Meet the man who's seen it all

Phil Spencer has spent over two decades walking through other people's houses for Channel 4, alongside Kirstie Allsopp. He's now a Wickes ambassador, and he has opinions.

Kitchen regret is real

He sat down with the Daily Mail to talk renovations, and kept coming back to the fancy features people install and quietly resent later.

“the features that may leave you with 'kitchen regret'”

Build for 15 years, not 15 months

Kitchen renovations are meant to last a long time. Spencer says that single fact should sit behind every decision you make about the space.

Colour is the big one

Of all the choices, colour is the one he flags hardest. Tastes shift, and you are locking yours in for a decade or more.

“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.”

Like the length of skirts

He compares kitchen fashion to hemlines, trousers and hair. Things simply move on, whether or not your cabinets do.

“It's the same as the length of skirts, trousers or hair, where things move on.”

Current, but future proof

The balance he asks for: get it as up to date as you can, while picturing how you'll feel about that shade in years to come.

“you also need to think about how you're going to feel about that colour in years to come”

Too many grey kitchens

Spencer says he is seeing an awful lot of grey right now. His verdict is blunt. There are too many of them.

“I see an awful lot of grey kitchens now, too many.”

Grey and beige are fading

He reads both as on the way out. If you are choosing today, you'd be picking up a trend on its way down.

Warmth is coming through

What's replacing it: greens, olives and natural tones. Warmer palettes are what he's seeing gain ground.

“I'm seeing much more warmth coming through now, with greens, olives and natural tones becoming popular.”

Everybody wants an island

After hundreds of home visits, he knows the script. Buyers ask for bifold doors and a kitchen island almost every time.

“When we meet people on Location, Location, Location, everybody wants bifold doors, and everybody wants an island.”

Most islands are too big

The problem isn't wanting one, it's sizing it. He keeps seeing islands that swallow the room they sit in.

“An island should work with the room, not dominate it.”

Ask what the island earns

His test: how do you actually use the kitchen, how much room do you need to move, and is the island giving you real storage and worktop?

“rather than just having the biggest island you can fit in”

Hide the extractor

Extractor fans have changed shape, often built into the hob or tucked away. Spencer is firmly in favour.

“What's uglier than an extractor fan? I think sleek and clever is good.”

He tried it himself

In his own recent kitchen he used a hob with the extraction built in. He expected it to fail and it didn't.

“I thought it would never work, but it worked brilliantly.”

Nothing should shout

The principle behind it is simple. The first thing you notice walking into a kitchen shouldn't be the ventilation.

“I'm a big fan of keeping things sleek and streamlined where you can.”

Toilets off the kitchen

Beyond kitchens, his Love It Or List It years turned up layouts that just don't work. One flaw sticks with him above the rest.

“Particular things that are noticeable, that stick in my mind, are when toilets are off kitchens. How does that happen so often?”

Corridors and bad doors

He also points to long corridors that waste space, doors placed wrongly, doors hung the wrong way, and doors that open onto themselves.

“doors in the wrong place or doors that hang the wrong way”

Open plan is retreating

The old instinct to knock through Victorian houses for modern life has cooled. He's watching the trend reverse.

“Open plan was such a popular thing pre-Covid. But it's gone slightly the other way now.”

Working from home broke it

Open the kitchen into the living room, then work from home while the kids get back from school. Spencer's word for that is disaster.

“that's a disaster! So we are seeing some people closing space back up”

Choose for your life, not the catalogue

Every point lands in the same place. Colour, island, extractor, layout: pick what suits how you live in the room, because you're living with it for a decade.