New kitchen advice please anyone.

We’ve just put in the kitchen for our new build. It’s in an open plan room but we do have a separate room akin to a utility room.
I wanted no reaching into cupboards and a worktop at our height. So there are lots of drawers and pull out bits. Love the tall pull out larder. Only 30cm wide but holds loads. We have a vaulted ceiling so no wall cupboards. I’m having 2 thick oak shelves made to go along two walls. There’ll be recessed LED lights under the bottom shelf.

No gas where we live so electric AEG built in double oven and AEG induction hob which is really energy efficient. ?. I was recommended AEG or NEF. AEG are just as good as NEF but cheaper. Great warranty. Drop down doors as I like to put trays and dishes on them. Had enough of carrying food over to the worktop to do things before returning it to the oven.

Points to think about: weight the drawers and pull out units will take. Some are very flimsy.

Use a local fitter to tailor it to your needs. Look at trade companies in your area. We saved 1/3 of the cost from the big kitchen companies.

Look at the difference between granite and quartz. Both almost equal each other in durability but quartz is cheaper and easier to cut and repair. Granite can split. We had two awkward pieces made and the fitters were thankful we’d chosen quartz.

Find a company prepared to listen to you. I changed my mind 6 times - possibly more ☺️ Get lots of samples and try them out in your home. Lighting makes a huge difference. I wanted light grey doors. Two choices but one looked green in our kitchen as it has so much natural light coming in.

Best of wishes for you kitty and your new kitchen.

Have you considered Corian worktops? I have them and am delighted. They sweep up the wall , this is particularly useful behind the sink ! So sensible and avoids the division between end of worktop and beginning of the wall . The Corian worktops goes up the wall to meet the tiles - amazing ! So glad I chose it, reasonably heat proof too although I do take great care with saucepans. Does'nt have the high gloss of quartz but that is of no concern to me.

kittylester

Thank you everyone. We have some cupboards and deep drawers currently and I'm aiming to have all drawers.

That would have been my tip. I wanted all drawers but they are very expensive, so we had to swap a couple back to ordinary cupboards. It you have standard size cupboards you can get drawers to fit in later.

And don't put the rubbish bin unit under the sink. It is so annoying when people start fiddling round your knees when you are up to your elbows in suds.

I opted for the Neff double oven with ordinary doors, as there was a 5 month delivery on the slide away door version when we had the kitchen extension done. It’s fine, I have long arms anyway, so cleaning not a problem and the door being there if you take something out and the oven glove hold is not quite right is extremely useful and has saved things being dropped on the floor!

The quooker was a non started for me, the version I looked at took a lot of room underneath and (seemed to me) just another motor to go wrong in due course! Don’t we all love it when a kitchen appliance needs a call out from an engineer! Also concerned that I (or others) would turn it the wrong way and get scalded.

Love my rubbish bins in a floor unit, 2 large bins for recycling and black bin stuff, a decent size one with lid for compost and a small one, useful for bin liners storage.

Love my deep 2 and a half bowl sink. The draining items, usually saucepans, baking trays, can’t be seen at worktop level and don’t slide off the draining board.

Love my Neff extractor hood, the angled one, not enclosed in a unit, over the induction hob. So easy to keep clean and very quiet. When installed, I thought it was too low and I would catch my head on it, but I don’t, the builder was right!

I love my plate rack, all the deep drawers, my island and the granite worktops, polished to a sheen, the vaulted ceiling and the bifolds. It’s now 7 years since installation and can honestly say I still would not change anything about it.

Good luck with all the planning and choosing kitty and then the installation!

Here is the shock horror announcement. Laminate worktops. I wouldn't have anything else. Easy to clean, easy to shape and if you drop something fragile on them they do not break.

Whenever we have had a new kitchen i have toyed with alternative surfaces, usuall hhg maintenance, high cost and them I have returned to laminate and never regretted it.

I have a deep cupboard with a double socket inside, I leave my food processor plugged in and just pull it out to use it.
In my last house I had a butchers block with lockable wheels custom made, it butted straight up to the sink and was great to use in the garden when BBQ ing, it had a knife drawer and 3 racks underneath, I miss it so much.

Think about your own physical limitations and future-proof the kitchen. Appliance doors at waist height or above, swing out shelves etc. - things to avoid you having to bend.

Get a sink where the bottom is rounded - I have the latest rectangular sink and it is the devil's own job to get bits out from the edges, which are at right angles.

