Integrated kitchen appliances

[PineappleB]

We are making an extension and will be putting a new kitchen in. Thinking if it’s a good idea to put an integrated microwave. Any one have this can share experience. Any other appliances worth making an integrated one? Any tips for the overall kitchen design?

We got a warming drawer to balance out our microwave and oven layout. At the time I thought what a waste of money to balance it and I’ll never use it - literally use it multiple times a week and it’s turned out to be really useful

I have an integrated microwave and it looks so much better than taking up space on the work surface.

The integrated fridges and freezers were much smaller capacity than free standing so no use to me.

Integrated microwave & dishwasher yes but i despise my integrated fridge freezer. That was a big mistake. I miss my huge American style side by side.
We have integrated pull out bins which are brilliant and I love our hob with built in down draft extractor.

Boiling water tap.

I would only get an integrated dishwasher as there's a big choice.

If you get an integrated microwave then you will be limited with replacements.

We previously had an integrated microwave and I preferred it. We can’t do that in the current kitchen and we don’t use the microwave often, so it’s been relegated to the utility room.

Yes to an integrated dishwasher. We have a double oven and warming drawer. Used almost daily. We have an integrated fridge freezer, but the fridge part is bigger than the freezer, which isn’t a problem, because we have another free standing freezer in the garage.

I have a tiny kitchen so paying the extra to integrate the microwave and have the extra work surface was worth it, plus it looks a lot nicer and no crumbs getting caught up underneath!

Our washing machine and fridgefreezer are free standing, no regrets about that either but if we had a larger kitchen i would have intergrated them purely for a neater look. Having free standing FF meant we could have a larger model.

We've got a combi microwave. Useful.

Is it unusual to have single oven + integrated microwave rather than double oven
I can’t recall the last time I used both oven at the same time

Sorry, what’s combi microwave?

I have an integrated combi microwave. Basically a microwave that can double as a small oven. I have a separate full size oven (well two, actually) as well. And a steam oven. Which I wouldn't bother with in my next kitchen.

Having had no integrated appliances in our old kitchen, we now have integrated microwave, ovens, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer plus a warming drawer. So much better than before and all are used a lot.
Would also highly recommend a bin drawer - again so much better than freestanding bins.

We've recently renovated what had been a derelict property, so we'd never lived there before. We have an integrated microwave, dishwasher and fridge/freezer. So far, I love them due to the smooth lines. I have read though that for the fridge/freezer in particular, when they fail, it can be difficult to get a replacement with the exact same measurements to fit the current doors.

Our microwave slot was shallow, so we had a very limited choice of microwaves that would fit. WHEN it dies, if we can't find another integrated one, I'd just put a free standing one in the slot.

I don't know what brands you are considering, but we went with Miele. They have a factory outlet the list is updated daily. Especially for integrated appliances, if there is a tiny mark on the side or a tear in the box- it makes no difference at all. Our fridge/freezer, dishwasher and exhaust fan were from the 2nds list and were perfect.
https://application.miele.co.uk/resources/pdf/MieleOutletPricelist.pdf

When we lived in America we had an integrated combi-microwave. It even had an excellent grill function.

I would be happy with that again, plus a warming drawer.

All appliances intergraded looks much neater.

Sorry, I meant a double thing where one of the ovens was an integrated combi thing.

It had been installed by the previous owners and was a rather upscale brand not available in the UK to my knowledge.

I found the integrated microwaves were SO expensive compared to a normal one. About £600 for something which would be about £150 otherwise.

We redid the kitchen and left space in a unit for the microwave and then just stuck the old one in there. The plan was at some point to get a new integrated one but TBH I doubt we'll bother now!

I put a Samsung combi in the place of the second oven and it was absolutely the right thing to do. It also has grill, steam and air fryer functions (although I hadn’t noticed the air function until it arrived). It was more expensive than a tabletop version but it made much more sense than a separate single function oven.

I’m not huge on integrated appliances - usually they have less capacity and restricted choice and I love my stupidly big American fridge more than I ever imagined. I also preferred a freestanding dishwasher (much more capacity). However for the microwave/second oven it was the perfect choice of appliance and has the same capacity as a large table top microwave.

This is what we have. Aesthetically, everyone mistakes it for a double oven. But we chose this because we wouldn’t have used a double oven and we didn’t want a microwave cluttering the counter. I think we would not had have one if it were not integrated.

We also have integrated dishwasher and fridge freezer. My only regret is the freezer is quite small.

General kitchen design tip: long drawers seem to be all the rage. We got a set of three wide drawers because it seemed a standard component of modern kitchen design. I had no feeling other than we needed a pot and cutlery drawer. I regret the width of the drawers because when we’re serving up dinner or emptying the dishwasher someone is inevitably standing in front of the drawer because it’s so wide! I would instead have got two regular width sets of drawers if I were to redesign.

I have a large integrated fridge. You can get them.

@PineappleB it's a small oven that can also microwave. So it's multi functional. It's pretty versatile and useful.

For me it was a nightmare. I wouldn't have another one.

I wouldn't bother with an integrated microwave either (or fridge/freezer either)

For general kitchen ideas/tips, I already added some things to this thread which might help:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5439325-new-kitchen-design?reply=148342140

we had our kitchen done last year & I have a built in double - I definitely regret this as it's tiny

I have a single oven with an integrated combi microwave above it. I have never used it as anything other than a microwave in the 8 years I’ve had it!
Just be careful with an integrated dishwasher - which I also have. The heat from it has caused some of the door wrap on the cupboard next to it to become unstuck at the bottom. Apparently it’s quite common.