The MN lessons learnt kitchen thread (1 year on)

[jollydiane]

A year ago I sort the experience of MN when doing major house renovations. A year on I wanted to thank you for your suggestions and give you some of my feedback. Please let others have the benefit of your experience and any mistakes that you are trying to live with.

What worked well

1. Deep drawers. It makes looking for pots and pans so much easier than cupboards.

1. A large area for preparing food or dishing up.

1. Tiled flooring with underfloor heating but make sure you do not go for white grout or you will be scrubbing it forever (thank you for that tip)

1. A place of the recycling bin which is out of sight.

1. So glad I didn't have 'all white' kitchen as I know I would struggle to keep it clean.

1. Delighted with the induction hob it is so easy to clean and really easy to cook with.

1. If you are knocking through (kitchen dining room) seriously consider having a new ceiling otherwise you may notice the join (so glad I did this)

1. The glass splashback is a stunning feature. I used F&B paint shade which then blended in beautifully. I'm so glad I avoided tiles.

1. If you are looking for inspiration pick a piece of artwork with colours that you love and work with that.

Regrets
I should have gone for a granite work top as the one I picked is looking a bit scratched, an expensive mistake.

We had wall down (partition) and kitchen refit, new light fittings, stopcock moved, new water outlet and new electrics. Plumbing and electrics needed re-routing also. Bulk of work done in 10 days. Fully finished with quartz worktops, decorated and flooring within the month. Only one day without a sink but we had a utility where we had laminate worktop fitted and that was fitted out first

We are also doing our kitchen and I’m very grateful for this thread and all the tips. I’m a bit surprised that the deep drawers are so fantastic though, I must look into that a bit more because knowing me I would just fill keep filling them with stuff! Space is so so right in our kitchen, every drawer counts!

Thank you again.

We're having a couple of plinth/kickboard drawers in our new setup. I'm excited about these as they are a great use of space.

For kitchen toys-could you use a big log basket & pile it all in-easier than having one or 2 small spaces

I'm thi inking of adding a plastic bag storage unit for the back of a cupboard door for long things
Like tin foil, cling film & greaseproof etc. I have one elsewhere in the house for all the wrapping paper & it works great.

I also have the biggest breadbin possible & still too much bread but cannot commit to another breadbin as I need to cut down on bread.

Oils are normally in a basket in a drawer with pans near hob.

Also again recommend trying out induction via the ikea 1 ring hob-we're going from 5 ring gas to 4 ring induction & will be glad to have this wee extra ring in the unlikely event that we need it Im the future, as well as the extra worktop.

Whiskyowl that's kind of what I'm afraid of!
I think they look great for storing bread and veg etc but I'm not convinced I can be disciplined enough to use all the veg in order and to clear them out regularly enough.

Do you mind me asking which wall mounted rack for kitchen roll and spice racks you have @MiaowTheCat?

I've put some wicker baskets in my cupboards for potatoes and onions

We had our kitchen fitted this week. I started putting stuff back in yesterday. Love my deep pan drawers. Have all plates, bowls and stuff in 1 800 wide. Also have my breadbin in another so it's off the worktop, that drawer is full of pasta and stuff, however the kids managed to get into the croissants that were in there and have them before we got up this morning!
We also had the Ikea portable hob and has been a lifesaver for the last 3 weeks.

Ta Miaow, will have a look...

Having a place for potatoes and onions ie wicker sounds good to me, you don't necessarily have to see it, but the material sounds right

I always thought a sink would be in the island and the hob not. But on moving I've found it the other way around, and actually having the hob on the island is pretty good as I spend far more time cooking than I do using the sink, which is so rare these days as it all goes in the dishwasher.

What do you prefer having on your island?

My island will have nothing in it-it's not massive-1.8x1m I think but hopefully most prep done there so easier to keep other worktops clean. I don't know where my spuds & onions are going, aargh! Don't know if wicker baskets would work for me-are they lined with anything for leakage? Maybe I could put a hessian bag in but then wouldn't really need the wicker.....

I'd have to put the island in the garden, my kitchen is so tiny!

Found these on Amazon. I've tried not to go too mad on fancy interior storage from the supplier, (just the 1 pull-out larder, and pull-out bins) and these are cheap as chips and make cupboards more organisable. I couldn't have all base cupboard drawers as I'd have liked because I'm using wall units as base units due to limited space.

I just put a piece of baking paper underneath, seems to work

Oh my god, this kitchen planning is coming between me and my night sleep.

I thought we couldn’t fit an island but my friend told me that her neighbour (who has the same house as me) has a tiny island with just a hob on it and it layout works brilliantly.

Can a tiny tiny island look ok? I’m really short of cabinets and every inch counts.
This island would be 90cm by 120cm and just have a hob and one cabinet.
I metre all around it (barely)

I know what you mean 3Lucky, I start scribbling ideas in my kitchen notes book in the middle of the night. Re. the island, would the neighbour let you see it for yourself? I'll have less than a metre, (about 800mm) space between the runs of cabinets opposite each other.

Just had the second architect round who was great, but also rather changed everything by suggesting we move the kitchen cabinet part of the kitchen to the other side of the room, so it's out of sight when you walk down the hall. Makes sense but all these things make it so much bigger.

3Lucky as long as you don't feel it will be an annoyance in the space.

I have a grey granite - it's much more forgiving than black, but looks lovely when I polish it up (wash with water then dry/polish with kitchen towel).

Love looking through Houzz atm. 3lucky I came across this which looks quite useful kitchen island

Right I went to see the neighbours house with the tiny job island and it’s absolutely lovely!
Marsha brady, like what you are saying, the normal kitchen in these houses are s long rectangular kitchen diner, with s small L kitchen as you come in the door.
But these neighbours have ripped that out and put the kitchen along the farthest wall and the small island in front of it. It looks great and is a much better layout so I’d say we will go for that!

Thanks so much for that link also and for all the advice.

(They also had grey granite which was lovely!) they must have seen this thread.

If you have a kitchen diner what do you have on the floor? We fancied lacquered machined oak (Woodpecker) but no good near the sink/cooker we're told.