A lovely friend sent a round robin email asking for everyone's do's and dont's when she was planning her new kitchen and collated them. The result is practical and hilarious in equal measure so i've reproduced it in it's entirety. Hope that's OK with all the (anonymous) contributors.
What annoys you/ pleases you about your kitchen?
Get soft close doors and drawers. The banging will drive you mad.
the fact that i put the microwave ABOVe my washing machine and drier
thinking i would never really want to use it again. now i have to use
a ladder/chair to reach it to the NEVER ENDING hilarity of my father
in law i do realise this is a mistake no one else would EVER make
love my extra wide drawers tho
ALWAYS HAVE DISHWASHER V CLOSE TO SINK! Obvious, I know, but didn’t think about it last time we had a kitchen done and it bothered me greatly.
Other people being in my kitchen annoys me.
Get a sous-vide, all the cool people are
get powerpoints everywhere and make a feature of them so you can move appliances about.
Agas are for losers and old people and are shit
ice machine on fridge
usual view thing from sink and triangle between hob, sink,fridge
get 2 dishwashers so no washing up ever to do.
My recycling has no where to go. It hangs in a bag on my kitchen cupboard and annoys me every day until I get annoyed enough to take it outside.
I also wish I had more cupboard space (but that's a kitchen size issue).
Would have also liked to put my washing machine somewhere else other than the kitchen.
My only gripe in my new kitchen (designed by the last owners) is that the cooker is too far away from the sink which means I have to negotiate small boys practising their football skills as I try and carry a saucepan of boiling water and pasta to the sink to drain....
Cooking triangle. V important.
My wife frequently annoys me in the kitchen if that helps.
my ENORMOUS recommendation is to employ Kate Beard to sort out your lighting. She's an old friend but every one who's used her has said it has been money really really well spent. she's also quite addictive.
Lou R will recommend her too. And Careen.
http://www.katebeardlighting.com/
On Kitchens, controversially we've just got rid of our big fridge and gone built in normal size 180cm fridge freezer. It's dull I know but hass been revalatory, have to shop a little more often but am no longer throwing food away that got lost in the cavernous space.
ha ha!! looking at my kitchen it's hard to know where to begin!
I would like cupboards at head height - bending down all the time is a pain and open shelves just invite clutter
2 ovens at body height (Aga's are lovely but again bending down all the time)
A double sink
a pull out larder cupboard thing for all that crap stuff - like pasta, rice packets, tins, spices etc etc
Deep drawers to put pots and pans in
A wide cutlery draw to accommodate the full range of cutlery from family heirlooom silver through practical everday stuff to the kids Ikea stuff!
NOT a wooden work surface - looks nice for about 5 minutes and then it's a pain - go for a stone one or look in Habitat - they are doing kitchens now and there was one in there with a fabulous glittery orange glass work surface! Maybe a bit over the top??
Enormous fridge
Sofa for magazine and tea breaks
or I could just employ a full-time cook!
Kitchen – only thing... Try to position your dishwasher so that you can empty it without having to trek across your kitchen so ideally plates, knives and forks, glasses & every day stuff etc all live in a cupboard/draw an arms length away.
Smelly Bins, piles of recycling – drives me mad – let me know if someone comes up with a solution.
All I can say is don't cut any corners or skimp on quality. We have an Ikea shell with bespoke sprayed doors, it all now feels very flimsy. Go for two sinks, Aston Mathews make lovely taps!
Nicest work surfaces I've seen are in Kate and Barney's house. We have one of those integrated fridges that looks like a cupboard - waste of time! Go for nice big, wide Miele type number.
Anything too modern feels a bit bleak after a while.
LIGHTING is paramount (I got someone in to teach me, and can easily tell you the basics which is all you need ... I love love love the lighting in my kitchen, hate it in the sitting room) Really important to suss this first as all wiring needs to be put in place v early.
Separate WORKSTATION area ... Tamala's idea in my kitchen and bloody brilliant. Means you can keep the rest of the kitchen work surfaces clear and use this area to charge phones, have letter rack/paperwork, files of kids' school work and all the other chaos on modern life.
OVEN - Gavin hates our 60cm double oven and says it's too small.
Bi-folding French windows that open up whole side wall ... wooden and really heavy, annoying/difficult to close. Don't use them unless it's really hot. Wish I'd gone for frameless sliding glass doors instead. (There is a company that makes beautiful ones if you need can get name ... but minimum order of 7K(!!)
from me: you can't have too much storage or workspace, in case you didn't know that already!
Uninterrupted work surface. Sink big enough to fit oven dish in – if you need to rinse in another sink use a plastic/rubber one and then put it away.
Hello...
food storage cupboards get warm if lights are fixed underneath, halogens are particularly bad. Cupboards above fridges also suffer from same problem
if you’re having an extractor fan hood make sure it’s t shaped not triangular so you can store bottles on top of it.
magnetic knife racks are way better than keeping them in drawers, but you’ll need 2.
drawers are great for saucepans
food storage cupboards good if 2/3 depth
artisans/kenwoods etc need to live at counter height.
glasses and plates can be decorative
storage for books, tea towels, candles, napkins, tea trays, vases, ipod dock...
have you got somewhere to sit with a cup of tea/ glass of pink gin?
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