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Original poster

New kitchen what did you learn…?

104 replies

FillyerBoots · 03/10/2021 07:35

Know this has been done before but a while ago,

Just moved old kitchen into new kitchen last night.

Lighting is so important, dh ans electrician decided no spotlights over sink….so I’d say get on same page about lighting and really think about it. We are having something retrofitted.

We’ve got on 300 mm pull out larder cupboard. That isn’t enough for all our bottles, oil, pastes etc.

We got extra tall units from howdens, just a shallow box on top of cupboard and longer doors, pretty unusable. Looks nice when shut.

We got lots of electric sockets…still not sure it’s enough.

Lovely downwards venting induction hob….the instruction book is massive. I’m a bit intimidated.

No point having lovely lights in glass fronted cupboards if the shelves aren’t glass.

OP posts:
Furball · 10/10/2021 21:43

We've just done ours too. and have Minerva worktops. The jurys out on it to be honest. It looks great but is easy scratched although you can buff it out if needed.

and also it stains really, really easy, with say tea/coffee/most other things, but not tomatoes?. I have a magic sponge now to sort it out, but it's a bit tedious having to do that..

But in it's defence it does look really good and the joins are invisible.

I also have plates in a wide drawer just opposite the dishwasher and when the doors open on the dishwasher and the plate drawer is open it's easy peasy to put everything away. I've also got mugs in a drawer by the kettle which works well too.

I also have a tap like this, but not this one which is really good as you can swill round the sink really easily

Original poster
FillyerBoots · 10/10/2021 21:49

Had new kitchen for a week now.

The hob and oven are still cleverer than me.

Wish we'd got a flexible hose Qooker tap - rather than just the Qooker.

Quartz worktop is fine - but it does mark - Barkeepers friend works though.

The integrated dishwasher is just that much smaller than the under counter one. Just enough to be annoying.

Love the warming drawer - it's a double one.

Love the drawers inside cupboards.

Think about where you are going to keep stuff near the hob - oil, salt, pepper etc.

We got a under counter sink with grooves cut in the quartz. Looks fab but miss a draining board.

OP posts:
RandomMess · 10/10/2021 22:46

My other lesson

Teens show little respect for it and manage to leave things marked/minorly damaged/dirty Angry

EerilyDisembodied · 10/10/2021 23:13

We've got the flexible hose Quooker, it is really useful. Our quartz hasn't marked yet but we always have Barkeeper's Friend in, it's brilliant stuff. We also have the undermounted sink with grooves in the worktop, don't miss the drainer at all and find it a much better use of space so what suits one doesn't suit another. Problem is you don't really know till you've done it.

minipie · 10/10/2021 23:24

We mostly got stuff right tbh - I spent blooming hours researching tips and planning the layout.

Still got one big thing wrong though which is a larder cupboard door that opens into the main walkway. Should have shelled out for a hide and slide door with hindsight.

Things we got right

  • Double sink but not equal sizes, instead we have one large one little.
  • Small pull out next to hob for oils salt spices etc
  • Pull out bin in island where we prep
  • Bin is near dishwasher
  • Dishwasher is near crockery/cutlery drawers
  • Drawers for everything under counter
  • Extra drawer set for non cooking crap that lives in the kitchen
  • Charging drawer (see above)
  • Glass shelves in glass cupboards so lighting goes downwards (sorry OP!)
  • Double door fridge
  • Larder cupboard with drawers rather than a walk in larder - I am short so big pan drawers work much better for me as food storage than tall shelves
  • Quooker flex
  • Undersink drawers (they are U shaped)
  • No draining board: a tea towel does fine
  • One tall drawer for bottles, cheese grater etc
minipie · 10/10/2021 23:25

Oh and we went for marble worktops (last minute swap from quartz). Yes it has etch marks on it. Still no regrets. Love it.

Bloomsburyreader · 11/10/2021 23:01

No one has mentioned DIY kitchens but I thought they were a Mumsnet fave? Just at the early planning stages of a new kitchen

BaronessBomburst · 11/10/2021 23:32

I use a silicon draining board. It goes under the sink when not in use.

New kitchen what did you learn…?
corblimeygov · 12/10/2021 19:43

@Bloomsburyreader yes they [DIY kitchens ] seem to be, a few years ago it was Hand made kitchens of Christchurch.

Hitchyhero · 12/10/2021 21:50

I have 2 cutlery drawers.... One small one and one in a hidden drawer (a drawer within a drawer.

