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).

Cream gloss doors

We put in a new kitchen last year and the things I love are:
2 full size Neff hide and slide ovens with drawers below and a cupboard above.
Pull out basket or larder cupboards in most of the lower level
Composite work surface and up stands , cheaper than Corian and almost as good
12 (!) accessible sockets above the work surface plus allocated ones underneath for every large appliance with the on off switches above the work surface
Gas hob with wok ring at the side not the middle, I usually like symmetry but if it's in the middle you can't make a stir-fry and rice at the same time!

Things I wish I'd done
Bamboo flooring is not as easy to clean as I'd thought
DH insisted on a white sink, I hate it

Timely thread as we're doing our kitchen right now (just as the sorting out the floor stage - wooden floor, painted red)

Things I suggest that may or may not be possible but if you don't have a dishwasher then get a drying cupboard (think you can get them in Ikea in the UK) - they are marvellous and you never have to dry the dishes again!

Lighting over the worktops/under the wall cupboards with sockets - I always have florescent tube lights and two sockets next to them but LED ones are probably much nicer - one above the sink is great as then you can really see well to make sure the dishes get clean.

Bin on rollers in the cupboard under the sink.

As much storage space and worktop space as you can fit in!

Wooden worktops (not mine but my mum's kitchen) Unless you are going to make sure you never spill water on them, spend loads of time on their upkeep and never put anything hot down on them, they are a waste of time. Look great when they're brand new though

Our current house was previously owned by a tall family. All the worktops, wall cupboards etc are a few inches higher than in most other houses. When you're 4'11" like me, this is very noticeable. I've just about got used to it by clambering onto the worktop to get stuff off higher shelves

I don't think there is a single perfect kind of worktop.

We had wood in our last house (and in a rented house before that) -and found it very easy to look after and had no problems with discolouration (despite years of use). But loads of people on here seem to hate wood.

I loathe the laminate worktop in my kitchen and find it impossible to keep properly clean. Plus I think it's hideous. I've never had a laminate worktop I've liked. But other people think it's the best.

I'd like a granite worktop (not black) but my friend hates hers because it is a destroyer of crockery. However gently she puts down plates they seem to chip and break ridiculously frequently.

And so on. It really is personal taste.

Oh and I am very pleased with my American fridge freezer. I don't care how chavvy people think they are, it's brilliant!

This is a necessary thread. Before I run, must echo other PP and say no to granite!! I'm very clean and all that but granite had me in a semi-permanent rage.

I seriously miss my American fridge freezer, particularly the cold, filtered water and the space. I will definitely be getting a new one when we get rid of this abominable kitchen. I spend my time planning layouts that would be a huge improvement on what I've got now.

Just having my kitchen done now but looks like I've made good choices so far

I'm not a fan of our American fridge freezer. I wouldn't get another one. Different strokes etc.

Room for a fridge freezer.

We moved into a new build and the kitchen has no space for a fridge freezer. I really hate my under counter fridge!! It's irrational but I've just not got over this one issue.

Make sure the worksurface is measured to be the right height for you....doing this cured my bad back! (DH is the same height as me conveniently).
Don't get ceramic tiles, we have chipped half of ours. Next time we will spend more and get Karndean or stone flags.
We have a stainless steel sink and much prefer it to the ceramic one we used to have which again we chipped.
I think we may just be a clumsy family.

I agree with no integrated appliances. They are a PITA. We have bought two new build properties and all the white goods are integrated. In one house the washing machine is a pile of poo, but it isn't as simple as replacing it with a good one and selling the other one on ebay. Why not have a fridge that looks like a fridge or a washer that looks like a washer? They're not sex toysmthat need to be disguised or concealed. They remind me of the cupboards for TVs that were all the rage when I was little - they were built to look like antique armoires. Stupid.

We actually had a house built once. You would think we would have got it perfect, but no. When we moved in we realised there were no drawers in the kitchen. Luckily there was still room for an island unit so we put lots of drawers in that. Drawers are so much better than cupboards for lighter weight items.

No, no, no to shiny, black, ceramic floor tiles. Hard wearing but a nightmare to keep shiny.

