Your best kitchen design tips please

[horseymum]

I know there are loads of kitchen threads but
I'm just at the initial stages and want your top tips, the things you love about your kitchen or those you wish you hadn't bothered with.
Probably thinking of IKEA as Howdens pricing frustrates me. Main thing I dislike about current kitchen is fussy beading which makes it hard to clean and frame doors which limit space.

We raised the height of our kitchen cupboards - joiner built a frame. I have back problems. It is wonderful having been initially dismissive when my partner suggested it. Joiner made the kickboards for underneath the cupboard to the floor. Never have problems with bending in my kitchen now. Drawers as others have said.

By modern standards my kitchen, built in the early 80s and before we bought the house is a moderate size, but has one genius feature. One of the light switches as you enter the kitchen turns on only one ceiling light, quite enough to use to nip in and refresh the gin, rather than a blaze of lights and a bigger electricity bill.

Make sure you have a drawer for rubbish bin, plastic recycling,compost and bottle recycling

If you are getting an induction hob for the first time, don't rush out and buy a full set of new pans if you know that your old ones won't work on it.
If you buy an induction hob from a brand like Neff or Siemens, they usually give you a starter set of 3 or 4 pans with the hob

Mine would be if possible no wall units, no corner units, no pop up sockets or extractor.

Yes to drawers.

If you don't have space for a separate utility, consider a utility cupboard which has washing machine, space for ironing board/hoover/cleaning stuff/laundry basket/general shite.

• Carousel fitting for corner cupboards - can allow you to store and access so much stuff
• Larder cupboard (as wide as you can fit - ours is 85cm) and fix spice racks to the inside of both doors
• Drawers rather than cupboards
• Shallow drawer under the hob for cutlery
• Underfloor heating so that you don't need to take up wall space with a radiator
• Boiling water tap so you don't need a kettle on the work surface
• Separate, freestanding fridge and same size separate freezer (mine are both 60cm wide). American fridge freezers are very popular, but actually the freezer space can be very limited - especially if you have one with an ice/water dispenser (and our architect strongly recommended we didn't have one of those, as apparently the ice dispenser can become faulty very quickly). My Samsung freezer has a slimline ice maker inside the door so it doesn't 'eat' into the freezer drawers - and I also buy bags of ice and fill the bottom drawer with it. Still loads of room in the rest of the freezer

I love my corner cupboard carousels
they give me a huge storage area that would otherwise be dead space

and as I dislike bending down, wall cabinets are a must

If you have to have corner units then yes, I agree with carousels or wire baskets that come out on rails. But in an ideal world I wouldn't have corners that needed those things in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I had them in my last kitchen because they were needed for the layout, but in the absence of any restrictions on layout in the OP, I would avoid them if I could.

I forgot the other thing I would never have again, narrow pull out units, either larder or spice. Our spices ones (inherited) are awful. Clunky, difficult to clean, just grim. I guess if they'd been looked after from day 1 it might be different. Pull out larder units that are wide enough to be able to clean easily are fine although not my personal preference.

tentative
How do you avoid corners without a galley kitchen

my kitchen is big - 4m by 4m - and I have corners ...

Try DIY kitchens. We've just had our kitchen fitted last week and we got it from them. Very happy with it all, quality seems amazing.

My husband spent ages designing our kitchen and it was mostly pretty good.

The best bits are:

• We're open plan to lounge/diner and the hob faces into that so you can cook/prep and talk to guests
• Big larder
• Corner cupboards that just open up so you can reach everything, no need for carousels

Less good:

• DH insisted on a wood worktop, I told him we couldn't maintain one and he'd have to oil it. He hasn't oiled it anything like enough and it's covered in faded bits and liquid damage after less than 2 years
• He got a bit carried away with storage (it's a largish kitchen) and insisted on having a cupboard the same height as all the others above the sink (rather than higher) and it's really awkwardly in your face when washing up
• Wish we had bin drawer not under the sink, as someone's always in the way washing up when you want to chuck something!

diy kitchens - the only diy is the design and there is an 'ap' for that.

solid cabinets and every size in 50mm increases. All made on site.

