What I’d Never Put in My Own Kitchen

Advice from Oran Duke

What’s the first thing you wouldn’t have?

A sink on the island. Too messy. Think about what gathers around a sink during an ordinary day: mugs, dishes waiting to go into the dishwasher, washing-up liquid and a damp cloth. Put the sink in the middle of the room and all of that comes with it.

People often say they want to face their family while washing up. I understand the thinking, but how much time do we actually spend standing at the sink now? For many households, the days of washing dishes for half an hour or an hour are gone.

The dishwasher does most of that work.

I’d keep the sink on the surrounding worktop and give the island a different job.

So would you put a hob on the island instead?

Yes, ideally a venting hob with extraction built into it. If I’m preparing dinner, that’s when I want to face into the room. I can keep an eye on what’s cooking and talk to whoever is sitting at the island without spending the evening with my back to them.

Of course cooking creates mess too. I just prefer using the island for that job, with the washing-up area elsewhere.

The extraction needs to be planned properly, including what happens inside and underneath the cabinetry. That’s something to resolve during the design, before you become attached to a particular appliance.

I’d also have an eye-level oven. Being able to check food and lift a hot dish out at a comfortable height would matter far more to me than another decorative feature.

Is there an appliance you’d rule out?

An American-style side-by-side fridge freezer.

I find them big and clunky. They take up a substantial amount of room, and accommodating them neatly can affect the cabinets around them too.

What disappoints me most is the storage. For something that dominates the kitchen, the usable space can feel surprisingly limited, particularly in the narrow freezer section. I’d always look inside with the things I actually buy in mind. Where would a large frozen pizza go?

What about a batch of meals?

My preference would be a French-door fridge arrangement or a fully integrated fridge and freezer. A French-door model can still be a big appliance, so this isn’t simply about choosing something smaller. I prefer the way the storage is arranged.

Fully integrated appliances appeal to me because they sit quietly behind the cabinetry.

Either way, I’d choose the inside before falling for the outside.

Would you ever choose a breakfast bar over an island?

If there’s genuinely enough space for a proper island, I wouldn’t choose a peninsula.

A peninsula is attached to the rest of the kitchen at one end. Personally, I prefer being able to walk around an island and approach it from either side. It gives me more freedom in how I use the room.

That doesn’t mean squeezing one into a kitchen that cannot comfortably accommodate it. You need room to open doors, pull out stools and move past someone who’s working.

But where both layouts work well, I’d take the island.

Which extras would earn their place in your kitchen?

A boiling-water tap would be high on my list. It’s the sort of convenience I’d use throughout the day, and I like having one less appliance sitting on the worktop.

I’d also want a food-waste disposal unit at the sink, provided it suited the plumbing and wastewater setup. Neither is especially exciting to look at in a finished kitchen photograph. That doesn’t bother me. I’m interested in the little jobs they make easier when you’re actually living there.

Those are the extras I’d consider while setting the budget, so they have a place in the design from the beginning.

What about storage?

Would you keep that simple too?

I’d have a pull-out larder. I like being able to bring the contents towards me and see what’s there without rummaging at the back of a cupboard. I’d pay attention to how the mechanism feels, how the shelves are arranged and whether it suits the groceries I normally keep.

I’d also have a bi-fold appliance garage: a cupboard where the doors fold back to reveal the smaller appliances and work surface inside. I want everyday things easy to reach, but I don’t particularly want to look at all of them when I sit down in the evening.

Being able to close the doors on that area would suit me perfectly. Sockets, access and any ventilation the appliances need have to be thought through.

That’s what I’d want from my own kitchen. Somewhere I can cook comfortably, find what I need and put the everyday clutter away without making a performance of it.

Read the original magazine feature

View the original magazine image ↗

Originally featured in Local Women.