I would add most of the above but also an integrated waste disposal. Mine does cooked chicken bones the smaller ones at least amongst a lot of other stuff and it is one of the 5hings I’d rather not be without. The only thing I can’t comment on is the boiling water tap. Everything else is a yes from me, and certainly granite if you can afford it, it’s timeless.

I would advise against a dark surface. We have labradorite while it looks great when polished up it's a pain. If I ever replaced, although I'd sooner move house, I'd have Corian.

It's been so interesting to read this thread. Currently, I've got the builders in, carrying out the work my late husband and I were planning at the time of his death, two and a half years ago. The old, ramshackle conservatory is gone and a new space is being created in its place and incorporating a small outside area of previously wasted space. When this is complete, the connecting wall to the existing inconvenient kitchen will be demolished, creating a huge area which will become kitchen/diner with a small seating area overlooking the garden.

My head is full of ideas and my OneNote pages are full of lists of things to be considered but it's been incredibly helpful to read these posts, many of which endorse decisions I have already made and others which suggest things I hadn't thought of. Particular thanks to the person who suggested Corian for worktops. I had completely overlooked this as a possibility and it could just turn out to be exactly what I want.

This is my first ever completely new kitchen and my first ever building project and, at 70+, probably my last so I need to get it right. Thanks, kittylester for starting the thread. It's given me plenty to think about.

We inherited our kitchen but I love our island. Lots of work space. I am not keen on black kitchen appliances or dark worktops but that is just me. I prefer lighter colours

Double your budget and your builder’s time estimate!

Can anyone please tell me why drawers are better than cupboards? I often hear this but don't know why.

Also, lots of people talk of a boiling water tap but we had a boiler at work which did not boil and tea tasted awful. Are these hot enough for tea to brew? Also, how do the running costs compared with a kettle?

Do people recommend a built in microwave? They seem to be much more expensive than freestanding.

Thank you for any advice.

Double - possibly even treble - the amount of sockets you think you need.

We’ve found having a couple of USB sockets very useful.

Make sure you you have light switches by every entrance - I messed that up a couple of houses ago and it irritated me regularly, even though it was a minor thing really.

M0nica, I so agree with you on laminate worktops. Our kitchen was done in 1997, and they are still as good as new.

I am, sort of, thinking if replacing the cupboard doors, but if necessary, I would go for a very good quality laminate again.

Elusivebutterfly drawers are better because you can easily see, and reach, everything that is in them. There is a lot less bending involved, which may or may not be a good thing healthwise, but is extremely convenient.

We had a Quooker tap in my last workplace, and yes, it was fine for tea.

Many people mentioning boiling water taps. Serious question - does it not waste energy?

Zonne

Elusivebutterfly drawers are better because you can easily see, and reach, everything that is in them. There is a lot less bending involved, which may or may not be a good thing healthwise, but is extremely convenient.

We had a Quooker tap in my last workplace, and yes, it was fine for tea.

The drawers are wide and deep so will take crockery, pans, pots etc.

I have one pull out larder unit, I wish I'd had two. They take a lot of groceries and are so accessible,

It's a while since we did this but things we would repeat (mentioned by others).

1. Twice as many sockets as you think you need, including USB sockets
2. NEFF slide and hide oven

but most importantly

3. Shallow dish cupboard. We had a crockery cupboard built along one wall deliberately one plate deep.

I am surprised that nobody has brought up extraction. The first thing I think about in a property is whether there is (or could be) air extraction directly to outside. (kitchens and bathrooms)
I have seen beautiful kitchens with a recirculating extraction fan reduced to a grease covered nightmare after about 5 years.

Callistemon that too!

Although my stuff would, I think, all fit in cupboards, so for me it’s the ease of access that’s the real benefit. I hate rummaging around for things.

We have a proper extractor fan in the utility room but the cooker hood extractor is hopeless.
I agree, an extractor fan on an outside wall is a good idea.

Zonne

Callistemon that too!

Although my stuff would, I think, all fit in cupboards, so for me it’s the ease of access that’s the real benefit. I hate rummaging around for things.

I forget things that are at the back of cupboards.
Being able to see and know exactly what is there would be good!

Cupboard doors and drawer fronts which are smooth. This was advice from a friend when we were building our house. She has cupboard doors which have fancy wooden bits around them - look nice but a nightmare to dust. We took her advice and have smooth-fronted doors and drawer fronts which just need a wipe when I get round to it.