Kitchen - handleless, or would you rather not?! And would you prefer a stone countertop?

Hello,
Tomorrow morning I have an appointment at our kitchen studio and want to proceed with our kitchen planning. We had chosen a handleless front in a light concrete look.
Now I’m wondering if handleless is such a good idea?! We have a bunch of children and I’m worried that they will never know on which side to open the tall cabinets, and in the end, the whole kitchen will constantly be sticky and dirty.

Who has experience with handleless fronts?

Regarding the countertop: I would like the sink to be installed flush. Is that only possible with a stone countertop? I actually find that too cold and too "loud" when something is placed on it.

The extractor hood should – unlike in the pictures – be one mounted at the ceiling that doesn’t hang down.

I’m attaching some pictures...

On the topic of countertops: I would like the sink to be flush-mounted. Is that only possible with a stone countertop? I actually find those too cold and too "loud" when you put something on them.

Hi, just briefly, since it’s already late. Flush mounting is also possible with wooden countertops. A groove is milled out, the laminate above is left standing, and the sink is glued underneath with epoxy resin. No problem. It basically also works with the stove, but I would think twice about it, because if you accidentally push a hot pot too far, it partly rests on the laminate, which won’t tolerate the heat well.

Hmm .. about the planning.

You basically have no drawers in the work area, every spoon, every kitchen utensil always with 2 handles. And then maybe someone is standing in front of the cooking area and you have to get to the inner drawer right there.

The work area between the cooking surface and the sink is actually the main work surface, which is reduced to a minimum by the draining board in your case.

You are a family of 7, the kitchen won't be the place where you would like to and practically work together as two or three.

I agree with , we have the same in the apartment, there is no problem with the hotplate and sink. And even though we have a 60 cm stove, the pot has never slipped, of course that doesn't mean it can't happen to anyone else :)

I think the handleless option is a good way to quickly wipe over, especially in "dirty" kitchens, instead of wiping around the handle each time, where a lot of dirt also accumulates.

You have children.

So basically it doesn't matter anyway. Whether the handles, fronts, or floor are dirty.

We have a quite forgiving and dirt-resistant surface. And still, you have to wipe something down every two weeks because it’s sticky or there are stains somewhere. Sometimes it’s the handles, sometimes the doors themselves. And sometimes both.

So do whatever looks best to you and fits your budget.

Many thanks for your responses! Now I have a bit more material to think about.

Unfortunately, the studio does not offer wooden panels [emoji27]. I actually would have liked that a lot and wouldn’t have had a problem with having to oil them regularly. But unfortunately, it is not offered [emoji27].

Inner drawers: well, that is certainly an argument. Two handles are more than one and will probably annoy me. I will mention that again right away.

Handleless versus handle: true, with handleless you can quickly wipe over it. Let costs/price decide: which one is more expensive? I have no idea.

Work surface: if you take the sink as an undermount sink without its own draining area, you would be more flexible with the work surface. Additionally, I would prefer a smaller cooktop with flexible plates. I do have large pots, but I only ever cook with 2-3 at the same time plus a Thermomix. I think a normal one would suffice there as well.

Would you change anything about the floor plan? There is still a little room for changes. But not much [emoji23].