Property expert Phil Spencer has warned homeowners against fashionable kitchen features that could leave them with regrets, singling out grey colour schemes and oversized kitchen islands as choices that may not stand the test of time.
The Location, Location, Location presenter, who has spent decades fronting Channel 4 property shows alongside co-star Kirstie Allsopp, spoke to the Daily Mail about home renovations, focusing in particular on kitchens. He said kitchen renovations are meant to last "for a long time" and urged people to think carefully before committing to a look.
Why colour choice matters most
Spencer said colour is one of the biggest decisions in a kitchen renovation because tastes shift over time, much like fashion. "Colour is a really big decision because if you're redoing your kitchen, you want it to last for 10 or 15 years, and tastes change. It's the same as the length of skirts, trousers or hair, where things move on," he said.
He added that homeowners should try to make their kitchen as up to date as possible while also thinking ahead to how they might feel about that colour years down the line.
Spencer, who is also a Wickes ambassador, said grey kitchens have become overly common. "I see an awful lot of grey kitchens now, too many," he said. "I think grey and beige are on the way out, but I'm seeing much more warmth coming through now, with greens, olives and natural tones becoming popular."
The problem with oversized islands
Having visited hundreds of homes during his television career, Spencer said many homeowners chase the same must-have features without checking whether their space actually suits them. "Everybody wants an island. When we meet people on Location, Location, Location, everybody wants bifold doors, and everybody wants an island," he said.
But he cautioned that islands are frequently too large for the room they sit in. "An island should work with the room, not dominate it," he said. "Think about how you actually use your kitchen, how much space you need to move around it and whether you're gaining useful storage and worktop space, rather than just having the biggest island you can fit in."
Hidden extractor fans win him over
Spencer also pointed to changes in extractor fan design, noting that many are now built into the hob itself or otherwise concealed, a shift he welcomes. "What's uglier than an extractor fan? I think sleek and clever is good," he said.
He said he recently fitted an extractor built into the hob in his own kitchen for the first time. "I thought it would never work, but it worked brilliantly," he said. "I'm a big fan of keeping things sleek and streamlined where you can. You don't necessarily want the extractor to be the first thing you notice when you walk into a kitchen."
Biggest design flaws from Love It or List It
Spencer's comments follow earlier remarks to the Daily Mail in which he detailed the biggest design flaws he has come across while presenting Channel 4 shows including Location, Location, Location and Love It or List It.
He said badly laid out houses are a recurring problem on Love It or List It. "We're going to a house that doesn't work for some reason, and the family can't decide what to do about it. And so we do see a lot of houses that are just badly laid out," he said. "Particular things that are noticeable, that stick in my mind, are when toilets are off kitchens. How does that happen so often?"
Other flaws he named include long corridors that create wasted space, and layouts with doors in the wrong place, doors that hang the wrong way, or doors that open onto themselves.
Open-plan living falls out of favour
Spencer said he has also noticed homeowners rethinking open-plan layouts, which had previously been popular as a way of adapting Victorian buildings to modern lifestyles. "Open plan was such a popular thing pre-Covid. But it's gone slightly the other way now, with more people working from home realising that being completely open plan can have its disadvantages," he said.
He explained that combining a kitchen with a living space can become impractical for people working from home once children return from school. "If somebody's opened up their kitchen through to their living room, and they're now working from home, and the kids come home from school, that's a disaster!" he said. "So we are seeing some people closing space back up."
