What is your absolute must-have for a great kitchen?

[BrandoraPaithwaite]

Getting the ancient, grubby, falling to bits kitchen finally ripped out and redone in the Autumn (Covid permitting).

Please help me plan an ideal kitchen!

It's roughly 4.5m square. Door to porch and back of house which we use as main entry/ exit to house. No scope to extend or have bifold doors. Family is 2 adults, 1 dc, dog and cat.

What is your absolute must in a kitchen? Or what have you got in yours that you couldn't live without?

All we have already decided is to have a range cooker in the chimney breast, a big cupboard near the door for coats and shoes. And no island unit or breakfast bar.

Thank you!

My tambour is easy to keep clean as well and looks as perfect as when it was fitted 5 years ago. Mines not anywhere near the hob or sink either though.

I'd definitely say not a laminate worktop. We went for a really expensive one thinking it would last but it's still not as good quality as I hoped and it's got scratched and it really annoys me.

Mind you my silestone quartz worktop has chips out around the sink and someone put a hot pan on it and left a permanent ring which is annoying!

Dishwasher, good under cupboard lighting, induction hob, large pan drawers, corner carousel.

Mine is very small so clean lines, no handles, drainer incorporated into worktop and integrated appliances have helped make the most of the space.

Big pan drawers, range cooker with induction hob, pantry pull out cupboards,
Silestone worktop. It looks like granite/ marble but is man made and much tougher. Dekton similar but more pricey. Wine fridge if there's room😜
I recommend tall ceiling height cupboards too. We had our kitchen done 2 summers ago and I still love it!

Ooh and a hot water tap. No need for kettle then so can minimise crap out in units

I have a newish kitchen, I love it, mostly. My favourite things are my two separate ovens and my induction hob.

If I was lucky enough to have another new kitchen, I would have even more worktop, especially next to the hob and I would have more drawers. I have some for pans and things but I have found that drawers are fab.

Cupboards that go up to the ceiling so you don't have that grease/dust/dead saucepan/spider/useless bits of crap trap that is the shelf on top.
And linked to this - a really good kickstool (one that can also be used as something else is good) so you can reach those high shelves that you will now have inside those tall cupboards.

As much storage as you can. I didn't want wall units, but I had a wall that wouldn't fit the regular 600 kitchen units. So I filled it with the 300 wide Pax wardrobe system from Ikea and put loads of the shelves and baskets in and used it as a larder. I picked the doors in a gloss grey and they go with the Ikea kitchen units I have in the rest of the kitchen. Def an induction hob, I have the extra large one from Ikea it really is the best hob I have ever had. Two sinks helps do away with a draining area, which you can use as extra worktop space. Think about the flow, how you move about while you are cooking, and how in reach everything is.

Lights in the bottom of your upper kitchen cabinets. This gives much needed light to the worktops for food preparation etc.

Also if you like Chinese food, a hob with a large burner for a wok.

Not everywhere has gas, incidentally. The village I live in doesn't. So gas hobs aren't always a 'thing'.

Drawer units instead of cupboards
Pull out larder
Two full sinks or at least 1 1/2 one
If you can’t do an oven high up, get a slide-and-hide, works wonders
No tiles as backsplash, you spend your life cleaning the grout. We had glass and now have granite. Beautiful and so much more practical.

Don't have anything shiny.

So I've designed 2 kitchens and I almost carbon copied my first as I loved what I did.

Corner walk-in larder. (You can take 1.5 steps inside) I hate those rubbish corner units that waste space and everything gets lost in them. So I placed a diagonal door across the corner, then built L shelves from floor to ceiling. Honestly its the best thing ever! Wickes does something similar and is usually in their showroom. I just got my kitchen fitter to bespoke it for me. Just involved, 2 end panels, a door and some shelves. Oh and get a trip light for when the door opens so you can always see inside at night.

American fridge/freezer (no water/ice maker) purely so I got as much storage as possible.

Base drawer units instead of cupboards. I can access everything without having to move a single item. GAME CHANGER! I also use 3 drawers units for all units, and use the top shallow drawer as my spice drawer right by the cooking area.

Wall units to the ceiling. No gap at the top. Get every single use of space used, minus and dusting. Avoid open shelves as much as possible. Messy and dusty.

Dishwasher with cutlery drawer at the top. No more half washed cutlery and I can fill with more plates etc.

Full sized sink so I can get any sized pan completely in.

Drawer under the sink became my bin recycling unit and I have all 4 bins in there, plus some room for bin liners and dishwasher tabs.

Induction hob with one gas ring. I love gas cooking but I hate cleaning gas hobs. This way I have best of both worlds. Plus all the other advantages of induction.

Ovens and microwave in appliance towers instead. My back loves me for it and the kitchen looks so more sleek.

No under counter cupboards, Make them all drawers, They are so much more convenient.
Also have a pull out bin drawer.

What is your absolute must-have for a great kitchen?

A DH who does the cooking and cleans up afterwards.

We recently had a new kitchen. The deep drawers are the best thing. I absolutely love them. I'm also really pleased with my boiling water tap. Wasnt so sure I would need that but I use it loads.