What should I include/avoid in new fitted kitchen

[salsamad]

Having a new fitted kitchen in the near future and Ive never done this before.
I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the choices for cupboards, units, surfaces, sinks, appliances etc. I was wondering if any of you had advice of things we should definitely include or avoid.
We are not having an island and there will be units across 3 of the 4 walls.
We have a square window and also French doors out to the patio, so plenty of natural light and a four seater oak table & chairs are in the kitchen too.
We are keeping our reasonably new tiled floor so having to match in that for cupboard colour/work surface. (Have attached pic of our floor tile).
We are thinking smooth shaker style door fronts in Matt finish but can’t decide on colour - just know we don’t want a dark colour.
Quartz or laminate work surface? Is using an eye-level integrated microwave more dangerous than one on the work top?
Glass or acrylic back panels behind hob or tiles or something else?
Stainless steel or composite sink?
Cooker hood - does glass on it attract more grease?
Integrated pull out bin - do they make cupboards smell?
Induction hob - are they worth the extra money?
Should we consider one company does it all or buy separately & get a fitter?
Any ideas welcome and any advice on companies to choose or avoid too.

We have glass splash back, induction hob and integrated pull out bin. All great. Wouldn’t change them. Also eye level ovens (one a microwave/oven) and a warming drawer.

Make sure that if your electrical sockets have to be moved, that they will be replaced. I ended up with sockets in the wrong place, because the kitchen designer hadn't replaced them. And it was too late to change it when I realised.

Quartz worktop. I don't like shaker - so ubiquitous and I find the edge at the bottom of the door gets dirty. Matt is best.
Splash back - I do like the look of the worktop continuing up the wall if it's a nice marbly one. Tiles are making a comeback though - go matt with these too.
Have the cooker extractor integrated in to a cupboard. Though you don't not actually need one if the room has ventilation. I hardly ever use mine and didn't have one at all in my last kitchen.
Gas stove, I know they are phasing gas out but not for a while yet.
Composite sink - even better if it's seamless to worktop (that would mean a composite one like Silestone).
I'm not keen on built in microwaves as they seem to break down a lot but maybe they are more reliable now.
Boiling water tap is a must!!

Forgot to add - yes intergrated bins. They don't smell if you rinse out your recycling containers snd change the bag as soon as full.

Induction hob with one gas ring
Quooker boiling water tap
One standard oven and one microwave/standard oven side by side
Big fridge with freezer elsewhere

Induction is fab, so much faster, safer and more responsive than electrical.

Either an integrated bin or someplace to put a bin, ditto for recycling bins znd pet food dishes.

Also, plan where your drawers are. I've just moved house and there are no drawers near the cooker or microwave and we have no idea where to put out cutlery and utensils thats useful. So I'd say plan it out and then cook an imaginary meal in it, think about what you reach for and make sure its within reachable distance

Drawers not cupboards for the base units - makes reaching stuff at the back so much easier.

Avoid Shaker style. We have just got rid of ours. I was forever cleaning the bottom "shelf" edges of greasy dust.

Electric fan oven with the option of switching the fan off.

As we are a small family we swapped our full sized dishwasher for a slimline one. This helped create more storage space.

Getting rid of the wall tiles and painting the (newly plastered) walls has made the kitchen look lighter and airer.

Under wall unit lighting has been a game changer. The lighting we had before was inadequate.

If you can, have a dedicated area away from the main work top for charging phones etc. Possibly hidden away in a drawer?

No wall tiles just a wooden edging. Gap next to a cupboard for chopping boards.

We hired a local kitchen place, and the contractor designed the layout ect. We choose maple Shaker cupboards and got them stained a medium brown shade. One cupboard has glass door and glass shelving and lights up. Crown moldings and under cabinet lighting. Get enough electrical sockets for all your appliances. I like the stovetop to go to the wall. We have a pull out bin we use for recycling and a small compost bin under the sink. Our garbage can is a stand alone one tucked undeneath the island. Get big deeo drawers for pots and pans and drawers for kitchen tea towels, oven mitt ect. Our kitchen is small we tried to have as much storage as possible.

I really like our induction hob.
We have granite work surface and splash backs for a more natural look.
Glass on the cooker hood seems easy enough to clean.
We went from a black composite sink to a white Belfast style one. It forever looks dirty, but if you are used to a white sink then I am sure it would be fine.

Somewhere for the broom to go......

I find a quick wipe down of my of white shaker cupboard doors is enough to stop a build up of dirt on them.
no to gas hob - induction is much cleaner.
yes to Matt tiles for the splash back. I find glass panels behind jobs to look cluttered as there too much change of surface decor.
yes to composite sink - ours isn’t a seamless one as we’ve only got a laminate worktop.
our built in microwave is excellent - fitted above the oven, easy to reach and doesn’t take up worktop space.
NO NO NO to a hot tap - the cost to use them now is extortionate!

We have one of those narrow picture shelves above a double USB socket to charge our phones - keeps them off the worktops.