I barely use the hidden drawer one as im lazy and don't want to open two drawers.

NormallyFairlyLevelHeaded · 13/10/2021 07:07

I really like the drawer within a drawer. Kitchen fitter asked if we wouldn’t find it annoying…but I don’t. Not yet.

EerilyDisembodied · 13/10/2021 08:45

I just can't see any benefit to the drawer within a drawer, I'm really glad we didn't opt for that, it would have annoyed me too. Wouldn't do if we all liked the same things though.

RandomMess · 13/10/2021 11:21

We have a drawer within a drawer because it was the option with the super wide drawers we wanted.

Don't find it an issue at all tbh

JS87 · 13/10/2021 11:24

Get them to install cupboards on top of some kind of fraught proof floor. Ours was installed on the floor boards so I spent a day this weekend scrabbling around under the cupboards cutting laminate floor underlay around the cupboard legs. This is to reduce the drafts coming up from under the floorboards and make the kitchen warmer.

marymay62 · 13/10/2021 12:17

JS87 - I’d like a fraught proof floor - no cleaning at all 😂.

JS87 · 13/10/2021 13:25

😂😂 draught proof I mean. Not sure why my autocorrect prefers fraught to draught. There must be lots of fraught people about 😂

maofteens · 13/10/2021 14:59

Mine is almost there - worktops are being put in this weekend and then I'll get a sink with my much missed boiling water tap. The dishwasher was just plumbed in today (oh how I just loved washing up in the tiny cloakroom sink...).
I have restricted space but really thought about what would actually go in each drawer and cupboard. My must haves were: boiling water tap, pullout bin/recycling, side by side F/F, breakfast cupboard, large single undermounted sink, waterfall edge.
I didn't get the side by side F/F due to lack of space and that it sits partially under the stairs. But got everything else. Remember to have a tall cupboard for vacuum and broom/mop etc.

BlackAlys · 13/10/2021 20:38

Forgot about a tall cupboard for mop and broom! One with an electrical point for the stain would be handy.

BlueMongoose · 13/10/2021 20:51

I'm a fan of full height (90cm) wall cupboards. I'm short, so for the upper shelves I need a stepladder, but as other posters have said, better to have the storage space than a manky space above you have to dust, or a filled-in useless space that lowers over you and makes the room look small, and you can use the upper shelves for things you don't use often, like Christmas cake frills and Easter egg moulds. Grin

BlueMongoose · 13/10/2021 21:02

How I planned ours, I started with the things that seemed to me to be 'fixed'

Sink in front of window.
Low handle on casement window so I can reach it over sink
Cooker on outer wall to facilitate better venting for hood
Fridge close to sink, with worktop space for kettle between
Sink close to cooker and the paths between all of the above not where people pass through the room
DW next to sink for drain
Fridge/freezer NOT next to cooker
Once I had worked that out how to get that in, everything else just fitted round it, as there was really only one layout possible

Other things I will have when it's finished-
Cutlery drawer next to dishwasher (waiting for sink, specially made to order, my one extravagance as we're not spending much- e.g., we're reusing our old units from a previous house).

Moomarre · 13/10/2021 21:44

I wish I’d thought about
Recycling
Tea towels
Hoover/broom/mop etc

I wish I had a big cupboard for all the big things (food processor, instant pot, bread maker, George foreman etc as currently they’re a mess squeezed into various other cupboards)

I really wanted drawers but our walls are curved and they would have been a nightmare to fit as some of the drawers couldn’t be full depth if we wanted it all flush at the front.

I wanted an island but we couldn’t fit one without having a much smaller table.

RoseAddict · 13/10/2021 21:59

Things I learned. Real wood is lovely but unless it’s oak/ hardwood it isn’t very robust and will chip. Limestone is a different colour once sealed.

Still really like what we did with ours and I got loads of good advice on mumsnet when I posted my plans on here

Bakersdelight · 15/10/2021 22:22

@annacondom do you have a picture of these secret drawers?

KitchenKrisis · 15/10/2021 22:35

mini

I'm very jealous of your marble!
I've gone for fake but I adore real marble. Maybe one day I can switch to real marble, not sure how they would increase the thickness though.

KitchenKrisis · 15/10/2021 22:37

Booms Bury seeder..

I'm getting a DIY kitchen. It's not arrived yet but obviously I hope it's all OK!