Hoping 2014 will be The Year of the Extension and New Kitchen! Tell me what works and what you regret.

[HerGraciousMajTheBeardedPotato]

Hoping that we will - finally! - be able to get on with our longed-for extension and new kitchen.

Kitchen will be in the same place as existing kitchen. Extension will be two rooms, a boot room and a utility room.

Budget not yet set, but I want some bespoke stuff, so it will be a mixture of mostly off-the-shelf with a few bespoke items. Will probably go for wooden doors, but have yet to be convinced that wooden frames are worthwhile.

I want masses of storage and workspace. Definitely do not want an island unit.

So, please, throw ideas my way. Tell me what works for you, and why. Tell me what you regret doing in your kitchen and/or extension, and why.

For masses of storage have your kitchen cupboards go all the way to the ceiling. Uses the wasted space, no dirty cupboard tops to clean, and looks more finished, too.

Extensions wreck your garden and house whilst they are ongoing. They are great once they are done. New kitchen, whilst it is being sorted you will be washing up in the bathroom and cooking in the dining room with your slow cooker and microwave.

Oh dear, don't frighten me too much! We won't even have a dining room, as it's a kitchen diner. How to cope will be a whole new thread.

Will definitely do the cupboards all the way up. Perhaps with plinth lighting above them.

We went on holiday while our kitchen was done. Best decision ever.

No, don't go on holiday. You will come back and they will have put the doors on the wrong way, or used the wrong tiles or something.

Don't be afraid to say, 'No. That is not what I wanted'. You are paying a lot of money for this, and you will live with it forever.

Be polite, firm and very fussy.

Ah, I made sure I had made all decisions and they were in writing.

Why would you want to live in a house with all that disruption for two weeks when you could be on holiday?

Cause we had major renovations last year and if I wasn't on the ball, and watching them, there would have been mistakes made.

And sometimes in the middle of the work, we'd realise that the plan wouldn't work for some unexpected reason, and we'd have to rethink.

The one week that I wasn't here, the doors were put on wrong.

I could so not go on holiday! I need to be hands-on, involved, double-checking, etc. even if it costs me my sanity.

Unleash your inner control freak!

Funnily enough, I had the plumber back this week to fix the shower and he said 'you were a right pain in the arse but I have to say that your attention to detail really made a difference. The house looks great'.

Fridays - make bacon rolls for the crew. Everyday - lots of cups of tea and choc biscuits. Not the cheapest ones. They notice and call you tight if you offer Tesco blue label :)

There are some things in the house I would definitely be there for. Kitchen definitely not one of them. If you do it right everything is on the drawings and you make sure you employ competent people. Pay a bit more and get reliable tradespeople.

Ours starts next week (wibble)
No extension but new kitchen and some fairly major internal structural stuff.
We are moving out but only round the corner, dh will have to be restrained from setting up a site office in the garden!
Absolutely shitting myself and doubting all our choices, hope that helps

I don't do bacon. I won't have a kitchen to cook it in, anyway!

But what about design ideas?

Hope it goes well for you, Laura. Like the idea of not having to live in the chaos, but no hope of that.

Wooden frames on our doors look nice but one is coming away from cupboard and they're a pain to clean so in retrospect I'd not get them.

Reiterate double checking stuff before it's fitted - we got sent wrong handles and tap but weren't on site and tap at least was impossible to change once in.

I think there's a whole thread of lessons learned somewhere - I've just read one for bathrooms which was really helpful. Will try to link if I find it but on iPad so may be tricky.

Oh I think you meant wooden frames as in the actual cupboards? Whereas I was talking about - can't remember the proper terminology but - when you have small wooden frame around outside of eAch door. Possibly ours just crap because not good enough quality (benchworks kitchen)

Anne EM the op can't realistically go on hokiday, she's having an extension built. We had a kitchen diner extension built last year, it took 4 months. We were without a kitchen for 5 weeks in the middle of it.

We had as much storage built in as possible, went for integrated appliances as well so the kitchen looks really streamlined. We spent a long time with the kitchen planner who had some brilliant ideas about the kitchen which we hadn't thought of.

Our best decisions were the granite worktops (which I'd been very sniffy about, but dh was keen) and having an induction hob fitted, which is amazing. We previously had a huge range cooker but opted for built in oven and microwave and induction hob, and don't regret it at all.

I love my new kitchen, hopefully you will too OP.

Is granite really that good? It certainly looks lovely, butalsoshows every smear, every unwired drop of hard water, every scratch. I drop things, and I see granite as just another chance to break the china and glass!

Ditto induction hob. I like the safety angle, but, having had a ceramic hob, I hate what happens when a pan boils over. I hate having to wipe the job before you cook, because something spilt or dripped earlier.

But I'm willing to be convinced otherwise!

Her Gracious that was my fear about the granite, but it's been a doddle to look after. My dh does a quick wipe over with granite cleaner every evening but it is literally a wipe, it takes less than 60 secs. I think there are some very sparkly granites which are more difficult to keep smear free, but we've had no problems with ours.

I love the induction hob because it is so much better/faster/hotter than ceramic or solid plate, both of which I've had before, and much easier to keep clean than gas hobs.

Sparkly worktop ewww no way!

Yes to wrecking your garden.
Dig up and move your favourite plants before anyone starts.
The diggers have no mercy.

We're getting quotes from builders at the moment, extending to side creating a pretty big kitchen diner. We've booked a holiday and really hoping that the bulk of the most disruptive work can be done then!

Hi there ,

Everyone is talking about kitchen extensions but actually not many people have seen what's really involve in building one ?

Here you can watch builders and architects in action and see all the effort that goes into building dream kitchen extension

Kind Regards

Peter