And if you live in an area without mains gas I would not recommend going for a bottled gas hob. They either run out at inconvenient times or the regulator breaks. And the pressure isn't as high as mains gas so I can't get the pans hot enough for really hot wokking or searing. I am planning on replacing ours with an induction hob.

I will definitely go for ceiling height cupboards next time. I am a shortarse so would need steps to reach the top but an extra 20 feet of storage would be totally worth it.

And I love my glass fronted wall cabinet - I keep glassware in there and it always looks so bright and shiny.

I'm kitchen planning at the moment and have a question about induction hobs - I know you need pans made with iron, our main pans are fine, but our frying pans are all non-magnetic. I don't want to use cast iron frying pans (far too heavy).

So are there any lightweight frying pans that will work on an induction hob?

You don't need cast iron pans for induction hobs Mrs. there are many steel? ones that are fine.

I got new frying pans from ikea when we swapped to induction last year. They're fairly decent quality and weren't expensive.

I worried about getting wooden work surfaces after reading threads like this, but decided to go for it a couple of years ago. I love them. We use IKEA oil on them every three months or so (I just wipe it on with a facecloth, dead easy) and they still look new. We went for a big double sink (we were warned that the worst possible thing you can have with wood is a Belfast sink) which I had in my last house and loved. We also have clear glass surface protectors in busy areas of the kitchen (one by the kettle, toaster and sink). It still looks in mint condition and doesn't feel like any harder work than our previous laminate surface.

We also have one large glass fronted cupboard for crockery and glasses.

It's lovely, especially when lit up at nig with internal lights.

One regret, letting our joiner fit the surface as a last job before his Xmas break. Some of it was done a bit slap hazard and bugs me every time I see it, even though nobody else noticed.

We have had an oak work surface for 20 years and it still looks fine and I think I've sanded it down once and oiled it once in all that time!

Only major regret is the floor. It's a large area so at the time we didn't have the budget for kardean or similar which would have been my preference and put ceramic tiles down. Five years on, we've managed to chip several (e.g. a wine bottle fell out the fridge, wine bottle fine, but fecking tile chipped!) and the floor seems to suck all the heat out of the room.

Would also have put my sink in the other way around, e.g. we currently have worktop - drainer - bowl - smaller bit of worktop but would have worked better as worktop - bowl - drainer - smaller bit of worktop for dirty plate stacking purposes, but that's a minor detail.

Other things that I did that I was warned against, include wooden worktops - still look great 5 years on and have required minimal upkeep. Was not keen because of the ones we had in a rental properly marked so easily, but different wood and proper treatment initially has meant they've been fine.

Also ignored 'you can never have too many cupboards', we have no wall units above our main working area, far more pleasant to work at and we have more than enough storage space without.

Just finishing off our kitchen but still taking notes from this thread (outside tap to add!)
Things that work for us-
Two sinks
Recycling in cupboards
Sockets in island
Induction hob
Eye level ovens
Deep pan drawers
Kick boards that clip on and off for cleaning
Worktop that doesn't mark or show smears.
Chilled filtered water ups daily water intake massively.

I got one large sink instead of 1.5 on the recommendation of the designer. Very happy with it, it's large enough to fit even my biggest pots, and I really only used the 0.5 for storing cleaning supplies, would have been a waste.

For work surface, choose one you can actually work on - get water and stuff on it, put hot items on it etc.

More plug sockets than you think you need. I also love the pop up one on the kitchen island, like this: www.zippermowers.co/b63e520ae218c900-kitchen-island-pop-up-power-outlet.html

can anyone link me to the bathroom mistakes please ???

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2760837-To-ask-what-bathroom-mistakes-you-have-made?

An eye level oven and big drawers instead of cupboards have been my best purchases.

I have a black marble shiny work top, it always looks dirty, my cousin has a Matt one with speckles, looks lovely I'd go for that next time. Also nowhere for a bin to go and as others have said get the maximum amount of plug sockets possible.

I love the look of my speckled black granite work surface, but it chipped when a little jar of horseradish fell out of a cupboard. It landed on its bottom edge. The chip isn't very obvious but I know it's there & can feel it when I'm wiping up