kitchen planning... what mistakes did you make

[HerHonesty]

have suddenly realised htat with the builders in in feb i need to get a move on with my kitchen planning... so what mistakes did you make that you can pass on... or even what's the best thing in your kitchen that you are glad you did..

all help most gratefully received

my regret has always been not choosing and ordering the tiles in good time, hence we had to go with cheapo Tiles R Us tiles.

best thing in kitchen are our extra deep worktops so we can clutter them up and still have space for chopping, etc.

what, does everyone have perfect kitchens?

I have to say I don't think there is anything I wish I had done differently with mine - but I did put a lot of thought into it. It's not perfect but it's the best I could do with the space I've got. Wish I could say the same for the other rooms!

If i hadn't run out of money at the end I would have got nicer floor tiles. That's about it really...

really pleased i insisted on a breakfast bar under yhe window, wish i hadn't put small cupboards under it as they are inaccessible. Love the huge fan extractor and glass splashback.

thank you ladies that is more like it.

not our design here and I hate it. You need to maximise every spare inch of storage in cupboards so everything can be put away. Put the sink under the window (it's so boring looking at the wall while you're washing up). Get the boiler boxed in, it looks horrible. Second the deep worktops. Try to figure it out exactly where you want to put your kettle, toaster etc so you can have cupboards near to put teabags, cups, spoons etc.
Sorry hope that was helpful. I think if you go to b & q and some others they will design it for you for free and give you a print out which you could use as a starting point.

I'm in a rented flat, and the kitchen has quite a few design faults imo:

1. the worktops are too low for me - I'm 5'8'' and find myself stooping. If I could design my own kitchen I would raise these a good few inches

2. none of the cupboards have high enough shelves to be able to store a large packet of cereal standing up, so they have to lie down and risk spilling everywhere.

3. There's nowhere obvious to put the bins

But it has one excellent feature:
the draining board is in the cupboard above the sink, so you can shut the door on it and the kitchen looks much tidier.

I hate my kitchen in current house and, if/when we ever have enough money to redo would make sure:

1. that the design of the handles and door is really simple ie no grooves for food bits to become lodged in (takes so much longer to clean when i can be bothered).

1. Pay attention to the bits that you can't see ie under our units now there is unsmoothed walls/tiny holes - perfect for incessant dust and, apparently, for mice and rats to access .

1. Wish we had one of those fancy corner baskets in our large cupboard for pans etc as am forever throwing them around/getting them out and then piling them back in again to look for something.

1. I think I would also pay for a 'proper' kitchen designer who will make the best use of the area you have and who can, perhaps, source cheaper but good quality stuff for you (as long as they are not aligned to a particular brand - easy to spot in their showrooms).

1. Make sure the tap is positioned directly over the plug hole (thank you previous owners ).

We have just had ours done. Think about what electric sockets you need, as we have a big peninsular there are few walls so we ended up having one of those sockets that pops out of the work surface otherwise there wouldn't be enough. Plan where the recycling is going we still end up with a pile on the draining board in the utility room. Best feature larder style cupboard where there are racks on the doors and the racks inside come forward as you open the doors (hard to explain), I prefer this to the unit that pulls out and you access from both sides (this seems less stable).

Second the 'not enough counter space' but it's a battle between storage space and counter space.

We had our unit custom made (not as posh as it sounds) and wish that we had features like spice racks on the inside of shelves.

Our work surfaces are too high for me - I sometimes end up chopping things standing on tip toes. Our builder was 6'3" and measured them to suit him as I wasn't around at the time.

I love that our washing machine and tumble drier are concealed behind opening cupboards - we just got the carcasses and slotted them in, so they're completely concealed, as opposed to integrated.

We have halogen lighting and I would put MORE of that in as during winter the four lights we have aren't always enough. If you're putting in that sort of lighting, make sure one is directly over the sink/worksurfaces, otherwise you can find yourself working in your shadow.

Also see if your builder can get a kitchen at wholesale rates from a builders merchant. We got ours for about a 1/3 off as builder had an account at Magnet. They have a more limited range than in the showroom, but still some great styles. HTH

Sorry, meant to add, we also put our boiler in normal cupboard, like the washing machine, but left the top and bottom of the cupboard off for ventilation, so again it's completely concealed, as opposed to boxed in.

I actually bought some graph paper and got a catalogue of kitchen units and designed the kitchen to scale. I'd had some done at B&Q etc but they weren't really getting what I wanted ie lots of storage, so we did it ourselves and just took it to the shop and asked them to draw up a list of everything we needed to fulfil the plan. By doing that I actually got more storage place than any that had been drawn by computer etc. HTH.

Work out how many sockets you need. Then double it.

Where will you store trays?

Tea towels?

Have under-plinth lighting. Creates a lovely ambience at night or on dull days.

Choose the largest oven you can, preferably a double one, or you're stuffed when trying to get a turkey plus all the trimmings in!

