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.

Good things (for me, and the way I use our kitchen):
> One massive sink rather than two small ones. If you have the space for two full size sinks, do that instead - but we don't, and I've never regretted getting rid of our 1.5 bowl one
> boiling water tap. I know opinions vary, but I bloody love mine.
> my quartz worktop, which still makes me happy every time I see it, 6 years later
> having proper space for waste and recycling, convenient but out of sight
> Spend time looking at your plan and working out which cupboard will hold what to make sure you have practical space. It feels very anal, but it is worth it - I worked out I didn't have anywhere to store tall things like bottles and cereal packets, before it was too late.

Things I would do differently:
> We have a 30cm pull out larder, and it is fabulous, but I wish it was bigger. DH had one that collapsed not long after it was installed so he was very anti, and 30cm was all I could persuade him to, but I wish I had stuck to my guns.
> Smeg fridge freezer. Looked amazing. Cost an eye-watering £1600. Died after 2 years. We had to threaten legal action to get a partial refund.
> We have a little pull out cupboard next to the sink that was meant to have shelves. I had a last minute wobble and changed it for a tea-towel rail, which I never use. Shelves would have been much better.
> I have 2 separate ovens and a built in microwave. With hindsight, I would have been better with 1 oven and a combi oven-microwave instead. But that is because I don't have much space - otherwise, I'd be really happy with my choice.
> Should have had spotlights put in the ceiling above the sink, I'm always working in shadow at night with the main lights behind me.

I see lots of people have mentioned sockets, but just want to add get at least some of the sockets with USB sockets.

@BigDahliaFan

re your spices…
You can retrofit pullout wire baskets in cupboards, either side or base mounted. Our kitchen had lots of base cupboards, we now have lots of internal ‘drawers.’ 😀

I have a small ish kitchen and I’m honestly struggling to think what I’d do differently if I did it again.

I shopped around for about a Year and went with IKEA in the end. I could have spent more but it was the only company that had the complete flexibility I needed.

I have a 5 foot tall integrated fridge. It’s great. I have a 45cm wide pull out pantry with 6 drawers. It is excellent and I wouldn’t be without it now.

I have an oven and a microwave combo. Again. I love it. Appliance garage with 8 plug sockets is in the corner with a rolling tab out door so I don’t have to look at stuff if I don’t want to.

Dishwasher is 45cm integrated as kitchen is small but we don’t want or need a large one. The bin is a pull out insert from a German company. Was one of the most ££ parts of the kitchen but is excellent with 4 compartments (trash, recycling, food, coffee pods). No lower cupboards, just deep drawers and all the drawers and cupboards light up when I open them. I think this added about £300 to the bill and I love it.

(I have my freezer, washer and dryer in a utility space that isn’t part of the kitchen. I hate the noise of a washer in the kitchen).

I think the only thing I’d change is pyrolytic oven instead of steam.

All my plug sockets have ISB and USBc ports as well. V useful. Also, my kitchen itself is v plain but the worktop is a properly bonkers Formica. I think I put a pic on the ‘black kitchen’ thread. Oh I also set the worktops higher than usual as my husband is tall. And the wall units go up to the ceiling. No horrible gap - why do British kitchens have this?!

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjkjKLiz52KAxWXh2gJHSBiCIcYABACGgJ3Zg&co=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5Iyi4s-digMVl4doCR0gYgiHEAQYASABEgLmXPD_BwE&sig=AOD64_0xxgtnbo-UlJ7VVTta8KYoHsMRAA&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwiL-Jviz52KAxXCX0EAHY04F4AQwg8oAHoECAoQDA&adurl=

we have one of these and it’s very well used. It just pops down when it’s not being used.

Renovated our house last year, new remodelled kitchen. Agree with others drawers for storage are great. Larders drawers as well so handy. If you have room do use a base cupboard for bin and recycling bin, love mine. Also we have a five ring hob with wide narrow drawer below for utensils. Hides them away nicely. Separate drawer for cutlery, old kitchen everything was in this drawer.
Love our kitchen and nothing I would change.

I am thinking between double oven at eye level vs a single oven under counter. As mentioned above I am worried about taking hot things out of the oven at eye level. I also have an air fryer so I am thinking except for a Christmas meal I might not need double ovens.

Big no to wooden worktops - especially around a sink as the wood will go black.
Space either side of the sink for dumping dishes.
If you must have an island - keep it clear - no hob or sink - it will always look untidy. A large extendable bomb proof pine kitchen table is better than an island in my experience.
A coffee or hot drink nook is a wonderful luxury - with an under counter fridge for milk etc. If you have it on the opposite side of your work “triangle” - anyone can make a drink without disturbing the cook.

I came on this thread purely to say THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU WILL PUT YOUR TEA TOWEL.

Even if you have a dishwasher, you will still want to dry bits, and dry your hands.

My builder thought I'd lost the plot when I wanted a gap between the sink unit and the next one (with side panels so it all looks nice). Having a pull out hanging rail for the tea towel and hand towel is a must-have for me.

My friend just spend thousands on a beautiful, and huge, kitchen and has nowhere sensible to put a tea towel. There is no end to hang it on (long run of continuous units), and the range cooker is miles from the sink (to hang it over the oven door handle). Madness!

