The best and worst of your kitchen?

[cabbageandbeans]

What are the things you cannot live without? What are the things you wish you'd never bother getting?

My mum has a pot stand which is part of her counter top - only it is on the left side of her hob (she is right handed) and the serving area and dining room are on the right - therefor she never ever uses it and wishes she hadn't bothered. In my last kitchen I went for a tall fridge freezer over countertop space around the hob - a regret that shall be guiding my decision making with my new kitchen! Counter top space is everything IMO!

[BiscuitNibbler]

Oh yes, MisFor, I agree about the tap - I love that it is a lever now so I can turn it on with mucky hands. I was just thinking that today.

Cabbage - agree that it is probably easiest to take a picture of the plan and upload that to your profile.

[MisForMumNotMaid]

Another thought...making pastry today I remembered I love my lever taps. You can turn on with your wrist/ elbow and not get them all mucky like turn taps. We got them because DS1 has ASD and Dyspraxia he often can't turn taps.

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

I don't know if you can upload docs on 'Have you seen this' but I think you can only do photos on your profile. Could you take a photo of the plan and upload that? You would also need to make your profile view-able.

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

LOL if I put an island in my kitchen there'd be no floor at all - literally.

Like: It's mine (ie not rented) That's the only think it has going for it. Oh and it's old but not grotty.

Hate: It's so small
It has three doors (debating whether to block one up or not, but it's useful & the only one that could be blocked up)
The gas meter is in the middle of where a unit should go and the cost to move it is prohibitive (£3k)
Two deep corner cupboards - without magic
Sink drainage is AWFUL it has to travel a long way so the pipes are quite straight/level so drainage is s...l...o....w

Just.Too.Bloody.Small

[cabbageandbeans]

I have a picture design of my kitchen - Can you upload documents on MN? So many things on here make sense but have had a few moments of panic as some of the "I Hates" are in my plans and I have instinctively know these are not good. But what can I do - I have tried to re-jiggle things and just can't seem to get what I want. Have just got rid of a post (an imaginary one that hasn't been built yet but was on drawings) and of course I will have to suffer the consequences of wiring to the island. The island is going to be MASSIVE and I just don't know where all my things will go. Deeply troubled!

[MisForMumNotMaid]

Regarding your sink design....DH is in charge of washing pots in our house (when prompted ). I stack them all on the bit of work surface to the right of the sink , it's about 600mm width and depth (the dishwasher is below this for easy access). After a big meal the washed pots overspill, beyond the second sink/ drainers, goes on a tea towel on another bit of surface of the same dimensions on the other side of the sink.

You may well be more organised than our household and have somewhere else nearby you can put dirties or overspill, or even wash and dry as you cook, something I've never fully mastered. It's just that 120mm is only just enough for the odd mug.

[MisForMumNotMaid]

If you're not doing a major refurbishment this can be expensive! Sorry iPad correcting me again.

[MisForMumNotMaid]

under counter fridge with drawers link. It is big enough for the five of us but. When we have big events like Christmas it's nice to have the second one for all the wine and soft drinks. The big bottom drawer does hold lots of bottles though (next to the salad drawer).

My hot water tap has its own little hand washing sink in a worksurface that's in the kitchen circulating space, so I'm not invaded when cooking. One side of the island, the main double sink and cooker area are my work spaces - enter at your peril, the other sides of the island, kitchen table to one side and a long work surface are family space.

I like my island completely clear for prep. One thing about power and water to an island is getting them there. You either need to have a post and drop down from the ceiling or dig up some floor to put power in and drainage / water. If you're outdoing a major redesign anyway this can be quite expensive.

Power to the island is worth having for hand mixers etc. You could have high level points onto a more permanent overhead hanging style rack - that shouldn't be as expensive as digging up floor and would leave clean lines.

[Pancakeflipper]

Love:
My larder cupboard
My huge comfy chair ( sat in it now)
My quartz work top
The sink
Having the goldfish on the work top so I can chat to them.

