Kitchen

I had a new kitchen fitted just over a year ago

Number one Good Idea: My base units all have big pullout drawers rather than cupboards. They are absolute bliss, no kneeling on the floor trying to get things out of the back of the cupboard. I can see everything that is in them. I have all my Denby stoneware everyday pottery in one drawer and the drawer can take the weight.

Number two Good Idea. A pull out waste unit with multiple waste bins so that I can automatically make sure that everything goes in the right place. Food waste in one, black bin rubbish in another and recycling in the third and I just take them out and empty them into the relevant dustbin as they fill.

I cannot think of anything I regret doing in any way.

A base unit of two metal wire drawers for tins and jars. Ideal as I am small.
Also swing out shelves for pots and pans.
Also no regrets on what I planned.

Have an eye-level oven fitted so you don't have to bend down to lift hot dishes.

A halogen hob is easy to keep clean.

You can't have too many cupboards.

We had a midi height dishwasher installed. Best thing we did. No bending to unload it

I second both of MOnica’s good points. I would also say don’t be seduced by a Qooker type boiling water tap. There was one fitted here when we moved in and we quickly disconnected it. Like burning £10 notes! Better to boil a kettle on the odd occasion that you actually need boiling water rather than have it at boiling point 24/7.

Thank you everyone

Regarding sockets - replace each single with a double. Have under cupboard lighting otherwise you’re chopping/prepping in your own shadow.

We inherited an oil fuelled AGA and a ceramic tiled floor. I would have it taken out if I could, now after using it for quite a few years so I wouldn't be seduced by an AGA unless you are used to them. First we had to have an electric oven fitted for summer, there just seems to be a wall of cookers.Also I have never mastered moving shelves which you have to do . I would have a different floor covering probably wood like the rest of the house.
At first we used the AGA for boiling the kettle but it took an age so now the summer electric one stays all year.
I stuck with the eoriginal layout and wish I had insisted on changes, the sink is too near a door.
I do have a run of deep drawers which I find better than cupboards and swivel out cupboard for pans.I also had wall cupboards fitted which are ideal for cups and mugs etc. A spice rack fitted on the back of a door where I prepare food. A pull out narrow cupboard for bottles.
I would say look at what you like about your original kitchen and consider changes to make your life easier not harder.

Whatever you do, don’t go to Wickes. Their adverts look lovely, and their kitchens are good quality but their after sales services is appalling and the so called 10 year guarantee isn’t worth the paper it’ written on. I had a kitchen from them two years ago and 12 months after installation I had to threaten them with small claims court to get them to admit responsibility for an issue and rectify it. It took six months of phone calls with a frankly incompetent customer services team before it was rectified. You live and learn.

I wish I had read what you have just said Pammiel.
In the house I left I had an independent firm plan with me our kitchen lay out, eye level microwave away from the main cooker, a wok burner on the cooker and work surfaces and sink under natural light.
The kitchen I have now was planned and fitted by WICKES. They did seem very loath to change any plumbing or the layout of the kitchen and one in particular implied I was a fussy woman .I had to really hold out for what I got and they did not seem to have the range of cupboard sizes that other companies have. We were in a hurry and they were the only company who could start when we wanted maybe a sign they are not being used as much as others.

Monica, my kitchen is ancient now, but at the planning stage I told the designer I didn’t want any ordinary base cupboards (except a corner one where there was no alternative then) but pull out drawers instead.

He tried to tell me I’d ‘rue the day’ and was strongly backed up by dh - for which I’ve never quite forgiven him! - but I stuck to my guns and have never ‘rued’ it in the slightest - quite the opposite.

If replacing now, OP, the sole thing I’d change from the current design, would be to have swing-out shelves in the corner unit, same as a dd has in hers - they’re brilliant, but probably standard now.

Other than that, I’ve always loved my pull-out tall larder unit, couldn’t do without one of those.

Have plenty of drawers. Don’t buy pricey accessories you can source elsewhere. We accidentally bought a dishdraining rack - £85!!!

Have wall cupboards fitted up to the ceiling (assuming it’s not fifteen feet high). There’s no space for dust to gather and you can store rarely used items in the top.

MOnica we have the deep drawers instead of cupboards and they are fantastic. You can get so much in them. A great addition to any kitchen.

Just a small point but this irks me no end. Two of my deep drawers look so smart because the design is lovely but items fall through the holes at the sides.

