Kitchen - what do you wish you had done/included that you didn't

[strawberry2017]

We are due to renovate our kitchen in May and we are at the final stages of planning and then I need to purchase appliances.
My question to you is, what do you regret not including or doing when you had the chance?
I want to make sure I've thought of everything before we finalise things.

Double dish drawer
Love no pots ever in the sink - one on, one being filled

More deep drawers and power points (with USB ports) than you think you will need!

What's your budget? Are you making the most of a small room or do you want all the toys/granite/gadgets?

Get the layout, storage and workspaces right - doesn't matter how nice the cupboard doors are if the room is crowded or hard to keep tidy.

Somewhere to put a large bin. Don't have that so have a poxy small bin in the cupboard under the sink

I am pleased and rather smug that despite DH's protestations we DO have room for two tub chairs and a table with a lamp on in in the corner. I might swap the chairs for a small sofa at some point.

Also wherever you get your kitchen from, go to Ikea for interior storage and hooks/rails. A £5 towel rail on the end of a run will deal with your tea towels for instance, but things like this are never in the main design.

I wish the person who designed my kitchen had thought about storage for rubbish and recycling.

If at all possible you MUST have an American Fridge Freezer with ice dispenser. God send.

Qc16
That's a good idea. My DH has been going to do a spur off the light switch for three years

Dream of changing mine but no funds (and won’t have any for at least a decade!) so I’ll cope with mine.

If I could start again

1. a better floor. Ours is small tiles with pale grout. I’d get underfloor heating too so that I could get rid of the radiators that take up space where full height cupboards could go.

2. American FF I integrated so not visible as we live in here

3. appliances cupboards. I would love a Kenwood chef/ blender/ toaster/ microwave/ kettle all hidden behind doors on worktops.

4. above and below the appliances in cupboards, LOTS of pantry space. Despite a huge kitchen ours is so badly designed I have one full height cupboard for nearly all food. Does my head in finding things.

5. No built in microwave. Ours died and we can’t get a new one to fit.

6. Integrated ovens though as I hate trying to clean the gaps under and to the side of our range.

7. Decent size integrated bins

I’d keep my pan drawers (and plates, and cutlery drawers), good work tops, island with stools etc. I’d get rid of the plate rack.

I’d make the cupboards floor to ceiling also. Less dusting!

I'd have tried to fit in a double / American FF. We've kind of outgrown ours, as the kids have got bigger and we're now getting one big weekly delivery rather than popping to the shops more regularly.

I'd also have spent much longer planning the lighting. We have pendants over the island and spotlights, half of which we never use because they're blinding. Should have used softer wall / task lighting for reading & watching telly, but I let my builder talk me out of it.

Otherwise it's perfect and lovely and I will miss it horribly when we move on to our next project.

I also wouldn't have black granite worktops as they show every speck of dust. I would go for quartz worktops next time.

More power sockets than you think you’ll ever need and a couple of them should have USB ports for charging phones and tablets
Lighting over sink so you’re not washing up or prepping in your own shadow
Space at either side of hob to put utensils when using
Pull out larder cupboard with metal shelves to store and see all your tins and jars which you can access easily from either side
Spot for plants / artwork / noticeboards / photos or whatever to make it yours

In contrast to PP who said no to a built in microwave - we went for a good quality (Miele) built in combi microwave / oven + a single oven (rather than a double oven + microwave) and absolutely love it. Very occasionally I am using the oven when I want to zap something in the microwave but otherwise it’s been great and love not having a countertop microwave.

Re built-in microwave, you can buy surrounds to mask the gaps. I think Neff sell them or at least mine got fitted by an installer when doing the kitchen.

Corner pantry with doors
First seen in canada
Saves having loads of presses and holds everything..you can use baskets for different items if you prefer. Light switches on when you open it....only had to install half of the kitchen presses

@Nannyamc - I haven’t heard the term press for years - are you Irish?
I agree on corner Pantry - we’re having one in our new kitchen. As well as a light we’re going to have sockets.

For those saying floor to ceiling cupboards - how tall are your ceilings? Ours are 3 metres - would it look weird?

Yes i am irish did not know presses were exclusive to us
Good luck with your kitchen
Its the best thing i have ever done
We also have sockets in it.
Our kitchen is so tidy now.

Tall and wide cupboards to house stuff like airfryer , sandwich press, slow cookers. I have a pop up socket on the kitchen island. Also an Insinkerator waste disposal in sink - peeling, leftovers , scraps , straight into it . I have a floor to ceiling fridge only , half veg drawers for bottles, etc. We are big Tupperware users and works for us. Smallish freezer in utility room.

Presses might only be used in parts of Ireland - certainly was in my grannies house in the West of Ireland. I can still see the press in her kitchen - it was like a Welsh dresser and in the corner was a pantry - that was the only kitchen storage!
No saucepan drawers or quartz worktops - how things have changed.

Oh and if you live in a hard water area , I would avoid an American water/ ice thing unless it is really important.Limescale looks ugly on water tray .

Have a good think about flow, particularly if you entertain or have dc.

Having the fridge on the edge of the kitchen helps to limit the number of people who wander in.

Or if your kitchen is a passage between different parts of the house, keep counter space beside the oven rather than needing to put a hot dish on a counter or island on the other side.

Also consider how many doors/drawers you have to open to get something. I really loved the cupboards presses with slide out shelves, but it’s a bit of a faff to open a cupboard to 90 degrees in order to slide out a shelf when a drawer is much more practical.

We had one wall of floor to ceiling cupboards, so no work surface. We are a messy family so work surface = mess. It has been great for storage and hiding away clutter.
We changed our floor tiles from cream to grey/ light brown stone effect large tiles and that has really made a difference as they don’t look constantly dirty.
We also paid a lot for quartz work surfaces and matching backsplash and windowsill and it looks great.
The only thing I forgot was towel rails!

Thank you so much everyone- lots to think about!
I really appreciate you all taking the time to reply to me! X