Please help me plan my new kitchen

[HomeMakeoverSOS]

Hello MNers. I really don’t want to make any costly or irritating mistakes, so can I have your collective wisdom on all things kitchen please. The project is rip out and start again, right back to bare bones, so apart from not moving walls, windows and doors it’s a clean slate.

Background
It’s in the north east corner of the bungalow, so although it doesn’t feel like a dark room I need to be aware of the light levels

Room dimensions are 2.12m(W) x 5.18m (L) x 2.44m(H), so no room for an island

There's a combi boiler in the loft directly above the kitchen/bathroom wall

I live alone, and don’t have children visiting, so don’t have to worry about finger marks on things

I’m not bothered about styles dating as I’m hoping I’ll never move again

Hopefully I’ll use a small local independent company to supply the units rather than a national chain

Budget...mid range I suppose. I’m trying to keep costs down but hate poor quality stuff that need replacing before it should.

What I probably want is
Units: Pale grey gloss flat doors with discreet thin handles (nothing to snag clothing on!). Like this but probably from a local company.

Worktop: Pale grey “concrete” style laminate

Sink: Single bowl with a very simple drainer like this Bristan one

Taps: A mixer with pull out spray

Hob: A really user-friendly induction hob. Please give me your recommendations as I’ve never had one before, only gas hobs

Cooker hood: I really fancy a chimney style one but the kitchen designer has warned it would come out quite a way and could make my galley kitchen look a bit snug. He suggests having an integrated one instead, but I’m not so keen from an aesthetic point of view. I’ve worked out that the kitchen volume is 26.8 m3 so needs one with an extraction rate of 268 m3/hr

Oven: Built-in, eye level, double electric

Lights: Probably recessed down lights

Please throw your ideas, recommendations, avoid at all costs, at me 😊

Make sure all upper wall cupboards go right up to the ceiling with no gaps, saves cleaning!
Remember to have lights under the upper cupboards so that your worktop is illuminated, too.

I think you are completely right about ovens, stick to that. We’ve got 1 &1/2 ovens under the counter and they are crap. Not big enough and you have to kneel on the floor to check how stuff is cooking in the bottom one. Would love to change. Enjoy your project!

Good point about the units right up to the ceiling, thanks 🙂 It would look better too I'd imagine 🤔

Oh yes, the ovens at floor level are such a pain 🙄 I'm looking forward to not having to kneel on the floor for once

Just thought, as a single person, is it worth having a dishwasher? 🤔 I've heard they save energy and water compared to using a sink full of water when washing up by hand, but do they really? Not everything I use can go in a dishwasher anyway. The saucepans I have at the moment couldn't go in as they have wooden handles (but then they might have to be replaced if they don't work with an induction hob 😕). Plus it'll take up what could be storage 🤔 Arrgh!

Anyone? I'm really hoping to hear about what mistakes people have made so I don't make them, and also what people recommend.

Dishwasher as a single person?
What colour walls?
Tiles or splashbacks and upstandings?
Flooring types?
Etc, etc...Everything kitchen related please.

Why only a single sink though? A double sink or 1.5 sink makes a huge difference in all sorts of circumstances.

Mainly space @KihoBebiluPute, and I've had a double sink before and not really found much benefit. A 1.5 size might be a good compromise I suppose. What makes you recommend a double or 1.5 size?

Yes to a dishwasher I think - purely because it’s somewhere to put dirty dishes so keeps the kitchen clearer rather than piling them up in the sink. You could get a slim one if you don’t use many dishes in a day though.

Dishwasher as a single person - depends on how you cook and eat. If you eat out a lot, or eat a lot of ready meals or grilled fish and salad meals, maybe not, but even when it's just me (in normal times DP works away a lot and/or gets fed at work) I can fill a dishwasher 4 or 5 times a week, so a definite yes from me.

If you don't want handles, you can get push openers for cabinets with shelves in.

Get as many as your base units to be drawers rather than shelves, these are life changing. But you'll need handles for these. Most of ours are 50/50 split drawer base units.

A small local company is likely to cost far more and the quality won't necessarily be any better, unless you're paying for the handcrafted version, which is £££s. We have an Ikea kitchen which is a darker grey version of this and it will probably outlast us, it's pretty much bombproof.

The sinks I like are these Bristan Ingot ones

We have a 1.5 sink and it's handy to have hot soapy water in the small sink when cooking for hand washing, etc leaving the bigger sink free for draining pasta, veg, etc.

My favourite things in new kitchen:

• Wall cabinets up to ceiling
• Bin drawer with recycling sections
• Pan drawers - go for more drawers than cupboards on your lower units - good for everything, not just pans!

Have never used an induction job so don’t know about that. Our kitchen salesman seemed surprised we wanted to stick with gas but we’ve always liked cooking with gas.

Personally I wouldn’t go for grey worktop and grey units. Too much grey. Grey units with white quartz? Or the grey worktop with cream gloss cabinets would work well.

I'd buy from DIY and get a fitter on recommendation to fit it.

Go see one of the big boys to get your design - we went to Wren and B&Q. In the end we used an independent fitter and B&Q supplied. They give you the design without issue.

I have work area and sink with no cupboards above - just a bank of spotlights - thankfully, can see what I'm doing, very helpful. Daylight is best of course but not always there in the winter.

A 1.5 sink is very handy for having somewhere to tip the dregs of a cup of tea out when washing dishes in the bigger sink, or for draining pasta etc while having soapy water in the small sink. A dishwasher is great and you can get half sized ones which are good for one person - there are some things I still wash by hand but being able to tuck all the dirty dishes etc out of sight instantly makes the kitchen look more tidy.

