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?

You never have to empty a dishwasher just take clean stuff out of one when you want to use it and put the dirty dishes in the other one so they get used alternately

I live alone and my kitchen is small but I'm hoping that I'll be able to fit two small dishwashers in😍

My problem is not being able to fit the dirty dishes and pans from a single meal into the dishwasher in one go. That's because I cook a lot and my family has big appetites. With two dishwashers I wouldn't need to do a second load.

You need 4 dishwashers then Bobo😋

Dishwasher drawers rather than regular dishwasher. Great as can turn one on as soon as filled then carry on filling other. Take up no more space than one dishwasher

Neff oven - what was the issue? I was interested in the neff slide away door

😂😂

Yes, I find that the dishwasher seems to be permanantly on and there are still outstanding pots and pans awaiting.

I am a bit love/hate with my pull out larder. It gives a lot of space but I hadn't thought about the impact on my limited work surface.

If you go to magnet avoid the whirlpool ovens.

I like my integrated washer and dish washer though.

My under oven drawer is great.

I just have a wood effect laminate top. My house isn't worth enough for anything lovely fancy. (Esp as I plan to move within 4yrs)

Just in case anyone with the dishwasher issues is unaware, it is actually possible to wash the odd pot etc in your kitchen sink. I believe it's what people used to do in the olden days... :o

..DH does the same btw, anything that doesn't fit in he puts to one side and then puts it in once he has emptied it. I just wash it by hand on my days - I keep out the easy stuff :)

Anyone have the kidney bean corner cupboards? Ended up being worth the money or not?

We are also thinking about neff appliances so hope they will be ok!

it is actually possible to wash the odd pot etc in your kitchen sink
Im sure that would be an inefficient use of rescouces though, not to mention the time taken to put on my marigolds when I could be lying down in front of the telly😂

I don't go in for the marigolds like DH, I'm hardy! I also don't watch tv - official weirdo.

A water softener. Lime scale wrecks dishwasher and washing machine very quickly; kettles and irons last about 9 months - and that is even using a filter jug.

I love my American style fridge freezer with water and ice dispenser

Wish I'd spent a bit more on the full height pull-out larder unit - my dad has one that sort of folds out, whereas mine, for stability reasons doesn't pull out that far which means getting into the back of difficult (made worse by the fact that it is beside the fridge-freezer which sticks out and impedes access still further).

Wish I'd pushed the kitchen fitter more about installing clip-in/removable kick boards. I do a lot of baking and use an awful lot of cupboard space with my baking sheets and cake tins - which could have gone under the units

I love my Neff appliances (hood, main oven and combi microwave)

Also wish I'd spent more on the granite work tops I really wanted rather than the laminate surfaces. At the time we could've afforded it.

My kitchen is tiny. It has shitty pine units, the cheapest of cheap work tops (grey and black that I see everywhere where such a surface is needed and therefore the cheapest one possible. I'm talking the local scout hut, tea room in park, the kitchen at the local sports club etc). I have yellow and white tiles fitted in a jaunty diamond pattern. I hate my kitchen. It's ugly. It gets messy very quickly and there's no flow. We also have an issue with water damage from the bathroom upstairs which had caused the plaster to swell and blister. In fact the paint seems to have expanded to hold it all. I think dh is waiting for the bath to come through the ceiling before anything gets done.

Two dishwashers! I wish I had the space for 1! Need to buy a bigger house... Now, where is the number for that Estate Agents?

I spent AGES thinking about all the details so pretty much don't regret anything.

The best stuff we got was the most expensive, sadly:

• Samsung built in combination microwave/conventional oven. It is amazing. Thought it ridiculously expensive when we bought it but it was totally worth it.
• Fancy worktops (like a pp also have black composite with glittery bits - I love them and not even chosen by a child! That was our real indulgence)
• Induction hob with timers on each ring. Brilliant. Get the timers. Really. totally destressing when prepping loads of dishes at once, or leaving something to simmer for a long time.
• Drawers (my sister said: get as many as you can and that was good advice)
• Loads of sockets.

The meh stuff:

• Full height fridge then separate under-counter freezer (takes up too much space - we really could do with one more cupboard where the freezer is). DP loves the big fridge tho. fills it with beer

Top tip: if poss, get a tray made to put somehow under washing machine/dishwasher (including valves) so leaks don't wreck your floor... Also make sure you can reach the washing machine clog-catcher thing at the bottom. We have to take the kickboard off to reach ours to unclog stuff. Not often, but it's a total pain.

Spent a long time designing out kitchen within a budget so don't not use anything.

Couldn't do without:
Quooker
Island with cupboards all round for storage and breakfast bar built in.
Big larder cupboard with double doors and masses of shelves which holds everything from turmeric to tinned soup and fish sauce to flour.

Things I wish I had had room for:
Built in waste bin and recycling - I hate a kitchen bin on show and I just don't seem to have the right place for it. My recycling sits on the worktop until I go to the garage to put it in the recycling box. Horrible.

Never get a Siemens integrated fridge/freezer. We got one with our new house and would love to replace with freestanding ASAP. Too small & rubbish tbh!
Drawers for saucepans are great, as is a big one for cutlery and Tupperware.
Love pull out larder, induction hob & double oven. I would avoid all integrated appliances apart from oven & hob. 1 and a half sink is great too.

My quooker was installed today and just keep popping into the kitchen to look at to

Wouldn't bother with a combination microwave again, we only ever use the microwave part of it.
Would not install a steam oven either, when we do bother to use it, it is really good, but I use it so rarely I have now forgotten how to turn it on.
We installed an extra large single sink, regret not installing a double sink
We have no draining board, it drives me batty.
Don't forget sockets on your island if you have an island, we forgot !
Make sure the counter height is the right height for you, there are apparently 2 standard heights, we didn't know that and no one asked us.

Have somewhere convenient to hang oven gloves and tea towels

Things I love .....
Hot water tap, it is the best invention ever, love it!
Deep drawers instead of cupboards for pots, pans, plates etc
Warming drawer
Double oven
Extractor fan set into the ceiling rather than an extractor hood, it's really sleek.
I have a second under counter fridge that is pull out with drawers, love it.

Have fun planning it.

Useless: Marmoleum click flooring. Lasted about 10 minutes and then was covered in marks.

Excellent: our Falcon Deluxe cooker. Beautiful and massively functional.

Love: my larder cupboard - it's an old school book cupboard I pinched out of the skip when they were refurbishing the nursery at my dc's school. Wide shallow shelves, 6ft high, 4ft wide and a foot deep. Get masses in there and you can see everything.

Also I have now all cupboards. I have hardwood open shelving made from wood reclaimed from decommissioned churches. Everything is accessible and the kitchen feels light and open.

Gah, should read "no wall cupboards"

My cooker.

Gorgeous gorgeous thing.

Don't think there is anything that I regret. I spend a long time planning the kitchen and the things I love are:

• Full height pull out larder
• Tambour unit with pull out shelves & lots of sockets (hides the kettle, toaster, coffee maker etc)
• Silestone / granite work top - indestructible and take no looking after
• All base units are drawers with adjustable compartments - easy to get into and completely flexible
• Induction hob