestanding approach because there are less nooks and crannies that fill full of crumbs and dirt. Also appliances - free standing are easier for maintenance and fixing and replacement - appliances that are new today will need replacing or repairing long before the kitchen does - how easy is it to do that?

1. Bins that allow you to separate your recycling into bottles, plastics/cabs, soft plastics
2. A wall space to put a cork board and calendar
3. A double sink

The thing I miss most in my current kitchen is a double sink.

Bin that is adjustable for different recycling requirements - ours currently does food waste, general and two types of recycling but could change if the council changes its mind again about what it wants.

I use my 7 gas hobs, warming drawer and second oven much more than I ever thought I would now that meeting up with another family means cooking for 8 near adult sized portions.

A children's drawer has worked very well for us - cups, small bowls and plates, smaller cutlery etc all in one place. Not only for getting it, but for helping unload the dishwasher.

If you drink coffee, a space (with plug, near sink and food waste bin) for a coffee bean to cup machine is worth having. I use a corner that’s not ergonomic for chopping etc. I keep most appliances in deep drawers, but the coffee machine has to stay out as we use it so often.