Kitchen regrets/must haves

[hanketypankety]

I'm going to be getting a new kitchen and it will be my first time choosing one. What would be the things you thought were a good idea but you regret having? Equally what do you love? My DH loves the look of grey cabinets and white worktops...however I'm terrified I would stain it. I love the idea of clever storage units but in reality are they worth it? Integrated fridge freezer or keep my year old one?? Any ideas would be great!

Put in a waste disposal!

Waste disposal unit is great! Thought I'd skip it in our new kitchen, but currently staying elsewhere and they don't have one in their skin and it's a pain constantly clearing food waste from a normal basket strainer.

Hot water tap is my very favourite kitchen thing!

Good extraction and integrated appliances also get a thumbs up

@SarahBellam

Don’t get those cupboard shelf things that move, supposedly to add usable space to corners. They are useless. They Will always break. Instead just get shelves and put the stuff you don’t use often in the corner half - Christmas dishes, the posh China, the churro maker (🙄). That is a far better way to make that space work.

I disagree with this. I have 'magic corners' for some particularly tricky corner cupboards and they're fantastic. Lasted 15 years so far.

@DazzlePaintedBattlePants

Everyone I know with a plumbed in fridge hates it because they leak and dribble water everywhere.

You need more lighting than you think you do.

Drawers are far superior to cupboards.

I love my plumbed in fridge. Love the icemaker and the nice water. Has never dribbled anywhere. Bit of a pain replacing the water filter so try to make sure that's as easy as possible.

We love our plumbed in fridge too. Never dribbled or leaked in 10 years. My one regret is not going for a full double sink. I loathe the lack of space in the half bowl.

My biggest regret is having the cutlery drawer in the island - there's ALWAYS someone standing leaning against it - drives me mad when we have friends over for food and I can't grab a spoon, spatula or whatever I need!

Self-cleaning oven
Automatic defrost fridge freezer
Corner carousel units
Upstands to match worktop
Pull-out racks in bottom cupboard
Dark grey floor grouting (never white)
Coloured mosaic splashback behind hob (with dark grey grout)

Decide exactly where things you use often will live and plan round them - I didn't want to bend for heavy plates etc so they're now in top cupboard (eye level) - a separate top cupboard for 'cake ingredients' as I do a lot of baking.

I have a wall of wall units, floor to ceiling in a slight recess, and I will try and do this again in any future kitchen....you may need to buy extra shelves, but you can get soooooooo much in them, nothing hides at the back because there is no back and more shelves means you have no wasted space.

Mascerator/waste disposal in the sink. Always been more trouble than they’re worth.

Best thing ever, bin that you hover your hand over and the lid opens and closes without touching.

Dark grey floor grouting (never white)

Absolutely this. Biggest mistake we made and hard to remedy.

Re. Self cleaning ovens - do they really work? Any tips to make them work?!

Glass splashbacks, not tiles.
And yes to upstands in the worktop material.

My biggest regret for my bathroom is getting dark grey slate tiles on the floor. Shows all the dirt/ water stains. So don’t make the same mistake of getting anything similar for your kitchen …

Not an integrated fridge
Pain in the arse

Best things we did were drawers everywhere, no lower cupboards, huge floor to ceiling larders and white silestone with flecks which hides any issues. Had it 6 years and it's stain free even though we are very messy!

Regret has been getting two ovens. We don't use ovens much at all now, as we have an air fryer and slow cooker so theyre wasted really. Should have got 2 microwaves as I do all my veg in the microwave.

Re. Self cleaning ovens - do they really work? Any tips to make them work?!
My Zanussi Pyrolitic (or paralytic as DH calls it) works fine. My only criticism would be that it has higher standards than mine and I've learnt to ignore the 'clean me!' signal for a while.

That's interesting.
So you set it to clean? (Shows how long it is since I've bought an oven!)

I winced at the cost for an integrated bin but love it.

We got a tap that has a spray option like this. It's very expensive but I love it. Also yes to deep drawers for pans and pull out larder.

Waste disposal is plumbing and environmental hazard.

Integrated everything, deep drawers, larder cupboard with spice drawer, induction hob, sink near dishwasher, pyrolytic oven plus combi oven if you have space. Composite worktop (not marble), ours is white with light grey veining which is very forgiving. Used to have very dark granite which was a nightmare. If you go to a local stone company rather than buying brand names like Silestone you will save ££s. Try and get two or three quotes as prices vary quite a bit.

Happy planning

Oh and integrated bin unit

Waste disposal unit (15+ years old, never had any problems)
Boiling water tap (we’ve a quooker)
Largest sink possible (ours is approx 68x38cms) - great for soaking large items such as oven shelves
Warming drawer is very useful
Powerful extractor fan
Integrated bin unit under prep area
More plugs than you ever think you’ll need (esp if you have an island)
Good lighting
Underfloor heating
A really competent builder/carpenter!