Help me answer the kitchen designer's questions

[pantalo]

We're getting a new kitchen, and planning to use a recommended local company. They came for an initial visit and asked lots of questions, to get more information for the design. Trouble is, we haven't put in a kitchen for 20 years, so we haven't got a clue! For background, it's a fairly small kitchen which will be very well used - we cook a lot and we're not the sort to be wanting to worry about lots of special maintenance. We're looking for modern style (probably flat front grey/black/brown/cream) and want to maximise work surface and storage (it's for cooking in, no space for dining table). Money certainly isn't 'no object', but we're not on a tight budget either - we're prepared to spend a bit more than standard Wickes etc. It needs absolutely everything doing to it (though nothing structural), and we don't want to have to manage any of it ourselves.

So, I'd love some MN help on the pros and cons of the following.

Worktop - do I want laminate, quartz, corian (apparently that's a real thing) or granite?

Do I want integrated appliances?

I definitely want a double oven, but do I want the top oven to be a combi microwave?

Hob - will definitely be induction (no gas supply) but how big - standard or bigger? What kind of splashback behind?

Do I want drawers? A larder unit? Whirly corner cupboard things?

Do I want an exposed extractor fan or one in a cupboard?

Do I want a boiling water tap? (I rarely boil a kettle, but I do often boil pans of water.)

What kind of fridge do I want? I have space for a freezer in the garage - but do i still want an icebox?

So I want tiles or luxury vinyl flooring?

I would really welcome any MN wisdom on all of this - and on any other likely questions that I don't even know that I don't know how to answer yet!!

Pull out bin is brilliant.

You can boil a pan of water really quickly on an induction hob so I would only get a boiling water tap if you have space to accommodate it and if you want it for other stuff, ie hot drinks, getting the kettle off the work surface, the option to have filtered water on demand, etc. We found it was out of our budget.

We have quartz worktops and a quartz splashback and I love them. Looks very streamlined. Cif will remove any stains (so far), though I have found it needs more care around stains than I expected.

If you live in a hard water area, now is a good time to explore water softeners and other solutions to limescale/hard water.

I wouldn’t get a combi microwave. I’m not a fan of combi appliances. From a safety perspective, think about positioning of the microwave as higher up and integrated looks great but can be iffy from a safety perspective.

Independents are a good shout. Howdens is a good option if you have a builder who can get you a discount (trade only). We used DIY Kitchens and designed it ourselves - in hindsight, I’d have paid for an independent designer (probably Karen from OnePlan) to design it for us, although we did a pretty good job ourselves! But a good designer won’t miss the details that turn it from a good kitchen into a great kitchen.

My daughter has profile handles (newish kitchen already in her house when she bought)). They do look really sleek, minimalist and I really like them. I find trying to open the integrated fridge/freezer a little difficult but all other units r very easy wouldn’t stop me choosing them. However we r going for a j pull simply because we liked this kitchen in the showroom but agree these may prove a little fiddly especially if you have big hands/knuckles. Loving this thread. Agree, so much to consider.

We r not going for a boiling water tap as worried about the safety aspect of it and I am happy about that decision. Costs over £1k which seems a criminal amount of money to me.

Not going for a combi microwave/oven as more to go wrong, approx £500 more and if you want to use microwave to say warm up a sauce etc and u want to use the oven then it just doesn’t work. I also use my microwave to keep salads cool when it’s really hot weather ready for entertaining and defrosting food. If I was using the main oven below then that wouldn’t work. I am off the opinion that you can spend £++ on a kitchen but they all date eventually and need changing so I wouldn’t want to spend £++++. Rather change the kitchen a bit earlier but that isn’t good for the environment. A compromise is needed I guess.

We had a new kitchen just over two years ago, went for a double oven with the combo microwave at the top. Use the microwave function rarely but use the top oven loads. We don’t have a separate microwave. I was interested in a hot water tap but didn’t have one, the extra cost and space used to what we were gaining wasn’t worth it, plus the induction hob boils water very quickly. I have one ‘regret’ and that is that we opted for a pull out pantry. It doesn’t hold anywhere near as much as a cupboard with some type of pull out drawers would. It’s heavy and you need to be careful not to overload it.
Yes to more drawers than cupboards, def go for pan drawers and we opted for quartz and LVT flooring, both of which look immaculate still. We have an integerstes units for fridge and dishwasher. Utility is in a separate area and although we had that done too I opted for non integrated washer and dryer. Just one more thing, when you come to choosing colours, see if you can bring home a sample door panel, piece of worktop and floor to see if your colours work together. It all looks so different from the showroom.

Run away from Dekton.

I was tempted but it chips. It's very hard like a diamond but diamonds can chip on the edges. I saw a chipped one in a kitchen shop and chipped samples at a home design show.

Very tricky to repair apparently. Chips commonly occur when something falls out of a top cupboard and onto the edge of your work surface

Just to add we opted for a fully managed installation by a local kitchen company. Yes did cost more but they managed everything from start to finish. We don’t know any tradespeople so it was great to have a six week plan that they stuck to and they sent electricians, plasterer, plumber, decorator. The day they handed it back it was completely done, no need to find people
to finish any bits off.