To ask what one thing you’ve done to a new kitchen that you can’t live without

[LaPampa]

Finally planning our first kitchen and looking for ideas from people who’ve done it before - What’s the best thing you put in or chose in your kitchen? (Or indeed, the worst)

An American size fridge freezer with drawers at the bottom for the freezer and double doors at the top for the fridge. Much more roomy than our old standard 2 door one. It also dispenses water and ice which we've loved and used even more than expected.

Induction hob - love it but get the pans with the solid conducting base, the spotty ones don't work nearly as well.

A fridge with a drinks ‘hatch’. Not the ice/water dispenser thingo (always tastes like stale freezer to me), but a hatch that opens downwards into a little tray in the outside fridge door.

Means you don’t spend time fighting the vacuum lock on a huge door, just to put milk in your tea. Kids can get a drink easily. It’s quicker to check if you need the essentials (milk & white wine!). Keeps the fridge temp constant.

Love mine to death, and can’t imagine life without it. Never can figure out why it’s not standard in fridges.

Made space for a dishwasher (in a small kitchen). When our landlord's kitchen fitters came in to measure up, they said they didn't think they'd be space, but I pressed them and they managed to put in a slot for a slimline one. So worth it. We're a bit short on cupboard space but I'll accept that tradeoff.

I love that we have the cups hanging from hooks on a rail fastened to the top units. They look all jolly and pretty there. These aren't mine, but pic for an idea of what I mean!

Also, no one's said a pan wall? I love our pan wall. Maybe I just find it satisfying to hang things up on hooks!

1 and 1/2 sink
Cupboards to ceiling
Double oven at eye level
Pan drawers

Hated hot water tap. Broke loads and makes shit tea.

We have just agreed a sale on our house today. I am already missing the 4 huge pan drawers and 2 really wide cutlery/utensil drawers. I also like having 2 bin drawers - 2 removable bins in each so 1 landfill, 3 recycling. Wish we'd had room for a pull out larder thing and it would be great to have a proper old fashioned pantry.

If it's relevant, we just agreed a sale well above asking price within a week of it going on the market and I am convinced our new kitchen clinched it.

I would never have a bamboo floor again though - looks lovely and the samples were pretty much indestructible (we really tried). 2 weeks down and the toddler managed to scratch it significantly and a leaky washing machine pipe meant that some floorboards got saturated and bowed. It also takes a while to settle and expand/contract. It also creaks ominously.

TWO dishwashers, slimline if necessary or full size if space allows. That way you can still put dirty stuff out of the way when one is running (or when you haven't got round to emptying it yet!).

Great big island with quartz worktop
Nothing out on counter at all other than my Nespresso machine
Neff induction hob
Side by side full size single ovens
90cm wide pan drawers
Pull out drawers in cupboards under ovens like this

Mini hoover unit in the kickspace, don't have to bend down to pick up swept up bits/dog hair 4x a day or have a little pile collecting in the corner until I get the dustpan & brush out. Love it! And flexi pull out tap, drinks/wine fridge.

Place marking too for when we finally get round to redoing our kitchen. Have been talking about it for years but can't face the upheaval!

Double full height larder cupboards - one is pull out, the other shelved.
Same in utility.
Under oven trays/oven tins drawer
Deep wide pan drawer
Whizzy dishwasher
No wall units - creates amazing feeling of space and openness and we don't miss them at all
Pull out spice rack next to hob
Induction hob
Quartz work surfaces- love them and they look beautiful
Ceramic sink and no draining channels in quartz - everyone said we'd regret it but we never have
Utility/pantry off kitchen. It is wonderful and has transformed the kitchen- no clutter, lots of space.

Miele coffee machine.

I had to sacrifice a cupboard but it was worth it.

Double oven
Warming drawer
Maytag fridge freezer with water filter and ICE DISPENSER!!!

Very jealous of breakfast cupboard :)

hot tap
massive island with power ( plugs have USB ports in ) I can use my laptop without wires everywhere and use small appliances eg hand blender
fridge with cold water supply & ice

Two sinks.

Best things: dishwasher! And also a unit with drawers below, then oven, then microwave/combi oven above, and separate gas hob - great use of space in a smaller kitchen. The added bonus is that having an oven at reasonable height is going to make my arthritic later years much easier.
Worst thing: wooden worktop. I've managed to avoid burning it, but there's been some water damage around the sink which looks horrible. My sister bought a fake wood worktop several years earlier and it looks pristine...

Loads of good ideas here, but one of the things that I’ve really noticed is the difference it makes to have really good pans. We spent what I thought was a crazy amount of money on them, but they hold heat, don’t stick, and wash so unbelievably easily compared to my old cheap ones. Money well spent for me!

I had a kitchen fitted this summer in a new extension and I love:

the quartz worktops - worth every penny.
the pull out bin cupboard - I hate a visible bin and these stop the dog from having a good old rummage
the massive pull out pan drawers with hidden cutlery drawers
the fact there is tons of clear workspace. Only the most used items live on the worktops
no wall cupboards - makes it feel very spacious and I'm very happy pulling drawers to get mugs/glasses

Another vote for USB plugs, and the fast charging ones. Ours are integrated under head-height cupboards.

Pull out pan drawers
usb charging points
Quooker Tap
Drawers that are spring loaded so they don’t slam shut
Ice dispenser
Lighting under the island for post bedtime

Are probably my favourite things about my new kitchen

Can I ask for advice?
We're having a new kitchen as part of a bigger extension. The kitchen will be quite small and I'm quite short.
Would you get wall cupboards up to the ceiling to maximise storage space? I suspect the top shelves would only get cluttered with useless gadgets (such as DH's Simpson's Donut Maker).
I'll never reach the top shelves myself so it seems pointless and possibly making the kitchen look even smaller than it actually is.
What would you do?

Deep pan drawers and then more pan drawers - DH was sceptical about them but best thing we did. Hold so much and no scrambling at the back of cupboards!
Boiling water tap
Island
USB sockets
Dishwasher

In our very small kitchen the pull out drawers in our corner unit are absolutely brilliant. We use them every day and makes them fully useable cupboards instead of annoying clutter magnets. They weren't cheap but were absolutely worth the money.