Those handles might catch, get smooth edged ones or handleless units maybe.

As pp have mentioned having 2 drain holes (either having a double sink or a 1.5 sink) just gives so much more flexibility if you have some reason for having stuff in the sink (pans in soak, half way through washing up, doing some laundry handwashing) but also need to drain the peas, wash your hands or for some other reason pour something into a sink.

An alternative as you said that space is the limiting factor - your plan to have a single sink with a draining board attached would take up exactly the same amount of worktop space as a double sink with no draining board, and you could choose a design for the double sink which is compatible with a mobile in-sink or over-sink drainer accessory that gives you the same amount of draining capacity whilst also giving you the flexibility of a second sink hole.

I have a similar sink to that - plain draining board (no ridges). If you live in a hard water area then I'd avoid that type - mine constantly has water marks on it. I have a dishwasher so don't have a draining rack but when I stand water bottles upside down on the draining bit they make a funny noise until you lift them again and release the trapped water!

@TenThousandSpoons, that’s a really good point about a dishwasher being somewhere to put dirty dishes as at the moment they end up all over the worktops which looks horrible. I’m getting a bit concerned about the all grey look too in case it looks dull, so hopefully when I can go back to the showrooms next week I’ll get a better idea. Got some worktop samples on order which'll give a better idea too.

@BarbaraofSeville, I cook most of my meals from scratch and rarely eat out, so do generate a pile of washing up.
Noted, about the base units thank you, and love the Ikea units! It’s a shame I don’t have a store near me. Same with DIY kitchens mentioned by @IstandwithJackieWeaver which I’ve been very tempted by, which I suspect would be a cheaper alternative to my local kitchen showrooms. Going to order some samples now.

@SoddingWeddings, although I really want to support the local businesses, ultimately I’ll have to go with using their design but sourcing the units etc myself unless they’re competitively priced. Think I’ll go back to the big national company I dislike and get them to finish “designing” it (not that they were any good) with me, then do it myself. I won’t feel guilty about doing that to them as they're pushy arseholes who only give the prices to trade too 🙄

@KihoBebiluPute, funny you should mention having a sink with a detachable drainer instead as that was my original plan, although the drainer would’ve been a tray type thing on the worktop into a single sink. I’ve gone round and round in circles with the whole sink/drainer ideas over the last few weeks, it’s been the one thing I’ve had most difficulty deciding on.

@bigbluebus, on no, I didn’t realise a plain drainer would be worse for showing the water marks! Bugger! I really like it too. Looks like it’ll be a case of choosing something else or being prepared to dry it after every use.

Thanks everyone, your input is really helpful 🙂 Hope I've not missed anyone out.

Pan drawers. We have a 1.5 sink, a Neff induction hob with an extractor that lies flush to the ceiling so it doesn’t stick down. It’s genius! I would get a slim dishwasher. Have a tall pull out pantry cupboard, great for storage.

There's a mumsnetter - OnePlan and I forget the rest of her username who is a kitchen planner. For a fee she can design a layout for you and a list of everything needed so you can price it up with different companies. She's not trying to sell you a kitchen so will work with you to get the design that really works for you.

1.5 sink especially if you don't have a dishwasher,although the latter save mess,work and actually can be more economical. Freestanding are better, cheaper and don't have a heavy door. Make sure designer leaves enough space to get it in, a 600mm unit does not fit in a 605mm space unless you have shims for fingers. Buy appliances from Currys etc not from the kitchen showroom.

Are you sure about concrete worktops? Scratch resistant? Resistant to water without stains?

Go over the design and take out all the panels between units. These are pointless space wasters which the designer puts in because they are an easy fifty quid. Go through the second version and take them out again.

Do you know how loud extractor hoods are? You can get extractor fans which work as well, if not better, and dont act as an echo chamber.

Design stupidities to avoid - Proper draining board not worktop grooves. No multiple recycling bins, you have to take them all out separately. Have just one and do the sorting outside. No cupboard for tea towels , hooks or they won't dry. No internal carousels, massive space wasters. Make sure any door or drawer can be opened in any order, they can foul each other in a small kitchen. And check that the designer has actually measured the room correctly.

I've learnt over the years that it's better to have a practical kitchen at the expense of being fashionable. In particular -
Decide what's going in the cupboards before you order them - china needs to be near dishwasher with door opening away so you can put away easily, pull out racks for tins etc are great if there's no larder, opt for an easy-clean worktop not one that needs load of TLC, upstands with a splashback look better than tiles (paint walls with a scrubbable paint), these racks make a corner cupboard very accessible (hope photo attaches!). Above all make it labour saving!

Touch all the possible door handles. Go for something that feels really smooth and great. You want something that doesn't have scratchy, jaggy corners. Especially if they're cheap.

Yes to a small dishwasher. It's worth it for the joy of putting everything in, closing the door and leaving it to do its stuff, while you relax.

Yes to 1.5 sink - so useful.

You can get narrower units. The standard is 600mm deep but on one wall we have base units (no top units on that wall) which are 450mm deep. Works really well, no lost space at the back of the cupboards where you can't reach it, and a big space saver.

We got 4 places to do a draft design. B&Q were awful, Wren were fine but a bit unimaginative, Magnet were superb - just lucky with a designer who had a really good eye and could see a couple of great options. Local designer then added in some shelves using left over offcuts.

We've got silvery-blue doors, white corian worktop (cost a fortune but feels amazing). Walls are about the same colour as new plaster - a sort of warm pale pinky colour.. White worktop is both awful and brilliant. The bad thing is it shows every bit of spilt food. The good thing is it shows every bit of spilt food so I can clear it up. I hate to think how dirty my kitchen was when I had brownish worktops