Tell me your new kitchen must haves!

[MiddleClassProblem]

We are having a new kitchen designed and I would love to know what are your kitchen must haves!

Whether it’s appliances, storage ideas, practical or innovative designs, inspire me!

I would have said Quooker, had one in my last house for years with no problems, but mine which was installed in December developed a leak internally and has ruined 3 cupboards and a dishwasher. These things do happen but the customer service has been truly appalling and still no sign of it being fixed, they're not even coming look at it for almost another month, so I've had to buy a kettle and a water filter jug

Big double full height pantry cupboard with wine rack, pull out racks and lots of shelf space, big double full height china cupboard, (close to dishwasher), pull out bin cupboard, slide and glide Neff oven is fab, warming drawer, large island so lots of prep space, big wide drawers and no wall cupboards. White quartz surfaces still like new ten years later.

Definitely put draining board grooves by sink otherwise you can get dripping water over edge. Love the removeable shower tap as great for cleaning pans and jet washing pans and sink.

A walk in pantry
Two ovens
A chef

Two dishwashers!

I’ve just had a new kitchen. I’ve got 8 massive drawers and only a few cupboards. My favourite though is the pull out bins. Absolutely love it. I used diy kitchens - they were fab.

A dishwasher. So fed up of washing up. Nothing else matters

My pan drawer and bin cupboard are my favourite features. I wouldn't buy the ££££ bin cupboard next time though as it's a absolute rip off when you can get the cupboard and then bin attachment from Amazon for a fraction of the price.

Do not get square faced worktop, mine has started to expand and rise particularly above the dishwasher where steam has got into it. Round nosed work top has trim that goes all the way underneath and prevents water and steam getting in. It's a well known problem with Howdens worktop - just not when. Got mine done two years ago.

I would sacrifice the double sink for a single sink that is big enough to fit a big baking tray.

And counter top needs to be scorch, stain, chip and water damage proof (which probably means laminate which fortuitously is cheaper than everything else).

Or marble and granite

Pan drawers.
Larders with pull out solid drawers and internal led lights.
I wouldn't bother with a drainer or a drainer cut into your worksurface - dirt magnets / pain to clean. Choose a dishwasher that can handle everything and kitchen items than don't need handwashing.
Don't buy fisher Paykel dishwashers drawers, build quality is awful, customer service and warranty great. It breaks down nearly every three months.
Not a massive fan of quooker tap.
Got rid of gas after a gas leak, induction hobs so much better and easier to clean.

Neff hide and slide
Neff microwave combi - can be an oven or grill as well and also has plate warming mode
Pull out bins inc recycling
Space to tuck the ironing board away

Walk in pantry if you have room. Floor to ceiling double door pantry cupboard if not.

Beware of black granite sink. The only thing I'd change in ours. It looks dreadful after a week really and has to be descaled, cleaned and oiled at least every two weeks. Shows all the limescale water marks and just looks dull most the time.

My "oven clean" lady said they won't clean hide and slide ovens. Can't remember why but there was a good reason. She said most companies won't/can't.

Oh my GOD a fellow sufferer. Ours looks disgusting. How do you descale it? Ours has stupid straight edges and ledges for timescale to cling to. I cannot even begin to describe how much I hate that fucker.

Pop up mains in the island
900cm undermounted stainless steel sink
900cm cutlery and pan drawers
I'd absolutely love a corner larder
Double self cleaning oven

I think half of Ireland would currently suggest some sort of none electric cooking facility, ie gas rings. So many people totally caught out with no form of cooking or heating currently.

I recently did my kitchen. Space 3m x 3m so not huge, but definitely workable.

• No corner cupboards - I hate corner cupboards
• Magnificent corner pantry - went from 60cm wide pantry to each shelf being 2 metres long❤️
• Drawers only for lower cabinets (except under the sink) heavy duty, soft close drawers
• I've got a single drawer dishwasher which is more than big enough for me
• induction cooktop with integrated range - light and range comes on automatically when you cook
• power to the island - my power points are under the overhang near the fridge; microwave out of sight
• cupboards to the ceiling
• glass splash back

I'll show you my before and after pics. Same footprint, with the exception of the fridge being 15cm further out than the original bench. Significantly more storage, great preparation area and much roomier. Had 5 people in the kitchen at the start of renovations and it was packed. 5 people fit comfortably afterwards as you can overflow out towards the fridge. Love the two entries now. Much easier to get to and from dining area.

My kitchen is white, which I know isn't in fashion but, with the skylight, it makes the area nice and bright, not gloomy and dark. My appliances are red, which is why the backsplash is the colour it is.

I would recommend doing what I did - get one of those A3 graph books (or app if you prefer digital). Get the size of the appliances you want, measure up your room. Draw your room to scale and cut out appliances to required dimensions and label them. I find it handy to the use a thick pen to colour the edge of the appliances. Work out what bench width you want. Then start moving things around the page. If you like the look of a layout, measure your walking spaces to make sure they're wide enough. Measure things like how much space you need to open the oven and stand comfortably at the door, how much room you need to open the fridge door etc. If the room is huge, you don't need to worry so much, but with smaller rooms, it's really handy to make sure you can move around comfortably.

More drawers than cupboards
Two separate sinks if no utility
A boiling water tap
An insinkerator or other quality waste disposal
Good lighting
We have amtico flooring so not cold underfoot and so easy to clean

Quooker boiling water tap. Hidden bins. Integrated appliances. Put the laundry elsewhere. One sink as big as possible.

Induction hob, pan drawers, slide out larder.

Walk in larder is my number one with pull out basket storage below, lots of shelves above

Breakfast cupboard with space for coffee machine, toaster and shelves and drawers that can all be closed off

Hob with integrated extractor

Two deep double sinks

Floor to ceiling cupboards

Underfloor heating

Bifolds or sliders with same height patio to link to outside eating space

Tandem larder unit
Larger single sink (as opposed to 1.5 bowl)
Microwave with no turntable
Quartz worktops
Induction hob (my favourite thing)

Was this a wood work top?

Ok so picture attached below of the pop up appliance shelf and the slide out shelf (not exactly the same but gives an idea of concept.

also picture of printed glass backsplash before and just after installation (the yellow tape is now gone). I bought a high quality image from shutterstock and the kitchen fitter had a print shop print it onto the reverse of a clear glass backsplash.

in the picture you can also see the Miele induction hob with built in under counter extractor (you don’t need one over the top as well). You can also see on the end the roller shutter which has the pull out drawer inside for the oil etc. the roller has buttons and rolls up electrically.