Hate
That I didn't get the splashback tiled up another row. Stupid me.

[wigwam33]

This is in our current kitchen, just about to get new one in new house.

Best:
Dual fuel range cooker
Big freestanding fridge freezer with fridge on top freezer underneath. We had an integrated one in our old house and wouldn't bother again as they are so much smaller.
Integrated recycling and compost bins - these were great, especially if they are right underneath the work surface where you're likely to prep most of your food, as ours were.
Integrated dishwasher.

Worst:
Not enough side space to l-h side of cooker - only 30cm before fridge. This really winds me up and if I was designing a kitchen again, I definitely would make sure that there is plenty of side space both sides of cooker, but particularly to the left as our range cooker has a super large hob on the r-h side, so I always work from the left.

Kettle and dishwasher too near each other, so competition between stacking / emptying dishwasher and making drinks.

Pull out larder cupboard - far too heavy when full. Would just get a standard larder cupboard next time.

Things I am prioritising in our new design:
I've read that a perfect triangle in this order - fridge - sink - cooker - is the ideal set up. Although my current kitchen is small, this is the set up that I have now and it works really well as a working kitchen.

In our new place, we will have an open plan kitchen / living room, so a counter top that also doubles up as a breakfast bar between the two rooms means that you can talk to people while preparing the food - great!

Plenty of side space and storage space with high wall cupboards.

[Shesparkles]

I redid mine about 5 years ago and had carte Blanche to have all my own way-and I got it right- I love every part of it!
I have 1 wall with floor to ceiling cupboards which means I don't have the need for any other cupboards.
I have enough room to have the hob set at an angle across a corner- the kitchen guy was horrified at the "wasted space" this created, but it meant the I didn't have the dreaded corner cupboard to deal with either.
I have miles of unbroken work top space, with some of it being double width-it's fantastic.
Can you tell there were a LOT of design faults in the previous kitchen!

[Northernlurker]

We moved in to our kitchen and haven't done anythng yet. It is FULL of design flaws.

I like my gas hob and my dishwasher. I hate:

That the radiator is in the wrong place - under a sort of breakfast bar meaning you get hot feet but nothing else

That the space for the fridge is non standard meaning we had a choice of one fridge freezer (which is ok actually but I dread it packing up)

That there is practically no worktop space except for the top of the breakfast bar - which is across the room from the hob and sink and therefore useless

That the worktop to the right the hob is tiny

That there is actually less cupboard space than you would think because the cupboards are neither as wide or as deep as they could be

There aren't enough drawers either. Were it not for the utensil rack and rack to hang pans from left by the previous residents we would be totally stuffed

That the side wall is totally taken up with worktop meaning I have to keep my microwave and kitchen aid there as no where else but I have to walk right across the kitchen whilst using them


When I redo it (this year, next year, sometime, never) that whole wall is going to be built in cupboards - fridge freezer, food storage (a lot of my food lives in a cupboard in the integral garage atm) a slimline cupboard for the ironing board. The radiator is moving to under the window. The hop will expand to a 6 ring range cooker and move a few inches to the right and the wick will move a few inches to the left and I will have under cupboard lighting, deeper wall cupboards and deeper drawers!

[BigBirdisSaved]

Lots of light! Natural and artificial. I have a solar tube at the cooking end and three windows at the eating end, plus LED can lights and Xenon lights under the cabinets. Also have a nice long uninterrupted counter top on one side which is brill for baking and cake decorating where I can spread out. Also gas hob and electric fan oven (which sings!)

[cabbageandbeans]

Oh my typo's!

[BiscuitNibbler]

My swishy tap is one of those ones that you can unhook and swish around the sink. I have no idea of their real name! Hopefully you should be able to see it on the photos I emailed.

[cabbageandbeans]

Biscuit whats a swishy tap?

