Any top tips for a new kitchen?

[MrDarcysMa]

First time I've gone this so I'm worried I might make an absolute clanger through lack of experience.
E.g had new flooring laid in the lounge and didn't take into account new flooring wouldn't quite meet skirting boards so I had to pay to get them taken off and new ones fitted after I'd already decorated !
So- it's a small L shaped galley kitchen.
I've got a good idea of what I want/ visuals/ supplier and am using a kitchen fitter who's been recommended to me and I've seen his work.
I'm having new units (old ones are shot) doors, worktops, sink. Appliances are fine so will be re used if possible (not intergrated) and it will need tiling/ backsplash thing, plus sockets moving and all that jazz.
Tell me oh wise ones - are there any weird things you wish you know before embarking on a new kitchen?

I'm watching this with interest, as DC and I should be moving out of rental into a home of our own sometime next year.

Right now, I've created two workspaces with chopping boards on the counter. One for use in prepping dinners, etc, the second is a space for lighter food, board is huddled with the toaster and breadbin. Means we aren't falling over each other in the kitchen when two people are working.

Cupboards to the ceiling for more storage and less dust/grease. A long cupboard over the sink if you can (so handy). A larder where you can keep everything. As few drawers as you can get away with because with children in my experience those fail first. Cupboards without handles are a revelation. If you have space, an ordinary bin and a recycling bin under the sink. A flat electric stove top which is easy to clean. A self cleaning oven. Space for a dishwasher/washing machine/tumble dryer.

I would never pay for under cupboards lights again - we never used them.

Put in a wine rack if you can. I thought they were naff but dh persuaded me and I love it. Ours is only a small one, one bottle wide and I think 6 deep, at the end of the row of cupboards.

Quartz worktops are amazing. Yes to pan drawers, led lights under cupboards, bin underneath the sink, loads of sockets, cupboards to the ceiling, break it up with open shelves. Gas hob and electric oven is the combo which works best for us. Larder cupboard too if you have space.

Make sure the sink/ drainer has 1.5 or 2 sinks, and put the sink under the window.

Think of sink-fridge-cooker as a triangle needing direct access, no walking around a table etc. Also consider storage for bulky items - washing powder, cat food, cat litter, slow cooker...

Yes to under-cupboard lighting. I use magnetic usb-rechargeable strip lights that come on at night in response to movement. They're in the cupboards as well.

My wish would be for a decent iPad holder near a charging point, as I use it in the kitchen a lot - for recipes, messages, Siri when my hands are full, music etc.

Pull out wire drawers are excellent and even small ones can be used to store spices.
We have a quartz worktop and I’m pleased with it.

If the kitchen is small, I’d have the worktop as clear as you can.

Does t stuff on open shelves get greasy and dusty.
I’d still have tall cupboards and put rarely used stuff at the top. Light coloured cupboards would be good in a small space. People often say gloss needs a lot of looking after, but I find a quick wipe and then a buff with a microfibre cloth works.
As many sockets as you can, or one of those pop up ones.
We have an inset sink, with the drainer in the worktop.

and consider oven, fridge and dishwasher doors.
make sure you can open them all at once and still cross the kitchen.

appliances - go for free standing. more choice and easier to repair/replace.
in our last house a fucker kitchen fitter had screwed the integrated washer and dishwasher into the cabinets. we had to take the kitchen apart to get the washer repaired.

All good stuff here! We are getting a new kitchen next year. I really want a wall of floor to ceiling cupboards/ pantry type stuff but our kitchen will be an ok size so think we have space for it.

Don’t have wooden worktops around or near your sink.

Don’t have wooden worktops!

don't have fake dark slate tiled floors.
shows up dirt that doesn't even exists.

a full cubboard hight, narrow drawer close to the hob for spare oven racks.

If space is a premium definitely boiling tap and we went for a waste disposal, no need for smelly caddy bin then, I know Mumsnet hate these but I wouldn’t be without ours especially if you are in a flat, perhaps with no garden to compost.

Plinth drawers. So much extra storage. I discovered that they existed about two months after we'd had our kitchen put in. Kitchen fitter had never heard of them. He went back to the manufacturer but we'd have had to take our units out again to fit them and we couldn't face the mess and hassle, but I'm gutted that we didn't get them done at the same time as the rest of it.

Oh, and if you get gloss doors, make sure the fitters have taken off the protective film. Nine months after our kitchen had gone in, I was all set to complain about it because some of the corners of the gloss were bubbling and it turned out that the film was still on them all I had a glorious morning peeling it all off and it was like getting a new kitchen all over again because the finish was so much nicer!

Currently on week 2 of no kitchen as ours is being fitted. If you do end up scheduling work before Christmas or a holiday discuss adding late completion penalties into the quote

Love that @spiderlight I had a similar panic with IKEA pax doors where I thought I'd picked up blue by accident. It was the protective film 😂

Handle-less cupboards look sleek, but are a bit of a pain in the arse, in that dust and crumbs collect in the grooves... 🤢

@ginandgingers92

Handle-less cupboards look sleek, but are a bit of a pain in the arse, in that dust and crumbs collect in the grooves... 🤢

Our current ones are handless. I actually find cleaning out the groove quite satisfying

And I'm so looking for plinth drawers.