Please help me plan our kitchen!

[Rockettrain]

Following some very helpful advice on here on an earlier thread, we have finalised our plans for our renovation work and are on the cusp of signing a contract with a builder for work to start in just 5 weeks! They have had a job pushed back and we can either take this slot in mid-March or we would have to wait until August/September. Against my better judgement, we have agreed to take the March slot despite the fact that baby 2 is due in 10 weeks but hey ho

We are having a new kitchen fitted as well as a separate utility. The kitchen probably needs to be a c-shape layout to make the most of the space available - we have one full wall (so can have both wall and base units), then one wall which has a window looking out to the garden (so base units only, maybe with one small wall unit to the left of the window) and then the final 'arm' of the C-shape which will come into the middle of the room and faces the dining area. I hope that makes sense?!

Budget is roughly 8k for kitchen to include new hob/oven/fridge/freezer and 1-2k for small utility room which will only have room for 3 x 600mm base units (one of which will be a sink, so pipe work etc and some cupboard space underneath, and the other two would be tumble dryer and washing machine) and then two small wall units.

Please help me to finalise the design! Any ideas? What are your kitchen essentials? Anything you wish you'd got that would make life with 2 young DCs easier? My initial ideas/wish list so far:

• I like shaker style kitchens with oak worktops but have heard from friends that wooden worktops are a bastard to maintain and mark really easily. Any other alternatives that aren't granite or quartz (expensive!) or laminate (seem to look quite cheap and can get damaged easily)?
• Full height fridge and freezer on the big wall plus built in oven and separate oven/grill? Should we get a built in microwave?
• Then splitting into wall and base units for general storage. I WILL have one of those big bins with different compartments for recycling, food waste etc so i can get rid of the ugly bins from the council that are currently sat on our worktops
• Sink will face the garden, love belfast style sinks but they look expensive?
• Induction hob overlooking the dining area - I prefer cooking on gas but DH is desperate for induction and promises me he will clean it, so...
• No clue about lighting or flooring?
• We will probably get cheaper units and worktops in the utility as this isn't really visible so trying to save some pennies.

Grateful for any tips or ideas! Thanks!

Have you got a supplier in mind for the units and appliances?
Check you can get the supplies before you sign a contract for 5 weeks time.

I have wood effect laminate worktops, very pleased with them.
Shaker style units, which was what I'd wanted for about 2 years of planning and nothing would have changed my mind, and I'm really pleased with them. But having not had them before I wasn't prepared for how dust settles on the ledges.

Your utility sound similar to mine, I've got floor boiler, 800mm unit, washing machine, tumble drier, fridge freezer and then 2 x 800mm wall units.

Do you actually need a work surface in your utility? We have stacked our washing machine and tumble drier which has allowed one tall floor to ceiling unit, wish I have done it years ago as it's a much better use of space. Well worth sacrificing the (small) worktop space for!

My kitchen is the same units as the utility.
I put my microwave in a tall cupboard rather than having it fitted. Along with the breadmaker. Love them just being hidden away.

@Chasingsquirrels the building company we are using source and supply the kitchen from their own suppliers, I think they use Howden and Magnet (can't be 100% sure, meant to be speaking to them again later this week) but they arrange for supply and delivery of the units in line with the timescale of the project once we have decided what we want. Kitchen will be last thing to be fitted so this is maybe 12-14 weeks away, hoping that will be long enough?

@margotsdevil thats a good idea, I hadn't thought of that before. I'm not sure what we'd use a tall unit for though, other than maybe the ironing board but we do already have a separate storage cupboard where that's kept. I did quite like the idea of having some work surface so I have somewhere to dump put folded laundry - that is my primary motivation for having a utility (to hide the washing)

@margotsdevil

Do you actually need a work surface in your utility? We have stacked our washing machine and tumble drier which has allowed one tall floor to ceiling unit, wish I have done it years ago as it's a much better use of space. Well worth sacrificing the (small) worktop space for!

It is so individual isn't it! Mine were stacked previously and I like it so much more in a run with the worktop above.

@Chasingsquirrels thanks for the photos! Your utility does look a bit like I'm imagining ours would/could but it is a bit longer, we won't have space for a fridge/freezer, it is actually a pretty tiny space and only just about worth putting a utility area in BUT I'm hoping it will be somewhere to hide the washer/dryer and the airer so that is good enough for me!

The laminate looks nice and I would definitely have that in the utility but I'm not sure about the kitchen, I'm too worried about accidentally putting something hot down on it and then ruining it. That is what my mum did (3 times!!) so she now has 3 random burnt patches over her worktops which she has to try and cover with strategically placed vases/dishes etc

I did that with my old one, now I just put hot things on top of the oven-hob, it is electric ceramic so flat. I also have a wooden chopping board that I use if needed. It is something to consider though.

@Rockettrain the exact reason I got rid of the worktop was to get rid of the dumping ground the cupboards are shelved so all the never used big appliances like steamer and air fryer and George Foreman grill are now hidden away instead of being on the worktop.

The real issue is our kitchen storage is rubbish but can't really afford to update it for a few years yet...