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 hated my dish washer in my last kitchen. Couldn't bear to put my hands in where there were dirty plates. Much rather wash them in the sink. I have a small kitchen so it freed up a cupboard.

I don't have room for a big American fridge. I'm my big American house I did and loved. Would love a pantry but no, it's not big enough for that either.

I had the gas boiler but in the loft and a fridge freezer put in the space.

No one has mentioned this but I love my integrated ironing board. It folds neatly into a top drawer in a unit of drawers. No having to lug an ironing board out from god knows where when something needs a run over with an iron.

My kitchen is about 15 years old now and still looks good.

Sorry about the typos

Hi folks. We're going to move this thread over to Property and DIY in just a moment so that it doesn't vanish eventually here in Chat.

questions:

• why a 1.5 sink instead of one big sink? What do you do with the half sink?
• do the combi microwave ovens rotate like proper microwaves?

answers:

• yes you can get a Quooker retro-fitted. In fact they recently had a 'free fitting' offer for retro-fit customers only.

I have 3 year old IKEA kitchen that I designed myself..

What I love:

Oak work tops
Bin in a drawer
Drawers under hob

What I hate:

Integrated appliances - they look nice but they are so small and always seem inferior to their full sized equilivents
Pull out corner drawer - won't pull out when it's full of stuff
High cupboards with wire drawers - I've had dry cous cous and flour in my eye more than once and it hurts more than you'd think.
BLACK! - looks fabulous but shows ever smudge

What I will do differently next time:

Two ovens instead of a combi
Wouldn't bother with plinth lighting again

I had plenty of sockets around the worktops in our kitchen, great for all the gadgets, etc, which I get out, use and put away.

I have under cupboard lighting, works for me, and is often the main lighting in the evening, as the light is directed onto the worktop, where the main light is often blocked as someone stands between the light and the worktop.

Having a hob and separate waist level oven has worked well, I had a big range cooker before and got fed up of bending down to use the ovens.

I've found glass splashbacks and wall panels easier to clean than tiling, and no grouting to get manky.

I prefer separate fridges/freezers, so I'm not restricted by the built in options.

I would in a new kitchen have:

More small drawers - a couple of pan drawers and a large cultery drawer doesn't help with storage of small items, eg towels, napkins, placemats, batteries, and many other little bits, I'm currently using baskets on the shelf in one cupboard.

I also like the look of those tall pull-out thin racks, I think they're called larder shelving? I reckon they'd work better than cupboards for dry goods, eg flour, sugar, baking stuff, tinned stuff, etc.

I didn't bother with carousels, etc, in the couple of corner cupboards, just have baskets holding items, as that way you're not losing space to the carousel mechanism.

vviola Ikea do in drawer bins - they have various sizes or you can have a pull out in a cupboard
www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S69017606/ and www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/70246112/
As I said before from Ikea I would have this www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S29105073/ - you need to go and look at them in store - but drawers under a sink are genius as far as I'm concerned...
My Ikea kitchen has lasted really well - I had a problem with the tap (still under guarantee) and they sent me out a new part FOC but then another bit broke (probably due to the first problem not being dealt with promptly enough) and they didn't have that part and no longer did my exact tap -so they sent me out a whole new tap (I could choose which - but if it cost more than my original one I would have had to pay the difference) and then because I had paid someone (not Ikea) to install it they also refunded me the £70 it cost to get a plumber to swap them for me...

But for Ikea get a worktop from there or measure carefully - as best said - I made that mistake - I have ikea units but bought a 'better quality' laminate worktop from elsewhere - but Ikea kitchens are slightly wider than most kitchens so I have no overhang - not only do you get water drips but in my house I get sauce splashes too - the fronts need cleaning more often - and also you can't put a bin or hand underneath to collect peelings/crumbs...
And yy to sink size I have a 1.5 sink and the main sink isn't big enough to fit eg an oven shelf in.
And avoid bar handles with ends that stick out - I am constantly getting caught on them...

What do you do with the half sink? You empty teapots, cups, drain vegetables down it and so on while you are using the main sink to peel potatoes or wash up.

Sometimes, if you just have a few oddments, you wash them in the mini sink, which uses less water.

I somewhat regret having the unit carcases colour-matched to the dark walnut doors, because they make the cupboards dark inside and I need to keep a torch in there to find things hiding at the back.

Nothing [smug] I love everything we had.

At the last possible minute I switched from a 1.5 sink to a single large one. Great decision - as I use a washing up bowl we don't need the .5 sink and having a proper large one means it's easier to soak/ clean oven racks or anything large/awkward.

We ran out of money for the worktops so we have some Ikea cheapies in grey matt something, and they are fantastic.

We make the absolute most of the walls as our house is small - those big ikea metal grill hanging shelves hold loads of stuff, knife rack, tea towel rail.

Pull out full height larder - best thing ever - but the narrow one not the wide one which is a pain (someone I know has the wide one which is a real struggle to reach across).

We have a laundry cupboard next to the washing machine with two pull out baskets, one for ironing and one for dirty washing. Absolutely revolutionised my life.

