The MN lessons learnt kitchen thread.

[jollydiane]

I have read loads of kitchen threads so here is my conclusions.

1. Plan for where you bin is going to go.
2. Handless kitchens look lovely but can wind you up.
3. Floor Tiles look stunning but can be a bugger to keep clean.
4. Splash-backs are very practical for cleaning and can look stunning although some of you think they look naff.

What else should I add to the list before I make my purchase?

The one area I'm really stuck on is flooring. I want something that I can use my lakeland steam mop on (another MN suggestion) which I love.

Not sure about Karndean. We have it in bathroom, and it scratches very easily (e.g. moving wicker laundry basket about on floor). Rhinofloor is properly childproof.

Hi lego - I am beginning to think that vinyl (Rhinofloor) is going to be the best route. I think it is underestimated.

lego I have a light oak effect Karndean in my kitchen and we can only have chairs on the sides of the table, not at the ends, as it scratches if a chair moves against the grain of the floor.

I have cooker hood hatred too! I am going for mechanical extractor only, but haven't decided how to hide it yet.

PJ
No, we were living in an expat bubble. The kitchens aren't actually great in Switzerland, in rented accommodation at least. And of course some people still had non-built in appliances, but if they were putting in a new kitchen then it was built in all the way.

I love all the emergency planning here: no magnetic knife strips in case of burglars stabbing you, and gas just in case of power cuts (isn't that what Domino's pizza is for?)

However nobody has answered my or MmeL's questions about the hot water boily thingy...

1. Does it eat electricity compared to a kettle?
2. Does it kill small children and senile grannies?

And in MY drawer, it goes
Knives
Forks
Spoons

as the slots are laid horizontally. This may be very Non-U, however I could not give a FF as long as they are not still encrusted in weetabix.

Thank you.

yes, I like that burglar proof knife thing Wilf. Would never ever have occurred to me.

Lol at children and senile grannies. I was thinking of my MIL actually. She will never get the hang of it. She won't be visiting often though, so I could ban her from the kitchen sink.

I hide the knives at the back of the cutlery tray to ensure small children burglars can't easily grab them. Paranoid, moi?

top row
serving spoons, soup spoons, dessert spoons, dessert forks, table forks, table knives, small knives, steak knives

bottom row
fruit spoons, coffee spoons, tea spoons

other sections
corkscrews, scissors, useless bits and pieces.

I just forget to sharpen make sure all my knives are blunt and crap. A burglar would be better off stabbing me with the rolling pin.

Fruit spoons

That one is made up!

Surely a burglar prepared to use a knife would bring one, though? And if you make enough noise before going downstairs they'd scarper?

I don't know how safe those taps are, WillSelf, but I do know they can break, as my DSM # 1 had one that was out of action for a good 5 years. It sat there forlornly on the worksurface after that. I can't see it being an improvement on a kettle, really. Just more expensive to sort when it breaks.

My DM has grapefruit spoons. Serated on one side, size/shape of a slightly pointy teaspoon. For those '60'/70's starters of half a grapefruit with a cherry in it.

Why she has them still I am not sure.

Probably need to advise her to keep them hidden in case of burglars though.

Am I the only one with a 'messy draw' where you put batteries that don't work, keys to bike locks that you have lost, pens that don't work, half a packet of UNO cards, string that has caught up on the fruit spoons.

I have a messy drawer or two

And we have cake forks. Every self-respecting German household does. DH is always bemused when someone gives him cake without a cake fork.

Sorry , but I have been restraining myself ALL THREAD LONG and I cannot any longer:

It is a DRAWER. A thing that one draws, a draw-er. In a set or chest of drawers.

Shoot me. Go on. I can't help myself.

... oh and dictionary that I never use to spell. that is what I put in my drawer.

drawer, drawer, drawer. Yup got it now

Karndean comes in different 'grades' - mine has one scratch from an idiotic lazy blunder by dh which would have scratched anything. Otherwise no problem. It was the middle grade one.

I passive aggressively corrected JollyD's spelling in my post. Sorry ;)

When I recently put some stuff on Freecycle, I had loads of emails about the chest of draws, and had to resist writing back that the chest of DRAWERS had gone already.

Not read whole thread so apols for any repetition:

Make sure your dishwasher can be opened while someone is at the sink washing up
Try to find space somewhere else in your house for washing machine and dryer
Tiled floors are the best option
American style massive fridge freezers are completely worth it - get one with a built in water dispenser
Build in your recycling but not necessarily your main bin (it's a pain to have to open a cupboard or drawer when your hands are full of peelings etc, a freestanding pedal bin or touch-to-open is much easier)
Not convinced about hot water taps
Cabinet space you can't reach is more annoying than useful
Think about where the laptop/takeaway menus/gardening kit/etc will go as well as more obvious kitchen stuff

at drawers, wilfsell the exact reaction I had when we took the old cupboards off our kitchen walls and someone had written in huge blue letters "KITCHEN DRAWS" on the wall...

Anyone on here know anything about architectural soapstone? I've found some beautiful American kitchens in my google travels over the last 24 hours. Apparently it doesn't mark (unlike marble and wood) and although it can be scratched it can be sanded and oiled. And it's heat resistant.

our bin will be under the sink and opened by bumping the door with your knee. something like this, just no handles.
www.kitchensunlimited.co.nz/uploads/97001/images/296236/KitchenAccessories-3.gif

Dalsouple rubber floor - can be steam mopped, isn't cold and doesn't break stuff dropped on it.

Corner fridge - its massive and can store everything

Drawers built into corners - great for storing long utensils.

Appliance 'garages' - shelves with tambour doors and sockets, lighting etc. Pull out things like mixers to use, use breadmakers/slow cookers in situ.

Drawers in kick boards for baking sheets. Plus one with folding step stool to use to reach those to the ceiling cupboards!