to ask what KITCHEN mistakes you made?

[Albadross]

I needed this after the bathroom one - we're about to get a new kitchen (replacing the 90s disaster of worn chipboard and a cupboard you have to open the fridge to access).

We have composite worktops, the black speckledy sort that look like space. Due to the speckledyness, no dirt shows up. They wipe clean, require no maintenance and don't get damaged by acid (lemon juice, vinegar etc) like granite does. And they were cheaper than granite.

Re my message above about terrible flooring. What would be a good replacement? I'm not keen on tiles, too sloppy when wet and my DH spills water lots, plus door to back garden mean wet floor quite common

Dark granite worktop + hard water = lots of limescale damage near the sink. We now have a plastic drainer thing that has a bit that drains water into the sink which protects the granite. Wish we had used that from the start!

No up high cupboards, ones on the wall. Whilst we have lots of cupboard space, it seems odd to not have mugs and glasses in a wall cupboard so we have just bought one to install ourselves (can't afford proper ones to match the expensive kitchen at the moment!).

Ooh, and get dark grout between tiles - it'll end up that way anyway! Ours just reminds us how dirty it must be as it started off light grey!

We have karndean. Bomb proof x

Essentials:

Quooker hot water tap- yes it's safe, you can run hand under and don't get burnt

Insinkerator -waste disposal. Safe for little fingers. Saves having food waste bin

Breakfast cupboard with lots of plugs. All LSDs go in here, toaster coffee machine etc. Also doubles up as phone charging station

Induction hob. Instant heat. Don't get hot to touch, so again safe

Verticle storage for trays and chopping boards

Oh and one massive sink, for soaking large pans and baking trays

Don't let your lazy husband lay the floor before fitting the kickboards. Unless you like having a crevice filled with shite at the base of all you cabinets

I think it depends the aesthetic you like. Our wooden worktop does have some damage, a few marks and scratches, but it's still beautiful because the wood is beatiful. Doesn't bother me!

Wooden worktops. Worst concept ever.

I agree with more sockets than you think you need.
Full size dishwasher, we went for small to fit with cabinets. .big mistake.
Also agree with recycle compartment in cabinet . I'm forever popping outside to unload from counter.

This is all gold - I'll start a list!

A big sink, better still two big sinks (big enough to fit your baking trays flat, American-style!) is a godsend, and pair it with a tap with a pull-out spray head!
Below waist level all drawers everywhere, including deep ones for pots. A drawer near the hob is good for keeping pots of wooden spoons etc off the counter. The more things off the counter, the easier to wipe down the whole kitchen quickly.
Best way to store knives and kitchen shears in my view is a magnetic strip.
If you don't have an integrated Corian counter/backsplash, a tempered glass one is very safe and very easy to clean. If the kitchen is dark consider tempered mirrored glass. (But you may have to think then about placement of power points -- lots of power points.)
Another brilliant American idea -- an appliance garage or even two into which you can simply slide back heavy electrics like mixers and toasters without unplugging them.
I love having a built-in bin system but since recycling rules regularly change, best is to have it be a huge drawer in which you can change around the actual bins. And have a BIG kitchen bin. Also a kitchen laundry basket as kitchens, we find, generate a lot of washing (we go through multiple dish towels every meal, children use a lot of face cloths as mini towels, etc.)
Don't forget a dry-erase board for the ongoing shopping list! Everyone in the house now knows to write down as soon as they see they're getting near the bottom of the box/jar, otherwise they'll be without jam at breakfast.

oh, and -- make a place, some steps back from the cooker but not too far, for a small fire extinguisher and a fire blanket. You can get them quite cheap, and hopefully will never need them, but (I speak from experience!) when you need them you really NEED them

I have investigated worktops for both kitchens and bathrooms. (Both my bathrooms have a worktop running the length of one wall, above bathroom cabinets and with the back half of a sink set in it.) My conclusion is that the best material is the cheapest, the chipboard covered in (I think) plastic laminate like you get at B&Q. All the nice-looking materials like wood, granite, marble, Corian, other man-made ones, etc have weaknesses that mean they will be damaged by certain chemicals. The cheap chipboard shelving is chemical proof. Their only weakness is that you must not let water get to the chipboard, so edges must be sealed properly near wet areas.