We thought very carefully about which way round each unit and appliance door would open, having stayed in a house with a gorgeous kitchen where you had to keep closing the door to open the fridge.

I can reach the cutlery and napkins without having to get up from the table.

The recycling bin was from Howdens. I thought they had a pretty good range of gadgety cupboard fittings, taps, handles etc.

We were very lucky as our friend has a trade discount so we got his whacking discount passed down to us. So chose the whole kitchen and appliances from Howdens. In a way, it was easier as we didn't have such a huge range to choose from!

We have an engineered wood floor. In 2 years, it has picked up some scratches and has lightened near the patio doors (we laid the darkest strips near there as we knew it would happen) but we can sand and restain if we want.

There was some talk about sinks....I have a full double stainless steel sink which was a nightmare to find but is a complete lifesaver.

I also love the combination of fitted and freestanding which was a bit of an accident

I got a trial subscription to which when we were planning our kitchen. The appliance reviews were really useful and we were really pleased with all of them. Much better than the higher spec ones that have come with the new house!

A 1.5 sink is great! I use it for storing all my knife and forks in when I drain them and also wash away bits off plates before I put them into the main bowl. Keeps the water cleaner longer and I get to wash twice as many (and keep them clean) on 1 bowl of water. So, in summary, 1.5 sink = less hot water used and money saved :-)

Likes:

Pan drawers.
Integrated fridge/freezer.
Tall larder cupboards.

Dislikes:
Stainless steel oven: never looks properly clean
Integrated dishwasher: crap quality, doesn't get things clean.

I wouldn't have an integrated anything -microwaves seem to be crap quality these days.

I can't get excited about kitchens, though.

OOI, fridge and freezer doors can (all of them AFAIK) be turned round to hinge on the other side. It takes about 12 minutes and you usually need only the instruction book and a screwdriver.

1.5 sinks are good if soaking something like large dishes in soapy water in main sink, as can then use small sink to drain cooking water, old drink dregs etc

The only really disadvantage to these 1.5 sinks is that you lose about 1/3rd of the draining board, but just buy a bigger vertical plate holder drainer to compensate:-) I found a page here which talks about them. Seems like these sinks are loved more than hated!

I think it depends on which sink you have ...I like my 1.5 sink but for the size of the main sink (and I tend to drain recycling stuff after rinsing in the half sink so it is always cluttered)
The whole of mine is a standard sink size, space for the half sink comes from a bit of the drainer and a bit of the main sink. Next time I would check that the main sink is actually a full size sink - even if it means the whole thing takes up more room - even the whole half sink worth - on a work top...

Question regarding combi-microwaves - are they really now worth considering as a replacement for an oven?

I was planning to get a combi one built in above a single main oven at eye level, to free up work top space used by the microwave and allow us to have something extra as well as a main single oven.

But if they're a bit crap for normal cooking should I get a proper double oven and keep a separate microwave on the work top?

We use the microwave for quickly defrosting things, starting off JPs before putting them in a hot oven and for quickly cooking steamed veg or doing baked beans etc. We didn't have one pre-kids but think I do find it quite useful now so don't think I could dispense with it altogether....

We have a single oven and normal built in microwave. We've never struggled to cook anything. I sometimes think an extra oven would be handy but that's about 3 times a year so I just get on with it. We don't have a lot of work surface though so I couldn't give up any to a microwave. Built in microwaves can be quite small in the inside, I'm not sure if that would be worse with a combi? I don't think I would use the extra features tbh. I use my microwave for similar stuff to you lisba

lisba I'd like to know the answer to that question too I'm planning on a combi micro/oven, partly because I can't fit an integrated double oven and microwave, and partly because I don't need a double oven, but a small additional oven could be useful too (oven chips, christmas dinner, baking and cooking at the same time).

I had a bespoke wooden kitchen. The units were 8k so not too bad.

10 years later it still looks brand new, it really was money well spent.

I really wish I had not had plain white sockets. They look so glaring and cheap. I want to get them replaced but it is such a faff now.

Also wish I had got more than big standard under cabinet lights. They broke after a year!

You're pretty sure to have an oven and a microwave, so it is handy to make that a combi. Then you can use it for warming plates and cooking something else while the main oven is full, as you would use a second oven, as well as microwaving stuff. It does need to be a good size, though. In Canada I have seen really big combis that you could stuff a turkey into.

Many years ago I went to stay with a family friend who was a Professor of Home Economics. I fell in love with her tiny perfectly designed apartment kitchen. There were so many little touches but the best thing was that every inch of space was used. If you kicked the kick boards something popped out. Some times it was a drawer, but one had a three step stepladder which helped you to reach the top of the wall cupboards that went all the way to the ceiling. Her spices were stored in a narrow cupboard in front of her boiler which kept them dry. I was only a teenager at the time but it really made an impression.

From my kitchen my favourite things are: Shelves on the oven that pull out like drawers even when they have a full cast iron casserole dish on them. No more burning my wrists/back of my hand while trying to get things out of the oven when I'm using more than one shelf.