Need a fresh look at a kitchen design

5 years ago

I'm renovating my two bedroom, terrace house and would like a fresh look at the kitchen design. I've got a screen grab below with an idea of what I would like to do but fear that I'm stuck on my first idea and can't see better alternatives. Colours are not what i want, but Ikea do not offer much of a range. I'm thinking more in line with this scheme:

Some important things to note:

The incoming water main sits below the sink (this is the main reason for the peninsula)
The box on the left next to item 9 is a column roughly 300mm [1'] deep (coming away from the wall) by 400mm [1' 4"] wide which contains a boxed in waste pipe from the bathroom upstairs and hot and cold water pipes.
The doors on wall A are to storage under the stairs (left) and the lounge (right), the door on the bottom wall is a set of french doors to the garden
Beneath the letters B and C is a single storey extension so I am reluctant to have the extractor fan (and therefore hob) above this as it will be difficult to get the duct to an external wall
Difficult to see but item 6 is a tall unit with built in oven and microwave, there is a fridge beneath items 17 and 18. Item 15 is a washing machine, and 12 (peninsula bottom right) is the dishwasher. 7 is a set of drawers, and there are drawers under the hob, but everything else is storage of some sort.
The draining board of the sink will be on the left hand side - I couldn't get the Ikea planner to spin it round.

One of main main worries is "flow". I am concerned that the gap between the peninsula and cabinets to the right is too narrow (currently 1200mm [4']) with the fridge there but I cannot think of anywhere else to move it to without causing a new problem.

The house is essentially a building site at the moment so feel free to offer radical ideas!

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PRO

User

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Still having trouble with Houzz today, it just doesn't want to upload anything.

I do like your design and it's clearly been quite well thought through. I agree with everything you say and also share concern over the position of the Fridge.

Is this your only dining area? If so, the table and chairs pictured only covers around 1400cm square which is really tiny. In reality a table and chairs would take up 1850 -2250mm in length and around 1500mm side to side including pulling out your chairs.

I wonder if a concept planner would work for you to improve the flow, and, have you considered this type of layout? I think the flow is a lot better and it gives you a separate dining area.

Comments (18)

Jonathan
5 years ago
Personally I don’t think the space is big enough to cut in half with a peninsula. I would have an island and put the table on the end of the island
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thanks for posting the photos. First, I feel like there is a mix of styles in the design that aren't really complementing each other. The waterfall walnut frame around the frig and wall oven areas is VERY modern. But the rounded front cooktop/bar, the divided light glass front cabinet doors, and molding on the upper cabinets are very traditional -- maybe even a bit 'cottage'. The looks are fighting each other IMHO. Also, I would reconsider the placement of the wall ovens -- they seem very crowded back in that corner. And the range hood going to the ceiling but the cabinets stopping short looks odd to me. Maybe a different hood with a narrower chimney would look better. And, is that the dishwasher on the island? --- Yikes -- I would want that right next to the sink (otherwise you'll be dripping water all over the floor everytime you load it)
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Lovely, much better than the 3D plan. V glad you kept your patterned floor tiles, I really like them. It's all come together very attractively. The only thing I'd change and this is just because I'm a colour freak is the pendants - I'd probably have made those red and orange or something. But congrats really, it looks great.
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I love the tall units but you need to go straight to the ceiling to prevent dust and dirt settling on the top. I would put a row of small up and over cupboards along the very top as an option. Very handy for unsightly bulky items. I don't like the end open shelves by sink very dated but what you could do is a long double shelf all the way along the island with a wine racking either side for balance vertically. I think shelving each side of the sink would be better. You have a lot of cupboards but no deep drawers which are highly valued these days. Good selling point. I Like your colour suggestions... The little Greene paint company have a lovely grey so does farrow and ball. Where are you sourcing your Quartz and what flooring? Do your ovens have easy open shelf doors ..handy as they retract so don't get in the way as you take food out..Neff offer best ones. If you want a better balance of tall you could always do fridge freezer one side and pull out pantry on the other with racking. Then on sink side don't go all the way along the wall just have it as centred space so you can pull out larder doors. On your island you will need your bin as this'll be prep area? What is the room opposite tall cupboards? Need the island to look good from that side as that is what you will see. Hope of help. I'm embarking on the same thing and have spent hours and hours researching!
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PRO
User
5 years ago
Love it Jonathan! Very similar to the kitchen that George did on Ugly House to Lovely House this week.
User
Original Author
5 years ago
Not sure how to reply to comments so hopefully this pops up...

Man about the house - yes, it is the only dining area. Measuring it in person gives around 3.5m from the cabinet faces on the left-hand wall to the opposing wall, and 2.8ish from the back wall to the cabinets. I plan to buy an extending table which I can pull away from the wall so should be able to seat a few more than the 4 shown...

