New Kitchen - your must-haves

Rain_Shadow

Oakdene wrote: »

Pan drawers & a built in cooker...

I'd have said eye level oven(s) but the OP did say all appliances are free standing

Oakdene

Rain_Shadow wrote: »

I'd have said eye level oven(s) but the OP did say all appliances are free standing

I know but at the same time OP said 'what are your must haves'

Rain_Shadow

Oakdene wrote: »

I know but at the same time OP said 'what are your must haves'

Just saying that for me a built in is no better than a free standing if the oven is still at ground level.:)

Oakdene

Rain_Shadow wrote: »

Just saying that for me a built in is no better than a free standing if the oven is still at ground level.:)

Fair enough, I just don't like the look of free standing cookers... I don't know why I just never have.

Rain_Shadow

Oakdene wrote: »

Fair enough, I just don't like the look of free standing cookers... I don't know why I just never have.

I agree. I haven't had one since 1985, except for ten months in a rental 12 years ago. I hated it.

PasturesNew

I'd not want somebody's idea of an "eye level oven" as I'm only 5' high... you're bringing food out at face height, not good as you can't see down inside a dish.

I dislike built in ovens, fear of them over-heating; you're more reliant on fitters having read the labels and all done the right thing.... too many unknowns in the whole equation. I'll admit they can "look nicer", but they're still scarey

Rain_Shadow wrote: »

Buy a roll of lining paper and lay it on top of wall cupboards. It collects all the dirt and grease and you just replace as often as you can be bothered.

Not everybody's competent enough to do that safely. I'd really struggle to reach and be wobbling about on a ladder trying to get it all down.... not my thing, wobbling about up ladders.

casper_g

Why should I care if the top of a wall-mounted cupboard is filthy? I can't even see it without climbing up on a ladder! In any case, my solution to that in my ultimate kitchen would be to have extra-tall wall units going right up to the ceiling! I know the top shelf is hard to reach, but I always have spare crockery etc that I only need access to once in a blue moon.

My personal must-have would be a second dishwasher, if I had the space. It would avoid having a stack of dirty pots on the worktop while waiting for a load to finish. And avoids the need to empty the dishwasher straight away.

Owain_Moneysaver

For cabinet interiors get a Hafele catalogue and buy them from an ironmongers. Lots cheaper, better range and better quality than buying from the kitchen fitter.

ic

To echo the rest of the comments - all drawers below the worktop (my kitchen has 28!) - saves having to kneel down to get to the back of a cupboard.
Eye-line level double oven. We got an oven plus a microwave oven. We found the microwave oven wasn't great at microwaving, and wound up getting a bog standard microwave on the worktop anyway.
A drawer dedicated to recycling - I have an 80cm wide one that has bins for cans & bottles, paper and food waste.

DiamondLil

JP08 wrote: »

Pan drawers - far better than pots and pans in cupboards - and if you can fit in 1.2m ones then do - the bigger the better.

Our kitchen guy recommended NOT to have a pull out larder. They are heavy when full and not very efficient on space. Have individual pull out baskets if you have a tall thin cupboard. You then don't have to leave a space above your can of beans to be able to get them out - so get up to twice as much in there and no heavy lugging to open it.

Corner unit gizmos. In the showroom give them a DAMN GOOD THRASHING. Whang the thing up and down, side to side, slam it in and out (sorry - all Frankie Howerd for a moment !). If it can't take 60 seconds abuse in the showroom, it won't take a decade in the kitchen. Would recommend this one in terms of robustness - pricey but rock solid and very space effective. LINK Note - just the carousel - don't know anything about the company.

Yes to all of this.


We had our kitchen refitted last summer and it was in the planning stage for about seven months prior to that because I wanted to get it right - lot of money to spend and then realise we got it wrong....

We have drawers in every base cabinet that's not given over to appliances and recycling.
Can't stress enough how much more practical they are.

Our tall, narrow larder unit is fitted with individual pull out drawers/baskets which are so much more practical than the pull out larder unit. I can store much more in them and see at a glance where stuff is.

The wall cabinets are deeper than standard so I can store dinner plates in them if I wish.

Lots of electric sockets, some with combined USB charging ports, and good lighting.
With hindsight, I wish we'd had a couple more under cabinet lights fitted.

I have two ovens; the larger oven at eye level and a smaller, multi-function oven beneath.
They are fitted this way around as the large oven has a slide-in door, and the smaller oven doesn't and I didn't want to be reaching over a hot door to access the higher oven.

Oh, and two full size sinks; or 1.75 at the very least.