Kitchen designs - best things in yours

[MeganM3]

In my old house we had a wine fridge. And I loved it. Also all the lower units were drawers, really helpful. In my mum’s house she has a normal dishwasher and then a slim/small dishwasher as well, so that there’s never plates on the side.

I’m about to have a new kitchen and although I’d love lots of fancy things I doubt we’d be able to afford all the higher end bits. But it’s interesting to know what people find really helpful or love in their kitchen. Something that elevates it a little. So if anyone has any tips, things that are really great?

Built in bin drawer. I love it rather than having two Brabantia bins. By losing them I gained room for another tall cupboard and I love the drawer bins are hidden away.

Neff oven with the hide and slide door. Perfect for my postage stamp kitchen.

Pull out mixer tap with spray mode. Wish I had an insinkerator and a cold water tap

This. Also standing height ovens. Wish I had gone for two full ovens though rather than a full and a half

Built-under double oven. We only ever use the top oven and it's so much easier to access than my previous huge built-in double oven. It also means I have more worktop space. As far as I'm concerned the more worktop the better.

Pan drawer.

Built-in bins (double, full-size).

Eye-level oven with built-in microwave (I know the latter will split opinion but I hate them on counter tops - take up too much space). Contrary to previous poster, I would NOT have had a hide and slide oven door as apparently (some/most???) professional oven-cleaning companies won't touch them.

Integrated appliances. Love the cleaner look of them all being hidden away behind doors.

I wish I'd had a shower-nozzle tap - it's hard to swill out the sinks with the one we have. Also, the hot water pressure is rubbish on ours - need to sort that out as it's driving me mad. Considered a boiling-water tap but mixed opinions on those locally as we're in such a hard water area and apparently you should then have a water softener and costs were already escalating massively for us.

Also, if you source your kitchen from Howdens, do NOT buy their in-house appliances (Lamona?). And particularly don't get their under-counter integrated freezer! Fucking drawers keep falling off the fucking runners and jamming solid. Any firm wiggling of them cracks the drawer fronts too.

We redid our kitchen cheaply but what I didn't compromise on was a good ceramic sink. I love it, so easy to keep clean and like so much nicer than stainless steel in my opinion (or composite which can look old v quickly). Also love how easy it is to clean my induction hob. Combi microwave oven as my second oven is also great. It's very big, much bigger than a half oven. It also does fancy stuff like microwaving at the same time as ovening if you need to speed things up.

I like my big corner pan cupboard. Wish I had room for one of those narrow roll out cupboards for small items like spices and condiments. Also, would have liked a double draining board, but no space.

Oh yes, another thing is lighting. We've got 4 switches which I felt was excessive from the builder (he did ask but I said no need, then he did it anyway!). Anyway, yes it's really nice to be able to switch on different lights or combinations.

Also I got a work top which is laminate over ply wood. You can see the plywood on the side. I love how easy it is to clean/ look after the laminate (I have plain cream, you can get all sorts of colours) but it also looks very cool with seeing the grain of the ply on the edge. It was cheap and it's a bit more environmentally friendly as it's mostly wood without the hassle of needing to look after wood.

Drawers, quooker and eye level ovens. Toaster and food processor in cupboard.

Bin drawer and eye level oven!

A warming drawer (honestly, it’s so useful) and a quooker are brilliant.

As others have said too, built in bin drawer and eye level ovens too.

Plinth lights that turn on/off at the main switch at the door.

Oh and fairly basic/routine but if you have your boiler in the kitchen, fgs hide it away in a cupboard (with ventilation, obvs).

Enough plugs for everything , including usb sockets so I don’t have to keep working out what to unplug without shutting the wrong things off 🤣

And usc sockets nowadays too.

quooker tap, spice drawer which is hidden at the top of a large main drawer, integrated phone charger and socket that sort of pops up from our island, wine fridge, built in bookcase for recipe
books. Lots of deep drawers rather than shelves.

Quooker, built in bins and an Aga. Separate prep area screened off from the table.

Quooker tap
built in bin drawer
A venting hob - my fave (no need for an ugly extractor)
large pull out drawer under the hob for pots and pans
built in eye level oven and microwave.
Built in appliances

Watching with interest as embarking on my design now

Quooker
French door fridge freezer
Double sink (we have one very big and one very small)
Built in bin
Induction hob
Oven tower (waist height rather than eye level)
Drawers not cupboards
Built in larder with big food drawers below & cupboard above to hide away appliances and other food
Slim pull out next to the hob for oil salt spices etc
Charging drawer for devices with plugs at the back
Drawers for all the misc stuff that isn’t kitchen kit but lives in the kitchen - hair stuff, keys, stationery, fidget toys, gardening kit etc etc

Wish I had gone for two full ovens though rather than a full and a half

Opposite for me! We barely use the second oven, wish I’d got a combi instead

Built in bin drawers as others have said. Worth the loss of cupboard space to have a clear floor and no bin on show.

Induction hob. Having always had gas I'm super impressed by how quickly it heats up and how responsive it is. Really easy to clean and always looks neat

Bin drawer
Warming drawer
Smart lighting
Bora venting hob
Lots and lots of storage and worktop space

Not mentioned yet, double dishwashers!! Amazing. There’s no unloading arguments in our house