Kitchen refresh, love/regret? Ikea?

[SensibleSigma]

Hi
Any tips? What did, didn’t work? What do you love and what do you regret? I’m not throwing money at it as we won’t be here long.

I’m doing a refurb rather than a full replacement.

I know I need worksurface, hob, sink, extractor fan, tiles…

I’m fancying a quooker type tap…

Worksurface- does anyone do laminate anymore?

Freestanding Kitchen island/table type thing, maybe.

I suppose I’m thinking out loud and hoping other people have experiences they can share!

I'd nix the hot water tap. I inherited one in one of my moves, discovered it needed annual servicing and bi annual filter changes. Work out how many kettles I could buy for that and decided to get rid. Yes it's handy, but just not worth the cost imo.
Yes people still do laminate, it's fine, and won't have a massive impact on selling as it's a thing people can change easily.
We also haven't put in a cooker extractor hood in the last couple of moves, we've just put in a normal humidity extractor instead.
If the cabinets are in good condition you can get the doors wrapped, sprayed or replaced, and changing old fashioned handles can make a big difference.

Laminate is much better quality now, the IKEA one comes with a 25 year warranty. We've just got a new kitchen and went for a laminate worktop (much to the designers disgust 😆) because it was 10% of the cost, and our kitchen is always cold so the stone ones feel freezing.

I love the clear pricing of ikea, and the ability to change bits here there very easily yourself. I think pretty much all mass produced kitchen carcasses are the same so price and convenience wins for me.
I'm not sure "not throwing money at it" and "quooker type tap" are compatible in the same sentence!

We've just had an ikea kitchen . The kickboards under the cabinets are set back. So looks like the cabinets are floating. It was supposed to make a smaller kitchen look bigger . It does . But they are a total bastard to clean .

Agree with the hot water tap. The sales assistant talked me out of it . After telling me about the upkeep costs

We installed a Qettle boiling water tap when we renovated our house, best thing ever! I just change the filter every 6 months. Worth every single penny.

Thank you for the reassurance and the quooker opinions ! I have talked myself in and out of it several times over!

I’ve got an appointment at Ikea so I’ll get a better idea then.

We have an ikea kitchen, 2 years old, love it. Ypu can get interest free credit too, which may help.
Personally, I prefer a coffee station putbof the way of the main action in the kitchen, so wouldn't bother with a boiling water tap. If you do get one, make sure it's got a big tank of you like lots of drinks/have people over often.