I inherited shelving of this kind in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and it's mostly still in as good condition as it was 18 years ago. The exception is one bathroom, where a leak from the flat above caused damage. The insurance kindly replaced it with a marble shelf, which within days was damaged by a bottle of mouthwash being placed on it. Now I instruct all visitors never to leave a bottle of anything on that shelf, as it appears any chemical will damage marble. Even toothpaste. So I have a shelf on which the only things ever stored are spare rolls of toilet paper and a decorative sea shell. All bathroom products rest on trays attached to the wall, on the edge of the bath, or in the cupboard, because the shelf can't be used for storing things.

Make sure the cabinets are made from something easy to wipe down.
We have solid oak and it looks really grubby and aged now. Yes it could be stripped down and re-stained but at massive cost.

Also regret the ornate cut outs we had put in some of the top cabinets (v in trend 15 years ago!). Dust and grease collectors.

Next kitchen will be man made high gloss cabinets which require low maintenance to look good.

Go for what you like and try to not be blinded by current trends. Friend got grey shaker last year even though she loved white gloss as she felt it had dated and now complains her shaker kitchen is dated.

Fantastic thread! Am hoping to be able to design my very first kitchen soon, will definitely be taking everyone's experiences into account (that's the wooden surfaces vetoed!)

Wooden worktops are fab, oil with Danish Oil and they remain glossy and water-resistant for months. You do need to re-do the oil of course but it makes the worktops look amazing and I have no marks whatsoever after 2 years.

I previously used linseed oil on wood and it's nowhere near as good as Danish Oil.

Not mine, the builder, but:
inbuilt fridge - no, it ends up being too small and annoying.
fridge not in a triangle near the stove/sink - no, I have to actually walk to get to it.

Mixer tap without extender - mixed reviews, it's less likely to break, but less convenient
Stove in the corner - mixed reviews (I still think it ended up with some unused storage space.

The two kitchens I planned were, of course, perfect.

Perlacemarking!!

Agree with so much of the above, but one thing I would add is floor to ceiling cupboards.

There is no point having a gap on the top of the cupboard for greasy dirt to collect. And there will always be stuff you can put up there that is rarely used so you don't mind getting steps out to retrieve on that blue moon occasion.

(ShotsFired beat me to the ceiling height cupboards)

The other thing I'd add is think about ventilation.

If you haven't got an extractor fan already fitted, I'd seriously consider it.
Also check whether the cooker hood can deal properly with steam: many can't.

My rubbish/recycling bins live in a cupboard (formerly a pantry) with the ironing board, mop & vacuum cleaner etc. The door is always full of dirty fingermarks, but at least the bin is out of sight.

I agree with caution about built-in appliances. It hugely limits what you can have. My washing machine was built-in, sort of, but that only amounted to having a wooden door bolted directly to it, to cosmetically cover the part below the controls, so it was easy to throw out the machine and the door and replace it with a non-built-in one.

My fridge-freezer is built-in, it is too small, there is wasted space in the cabinet above it that contains some electrical points and usesless shelves, so they could have put in a bigger one. If I ever need to replace it, there is only one on the market of the same size. I have already replaced it once, 18 years ago, and even then there was only one option, and that one had the freezer on the bottom rather than the top as the original did, so the separate fridge and freezer doors could no longer be attached independently to the correct parts of the fridge-freezer. We had to bolt the two together, attach them to the fridge, and leave the freezer door to be opened separately after the fridge was already open.

Built-in ovens and microwaves are OK. Though if you have lots of counter space it might be better to have a free-standing microwave. You will have more choice, and it will be at the right height. Mine is above head height, above the double-oven. It's 20 years old and can't easily be replaced, because I think the ventilation slots built in above and below it also ventilate the ovens below. (The cupboards go all the way to the ceiling, so there is no back ventilation at the top of them like the oven installation guides call for.)

I do like that my cupboards going all the way to the ceiling, even though you need a stepladder to get to the tops of them. I've seen kitchens in identical neighbouring flats with cupboards with gaps above them, and even though they are newer than my kitchen, mine looks nicer and has more cupboards space.