Kitchen Design

[MrsDangermouse]

A couple of the responses on the thread about washing machines made me think about kitchen design, and how rare it is to start with a blank canvas to design your perfect kitchen: most of us buy a house or apartment with an existing kitchen, and usually we make do with it. We might make a few small improvements, but rarely do we have the chance to totally change the layout.

So what things do you particularly like about your current kitchen? And what really annoys you?

I love the size, shape and the aesthetic design of our kitchen, but I'd love to change the layout to accommodate an eye-level built-in double oven. And possibly a fridge with a plumbed-in water and ice dispenser. One of my biggest regrets since buying this house (it was a new build) is that we just accepted the developer's existing kitchen design.....we didn't know that we could have changed the kitchen design if we'd pushed for it.

 

[caseydog]

Since I had my current house built, I got to make some choices, but the overall layout was pretty much set. The only thing I would do differently is to pay the extra money to have a gas line run to the kitchen for a gas cooktop (hob). My plan now is to get an induction cooktop as soon as funding is available. Thanks to Covid-19, that won't be anytime soon.

CD

 

[MrsDangermouse]

Since I had my current house built, I got to make some choices, but the overall layout was pretty much set. The only thing I would do differently is to pay the extra money to have a gas line run to the kitchen for a gas cooktop (hob). My plan now is to get an induction cooktop as soon as funding is available. Thanks to Covid-19, that won't be anytime soon.

CD

Yes that's another thing I'd change too - the hob. We currently have a gas hob, but though I love cooking on gas, I hate the cleaning...gas hobs are just so fiddly to clean.

I really really want induction.....but that requires a new 32A circuit and the consumer unit is at the opposite side of the house. So we either have to run armoured cabling around the outside of the house (about £250 which isn't too bade, but I don't really want to do it for aesthetic reasons) or make lots and lots of holes in the downstairs ceilings to run it along the joists (cost...unknown! mess and disruption......a lot!).

 

[caseydog]

Yes that's another thing I'd change too - the hob. We currently have a gas hob, but though I love cooking on gas, I hate the cleaning...gas hobs are just so fiddly to clean.

I really really want induction.....but that requires a new 32A circuit and the consumer unit is at the opposite side of the house. So we either have to run armoured cabling around the outside of the house (about £250 which isn't too bade, but I don't really want to do it for aesthetic reasons) or make lots and lots of holes in the downstairs ceilings to run it along the joists (cost...unknown! mess and disruption......a lot!).

My kitchen wiring is already up to the task for induction. Running an electrical line (or gas line) around the outside of the house would be illegal here. I could have a gas line run to my kitchen, but it would cost a lot and be very destructive. Induction is the way to go, IMO.

CD

 

[Burt Blank]

I hate the cleaning...gas hobs are just so fiddly to clean.

Check out Gas on Glass hobs, ours has 3 gas rings and one induction. Mrs B dislikes it because it is so easy to clean, she refuses to use the ovens self cleaning program for the same reason

 

[Morning Glory]

Check out Gas on Glass hobs, ours has 3 gas rings and one induction. Mrs B dislikes it because it is so easy to clean, she refuses to use the ovens self cleaning program for the same reason

I was looking at those - but doesn't the glass get smeary all the time? I really need a new hob and have done for a while. I wanted an electric ceramic glass top as it would be easy to clean - but MrsDangermouse (I think) said they get smeary all the time and never look perfect. I also found out that I need an isolator wall switch (which I don't have).

 

[TastyReuben]

You know, you see all these magazines with house design topics, decorating, and I always get irritated, because most folks don't have the massive/expensive homes portrayed in these mags. It's nice to look at the pretty pictures, but there's no way to transfer what I like to my very average, very hum-drum kitchen.

Anyway, there's not a lot I do like about my kitchen. I need more light, as it's always dark (just one small window), and natural light at that. It's always cold as a twitch's witty, if you follow that. I'd like more counter space, a big walk-in pantry, two electric wall ovens, a proper exhaust vent, a gas cooktop, a big prep area, and everything that needs to be co-located (like prep areas close to the cooking area).

 

[Burt Blank]

I was looking at those - but doesn't the glass get smeary all the time? I really need a new hob and have done for a while. I wanted an electric ceramic glass top as it would be easy to clean - but MrsDangermouse (I think) said they get smeary all the time and never look perfect. I also found out that I need an isolator wall switch (which I don't have).

Nope, I took of the little burner gubbins so you can see why Mrs B thinks it's to easy.

 

[Hemulen]

I love sleek Italian/German/American type showcase kitchens with lots of countertop space, ergonomic appliances and light upper cabinets but as TastyReuben pointed out, almost no-one has that much acreage at a normal home. I don't mind appliances showing (being not integrated) as far as they're stylish. At home (in the city apt) our kitchen is small (no pic ) and a little outdated (dates to 2000 when we had a large renovation when moving in). The dishwasher has been renewed but the old ceramic electric stove (works well and is very easy to clean with scouring powder or a scraper, MorningGlory!), fan oven, microwave and large fridge-freezer unit are still in place and working; the fridge compressor blew up at an early stage and had to be renewed but it has been working well since the fix up. Gas stoves are quite rare here although old buildings contain gas plumbing. I tried cooking on gas on a trip to Palermo and loved the experience of controlling the power of heat so fast. Now we use gas only outdoors (BBQ).

