Your top tips for a well designed kitchen?

[NancyDroop]

I'm designing a kitchen from scratch (eek!) as we're knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room and swapping them.

I would love to hear your top tips for what makes a kitchen 'work' or alternatively what you would avoid at all costs.

Thank you!!

I think you can get a bit bogged down in all the detail, right down to worktop and flooring and door handles. These can be changed, relatively easily. The placement/ size of sink and cooker/ units/ free standing fridge freezer or built-in, is a lot harder to change. My recommendations would be to start from the big stuff and then work down to the small stuff. Even worktop can be changed in a couple of years.

a. Have sink on the same worktop line as the cooker/ chopping board, even if it is round a corner. I have my sink opposite my cooker and the amount of floor drips (which then converts to dirt) is amazing. Eg. wash veg and put in saucepan - drip, drip, drip. Wash fruit/ veg and put on chopping board - drip, drip, drip (my chopping board is next to cooker, which makes sense). Wash hands and go back to cooker, drip, drip, drip. I never realised this was an issue as my last cooker was round a corner from the sink and I just didn't have the floor dirt issue as much.

b. Get a free standing fridge/ freezer. Built-in is rubbish. I regret my built in.

c. Love my bin under sink and my extra large sink which is incredibily useful as I don't have a separate utility room. Or perhaps you want 2 sinks or a 1.5 sink. Don't regret your sink choice!

d. Do you really want a range cooker (6 hob) or not? I considered it for ages as there was room for 6, but decided I wouldn't really need it. I went for 4 hobs and it is perfectly adequate.

e. Spend money on appliances not cupboards

f. Ikea is awesome. A lot cheaper for the kind of cool stuff you get - like drawers for pans etc.

g. The pull out drawers are amazing. I have all drawers, either wire racks in cupboards or tall pull outs, or large drawers for pots and pans. No more getting all the stuff at the front out, in order to reach the back.

I like the layout of my relatively new kitchen and the above posts are good. I chose extra tall cupboards to maximise storage (and have a little folding step to reach the top shelf which is fine as I only need to access them occasionally). I did not consider the height of the top oven in my double oven. That is too high with hot food.

I actually got two separate appliances not a double oven. This gave me a proper sized (but smaller) top oven. It is also my integrated microwave. Great for saving space. A bit annoying as a microwave as it doesn't rotate (so needs more stirring part way through). Depends on how critical a m.w. is for you.

Nancydroop thanks for putting that together! I was working up to reading that long thread, brilliant -thanks for posting.

MerryMarigold what is rubbish about the built in fridge? DH is keen, I need to disuade.

Good tip about the sink v chopping. Quite important if building an island.

chicaguapa I didn't add the hidden plug points to my list as I'd worry about the grime ring and replacing a specialist item if it breaks. However, it does look fancy and useful - have you tried one?

echt I agree about the different lights for different kitchen uses. No one wants the full blast when warming a 4 am bottle. And yes to getting the right area under the window!

What a useful thread! Going to print out that list, the kitchen is such huge project!

Built in fridges have a lot less use able capacity. They are more prone to breaking down than freestanding, possibly because you can't get behind them to dust the heat exchanging fins every so often? which can be a problem when trying to replace. They are also more expensive!

The cupboard boxes in the heat. So a fridge obviously produces heat trying to keep cold! Then the heat is somewhat trapped, so it has to work even harder to keep cool. Our one has beads of frozen moisture in it and the freezer freezes up a lot. My other fridge was so much better.

I found my dream kitchen which has a full wall of cupboards and an island. The features I like and will include in my new kitchen are:

• the power socket in the island (no OP I haven't tried one)
• the extractor flush with the ceiling
• the breakfast bar at the end of the island rather than along one side

I also want to have those cupboard doors that open and then slide down the side of the cupboard so they're not sticking out when open (like the oven doors on GBBO). Then I want to keep the coffee machine, kettle and possibly toaster in them so they can be hidden when not in use.

Another thing I'm bearing in mind is to try to keep the kitchen timeless so it doesn't date so quickly.

Love that kitchen, chica (note hob and sink on same worktop!).

Great list. We're doing our kitchen next year so I will be reading up on this again!

I am able to unpack my dishwasher without taking more than one pace in any direction. I can't begin to explain how much this makes that chore more bearable. I have a deep saucepan drawer to the right (we're both right handed) of the dishwasher - and bowls and Tupperware live in the draw above. Highly recommend thinking through storage in relation to dishwasher if you can

I like the sink and hob on the island too, but I worry about how messy it will look when you have plates stacked up to go in the dishwasher. There's a second sink next to the hob for using while cooking.

We're opening our kitchen out into the dining room but will have doors on every wall. I love the idea of having the bi-fold doors along the outside wall to the kitchen and the island in the middle. There'll be room to have a double size island and it keeps everything away from the walls.

But.... we haven't even bought the house yet.

I have to say, I have a kitchen/ diner and it is really hard to keep the place looking neat when people come round for dinner. Unless you put things straight in the dishwasher, it piles up, especially saucepans etc. As the kids get older, it's not as important to have the kitchen/ dining in one (though obviously easy access is definitely vital). I don't get the bi-fold doors you talk about, but if it will stop the view of dirty dishes, it's a good thing.

We had our kitchen done recently. I discounted pop up sockets and bins in cupboards (ours is in the utility room instead) because I hated the thought of crumbs and crud getting caught down the chute of the pop up socket over time (yes we do clean after food prep but there will always be bits that escape the cloth). Same with the cupboard bin, the thought of food waste splashes and whatnot going on the insides surface of the cupboard gives me the boaks. I can take the freestanding bin outside and hose the lot out weekly. I can't dismantle the cupboard and hose that out weekly.