Wooden worktops are actually fine if you maintain them. Wipe around after use with a dry e cloth to remove excess water and oil with osmo top oil every couple of years or so.

I hate appliances on show, so many kitchens are ruined by an ugly white dishwasher, I much prefer integrated.

There are only two of us now so we don’t use the big oven. We now have a Hotpoint double under counter oven which has one small oven which is a brilliant grill, and a larger oven, big enough for a Fifteen inch casserole dish or two baking trays. I also have a Panasonic combi on the counter above ( that’s the fourth in forty years!) which is used all the time for supper type dishes.

Grilling is much underrated IMHO

Def do the double oven at eye level, top oven a grill as well. Had a single below counter before but wouldnt go back to that, love not having to bend over and when grilling the eye level is prefect

We are not planning to have anything on the island. Also we have a separate dining room. Will definitely put sockets on the island. I added a pull out larder unit to keep the oils etc.

Not our mistake, but we inherited an integrated fridge and freezer with our current house. Both hinges have gone on both doors, meaning we've lost everything in them on all four occasions as door wouldn't shut. Also, freezer regularly slips back, so door doesn't shut tight and needs to be pulled forward. We had a leak in our old house, and it was so easy to pull the machine forward to check what was going on, whereas if it'd been integrated it wouldn't have been so easy.

For the above reasons, we'll be affording integrated appliances when we have ours done next year.

Understand where you're coming from re oven. Is there absolutely no option for a double oven (other than freestanding of course!) under counter level?

I cook a decent sized turkey for myself and 3 teens with all the trimmings in my single below counter oven. It hasn’t been any issue. But I know I wouldn’t like a higher oven (having used one at a relatives house). But the eye level height works really well for some people. Can you try it out somewhere? A relative or friends house?

I'm looking at my oven now and it's not actually eye level, the handle at the top is more like my chest level (bottom about level with the counter top). So I'm not having to reach up to open it, and it's easy to get things out, but I can still easily see things cooking and I don't have to bend down and get a faceful of steam.

Thank you I am going back to a double oven (more like 1.5 oven) at chest level. Thank you so much for such valuable suggestions, I made so many changes to my plan using the advice like adding a pull-out larder unit next to the cooking and prep area, having a spotlight on top the sink, actually think about what goes to which cupboard.

A spice drawer. I use lots of spices and have a thin drawer (may be a couple of inches deep) and the spices lie flat in it so I can see them all at a glance.

I looked into having Dekton worktops in my kitchen a few years ago.
I went to the Ideal Home Show and saw samples. Their samples were chipped!

A local kitchen showroom had Dekton worktops on show. Looked great until I got closer and there was a big repair at a weak point.
It was explained to me that although it is super hard it's hard like diamonds. It can chip if you catch it at the wrong point. For example if something heavy falls out of a high cupboard onto the Dekton worktops it might crack it. They had knocked it with a heavy item during a delivery. The repair wasn't pretty.

It seems not to be a suitable material for worktops.

Suggest you Google "Dekton worktops, problems" and see what comes up.

Probably OK to use on dining table though.

Agree. Very useful for washing freezer drawers and large baking trays.

I wouldn't have USB sockets as a lot of phones don't use them now, I had a USB plug thing in the caravan and I had to replace it. You would have to get an adapter else

I love my boiling water tap and my full size freestanding fridge and full size freezer combo. I also love my two narrow pull out spice/oil racks either side of the cooker. I have a mix of quartz worktop and wooden worktop on the (clear) island, which I really love and think works well. The quartz is practical around sink etc, but the wood at the island is really lovely and warm to sit at. We've had the kitchen 2 years and the wood looks good as new and we don't do excessive maintenance.

The only thing I regret is that I put the integrated dishwasher next to the wall, and so the wall ends up getting splattered if we open the door mid cycle and sometimes when we're loading it up. I'm always having to wipe that wall down - if I was to have my time again I'd swap it to the other side of the sink not next to a wall.

Gosh you know I never thought of that re the dishwasher! What a good point. We are about to put a dishwasher next to a wall so I'll bear that in mind. I have found a fancy one with a lower basket that rises up to make loading/unloading easier.

Having read most of the comments on here I'd say plan your kitchen how it will work for you. Several things other people have said no to on here work well for us. If for example you're likely to have 2 of you prepping/cooking at the same time, make sure you have enough counter space so you aren't getting in each other's way.

Personally I hate freestanding appliances in the middle of a run, especially if someone has coloured units and a white washing machine for example. A fridge freezer at the end of a run isn't so bad, but I think for things like dishwashers integrated looks much nicer and cleaner. They are usually more expensive and there's less choice, but we did our research and have been happy with our options e.g. fridge/freezer has 10 year guarantee on the compressor.

Lots of people said to have more drawers than cupboards under the worktops. We have mainly cupboards and it's fine. I don't see the difference in bending to get something out of the bottom drawer versus bending to get something off the bottom shelf.

When planning our new kitchen we compared the old and new cupboards/ drawers to make sure everything had an equivalent or better home. Really think about how you use your current space, what things niggle and work out how to improve them in your new design.

Oh just to add, get rid of all the crap! I have plates and tureens and platters I ONLY use at Christmas...silly but these things just accumulate. Several are in corner cupboards you need knee pads and a head torch to investigate. My new kitchen has been designed with no corner cupboards whatsoever.