Make sure you are consulted about every detail; assume nothing, and be very clear about what you want. I narrowly averted disaster by intervening when my builder started to go a bit, er, off piste, with his tiling methods. Mixing the boxes, like it said on the box, might have been a start. Nothing a hammer (and a very disgruntled builder) couldn't fix, though!

Use the triangle thing... Sink, fridge, cooker always works for me and you can get a nice rythmn going if you are having to share the space.

I designed our tiny kitchen. I am really really pleased with it, it works perfectly.

Things I love - dishwasher close to sink, plate rack or cupboard over dishwasher. Saves precious moments in the morning.

Pull out cupboards with pull out drawers in them. Ikea styleee. Amazing what fits in those.

Extra tall cupboards. Might need to stand on a chair to reach the top, but a box of party plates isn't used often anyway.

Do what suits you. Joiner sucked his teeth at me wanting the worktop taller than standard, but I'm tall and I don't like backache. So all the floor cupboards are raised and I love it.

We have 2 sockets - one for toaster in morning, one for blender etc when use. Any more would lead to precious worktop space being used for mobile phones etc. Ours is too small for all that stuff.
We use a kettle on the hob because I like the whistle.

The only fault it is longer that the longest plinth and trim, so there are joins in those. It only cost £1500 so can't complain really.

Second the need for manic attention to detail. Be sure to specify and check everything. We have a plate rack with shelves next to it. The shelves don't line up with the plate rack. That will have to be changed. At some point.

I have a tiny kitchen, which was free stnading and had it redone a ew years ago with fitted cuboards

I had 12 socket put in - the builds said it was too many and I wouldn't use them all - I can ganruntee they have plugs in as I type this

fridge
dishwasher
washingmachine
two mobile phones charging
radio
toaster
cooker - although gas needs electric
bread machine
microwave

bar two which I can use for hoover and food processor

never skimp on sockets as you always use more than you think

the builders told me six would be fine in the size kitchen I had

Put dishwasher near sink and make sure there is worktop ober to stack dishes before loading

worktop space both sides of hob

Oh, I didn't count the fridge and so on, as they are all wired into the wall. I can turn off their power but not unplug them as the plugs are under the worktop iyswim. So I guess we have 3 hidden away fro that, and the lights the cupboards have are all wired in too.

I put away all the stuff not in use, there isn't enough worktop to leave out. Guess it depends on how you use your kitchen and how much space you have.

Ours is a kitchen diner, so there are sockets in the dinning half for hoover and radio and other stuff like that.

Phone are charged in bedroom. Seeing the chargers lying about drives me insane wife smiley

I second the whole pull out drawers in cupboard bit, we had it in the last house in the kitchen we put in.

It meant I wasn't reaching over things to get to the back of the cupboard. Just pull out the drawer and effortlessly get what you need. Ikea is fab for this sort of thing.

Try to get a larder cupboard in for those pesky tall cereal boxes etc and you can get lots in it.

We had corner cupboards and had them shelved which means you can fit loads in there but put a light in otherwise you can be fumbling about at the back (see above for drawers where possible)

Bins, recycling, tea towels, cleaning stuff, electrical appliances such as mixers, scales, baking trays, where will it all go?

Try to get a large run of worktop, I have nearly 2 metres here, will miss that when I move, it means I can be in the middle with a child either side when baking/chopping etc

We have a side-by-side fridge and freezer, which does give more counter space, but it's so annoying having a low level fridge - it's awkward getting things out of the bottom shelf, as it's not like a freezer where you can pull the drawers out. Also it's too easy for DD1 (age 2) to open it and get things out.

I have nothing but pull out drawers in my new kitchen and they are brilliant. Much much better than cupboards. And get a whirly thing in your corner cupboards rather than fixed shelving. More expensive but you never lose anything at the back.

Measure things you use a lot - make sure you have the height and the width for stuff. There are some things that are too tall for where I'd ideally like them to go.

My washing machine/dishwasher block the door when I open it which is a bit annoying but I can't magic the kitchen bigger. And I wish I'd had a few more lights put in - you can never have enough IMO

Just had ours done, wish I'd got a corner pull out shelf (have to push my arm around corner, so have put things I don't use often there).

I love - large larder, large sturdy drawers (rather than small units), large dishwasher, under unit lights, lots of sockets, dark floor, large dark silgranite sink, double oven. Having new undamaged units and surfaces is great.

Remember, it's hard to get perfection with anything, but it will be worth it. Just give up caring about dust and mess for awhile!

Yes - ours was done in the summer and is generally great, but...

the space we left for the dual bin and recycling - cant get one to fit the space for under £80!

We got larger wall cupboards - they are nearly to the ceiling and are 450 deep not the usual 300 deep, so have more storage space. We got the shelves at the right height for cereal boxes to go upright!

We got a double oven - which is great, but the top section is a little too high for me = we had a very tall kitchen fitter and I am 5ft 2 and have to use a step stool to use the grill! We have two drawers under it and it would have been better to drop the oven down a bit!

We used a kitchen fitter rather than a builder to fit the kitchen - the attetion to detail is fab!!