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.

The best thing I did in my kitchen is having a hidden space (with a door) for an air fryer, a mixer and a coffee machine!
Not having any visible machines in your kitchen makes everything look a lot cleaner.
Also a garbage disposer in the sink is a must! Completely changed my life

Ahh, you have an appliance garage! Exactly what I mentioned in my thread just before yours. I'm very envious.

And enjoy your new kitchen!!

Re the sink, I'd say a double width one if you have the space. I actually put all my dirty plates bowls etc in there so it's not visible on the work surface. Blanco do the workstation ones with rails. They're so useful, to pop pots on to fill, to balance the colander or food prep, or hot trays on, and to leave pans or trays drying and not visible www.blanco.co.uk/sinks/etagon/blancoetagon700-uinfino_232.754/527764 there are these sorts of ones also, and we honestly love ours. Makes the sink area look really tidy and function well www.lussostone.com/kitchen-c213/kitchen-sinks-c216/cullinan-brushed-stainless-undermount-workstation-sink-830mm-p6162

A boiling tap, we've had them in two kitchens now and wouldn't be without them. We don't get the really expensive ones - think ours was about £700 and 99 degrees and we love it for teas, food prep and cleaning. A pull out nozzle for the sink is a plus for cleaning the sink.

And yep, appliance storage! We have two built in hutches that sit directly on the countertop with the countertop visible inside. One is a breakfast cupboard and one is a microwave cupboard, with all storage above.

Personally I'd always have appliances integrated, because I prefer the look of that. Haven't had issues with that before.

We put a deposit this weekend on our kitchen.
few things I was after
larder
integated hood with space around it to put every day use cooking ingredients
a breakfast bar (I’ll hide the kettle and the toaster in there)
a bin area under the sink
we’ve got most of our sockets hidden but will have one on the counter that will pop up when needed

I went to two places : magnet and Schmidt’s found magnet really expensive and the designs were really basic and no drawers. I updated a bit the proposal from the designer in Schmidt’s and will have quite a few drawers.

thanks to those that have said no to integrated fridge. We were unsure what to get so will look at fridges to replace the one we have

Oh also, symmetry if you can. I wasn't sure with this kitchen, but we did it symmetrical on the advice of the kitchen company and it looks so much better than my original plan.

And quiet appliances if it opens out onto a dining space - I didn't realise you can search them by decibel level until someone told me. The dishwasher, extractor, fridge and freezer etc are around or under 45 decibels, which is meant to be the sound of a soft whisper as a comparable level of noise. We don't notice them really.

We are not having dekton but silestone. 3k for an L shape worktop ans one of the walls will have 600mm silestone splashback

I think the fad for these has passed now (thankfully!) but avoid the bloody pop up sockets at all costs! We had them in our last house due to lack of wall space and the mechanism to ‘pop’ them was so flimsy, one broke 12 weeks in. They also got left stuck up all the time so looked awful and they encouraged clutter on the worktop so I always had to clear up before cooking

Do you like a clean look or are you happy with stuff on the counters? I like a clean look and don’t have a kitchen big enough for an American type fridge so love my quooker and integrated appliances. Ive had an integrated fridge for 20+ years and had no problem until I replaced it in new kitchen.

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

Oh god this is my number one bugbear on Rightmove. It is so dangerous too. Walking around with a hot lasagna and you didn’t even have a spare hand to shut the oven 🤦‍♀️.

Also, ovens at eye level. Good to view, but bad to use.

We were going to go with handles on our kitchen units but when we were shown our virtual reality design it just looked so fussy even though we had chosen sleek handles%! So in the end we chose a handlesless kitchen and it looks very sleek. It also saved us the boredom of looking at a million different handles! How do people ever choose is beyond me!!

Most of our base cupboards have pull out wire baskets instead of shelves. Things don't get lost at the back of the cupboards.

I love our wooden worktops. DH followed the instructions for oiling diligently and we haven't had a problem with them.

It's probably a bit late for me to be reading this thread as I've just had my new kitchen installed, but overall I am happy with it, so...

• I'm liking the eye level oven - I didn't like having to bend down to get things out, and having to open a hot oven near the floor with babies and toddlers around.
• If I had my time again I would get a deeper warming drawer so I could also prove bread in it.
• I had three quotes for silestone worktops but in the end I got a different brand that looks identical and has a similar quartz content for less than half the price. So it is worth shopping around.

@BarnacleBeasley may I please know which brand did you use in the end

I’d suggest shopping around as well.

magnet silestone 5k
schmidts same silestone tho not as big (maybe 1m less) 3k as they have got an agreement with consentino and they do discount. They also have extra deep cabinets so for the same price you get deeper cabinets

there was 1k difference as well in the fitting for us (magnet more expensive)

id also say watch loads of ig videos and get ideas of what you like and what you don’t and then find a few suppliers that can design different schemas for you

@Gilmoregirly yes I used Diore quartz from Bluestone and saved about £2.5k.

Thank you.

Agree with pp, drawers every time instead of cupboards.
Re handleless, we have Matt graphite units and omg, the fingerprints! 😱I insist people use their knees or sleeves to open!

If you bake raise your cupboards up by an extra 10 cm and you will be able to open your kitchen aid under the cabinets without having to drag it forwards.

Game changer

Must have:
Induction hob
Pyroclean ovens
Tandem larder unit (if space)
Drawers instead of cupboards

Mistakes:
Corner cupboards you can't get access to
Island where there isn't room
Frudge/freezer not large enough

A large sink (so you can get larger things in) rather than the one divided in two

I used quartz from glow stone, from an independent local stone supplier. Was easier to deal with them directly. Very happy with it 3-ish years in.
I don’t have a big kitchen but I have to have a draining sink so I went with a smaller style one-and-a-half butlers type sink.
The stone company cut a draining board in to the quartz and at my request they added a slope and slight angles at the sink-side corners so that any water naturally flows down towards the half sink. I use the dishwasher (situated under the draining area) more than not so it is rarely used but it’s easy to wipe down if I do.

Also my half sink is as deep as the full sink so bigger items can be rinsed easily.

And I have a large single tap that pulls out at the spout so I can spray things easily - really love that

Must have: lots of deep drawers
Hot water tap
Pull out bins

Dark Matt units are a nightmare for fingerprints. I wouldn't change mine as I love the look but just be aware that you'll spend a lot of time buffing the doors.

We've just installed a mixer lift which has our toaster and a couple of other appliances on it with a plug in the cupboard. Means our work surfaces are clear. Bit niche but I love it!

Love my pull-out skinny unit next to cooker for oils and chopping boards. I’ve got secret drawers inside other drawers for herbs and spices, which is brilliant, and more for extra utensils that don’t fit in the cutlery drawer. I have an integrated undercounter fridge and dishwasher and have no issue with the doors - maybe it’s just washing machines that come loose? USB sockets everywhere - your electrician may not expect these so ask up front for them. Pull-out recycling under sink and hidden drawer above it for sponges etc. Go to ikea and get ideas for the insides of cupboards, even if you don’t use ikea for the kitchen - they have a million great ideas you can steal.

We have quartz counters with upstands and the quartz also rises up behind the cooker, instead of tiles. It's so easy to clean - I love it. BUT make sure there is room beneath the plug points. Lots of plugs need a bit of clearance below (a surprising number of kitchen gadgets) and some of my gadgets can't be plugged into those points because the upstand is in the way. Grr. Manageable but also avoidable, so avoid it! We ended up with the sink in the kitchen island, which I didn't really want, but I really love it now! If you have a big sink, get a pull out tap. I love that too!!