Kitchen regrets

[ManicMonday007]

I'm just having an extension and need to plan my kitchen diner. Any tips or ideas. Anything you hate about a new kitchen and care to share for regretful decisions. We are hoping to have a decent size island for prep area. Any ideas gratefully received.

We got an island that is just a vast space, and it is the best thing ever for prep, dishing up etc. Double sockets at either end too. LOVE my crockery drawers. Finally, a 'full height' larder cupboard with pull out drawers.

I have a Belfast sink in the utility room, it's great for soaking washing, washing large pans and filling with ice in the summer to cool wine and beer, etc.

100% agree with this, we have the same

Oh and make sure you pick handles that don't show every mark!

Or have bits that stick out and get caught in your pockets. (Handles, that is.)

Insinkerators are meant to convert the food waste into biofuel - not sure how or whether it is a marketing ploy!

Hey, I know this is a zombie thread, but just wondering - one year on - does anyone else have any kitchen regrets to add? In the middle of planning our new kitchen...

Somehow we never got a tall cupboard so I have nowhere to keep a bucket and mop or ironing board.

I second a tall Cupboard , we had to have one built in the hall for mop and hover ! Also do t go for cheap worktops … year on and still hate them , but can’t justify ripping out when other things need doing .

Yes to the tall cupboard I wish I’d thought of that! And room for a larger freezer or a spare freezer.

Things i love
Pan drawers everywhere
Light quartz worktops
a xxl sink (2nd sink in utility is xl and extra deep for dog washing)
All the plug sockets.... we have 7 doubles.
Our "knick knack" cupboard has a hidden 8th plug socket so chargers and phones and amnoying cables are charged out of sight.

Things i hate
Quooker tap. Our area is super hard water. I had it removed.
Floor is textured. It holds dirt and makes me want to scream.
I couldnt fit a 2nd dishwasher.

I've got an eye level oven and microwave. I wish I'd gone for doors that slide and hide because I struggle to reach into the oven if I'm standing in front of the open door.

Will be putting in my new kitchen this summer (it's already designed and ordered). Third kitchen I've designed, and this time I'm having

Two sinks - a prep one on the island and a washing up one along a run, and two dishwashers (one at each sink).

Lots of ovens

A hob on the island (it's large enough to have the hob, the sink and a decent counter for food prep)

A long extra counter for things which will get plonked down so my island can stay clear

A large fridge freezer in the kitchen and another in the pantry

Boiling water tap

Wow. Some of you sound like you have massive kitchens!! I don't. Nor a utility room or garage, so nowhere to put a spare fridge/freezer/sink/extra dishwasher etc Struggling to fit the essentials in at this point...!

Ive just read the whole thread and think the same about everyone having big kitchens 😂.

We don't exactly have a small house but theres nowhere near enough space to put two dishwashers or an island or two sinks.

Worth investing in a quartz worktop, so robust and easy to clean.

Wish I had thought about the colour of the interior of cupboards, as ours were dark grey making it hard to see inside some of them

@fromtheshires right?! I'm loving the ideas like putting sockets inside a cupboard, doubling the amount of sockets you might need, making sure your tap can actually clean your sink properly etc. But the ones about giant islands, lots of ovens, 2 x freezers and xxl sinks are just depressing me (and we don't have a small house either!).

I shall take the advice I need and leave what I don't 😊 (and dream about giant kitchens).

I didn't when I was in London either!

I bought my current house for less than the 60sqm flat I first lived in London is worth today....

Same! But I'd rather have two reception rooms than lose one to a big kitchen-diner

My dh really regretted not getting the dark grey interiors so I'll tell him this! Especially as his eyesight isn't great

I have a huge corner cupboard that is the very devil to get stuff into and out of, should have had a pull out thingy in it. Big pan drawers are amazing for storing stuff, love them. Wish I'd had a bigger fridge. The glass splashback is the best thing, so easy to clean. Controversially, I have no bin at all in my kitchen other than a little countertop one for the composter and a 1litre yoghurt pot for bits while I'm cooking

I wish I'd got one of those self cleaning ovens. And I shouldn't have worried about the white quartz, there hasn't been a stain barkeeper's friend couldn't lift.

Haven't yet planned a kitchen but when I do, I'll be careful about having counters and cupboards at the perfect height for me.

I'm short. I struggle to reach everything in my own kitchen, yet my parents' kitchen has everything just a touch lower and it's so much better.

A close shave rather than a regret - we have a larder fridge and larder freezer rather than an American style FF. The former has far greater capacity.
The ones to really avoid are the American style FF that have the freezer as series of open shelves about a 1/3 of the width of the appliance - it would be difficult to rummage for things without everything sliding out and you can’t even fit a frozen pizza on one of the shelves. Disaster!

Watch the height of cupboards over work surfaces. We went for a clean line so everything lined up to hood above hob and I can only easily reach bottom shelf.
However, I love cupboards going up to ceiling, nowhere to get greasy/dusty.
Drawers instead of cupboards.
Induction hob gives much more useable space and easy to clean.