Jonathan - really like your idea but my drainage is all on the left-hand wall. I think i'll have a look at mirroring what you've shown and possibly digging the floor up to run a new drain pipe back to the stack...
minipie
5 years ago
Is it possible to move the door into the kitchen to the top right hand corner rather than the top left? That might open up some options especially if all your drainage is on the left.

The trouble is that you are trying to keep the kitchen area in the extension (due to extractor) but also have your table in the extension. Also you want to keep most of the units on the left (due to drainage) but that is also where the door is. So you end up with some very over used areas and some very underused areas. Ideally something needs to move, either the table goes at the back of the room, or the door moves to the right, or the drainage moves to the right. Door is easiest win but obviously depends on the rest of your layout.
PRO
User
5 years ago
You wouldn't need to mirror Jonathan's plan, the sink is in the island that the water can go down through the floor to the stack on the left. It's done that way around to give you better entry in to the room and more cabinet space away from the doors.
PRO
User
5 years ago
I disagree that there isn't enough room for a peninsula style as I did. The main kitchen was 3m by 4.35m, which left a depth of 2.3m for your dining room table, ample room. I think it gives the impression of a kitchen / dining room instead of just a kitchen with an eating space, if you know what i mean.
Jonathan
5 years ago
For me 65cm space to pull back chairs is insufficient and I think you need a minimum of 90cm to navigate around a table- since most tables are 1m deep you need a 2.8m space in my opinion.
I think it would be a shame to extend and not feel like you have gained a better kitchen than you started with.
rinked
5 years ago
I don't think a peninsula will do your space justice either.. And though I really like Jonathan's island, I'd prefer a large table. So this is what I did to your space:

The fridge and freezer are built-in. Fridge in short range because of work triangle. Freezer on the other side looking good with ovens and twin storage cabinet.

Enlarged the storage under the stairs, but just for fun :)

Are you installing the kitchen yourself? Because if not, the total price can be just as high as a quality kitchen (I know because I sell Rotpunkt and have a diy ikea kitchen at home).

Get your countertop from a company that makes the sink built-in smooth (is there a word for that in english?), so you don't require a draining board. Or did you really want one?
PRO
User
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Wondering, as you don't need the cupboard in the kitchen ( top left ), whether you could access it from the Hallway instead and get the corner back, it would look a lot better.

If that were possible then you do have the space with plenty of walk through for kitchen either side of an island and the dining area at the bottom as a proper dining space.

Just a thought.
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User
Original Author
5 years ago
I like this one MATH but I've not got a hallway, it's straight into the living room and there's not space to have the door coming off under the stairs there.

Plus the extractor would be on the "inside" vs. putting it the other side of the column
PRO
User
5 years ago
Maybe you could have a cupboard at the end of the run, so that you can still walk in to it from the ktichen? Have a re-circulating extractor?
User
Original Author
5 years ago
Yep, I'm on your wavelength. I'm going to draw something up on sketchup tonight and see if it can work.
rinked
5 years ago
Note: with a recirculating hood, you'd need another ventilation system to refresh the moist air coming out of the recirculator. These only take out grease and dust from your cooking fumes, moisture is simply blown into the room again.
User
Original Author
5 years ago
Okay, thanks for everyone's help so far. I've had another run at it and came up with the following (colours are just for show at the minute...):

I've got mixed feelings about the hob and sink positions but having them the other way round means I've got to dig up the concrete floor and run a new waste pipe through it which I'm not keen on.

I've drawn a 1400x900 table (extendable to 1800) with a 900mm surround for seating space which i'll have pushed into the corner the majority of the time and only extend on special occasions. Inspiration for the island is something like the below:

Isometric view:
minipie
5 years ago
Looks like a good layout!

I would be cautious about the separate wood breakfast bar, these work well with enormous islands but with regular size islands they really reduce practicality as the difference in levels makes it hard to put things like fruit bowls or chopping boards there and the wood is more vulnerable to marks too. I would probably stick with a more standard island top (all one material) in this scenario.

I would also move the hob slightly further towards the garden so the extractor above it is in the extension and to allow prep/plate space to the left of it.

Would you be able to put a skylight in to bring light towards the dining area?
User
Original Author
5 years ago
All good points Minipie.

As for the skylight, unfortunately it‘s got a flat roof which is a pain because that’s the one thing I’m trying to leave alone.
PRO
User
5 years ago
Awesome. Good points from Minipie. Islands like this work well with hobs, less dangerous for the sitters!

If you like the difference in textures, I really like this rustic one, and so easy to construct!
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