Kitchens - what did you spend money on that you now wish you hadn't bothered with.

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I'm looking at new kitchens. I need to replace pretty much everything.

Just wondering what is worth the cash and what didn't live up to how expensive it was?

I had a swanky new kitchen last year.

Things I love; Quartz worktops, 2 single ovens side by side, induction hob, walk in larder, limestone floor with UFH, lots of drawers.

Not so sure; double Butlers sink (pretty for 1.5 would be as useful), integrated fridge (the biggest one, double height but still too small), expensive sockets (waste of money)

I love my pull out larder - it's between the oven and hob and is just perfectly placed. Holds loads. I also love my dishwasher but am glad I didn't get integrated as I was able to shop around more.

Wish I'd gone for more drawers than cupboards, wasn't sure if I'd like them so only got pan drawers under the hob. Now that I have them I really wish I'd got them elsewhere as well!

Ooh yes. Small practical drawers went put of fashion. They are so handy I'd have at least 6. The big pull out ones are useful but they seem to be more popular than little ones and the little ones can hold lots -

cutlery, utensils, much better than a cupboard for spices, junk drawer, tea towels, cling film and foil etc.

We use the under cabinet lighting all the time.
Ours is all integrated since it was built like that. I particularly like the oven, microwave, warming drawer thing. Yes to built in bins in a cupboard with separate bins for waste and recycling.

Loving this thread - marking my pace!

Loving this thread - marking my pace!

Me too - well, I'm marking my place but same thing :o

I should have enough money this summer to get it done but I really have no idea what I want and then DH starts confusing things by talking about knocking down walls etc.

Went on line looking at unit doors etc. eliminated loads and ended up with almost exactly what I currently have.....which I hate Go figure...

I really don't mean to sound thick but can you make tea/coffee with those boiling taps? Do they have safety locks? Do they run off electric or the boiler? We're getting closer to sorting the house out and I can't wait for the kitchen to be done.

Yes to making tea/coffee if it is a boiling water tap - we have a Quooker. If tea put water in mug first then add teabag - this avoids any 'scum' from the teabag.

You can also use for filling a pan to boil veg/pasta/rice etc. Quickly gets to boiling so saving power to heat water from cold.

The tap has a safety lock system a bit like on a tablet bottle so you can't just knock it to 'on'.

They run on an electricity supply. Water is heated to over 100C and kept in a small ?vacuum 'tank' - think ours holds 2 litres. Once heated the power only kicks in occasionally to keep temp.

Yes, SharonBottsPoundsofgrapes, you can use it for tea and coffee. It's so quick! I miss it every time we go away. The agony of having to wait for a kettle to boil. 😁 😉

They are attached to their own little boiler unit, which obviously costs a bit more in electricity. But we never use a kettle now, so eventually it might even out. 😁

They usually have safety catches to prevent accidents. We also use it for cooking, cleaning and quick sterilising of dummies etc. It's ace.

sharon yes you can make a cuppa .

I mean I Know boiling a kettle is hardly arduous...

The new Quooker fusion 3 in 1, has excellent safety features (I don't work for them). Cost ariund 700 quid.

No under cabinet lighting "freshprincess"? I have it under my wall units and it is the only lighting that I use in the kitchen in the evenings. It's great mood lighting and only uses 50watts of power in total for the 5 meter long strip. It's worth considering and looking at in a few showrooms if unsure.

I love my Neff appliances.

I wouldn't have another cold water filter tap. It cost £96 per year for the cartridges and they were really fiddly to fit. The pipe leaked under the sink causing quite a bit of damage so I had it disconnected.

Miaow, can you tell me about your wall rail? I have a small one for utensils, but I'm intrigued by everything you have hanging from yours!

I moved into a new flat last Nov, so I still need to save up a bit, but I'd like to do something with my kitchen in a year or two. It's a long dark galley, so it feels like it needs something very clever to make it look good.

My tiled floor is nice but covers a v. large area and I'm not sure what I'll do when I want to change it move house

In the old kitchen I couldn't wait to be rid of all the under counter lighting, never ever used it, the exposed plate racks, filthy and you couldn't really get in to it to clean it properly and the crappy carousel thing in the corner cupboard. Stuff fell off and the bottom of the cupboard was manky.

I love the built in double oven that is eye level, my integrated dishwasher, a tray space built by the fitters to use up a random bit of space and has a pull out double rail for a towel and oven gloves and my upstand.

In hindsight I wish I'd changed the gas hob as it's black and gets filthy and it's a pain to clean (I like the black but would go for an induction hob) and I wish I'd went with my gut and changed the worktops. They are matt (laminate) and seem to have dirt/dust clinging to it. They only look really clean when they are wet and look shiny. Apart from that I love my kitchen.

Oh and I love my pan drawers built in below the hob. So handy. And the cutlery tray that exactly fits the size of the drawer so no wasted space. Still have other drawers for crap.

Bugger, also love my L shaped corner cupboards, not those awkward ones where you can't get into the corner. Big 1000mm cupboards are great too.

We're looking at a boiling water tap, an over the cooker extractor hood, and a self defrost fridge freezer.
Does the boiling water tap have a reservoir of hot water? Is there one you can pre heat a tank on the economy 7?

Any kind of fancy tap is wasted on me. I just need a standard mixer tap with medium hot water! But our water is disgusting even when filtered. In some places the water is practically grand cru so easily does it slip down :)

I haven't got to grips with what lighting I want in my kitchen sans wall cupboards.

GetAHaircutCarl (great nn btw :o ) I have mobility issues and although I don't mind drinking tea from my Kooyi flask (bargain on Amazon) it'd be nice to have a boiling hot fresh cup of tea occasionally. But at that price dh is definitely going to tell me to do one. :(

There are probably cheaper brands than Quooker though.

And that 700 is for their latest version. I bet some of their older versions are now at a better price.

If I ever get round to having mine redone I'll get two dishwashers
I've had wooden worktops before and not regretted them

We have this fridge freezer at the moment as a stand alone - it's only 10cm wider than a standard one but the fridge is amazing and being frost free it doesn't need defrosting at all. My only slight complaint would be that the freezer isn't very big and sometimes I could do with just a little more space in it. However it's done us (family of 4) for the last 6 years and if I was a big cook and freeze person, I'd probably have fitted another chest one in the garage or something.

fridge freezer

Two dishwashers sounds like a very good idea indeed. I shall have to work on that one! The new kitchen is quite big...

We have a Grohe boiling tap. Not sure how that prices up, but no problems with it.

I'm not a massive fan of our filter tap either, but DH wanted it. I can't say I can tell there's a difference between that and normal tap water, but apparently he can. 😁