[cabbageandbeans]

Oh the hot tap! Mis I may be lured in! I read a whole thread about those and most on their spoke highly of them also. It would be perfect as I have been debabting about where to put the bloody kettle! Despite believing counter space is very important I have left myself less than I would like around my sink in my current but constantly changing plan. Probably about 600mm on the left and 120mm on the right side of the sink. The bulk of my countertop will be the island which is long and will house the hob at one end (about 600mm from the right end) and then the rest will be just counter....not sure how long. Still can't get my head around all the measurements but at least a couple of metres I think! This will be my prep area.......where would you suggest having the instant hot tap? Initially I had thought I would make tea on the right hand side of the sink. But would you put a hot tap on the island instead? Never had one, nor have I seen one in anyones kitchen but if I can figure out how to pay for one I want!

So interesting about the fridge. Do you have a link of your drawer one? I would love to see it/or similar. Are you saying that you have enough room in the one with drawers and that the other is surplus to requirements?

[BiscuitNibbler]

Hi Cabbage,

My wall cupboards are 90cm high, so start in the normal place, but just go up to the ceiling. They are fantastic. I am only 5'4", so definitely not tall. I have a little foldable step that I keep in the broom cupboard that I use for reaching the stuff on the top shelves. I keep things there that I don't use very often and stuff that I kept on top of the cupboards previously. It just makes it look so clean and tidy. The kitchen is from Magnet.

I also agree with the comments about lots of workspace - previously I had hardly any, and had lots of stuff on the counters making it even worse. I have now got loads, and by having more cupboard space too I don't need to leave stuff on the counters, so I have even more space to use.

If you want to see the kitchen to get a better idea then PM me your email and I'll let you see some pictures.

[nocake]

The best is a toss up between a huge fridge and a dual fuel range cooker.

The worst... the bar cupboard handles. They look great but bash against each other when you open the doors.

[MisForMumNotMaid]

I love my instant hot water tap, granite island (it was £350 for the top granite so not extortionate), joiner built oak shelves and oak larder style open cupboard shelves - for the size, equivalent in cost to better end Ikea flat pack but so much nicer.

I regret having a built in fridge. I have two, one is the bosch with drawers and is under my island, cooker side, so its not visible in other parts of the kitchen. It fits masses is easy to see everything because you can pull out the drawers. The other is under a long work surface so I went for the sleek look of built in. I find that effectively it holds half the amount, its a waste of cupboard space and an expensive mistake.

I agree with practical work space - some by cooker, some by sink and a big area for food prep laying out dishes. I also have a really long worksurface with just a small sink and hot water tap. This is very vulnerable to being the family dumping ground and takes daily effort to keep clear. It looks really nice and gives the kitchen a spacious feel but I could have done with more cupboards really and they would have prevented the dumping and created places for some of the dumped stuff.

[noisytoys]

I want a black hole corner cupboard for the ladder, Hoover, carpet cleaner, bins, mop, broom and other tall things that are laying around and getting in the way

[ATourchOfInsanity]

I have an under stairs cupboard where I now hang my broom/mop etc as it is by the kitchen. Broom cupboard only really houses boiler with shelves underneath with a range of chopping boards/plastic tupperware and, well, who knows!
If you can tie string through tops of mops/brooms etc and hang on a hook then use the space for something more useful!
Also like the wide deep drawers :D

[cabbageandbeans]

I just fround a corner cupboard - it's in my laundry room so will be looking at these Magic corners. Biscuit - I want to know more about your cupboards that go to the ceiling. Do they start a bit higher than usual and if so are you a tall individual? I would like to know more as I too hate the dead waste of space gap at the top of cupboards and just love the idea of them going to the ceiling. What are the height of your cupboards? And where is this fab kitchen f yours from?!!! Atourch Interesting about the broom cupboard as have one in my plan - I have a million cupboards like that where I rediscover things that would have been so useful! LArder seems to be a good thing - putting it on the wish list. And I am also after metre wide deep drawers but have to figure out where my oven will go before I can fully commit!

[Mimca]

Good thread. I'm just about to do a new kitchen too. I HATE my black hole corner cupboard so can't wait to change it to something more practical.