When we had an extension built we created a large kitchen diner which is fab. The best idea my kitchen designer gave me was to wash up anything that couldn't go straight into the dishwasher in the utility room. That works brilliantly for us, and keep our beautiful worktops clutter free. It also meant that we don't have to have tiles in the kitchen, because there are no splashes from washing up. Our hob is on the peninsular. It's an induction hob which is brilliant.m

We have a built in f/f and it's fine. I like the streamlined look of a built in f/f.

We have pull out larders as well - worth every penny.

Things I'm pleased with in mine

Sink with two bowls (small second one) brilliant if main bowl is being used

Tall larder cupboard with pull out baskets (waaaay cheaper than the pull out larder units)

Having an island with a power socket in it

Granite worktops

I'm with you NomDePlume - the idea of integrated bins makes me heave. I'd much rather have a large freestanding bin I can empty easily (outside if necessary) and wash out. We made a spot for our bin in the utility room which keeps any smells away from the kitchen) - I appreciate we have the luxury of a utility room right next to the kitchen.

Instead of a double oven we went for a large single oven then above it a combi oven/grill/microwave. I love it as it offers such versatile cooking. We had to have it dropped down slightly in the unit carcass as I am a shortarse (5 foot 1) and didn't want to be lifting hot food and fluids out of it above my eyeline.

The pic attached is part of our kitchen build in progress - I love the oven unit! To the right is the integrated F/F and to the left is the integrated larder which stores much more than it looks like it would - very Tardis like!

I would be wary of fridge next to over {ducks}. Surely this means your fridge has to work super hard?

The integrated bins have liners/buckets I just grab and empty outside. And can wash out. We used to have a separate bin in the utility room. My parents still do. Found it a total PITA.

I'm another fan of the bin the cupboard (well, mine is a deep drawer) under the sink. I grew up with a bin in the cupboard and my parents still have one. All of ours, past and present are fully remove able, so are easy to keep clean. Also they are small (plastic shopping bag size) so get emptied daily, so they never smell. I don't understand why people choose to keep days worth of rubbish inside their house.

My dishwasher is under my draining board and my crockery and cutlery drawer opens to the left of it, the pan drawer is next to the crockery drawer, my glasses and cups are in a wall cupboard to the right; everything is reachable in less than 2 steps. My ovenware is kept under the oven which is 4 steps away.

My herbs, spices, oils and dry foods are kept in the drawers immediately to the left of the hob. Beneath the hob I have all my pans and cooking utensils. To the right the drawers have all my crockery, cutlery and serving dishes. My tinned foods (mainly tins of tomatoes and pulses) are in a wall cupboard on the right of my hob too.

I prepare food to the right of my hob, then slide all the used stuff up into the corner next to the sink, some of it goes in the sink too. I then use this space for dishing up, hence the location of all my crockery.

Hit post too soon, sorry.

To the left of my hob, I use this space for putting oven dishes and pans I've taken off the hob.

I have an unused corner, which is currently housing junk. But this has been earmarked for using mixers etc.

On the other side of the room, I keep my kettle and toaster. Above these I keep my cups, tea pots, coffee pots, teas, coffees, hot chocolates and the other cupboard has my glass wear in. Below, my drawers house my onions and potatoes etc and bread.

My kitchen is approx 3m x 3m, which is a nice size. I had my doorway widened to approx 1m so it feels more connected to the dining room without being open plan and seeing the mess.

Along the back wall opposite the window, where you walk into the kitchen is the freestanding fridge freezer and full height appliance housings for the microwave and double oven. The microwave is just a freestanding microwave, but it is in a built in combi oven / microwave housing, sat on the shelf. This means I'm not losing worktop space to it, whilst also gaining more storage space. The cupboard above the microwave is the miscellaneous cupboard. It currently has lightbulbs, batteries, toolkit, pens, play doh, first aid stuff and a balloon I hid from the toddler.

My bin is not integrated, but there is a very large drawer/ cupboard under the sink (size of cupboard and a half) and the bins live in there. Recycling, compost and normal bin). Obviously I take them out to empty them and clean them out.

Agree with the pull out larders. Ikea's are a lot cheaper than others. I've had mine 2 years with no probs whatsoever.

I don't think I'd notice the issues with built in fridge/ freeze, if I hadn't had a freestanding one before. It's not so terrible, but just not nearly as good.

Oh a tip about the tall built in oven housings; my aunt had her kitchen fitter install her double oven housing upside down, so the smaller cupboard was on the bottom, which made the oven lower. This works fine if you have cupboards at the top and bottom, but it possibly doesn't work too well if you opt for drawers at the bottom.

Findme we had that concern, about the oven next to the fridge. We were reassured by the builder that it would make minimal difference due to the way he did the housing and the gap between the two units.

There is a small gap between the casing of each unit so heat is deflected and channels up to a vent on top of the cupboard which allows it to escape (or something!). We haven't noticed any change in the fridge so far, but it's early days I admit.

My two favourite things in my new kitchen are my massive pull out bin and my quooker tap. HTH!

Thank you all for more tips. Keep 'em coming and I will update the list to incorporate them.

Lovely houzz photos chica and lovely kitchen sidge!

Thank you for detailed posts Merry and Whatsitallabout. I shall use your info in my planning.

Finally, the award for most contentious issue goes to: the bins. I hadn't thought too deeply about bins so this thread has helped me a lot already. I a) have to decide my prefereence and b) then can't compromise.