We had our kitchen done in the Spring and I spent a whole year planning it - I'm happy with everything so definitely worth giving it some thought!
I went for solid surface worktops and they're great - thick, hard-wearing, you get seamless joins and you can polish out any scratches.
Also got slate-effect floor tiles for £7sqm and they're easy to keep clean and look good.
I agree gloss can be very high maintenance but white is fine - I'm not much of a one for cleaning my kitchen cupboards and I have two toddlers but it's not a problem. Coloured gloss shows more fingermarks though, the darker it is, the more it'll show.
I went for lots of wide pan drawers. You can fit tonnes of stuff in and get to everything easily. Also got one large and one small pull-out cupboard and they do fit loads of stuff in. Definitely worth it.
Wall oven is a definite plus with little children around.
I chose an induction hob which is great. So easy to clean and it heats everything up so quickly. Water boils much faster than in my kettle! And safe for the children as it works by creating a circuit with the base of the pan so the ring doesn't get as hot as on a convential hob and it cools quickly - safe for kids. Also, any part of the ring that doesn't touch the pan doesn't heat up. And it has a childlock on the controls.
I'd have had a boiling water tap if I had any budget left but they're not cheap!
Something else I love - I got a tambour unit. one of those roll-down steel things. I don't much like the look of them generally but as our kitchen is white gloss and slate it looks good - and it hides shelving with my tea, coffee, fruit bowl etc on and my kettle and toaster in the bottom. So if you're having a contemporary kitchen, it basically means you can pull the front down over all your bits and bobs and hide them away easily, keeping the 'clean lines' minimalist look without actually being tidy!
Think about where you want your sockets. Where do you want your microwave, kettle, toaster etc. Do you have an electric steamer/food processor etc and where will you use them? Add extra sockets just in case. Again, because we've got a very contemporary kitchen, we've put sockets in out of the way places where you don't notice them. For example, there are no sockets on the end wall where the hob is as that's where your eye is drawn. Instead, there are a couple down each side where you hardly realise they're there. You can get pop-up socket things but again they're quite expensive.
Think about lighting - get it right and it'll make all the difference. It doesn't have to be expensive either if you shop around online. We've got one main central light over the breakfast bar which is a bit of a statement light, spotlights over the actual kitchen bit and lights under the wall cupboards which create a nice soft light and really make it.