New kitchen: must haves or what to avoid?

dirty_magic

you use a squeegee.. like for windows.. then buff with a dry microfibre cloth.. mine are beautiful I adore them.

That's a good idea, wouldn't have thought of that!

Consider whether you actually need a drainer if you have a dish washer. I stopped having one two kitchens ago and have never missed it.

I'd miss mine I think, we still end up washing our wooden salad bowl and other non dishwasher safe stuff and roasting tins. Our dishwasher doesn't seem to clean anything that has burnt on food.

I don't think wood would be difficult to keep clean. I never put hot pans on my worktops anyway because even with solid tops they advise not to. I think they're lovely when they're new but I know a few people that have them and they start to look a bit rough after a few years of you don't keep up with the maintenance.

They get scratched and dented and don't wear that well. I thought they'd be too much work for my liking, but they do look lovely if you look after them well.

Pooky

Depends how you use your kitchen - I'd never had carousel fittings as stuff falls behind/under and is nigh on impossible to get back out. Unfussy handles are best - dirt and grease gets in everywhere quicker than you think. I will not have integrated appliances so had to plan how to fit stand alone appliances into my scheme. I've heard so many bad things about real wood work surfaces and decided against as I'd be far to paranoid to cook.

We did our kitchen 3 years ago and kept it simple - no faffy lights/taps/worktops - just basic good quality units with a decent work top (mid range diy store stuff is fine for us as we always use chopping boards).

Look at adapting your cupboards to suit you - if you need 4 shelves in one and 2 in another - fit them that way.

missbiggles1

Andypandyboy wrote: »

I would choose an oven where the door slides in when it is open, saves so much space. http://www.neff.co.uk/features-slide-hide.html

I coveted one of those when I saw them on Bake Off.

jungle_jane

OP you asked about wood worktops...we have solid oak and they are a nightmare. They stain very easily (if you put wet tins on them you immediately get black rings forming for example) and they need constant rubbing down and oiling. I hate them. Around the sink they need staining a lot too because the water washes the stain off faster than other areas.

I wouldn't like to sand them by hand - we have a decent fine sander and then they need a couple of coats of wood stain. The wood stain absolutely stinks for a few days too.

I don't think a steel sink looks very nice with wood...white sink is better.

Ours are absolutely beautiful if we keep them immaculate but a huge pain and i'd never get wood again.

dandy-candy

I've just had a new kitchen from IKEA and I got the high cupboard doors with glass fronts. Looked lovely until I started putting all my tatty mugs and cans in them, now I wish I'd had solid doors!

midnightraven3

We also have thick wooden worktops
I wanted them for so long, and we got them
and i HATE them, they were very expensive and not at all practical
they need sanding down at least once a year and then 6 or 7 coats of wax rubbed into them

They look beautiful but very limiting
I need a kitchen to work with me, I would never recommend them

rosie383

Thank you again so much.
Maybe we won't go for wood worktops now. It was solid oak that I wanted but two of you (plus someone else mentioned it to me the other day) are saying you hate them and wish you hadn't got them.
If I can't afford granite, and wood is a pain, is Formica the only option? And can it be tough?

pineapple

rosie383 wrote: »

If I can't afford granite, and wood is a pain, is Formica the only option? And can it be tough?

Yes this is what I was wondering? Are there different grades of laminate?
Because mine looked awful after 2 or 3 years. I didn't use it as a chopping surface or put hot pans on it but it lost it's sheen through everyday wear and tear (if you looked at it under a magnifying glass you would have seen a zillion tiny scratches). I could never find anything that would restore it's original pristine shine.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

dandy-candy wrote: »

I've just had a new kitchen from IKEA and I got the high cupboard doors with glass fronts. Looked lovely until I started putting all my tatty mugs and cans in them, now I wish I'd had solid doors!

Pin a fabric of your choice on the inside of the doors. Nobody sees your manky chipped mugs and you can change the look of the kitchen in under 20 minutes.

Anne_Marie_2

JustThisOnce wrote: »

What a lovely kitchen! I love the boxed in bits at the top (I'm actually a bit scared of the space over my cupboards. We have an 80s kitchen and the people who owned the house before us left it a little bit grimy - I dread to think what the hard-to-reach part looks like...).

I place newspapers/magazines over the top of the cupboards (you can tape them down with masking tape). Just needs changing every so often, as in once in a blue moon when you remember, and saves grime and grease build up, with the hard cleaning which follows.