Kitchen must haves and mistakes

[Gilmoregirly]

We are about to start our kitchen renovation in a square area of 5m x 5m. part of this space is an extension to the existing kitchen. I am hoping to have an island of size 2.4m x 1.2m. Please may I know what your kitchen are must haves and any mistakes you have done.

Don't have an integrated fridge freezer. There are very few available and they never last as long as freestanding ones.

Will there be seating at the island and if that's the case is there enough space for a 30cm overhang of the worktop? What is going on the island?

Fit an extracting rather than a recirculating cooker hood.

Have some worktop next to the oven so you can set things down without having to walk or turn and walk to do so.

Induction hobs are brilliant.

Drawers for storage rather than cupboards.

Find the kitchens lessons learned thread on here.

Second no integrated appliances. They are expensive and harder to replace because the cupboards are designed around them.

Make sure you have plenty of plugs fitted above the worktops. Lots more gadgets these days.

Don't have an island for the sake of having an island. Only have one if you have plenty of space.

Don't get mdf vinyl wrapped doors. They swell up and get water damage. Solid wood lasts a lot longer.

Check your kitchen has wiring for high demand cooker, or fit this if you are having it rewired.

Plenty of extraction capability to get rid of humidity. You want that out the house.

Think about how you are actually going to use the kitchen. So if you take something hot and heavy out the cooker, where are you going to put it ? Carrying a heavy red hot roasting tin accross a room bad idea.

Make sure you get spares for everything so when something gets damaged you can replace it.

Make sure your storage is near the dishwasher so you can take stuff easily out and into the cupboards.

Do: design your kitchen for the way you will use it, rather than by what is fashionable: you are still going to be the same person with the same ways of doing things after the work is done.
For example: we microwave as much as I use the oven, and we entertain a lot, so instead of having a large oven for every day we went for a stack of 2 standard ovens, one of which is also a microwave. It wouldn't work for everyone, but it's perfect for how I cook and how we live.
We love our boiling water tap and wouldn't choose to have a kettle again.
I love having a small island at table height: it it great for kneading and rolling out.
Don't: forget to leave room for a bin and recycling: let the fitter go ahead before the floor is completely stabilised and level (they can't adjust for everything): have stuff out on the worktop that you don't absolutely need: it just gets dusty and takes up useful space.

If you end up with an island, put sockets in it.

If you have taller things like a coffee machine, remember to leave some headspace for them (i.e. don't have your upper cabinets too low to allow them to comfortably fit under them).

Agree on integrated fridge and freezer. Hate they are now in so many kitchens (I guess since one never sees them in house ads)

Unbroken at least 2.5m counter for food prep between fridge and cooker. With nothing on it but at least 3 sockets towards one end of it.

Comfortable seating, just small are if no dining space. Makes it nice and social space for cook and drink evenings.

Bendy tap. Large sink.

Absolutely have drawers under work tops, not cupboards.

Think about the stuff you cook with a lot - like oils and spices and things. We keep them in the cupboard under the hob but I wish I'd got a little pull out cupboard for them.

We do have a big pull out cupboard that is great.

If you are having a downdraft vented extractor or boiling water tap they both take up space underneath in the cupboards.

Bins - we got an under counter bin - friend has one with a charcoal filter in the lid so there's no smells. We just empty ours most nights.

I'd say don't put the sink on the Island.

Thank you ever so much for your replies

Make sure you have very powerful extraction from your hob venting to the outside.

Do put your dishwasher in your kitchen, not your utility room. (Just me then? DH just dumps mugs etc in the kitchen sink, rather than walk further to the dishwasher. Grrr.)

YY to loads of sockets. Include some with USB sockets too.

720 mm deep worktop wouldn’t have a quooker tap

We have a 300mm larder unit which is brilliant. If you plan to use an air fryer it needs space above it for ventilation.

Builders laughed at all my sockets - I use them all.
Absolutely love my pull out drawers for pans and oven dishes, sadly couldn’t have as many as I wanted.
Also love my tall, narrow, pull-out bottle drawer - used for sauces, vinegars, oils etc. I can’t remember what it’s called.
Small kitchen but I have a little pantry - it’s perfect and keeps everything organised and hidden away.
I got the builders to build up to the ceiling. The carpenter used the same wood as my cupboard doors (DIY kitchens, great quality) and created panels, that can be pulled out if needed. I stash things that rarely get used up there and no dust collects on top of the cupboards. This might be an Australian thing - no one seemed to understand what I wanted at first and I haven’t seen it here very often.

Don't forget to put in a place to hang tea towels and hand towels (the voice of bitter regret there).

Have a double sink. Once you've had one, you will never want to be without one.

When they fit your kitchen, ask for the appliance upstands to be trimmed back so you can have one interrupted length of kickboard. SO much easier for cleaning.

For the love of all that is holy, if you are having handles, have them installed on the base units in the same orientation. This person has vertical handles EXCEPT on their dishwasher and has then chosen to use a separate horizontal towel rack. Yuck! My pet personal peeve of bad kitchen aesthetics.

Have a proper sink area with space on the left for dirty dishes and right for draining (or other way round if a leftie!). My parents and two friends have had new kitchens and the washing up area is dreadful and is useless if you entertain regularly.

Don't get a black sink if you're in a hard water area.

More sockets than you think. We have 10 doubles. I'm lucky to have lots of worktop so we have lots of stuff out permanently.

I planned what would go in every unit in our kitchen. It's all logically organised. You can stand at the open dishwasher and put pretty much everything away without moving from the spot.

Invest in inserts and racks, etc. to maximise use of the cupboards and drawers. We have a number of curved units with lazy Susans in them, plate pegs, etc. IKEA sell a good range.

In our nice rented house I have 2 floor to about 6 ft high larder cupboards either side of a freestanding fridge freezer take up 1 wall of about 3.8 metres. I love them , one has all my plates , dishes and glasses and casserole dishes etc --other has all my tins and dried goods -

Don't ever have proper wooden worktops - mark so very easily

This is so helpful. Planning new kitchen and was about to ask for tips. Thanks OP.

Agree on drawers wherever possible, no integrated appliances and more sockets than you can shake a stick at.

Tall pull out larder units are great.

Consider whether a peninsula might work better and be more space-efficient than an island.

Have a good mix of lighting and plan where your switches go carefully - not every light needs to turn on by the doors.

I am short and have one smallish area of dropped worktop which is brilliant for pastry making, bread kneading etc.

Because I have a dishwasher, I find 1.5 sinks work well; I’ve had two full size ones before but it was a waste of space.

Do you want/need shelves for cookbooks? Small pull out units for oils and spices?

Really considering you actually want glass fronted doors. Designers like to put the in as the look cool and artfully display plates and glasses do really look fancy. But you effectively loose all that cupboard space as you can’t just shove things in and close the door on the chaos. Perhaps you are a more organised person than me so it won’t be a problem.

Don't get a handleless kitchen if you have fingernails of any length. Make sure you try opening the doors in the showroom.

Remember you will need somewhere for a bin

A larder is awesome - to keep all your food in one place

Fit an extracting rather than a recirculating cooker hood.

Just wanted to reiterate this. Builders hate doing it and try to talk you out of it, but hold firm. Recirculation is a pointless and noisy charade!