Kitchens - What would you do differently

[b33k34]

Do again:

- two full sinks, one of them extra deep. Filling buckets, washing baking trays etc etc so much easier. they're welded into a steel worktop.

- a second "kitchen triangle" for the dishwasher. it needs to be close the eating area and the plate storage NOT to the sink.

- Karndean floor is a good compromise between looks and breakages. Most people mistake ours for stone.

- good quality units with lots of drawers

Wouldn't do again/could do better.

- the steel worktop doesn't have a dripstop edge or built in drainer. Wife still likes it. I think it was a mistake.

- ignore the bins. We didn't design with a bin for recycling.

- we raised everything as much as possible with the units we have but the worktops are still too low for me.

- wouldn't worry about getting solid oak doors for longevity (only to find out that the manufacturer veneered them)

[Huge]

Not that it matters, because the hinges will have rusted away and the doors fallen off, long before the carcasses fail.

:o|

[meow2222]

Yes but thats not a problem, replacement hinges are esy enough. Its when the carcass turns to crap that youve got problems.

Getting badly rusted screws out of chip is a challenge, maybe go for marine grade ss, you'll pat yourself on the back for doing so later. Which implies hinges of the type that will take such screws instead of the usual recessed hinges with fat screws.

Perhaps little plastic flaps over the hinges would keep most of the salt spray off.

NT

[Huge]

Getting the festering remains out of the door/carcass is anything but "not a problem".

[The Natural Philosopher]

Actually, I have repaired many hinge to carcase failures with car body filler.

Extends the life of a kitchen by 5-7 years..

[meow2222]

angle grinder to remove screw heads, knock hinges off. 2mm drill bit, drill close around the screw and lift the whole lump out. Woodfiller.

Thats why I suggest marine grade ss! Screwfix do them.

NT

[Brian Sharrock]

.. tagging onto this thread 'cos I've lost the beginning ....

We're considering a re-vamp of the kitchen during an 'extension' - there'll be an opening in the kitchen wall which currently houses a hob over a dishwasher and washing machine; so major reconfiguration will be required.

We're toying with the idea of a bank of 'cupboard- depth' - one foot in real money - floor-to-ceiling - instead of the cupboard, worktop, cabinet arrangement we've got along one wall today. Many of the items too be stored are more easily reachable off reposition-able shelves in a one-foot deep cupboard than those in the two-foot deep cabinets { 300 mm and 600 mm for the newbie's). Things like scales, mixers, bowls, grills, toasters, deep-fryers, steamers etc. etc. don't need the standard depth of kitchen cabinets.

[tim.....]

My sister will tell you to throw out the stuff that you never use and to buy new when you do need it.

This morning, I used the sink plunger that she put in the dustbin 5 months ago when she helped me move in (and that I took straight back out again when she had gone!)

Women seem to forget that buying replacement stuff has a cost that exceeds the item's actual purchase price.

tim

[Chris J Dixon]

Not only the cost. As in the case above, it is the time it would take to source and obtain the replacement. Especially when the likely need cannot be predicted.

Chris

[b33k34]

I like that idea - the back of deep cupboards can turn into a dead area. I'm impressed with our 'larder unit'. Strong, slide out, soft close shelves. The bottom shelf in both that cupboard nd under the cooker don't like being filled but the upper shelve will happily take being full of tins or jars. Not that you can see what they are when you can only see the tops of course - the herbs and spices now have labelled lids which works but using the other shelves for pans, mixers, scales etc would work well.