I do not think I would have wooden floors laid because if eg your washing machine or dishwasher has a leak, you would end up replacing the ruined flooring.

£85 for a dish draining rack!!! I keep wishing mine (plastic and over 20 years old) would fall apart because it’s a faff to clean, but at that price it can stay! How exactly can you accidentally spend that??

Really take you time to think about your cooking and washing up process. Do you have enough counter space where you need it? Do you like to look out the window while at the sink, or do you want an island with stools so your family can sit at the counter while you chop? Granted there are only so many changes you can make to an existing space, but a consultant or designer can give you some ideas you hadn't thought of yourself.

I have an extra deep sink and a half, which I love. Large sink where I can get a whole roasting pan in, and a smaller sink for rinsing.

And agree with pull out shelves or extra large drawers for lowers. so much easier to access items.

GSM, it was a part of the sink unit we’d chosen, but we hadn’t realised the drainer was an optional extra, we thought you had to have it. It’s never been used as a dish drainer, Dh uses it as a (rather expensive) filing tray.

WRT deep sinks - they need to be placed at the right height for you, otherwise you can get awful backache from stooping down.

Gosh Sue, what a con! At least it's been repurposed ...

Agree with lots of these.

In terms of layout, make a plan, and put a few copies up - note how you move around your kitchen - where you put stuff down, your most frequent 'journeys' etc. That will help you plan.
Depending on budget, I would also consider:
A steam, or steam / combi oven - I wouldn't be without mine.
Either a warming drawer, or 2 ovens, one of which will heat at a very low (warming) temperature
An induction hob - or another 'easy clean'.
2 sinks, one with a waste disposer.
I have strong hooks above the sink and near the hob to hang various pans & implements.

Good luck!

My pull-out larder is a joy (after a lot of faffing about - see below.) Really easy to see everything you've got and avoid those "back of the cupboard" out of date items and too much of one thing.

Oh and don't, whatever you do, use Wren Kitchens. Absolute nightmare after sales service, and the fitter they supplied nearly came to blows with our lovely tiler and walked out leaving so many unfinished things and issues that the kitchen was virtually unuseable. The pull out larder wasn't fitted correctly and when I first pulled it out (luckily there was nothing in it) it came off its top rails and tilted towards me. If I hadn't caught it it would have fallen sideways on top of me! Our tiler fixed it as Wren didn't come back to us when we complained. And when I went to clean the top pelmets, they weren't screwed in at all and fell off! We did eventually get things put right, but it took months...

When I had a new kitchen I decided not to have any tiles anywhere. I was fed up trying to keep the grouting clean. This is now 10 years ago - perhaps the problem of porous grouting that absorbs stains has been cured by now. We have a glass backing to the hob, extending along a whole wall. So easy to keep clean.

Glass splashback behind the hob. As many drawers as you can fit it. Shallow cupboards on one wall above worktop, I still had useable worktop space in front. Decent height upstands, particularly behind the sink, mine were granite. . No wood worktops, looks nice but eventually gets black marks around the sink

Easy clean induction hob, one with timers. Waist height oven and small oven above, microwave above that

I have had a wate disposal taken out, twice, in two different new builds. Hated them, the large amount of water needed and the space occupied under the sink

My very lovely upmarket galley kitchen was fitted just 3 years before I sold. It cost an arm and leg and was a dream kitchen. I did not know I would be moving. It did sell my house but was wasted money. My new build kitchen now has the standard laminate tops etc but to my pleasant surprise, this laminate is a world away from the old laminate, 30 years ago. I would have it again. I have bought removable appliances for here, all miele and if I move then, this time, they would come with me. Apart from the fitted dishwasher

Planning and safety really is key, depends on your height and age too.

I agree with Charleygirl5 about the floor. Don’t get wood, it’s high maintenance. I did, and I’ve had several issues. The worst was when I dripped oven cleaner on it, which took the varnish off completely. I had narrower depth cupboards fitted in my utility room to maximise the storage space, they used wall cupboards as base units along one wall which means all my less used crockery etc. is out of the way.

Get at least two quotes, which means two designs, our second designer was brilliant with using space. We also used a kitchen fitter recommended by friends, not the one from the kitchen company, no problem with sorting snagging bits and bobs.
Get the best worktops and flooring you can afford, usually the largest area and the heaviest use. Ours kitchen has been in about 15 months now and is an absolute joy.
We did have tile on the walls, not on the floor, but MrJ is a ceramic tiler!