Integrated kitchen appliances

[WelshMammy123]

Hi,

I'm after some advice.....went to see someone to talk through proposed plans for our new kitchen today and have left feeling confused. Because of the lay out of our new kitchen we will only have one wall of kitchen cupboards including the sink and the hob, then an island and a cupboard/pantry built around the fridge freezer. When we started to talk about appliances it got a bit confusing.

We would like to have a washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher incorporated in to the kitchen but because we only have one run of cabinets/cupboards they take up a fair bit of space.

The options discussed were integrated appliances so as to not spoil the look of the kitchen but the designer said that fewer and fewer manufactures are making these. Or to have a cupboard built to house the washing machine and dryer and to put this in a bit of the kitchen we had planned to have a small play space.

So my questions - what's the view on integrated appliances? What's the view on a combined washer/tumble dryer (thinking that might save space)? Anyone else faced these issues and how did you overcome them?

Thanks

We now have an integrated washer / dryer and it's rubbish - much better to have separate machines if you can I think. If you are short on floor space then you could stack them. Is there anywhere else in the house you could put a washer and dryer? Downstairs loo?

They're much more expensive, and we had a damaged door on a washing machine and couldn't get a replacement - the line had been discontinued. Had them before but never again. Have had non-integrated for ages now.

Another thing, washing machines can get smelly and mouldy if you leave the door shut all the time, and it's a lot easier to give them an airing with a non integrated.

We had a washer dryer previously and it always took an age to dry stuff. We're having a small extension which will be a utility area so we won't have an integrated washer or dryer but everything else in our kitchen will be integrated. I haven't found it a problem to find appliances that are integrated. They are more expensive apparently and you do get less space inside as they need to be smaller to fit in the carcass. I think it gives a neater look though I think it depends on your taste. Some people prefer a less uniform look.

We have an integrated fridge. The handle on the door has broken but we can't get the bastard door off to put a replacement one on (door handle was screwed on to the matchy door before it was attached to the fridge when we installed it). We currently open the door from the bottom.

Integrated fridges tend to have a smaller internal area, so don't make the best use of space.
We have moved to a non intergrated dishwasher, due to plumbing restriction, and I prefer it to our previous integrated one. Can't explain why! ?

Finding an integrated dryer is the tricky one - hence a washer/dryer was probably proposed. In a more compact kitchen integrated appliances give the impression of more cupboards - and can look neater ... but might be a good time to see if you can relocate the laundry appliances, as previously mentioned up thread . Do you have a right move type plan of your home that you could post ?

I'd rather have non-integrated WM and a TD stacked and a utility cupboard made for them.

I'd also rather have a separate fridge.

Dishwasher I'm not as fussed about being separate and might go for interfaced to keep the look and lies by the sink.

Interegrated to keep the lines by the sink

is there room elsewhere in the house to have a utility cupboard for WM and TD?

It seems to me integrated options are often more expensive, not sure why. We have a washer/dryer and are happy with it although we don't tumble dry often, given energy use and that it's not great for clothes. We're redesigning our kitchen at the moment and will not have integrated appliances, but then we're going for white cupboards anyway so white appliances won't stand out.

Thank you everyone for your comments - so so helpful. I think building a utility cupboard might be the best option. We have a utility at the moment but it's not a permanent structure (despite being there since 1998!) and our plans are to knock the wall down between the kitchen and the utility and to create a bigger kitchen and dining area with a small play space, with bifold doors to the garden. We do have an under stairs cupboard but don't think it's big enough to house the washing machine.

The irony is that our plans are leaving us with less wall space to fit a kitchen against it seems!

My dd is 2.5 - anyone got a few on the value of a play space? Context wise we have a large ish living/dining room, loft being converted and she'll soon move to a bigger bedroom. We thought the play space could in time become a small sofa and tv so it's somewhere for her to watch tv when she's older and wants a bit of space. I'll attach the plans in case that helps. Thanks again!

If she wants a bit of space when she's older, couldn't she use her bedroom?

Would an island unit in the kitchen be feasible to create more kitchen storage / space for appliances?

We are going for all integrated as we don't have utility....tumble dryer was difficult to decide as heard the main brand white knight wasn't great ..so one plan said maybe 2 washer/dryers and as we are a large family we are doing that ...I believe you have to take out at least half your wash load to dry it but as we will have 2 I think it will work ...but all very expensive

Can the tumble dryer go in the cupboard under the stairs? It would need to be a condensing one.

Washing machine in kitchen but not integrated (those are not common) and I have an integrated dishwasher that looks much smarter then non-integrated and there are loads of them around.

My mother has an external door over her washing machine so she has the look of integrated with it being so, but I don't like it.

We're planning to put our dishwasher in the island.

We've gone from integrated to non-integrated & we've found the choice and value of the non-integrated much better. We've also stacked our washing machine and tumble dryer & it's a godsend as you just lift it from one straight into the other. The washer-dryer we had previously was a complete waste of space.

I'm guessing you're not planning on moving any time soon - but we also got stung when we moved this time as we previously had all integrated appliances put in & the expectation is that when you move any integrated appliances are left behind... so we had to buy everything new in the new house.

I don't like integrated appliances.

they are much more trouble to put in and take out, for example for repair or replacement. Often they cost more and are not as good.

You can roll out a freestanding appliance and roll in a new one in a matter of minutes. This is also handy if you need to get a dead mouse out, or mop up spilled milk.

I only like integrated, I think that non integrated really ruins the look of a lovely kitchen. Having said that, I think that a utility cupboard is a great compromise

Miaow which Hoover integrated washer/dryer do you have? Ours is a Hotpoint and it's truly rubbish - would like to change it to something that actually can manage to dry properly.

Thank you all so much for your replies - I can't tell you how helpful they've been. Our builder has just been round to talk about the loft but I've taken the chance to ask his opinion on the kitchen. He's going to draft a few options for us. Am wondering whether we need two doors - have one from hallway and a new one planned from dining room at the moment. If we didn't have the door from the dining room then that gives us more wall to play with and perhaps more options.

We do have an island planned in as well but I'm still worried about both the aesthetics and the space.

DH is more of the mind to have a utility cupboard but it's placement in the kitchen feels random to me and I'm not sure it'll look great. Head hurts with all this!