We have a rather functional, i-type kitchen (everything on one wall; just a low, shallow L-addition cabinet under the window far at the right, out of the pic) at our "finer" summerplace. It dates to 2005 but I still think it looks rather modern and cool (´u-hum´). Two of the range/stove hobs or cooking spots are induction/inductive, so changing the temperature is as fast as on gas hobs. Here's a pic:

 

[MrsDangermouse]

Check out Gas on Glass hobs, ours has 3 gas rings and one induction. Mrs B dislikes it because it is so easy to clean, she refuses to use the ovens self cleaning program for the same reason

Gas on glass is our fall-back option...easier to clean and nicer looking than our current stainless steel hob, but not as nice as induction In particular a white induction hob to match my white worktops....so its almost invisible. It just depends on whether the cut-out in the worktop is big enough because quartz worktops can't really be cut in place due to the dust (silica dust is very bad for you). We've got to remove the oven this weekend so we can measure up.

 

[MrsDangermouse]

I was looking at those - but doesn't the glass get smeary all the time? I really need a new hob and have done for a while. I wanted an electric ceramic glass top as it would be easy to clean - but MrsDangermouse (I think) said they get smeary all the time and never look perfect. I also found out that I need an isolator wall switch (which I don't have).

I don't think it was me who said about smears on the glass, but its true I don't like ceramic hobs. Because they're slow to change temperature, and because the glass itself gets hot so spillages can burn on to the cooktop (and then be difficult to clean).

 

[MrsDangermouse]

We have a rather functional, i-type kitchen (everything on one wall; just a low, shallow L-addition cabinet under the window far at the right, out of the pic) at our "finer" summerplace. It dates to 2005 but I still think it looks rather modern and cool (´u-hum´). Here's a pic:
View attachment 49884

Very stylish

 

[TastyReuben]

We've had a few ceramic cooktops and they're not as bad to clean as some people say; the key is, you have to stay on top of it. The longer some spill sits there, the more it gets cooked into the top.

Easiest way to clean it is to boil some water in a kettle, then pour out just enough to cover the top, and let it sit until it's cool enough to wipe up. That'll remove nearly all the gunk, and the rest can either be gotten up with a scraper or one of those Magic Eraser things.

 

[Hemulen]

I don't think it was me who said about smears on the glass, but its true I don't like ceramic hobs. Because they're slow to change temperature, and because the glass itself gets hot so spillages can burn on to the cooktop (and then be difficult to clean).

In my experience the glass on a ceramic hob gets hot only right next to the resistor. I find it very easy to scrape the spillage off with a simple scraper (designed for ceramic hobs).

 

[Mountain Cat]

I am cleaning and organizing my kitchen today, so later on I'll have some photos. (I MAY have guests Saturday but it may just be one person, read the Coronavirus thread for why probably not... even though I have planned that all six of us can eat six feet apart without masks.... out in the living room etc... ) It may just be me and one other Massachusetts resident.

At any rate, i did design (with help) and build my own retirement home here, and the majority of my kitchen plans were followed through upon. This is from a log home kit, so I did save a lot of money.

I worked it so that I have: prep workspace looks outdoors. Why would a window over a sink be optimal? Most of us do dishes, especially dinner ones, after dark - especially in winter. My sink faces the dining table. This is not a True dining room, but it is on the other side of the peninsula housing the sink, dishwasher, and trash drawers. This way anyone doing dishes can talk to people at the table. (I really really hated being sent into the kitchen as a teen to do the dishes right around all the guests were getting talking over dessert, and no, I was NOT an obnoxious conversationalist - mother just wanted the dishes done before everyone left. So she could go to bed when they left.) When home alone (way too often this year...) I can look up and out the dining table to the eastern landscape with New England trees. During daylight, if needed.

Lots of under counter drawers. My builder put in less than requested, but what I do have... works well enough for me. I also regret he didn't put in the vertical shelf slots for baking pans and platters and the like. Oh well. I don't use them that often, so they are stacked in one of those lower cabinets.

I have shelves for my cookbooks.

The plumber convinced me to put the pantry where I'd planned to put the laundry - the laundry is now in the guest bathroom. I am glad he did - I have an upright freezer in there.

I never could find a good backsplash that I liked for behind the range - so, it is sheetrock, painted with washable grade paint. I have never lived in a home with tiled backsplash to begin with - you really don't miss what you don't have. The range is Induction. Since the house is heated with propane, I could have gone with that, but I have not been impressed with gas at low temperatures, and after 3 years here, I really DO love the induction. It is bad for using a wok, but I do have a charcoal grill out there.

My microwave is countertop. The drawer things are expensive. And I have enough counter space that my still-working unit is up there - don't see the point in wasting money when I was already wasting, er bleeding out, er, spending money on things that mattered to me more. I live rural. People here are not remotely trying to one-up each other.

A lot of my planning was based around the full fledged loathing of my old kitchen back in Connecticut. Seriously. It was built late 60s by someone who probably went to McD's or bought TV dinners ever night. I worked with what I HATED about that one, and went from there. There'd been no upper cabinets to speak of (okay, ONE), and I am over six feet tall with a bad back. There was no prep surface - I ended up using the range top corners to prepare food on. I got some pointers from a kitchen forum elsewhere on line - and ended up improving on what I already had decided.

My dishwasher is low end. I can always do that by hand. My fridge is mid-range to low - I really (being tall) wanted a bottom freezer. I hate finding dead things down at the bottom of a fridge, and being tall, this made sense to me. My induction range costs a bit more but I wanted induction (and love it).

Being a log kit home, I wanted warm textures and colors. The white in here is Sherwin Williams Canvas White - a warm, canvas color. Black appliances, because at that time I could not stand stainless steel (I have seen enough of this since then that stainless steel would be fine for me - but I still love what I did do).

Photos later. I want breakfast, and I want to do chickens/quail, and since it is up to 50 F plus today, the staining and wood preserving out doors that is most critical - and then I want to do the cleanups / reorganizing I'd be doing anyway.