If you were planning a new kitchen...

[longmayitcontinue]

...and you had a reasonable budget, which are the things you would now do differently or include?

For example, I know some friends who opted for two dishwashers, reasoning that you typically only use a small number of items daily and so it makes sense of literally moving these from a clean dishwasher to table and then back to be washed in the 'dirty' dishwasher. Makes sense to me. Plus you would never have to have dirty dishes building up after family gatherings.

Also know some people who opted to have an extractor fan near the hob (i.e. on the same level as the hob rather than above), and they swear by it.

Another family had a cupboard they kitted out as a small bar area.

What would be the things you would change or include if you created a new large kitchen/diner/open area?

@RidingMyBike

've seen pictures somewhere of a larder style cupboard done as a breakfast cupboard. So has some work surface and a toaster on as well as cupboard and shelves for cereal, crockery etc. That way the toaster is easily accessible for daily use but you can just shut the cupboard door on it.

Where do I find this unicorn of wonder please? any idea where you saw it roughly?

All pan drawers below the waist, no cupboards

Watching with interest....new kitchen on the horizon.
Any advise as to planning and design? I have zero creativity and rubbish at imagining new layout etc. so will need masses of help at design stage. Also, how long did your design stage take?
Torn between 2 ovens and a range oven now!

hummm, what is a decent budget,? as I wave goodbye to £35k, via Magnet and have still bought range cooker and new microwave, double sink, single sink and taps as extras not through them. (gas point and drainage all stay in the same places) no new wiring
The fitter is being brilliant as £35K does not buy you bespoke anything, so we have had to be inventive as problems come up.
the largest money was spent on worktops.
good luck, it's turning into a nightmare here

A separate larder room for storing non perishables so only things in use are in kitchen cupboards, we find it much easier for storage as we bulk buy

I like the idea, but worry about condensation - especially getting the kettle.

Marking place.

You can EASILY do bespoke £35k, just need to choose your company carefully!

We used Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch, and every single unit is bespoke sized. A blessing for us as we had to fit huge kitchen in slightly awkward spaces which were non-standard size due to the kitchen being a knock through of three rooms and loads of doors/windows/bits of wall supporting beams/different height ceilings/original features to consider. You would never know. Including Silestone worktops, Neff/Bosch/Quooker appliances, fitting, painting - under £30k.

The process is a little more labour intensive as they are supply only and you need to have some input on the design itself as it’s all done remotely, but they are superb, and so helpful, and very responsive with any snagging issues. Obviously having a good joiner to fit is essential.

Deep draws rather than cupboards
2 ovens
Draining board (new house doesn't have one and it drives me up the wall
Dishwasher
Lots and lots of plugs
Tall fridge freezer (no more bedding over to get the milk)

Another room. Like a large pantry with scullery (some designers/magazines now call it a prep or dirty kitchen). Just a box room really with shelves and ideally a sink where you can shove all your clutter, hoover, big boxes of cornflakes, air fryer, dirty roasting racks that need soaking etc, your 4 overflowing recycling boxes. It must have a solid door so that noone sees all that mess (some kitchen designers now put this kind of space now behind glass crittal doors. Why would you?)

thank you @WashAsDelicates

@peachescariad

Any advise as to planning and design?

You've probably heard this before but the main thing is to make sure that the sink, cooker and fridge are all easily accessible from and to one another - usually in a fairly close triangle arrangement. Space for a kettle near the tap and a proximate cupboard for tea/coffee/mugs

Then think about traffic routes around and through the kitchen - if you want an island for example is it realistic or will it be too cramped without enough clearance round it. I think they say you should have a least a metre around an obstruction to make flow easy.

There are lots of other thoughts on this thread. My main thing would be always have a waste disposal unit fitted in the sink. It makes life so much easier as it gets rid of smelly biological waste that would rot in the bins like fruit peelings, egg shells, food refuse.

Plan your day for a day of that makes sense.wjere do you have your kettle.then where will the tea bags go.where do you.prep each meals. So worktop space,where the bowls will be.mug cupboard etc.plates etc. Where does your daily activities need to be I regards to cooking,getting things out the fridge and so the where do there need to be worktop space,sockets,pan draw close or under the hob etc.
Lighting always lighting.
Electricity and wiring.makong sure you don't have too many big ticket items on one fuse or circuit.
A pan drawer don't no how we suffered it before in a cupboard.