The first thing to work out is whether you are going for a range cooker or separates but whatever you choose, induction is the best, hands down! I like separates and have a standard oven and a combi micro (both neff, with a slide and hide door on the standard).

the rest is up to you - the thread above talks about people not liking this or that. It doesn’t matter what others like, what do you like? We have painted shaker and it’s not such a big deal to keep it clean, ours is navy/grey but some friends of ours chose a very pale off white which looks beautiful. Any doors will have their issues, anything high gloss will have fingerprints.

quartz worktops are really nice to live with, I prefer them to granite. I think wood looks nicest but is awful to maintain.

we have a composite sink, which I love.

we don’t have fancy hot water taps or anything like that - a kettle is fine.

i agree about drawers, we have two pan drawer sets, and a drawer stack. We also have a walk in pantry, but that’s unusual - I’d recommend a pantry cupboard though, keeping all the food in one place is great.

our one big extravagance is that we have two dishwashers!

Hi OP. I have an induction hob, bin in cupboards and glass splash backs which were spray painted on the inner side to give a colour (I went for pale grey). Love them all and wouldn't change them, particularly for cleaning (hob and splash back). I have shaker style cupboards and although you do get a bit of grime in the bottom groove, a quick wipe of a couple each time you're doing the surfaces is enough to keep it at bay. Also, as PP said, a tall cupboard for brooms and mops is brilliant. I have a boiling water tap but could do without it I think, I don't use it as much as I thought I would but I know other people who love theirs.

The first time I planned a kitchen, it looked lovely but I had nowhere to dry out towels or tea towels! In this house I changed the radiator for a tall one with towel rails. I love it! It's a bit like this.

Carrera quartz worktop.
Flat Matt cupboards
Induction hob
Eye level ovens.
Glass splashback
Plenty of drawers. The only lower cupboards are under the sink and one at each end of island, every where else is drawers. I actually have 19 drawers.
No hot tap as not at home enough to justify it and a kettle works fine.
4 years old now and I don’t regret any of the above. I would have them the same again.

I like your tiles OP. I think the wood grain look is neutral enough to have almost any colour units that you would like.

If you are having wooden units, don't be afraid to push the boat out on colour a bit - they can always be repainted. I went for something a little more "out there" for our island after getting inspiration online, and it makes me happy every day.

I love shaker style cabinets and don't find mine hard to keep clean honestly. Matt for sure for me.

Laminate worktops are fine - we have a newly installed laminate worktop in our utility room and modern laminate is much better than the stuff from the 80s and 90s - but we put quartz in our kitchen and it is fabulous... It lifts the whole room and you can tell the quality in finish a mile off.

We have an integrated microwave above our integrated oven and I love it. Would not go back to a dusty greasy countertop microwave.

Ditto to integrated bins. Our ones contain any smells perfectly, you would not know they are there.

Consider extending your quartz work surface up the wall behind your hob, and onto any window sills also.

As for stainless steel or composite sink - I've only ever had stainless steel so maybe can't comment on the differences. However in our new kitchen our sink is undermounted which is a very sleek look.

Induction hobs are fab. We changed from a gas hob that I hated - so dirty. The induction hob is fast, easy to cook with, and cleaned in one wipe.

Oh and I agree about all the drawers. I even have my cups and glasses in drawers. It is a game changer.

And a big pantry cupboard - so handy to have all your food in one place.

Not handleless cupboards - greasy fingerprints everywhere on the doors!

Couldn't live without our hot water tap. Hate having a kettle cluttering the worktop.

If you are having a large larder type cupboard, make sure you get a pull out shelving system in it. We haven't in ours, and I hate it as every time I have to look for something, everything has to be pulled out.

Cupboard bins - so nice not having a bin on show.

We used Wren - wouldn't use again due to quality issues and poor customer service. Units are lovely though. And interest free credit was good. But would avoid using their fitters, they massively overcharge for it and quite frankly they weren't very good!

Induction hob is fab. We have an integrated oven, microwave, coffee machine, warming drawer and wine fridge on one wall, with cupboards either side... best thing ever! I use the coffee machine every day for a perfect coffee and the wine fridge is great for wine/beers etc and keeps the bottles out of the fridge.

The previous advice about drawers near the hob is good advice! I've two big drawers that house all the utensils/spices etc.

Before we had our (smallish) kitchen redone, I cleared out all the junk I never used and decided where everything would live in the future - everyday china at eye level and near the serving area, pots and pans near the oven, etc. I do have some floor cupboards with integrated wire racks that swing out for larder stuff - I know all shelves is popular but I can't stand the mess they get in for smaller things. I also picked easy-to-clean finishes/surfaces as kitchens are practical areas and nobody wants to be fiddling about with 3 different cleaning products and special cloths of a night. We've got upstands that match the work top all the way round, scrubbable white paint on all the walls above and the hob splashback is small coloured-glass mosaic tiles. The grouting for this is grey as is the floor grout - please don't choose white grout anywhere as it will soon look gruuby. Join the Hinch Army cleaning tips FB page to find out the main kitchen no-nos for cleaning!