Kitchen extension - what to spend money on

[weepingwillow22]

We are having an open plan kitchen/dining room/family room extension built at the moment and deciding on what to priortise our budget on.

I was wondering what people feel are things they are really pleased that they splurged on vs. things they wish they had not bothered with.

We are considering things such as wine fridges, hot water taps, self venting induction hobs but do not have the budget for everything. Also what about furniture for the open plan dining/family area?

Are there any other hints and tips people have for things that have worked really well such are lughting ideas or ideas to avoid when planning an open plan kitchen/dining room?

Drawers-lots of drawers and pull out larder shelves thingies. I find hot taps are not hot enough and don’t taste fresh. I like my 5 ring hob and I do Have a bin/recycling pull out drawer.

• Lighting (dimmerable LEDs spotlights)
• Good storage (especially pull out shelves in the corner, as this would utilise any awkward spaces)
• Good flooring.
• Didn't bother with a hot water tap but decided to buy a thermal kettle instead, so you don't have to keep boiling the kettle for another drink.
• Didn't buy a wine fridge but still might get one in future.

Bin drawer
Statement pendent lighting over island
Extractor fan that rises from the island
USB and plug sockets on island
Induction job for clean lines
A larder

If you're having a big open plan space I'd think about worktops. Whilst I love quartz/ marble the noise would have ruined it for me. We went for walnut wood which is much quieter but even now the clanking of pots/ plates annoys me. Think about the layout also. Ours has hob in island, then directly behind it is sink then next to that is dishwasher. Clearing after cooking is easy and I don't have to move from the spot!

Just a note about lighting - we've got inset halogen spots which work fine, but there is no industry standard as to the shade of white - even if you choose eg cool white or warm white these differ from one manufacturer to another. So as some of the bulbs have needed changing we now have a mix of slightly different colour lights 🙄.

Google "mumsnet kitchen lessons learned"
There are several threads with loads of useful information

We did ours end of last year. Lots of drawers, a huge larder, USB sockets the Neff slide away oven and a big tap with a spray attachment from Perrin & Rowe are all brilliant additions.

Things we live from doing ours last year : boiling water tap and fridge with ice/chilled water, all drinks instantly available

Pop up sockets; less than £30 each on amazon. You need a socket installed under the cupboard it plugs into, so if anything goes wrong with it you can just unplug and pop a new one in (nothing has but I know this can be an issue)

I kept my existing wine fridge in the dining room

Everything drawer, pull out and swivel

I got a built in microwave too so all that’s in my worktops is the kitchen aid and the espresso machine.

Definitely planning the layout carefully. My friend has her dishwasher at the end of her island which makes great sense as when it’s open being loaded or unloaded there’s no traffic jam around it as the space isn’t narrowed.

I’d have -

Corian work surface. So durable and looks great.

Integrated bins under where you’re going to chop/prep so you can just wipe mess straight into the bin.

Double sink or at the very least 1.5 bowl.

As many drawers as cupboards.

Lots of subtle lighting - we rarely had overhead lights on, but when we did it was dimmable. We had loads of under lights and strip lighting around the base units near the floor, as well as up lighting on top of some cupboards that didn’t reach the ceiling.

Loved our wine fridge, saved having the fridge full of bottles.

Didn’t have a hot tap.

With hindsight would have preferred an induction hob. So easy to use and clean.

Integrated everything. Looks so much better.

Careful choosing flooring. We went for a black tile which looked amazing but was so high maintenance and showed every drip and bit of fluff.

Pan drawers instead of cupboards
Pantry/larder
Wall cupboards to the ceiling
Pull out tall thin cupboard
Recessed sockets under island
An area for baking
Eye level oven and microwave
Sink/hob not on island
Bookcase built into side of island for cookbooks
Lots of big windows

Hot water tap -ours is a grohe (cheaper than qwooker.
Induction Hob- buy pans from Ikea
We inherited a wine fridge but wouldn't be without one now.
2 dishwashers if you have space (means dirty crockery is never left on side - good if you are having an open plan layout.
Pan drawers
Pull out spice racks
Pendants above island

We went from a very quirky early 1980s kitchen to a new one, so to be honest I was impressed by everything - other than the flooring but thats because it was fitted incorrectly!

We didn't get a hot water tap as we have young-ish children and I thought it unsafe. I do love our induction hob and it heats things so fast I was able to get rid of the microwave which gives a lot more worktop space.

We got laminate worktop - not cheap stuff but we were on a budget. If I did it again I would get a better worktop. However I'm happy with the cupboards so the worktop is something we might change in future.

Love my pull out bin cupboard - nearly didn't get as seemed expensive but well worth it. Lots of pan drawers.

If you are looking at the inner wooden cutlery trays b&q have them. They look really nice and far cheaper than the fancy names ones.

Love my shallow cutlery drawer inside my pan drawer.

Also love my pull out larders.

Bin cupboard next to the sink / opposite the island which separates food waste / recycling and landfill. Quooker hot water tap has been a revelation and would not be without it now! Also have bora hob meaning I have my hob on the island with no need for an extractor fan anywhere. Big island with overhang to sit at - we hardly use the dining table / area now when it’s just then4 of us home! We have a polished concrete floor with underfloor heating - easy to clean and stays hot / cold when you want it to! Definitely usb and power points in the island. Lots of storage - I wanted most stuff out of site giving it’s also our main living / dining area. I have a big larder / cupboard which also houses toaster and coffee machine! Good lighting also a must! I also opted for double ovens, one of which is a micro also so again didn’t need that sitting out anywhere. Make it as big as you can afford!

Build a utility room if you don’t already have one as the washing machine is noisy when on and if it’s in your open plan kitchen you will hear it! Far better to have it elsewhere so you can shut the door and the noise away!

We did ours last year. Best things we put in were velux windows with a remote to open and close them!