@SirTarquin
If you're on Instagram, search for 'breakfast cupboard'. I can't now remember which I saw but there are lots of variations on there!

We don't have a waste disposal unit on sink but do have a compost bin outside so all peelings, egg shells etc go in there which avoids the smell problem.

I got my kitchen done 5 years ago and still really like it. The only things I would do differently are to put some internal drawers in one cupboard.

It was my one economy and it still irritates me.

Things I like about my kitchen - quartz worktops, high level extractor fan, tambour unit/ appliance garage to hide mess on worktop, loads of drawers, built in bookcase (which was put in instead of a blanking unit and holds all my cookbooks and tall vases).

@RidingMyBike thanks- I'd had a look at the ones that @WashAsDelicates had posted up thread.

I confess to being disappointed. I was excited because I thought it was a way of getting the toaster off the counter top sort of like a built in microwave but in fact it isn't. It's just like a normal counter top except it has a door on the front so it's even more inconvenient because every time you want to you use even the counter top you have to open the whole pantry door.

Yes! I can imagine it working in an absolutely enormous kitchen but definitely not in mine.

I think there should be breakfast larders with sturdy pull out shelves so that the toaster/kettle can be reached and to let steam/heat out in the open.
I do like the idea of a hidden-away sink in a cupboard / larder.

So many great ideas!

And it would be good if the doors were of the type which sort of slide into the piece of furniture rather than just opening outwards as that would be a bit annoying agreed.

@SirTarquin my kitchen’s pretty old so not necessarily what I’d choose now but we have this cupboard on the right which houses all the small electrical appliances. We just slide the shelf forward when we use them and can pull the cupboard door down to hide everything.

@TattiePants

We just slide the shelf forward when we use them and can pull the cupboard door down to hide everything.

That's quite cool TattiePants -it's so close to perfect toaster management!
but it's still lost counter space (because you could have cabinets above and below with a gap where there is a clear counter run across the wall - like to the right of this picture
https://kitchinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/West_London_Kitchen_Design-e1564384630808-1024x643.jpg

I fantasise about having a completely clear counter top. We have a kitchen closer to that photo and on the counter top we have
a toaster
a kettle
a pot of spoons, spatulas etc for cooking (I don't mind that so much!)
oils, seasoning for cooking
a stick blender
a food processor
a mini chopper
one of those blender things for ice/juice/soup

I'm just wondering how you could get the toaster off the counter. I suppose you could have a shelf mid-gap so it is off the counter but not in a cupboard reaching up for it.

Or (LOL) you could have it below the counter top with holes for the toast to pop up through !!!

@CLEO42 I use bar keeper’s friend on our quartz worktops for stains.

@longmayitcontinue Agree with other posters about big pan drawers, they are great.

We have a full sized larder fridge but it’s integrated and we’ve had issues with it getting out of alignment so I would probably choose a full size freestanding fridge if I were to do it again.

We have an undercounter s/s sink which I love, it’s a decent size too.

Just got a new kitchen. Full height and separate integrated fridge and freezer. Loads of space and so easy to access compared to under the counter. Cupboards going to the ceiling. A tall larder cupboard.
All done by a local company who build their units onsite at their own factory and whose quote came in at less than Magnet for a more bespoke finish with loads more colour options.

Our counter top has the kettle, a Joseph Joseph stand of utensils and the Kitchenaid. That’s it. The toaster’s in a cupboard, we just get it out when we use it then put it back. I love the lack of clutter.

@Blossomtoes we have similar ambitions. Have kettle, compost caddy, Joseph joseph stand of washing up utensils - so far so good - then have a scruffy bit by the plugs with an alexa, charging cable, energy monitor - but much better than previous kitchen!

Some amazing suggestions on tips on here.

Wondered if anyone has had any good ideas in terms of recycling storage? I was thinking in an ideal world, it would be amazing to have some sort of chute that goes outside and with all the recycling ending up in bins outside or in a garage or similar.