Pull out units for full height and pull outs or drawers for base. An wall cabinets bifold upwards so no chance of banging head.

DIY have lots of alternatives for bin/recycling combos (I love mine).

For a small independent company in Yorkshire they really do have the best of all worlds and the selfbuild forum I'm on absolutely love them.

I also highly recommend DIY Kitchens, we've just finished our new kitchen which was ordered through them, fabulous and really great price too.
I agree with previous posters, lots of drawers and a bin cupboard.

kickboard drawers!

No no no to corner carousels ! There is so much wasted space.

Go for an L-shaped corner cupboard instead - you can easily access all parts of it - from DIY Kitchens

No wasted space in mine! It also makes it much easier to get at things that otherwise would end up right at the back of the cupboard.

ListeningQuietly

If you have a galley layout in an open plan room, so a wall of units and then an island, you don't need corner units.

If you have an L shape peninsula you can access a cupboard from the other side and it doesn't need to be a corner unit.

I've seen people put corner larders (full height) in so they cut the corner off.

They're just my opinions, and I did say in an ideal world, without any layout restrictions, and given that the OP didn't give any... I'm not being critical of anyone else's kitchen.

@eastcoastdamsel Would you mind posting a photo of your hob and oven set into your island? I would like to do the same for our new kitchen. Totally understand if your prefer not to post pics of course!

I slide boxes of tins and jars in under my carousels and they are full size Ikea ones
I'm totally happy with them after 11 years
whereas more complicated hinge patterns tend not to last so long

lessons learned (never again!)

corner units and drawers are expensive and so what your designer will try to sell you. Pan drawers are good. Internal fittings are not needed.

no internal carousels etc - eat up space and break. And cost lots.

no integrated appliances except the oven - the extra door on the front makes for extra weight, integrated items are always pricier and have less internal space. HOWEVER make sure your kitchen designer leaves at least a 64cm space for a 60cm wide appliance and notices if there is a skirting board. (guess what happened to us?) Buy your appliances from Currys/AO etc not the kitchen supplier.

check the design for pointless end panels, cost money, waste space, do nothing. Get them all removed and keep checking as they sneak back at each revision. (wish we'd noticed this)

check that the designer has measured the room correctly. (Guess what happened to us?)

have a space for a normal bin/recycling container. Put a bin in a cupboard and it is an extra door to open. Don't have a tea towel rail in a cupboard, they never dry and you have to open the door with wet hands. (this is a really stupid thing)

handles should not have any sticky-out bits to catch on clothing.

if you have a gas hob you can't have a glass splashback, the worktop won't be deep enough. Use tiles. If you have another type of hob and want a glass splashback, buy online for about £80 rather than paying £300 plus from a kitchen designer. Still make sure the worktop is deep enough.

Tiles are a lot cheaper than upstands, especially if you can fit yourself. Make sure sockets are placed high enough up to clear upstands or tiles.

A kitchen fitter should only fit a kitchen. Make sure there is a separate plumber, plasterer, floor layer, electrician and gas engineer (if needed). Do not let kitchen fitter do plumbing or floor screeding as he will cock it up even if he thinks he can do it.

laminate worktops unless you are made of money (posh stone stuff) or like doing lots of work (wood).

extractor fan not silly ugly noisy hood. Straight run to an outside wall if at all possible.

good luck...

@Thatsnotmyflamingo I will take a picture for you when I get home this evening.

Excuse the mess. Not had.a chance to tidy up

Put your oven in a tall unit and then you get some drawers below it for trays and cupboard up top to hide away the tea towels etc. I love it, one of the best things in my kitchen.

Most basic kitchen ranges have one internal shelf in a 720mm high wall unit.
Ask for 2.
You can get more in without having stuff piled on top of each other

Make sure you have a drawer for rubbish bin, plastic recycling,compost and bottle recycling

Keep built in bins away from the dishwasher / oven / hot pipes etc otherwise the bin will get whiffy.

High gloss doors show sticky finger prints and (if your kitchen gets lots of low sun) dust.

YY to wall units that go up to the ceiling.

Avoid integrated washer / dryers unless you can afford to splash out on a really good one (£££).

Go for more sockets then you think you'll need.