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Design DilemmaKitchens
meeliebell

Kitchen layout/island

meeliebell
5 years ago

Hello!

This is is my first post on here I have been an avid lurker so I am hoping some of you fab people will be able to help me out.

We we will be doing an extension, 4 m out from our original house. With the kitchen to the back right.


We we are hoping to have a kitchen with island. Will it work. I have attached the plan, contrary to the way the plan is currently drawn we are thinking 6m bifold across the back (so no window in kitchen area like drawn) with a run of units on right hand wall and with an island in front. We can go back to 4300 however external corner of existing house will have to stay where it is.


im worried that the kitchen will look a bit pokey, I just can’t visualise it. I have been to some kitchen advisors but they keep telling me we can’t have an island only a peninsular.


Would you knowledageble guys agree?


Featured Answer
  • PRO
    Drawing Inc Ltd
    5 years ago
    Why not consider rotating the kitchen space through 90 degrees so that it looks at the garden - this means you could have the island as big as you like.
    You could then build a pantry and take the pressure off the need for lots of units - rest assured this is not a pokey kitchen.
    I am slightly concerned at how much eating space you have though (haha) as you have a formal dining area at the front of the house(the food would be cold by the time you get there!), a island breakfast bar/stooled area and a dining area in the rear extension.??
    Hope that helps
    Geoff

    Comments (24)

    • meeliebell
      Original Author
      5 years ago

      I don’t think I have explained myself clearly.


      To be clearer.


      we would like an island, but we are being lead to believe that we can’t get a decent sized island with the kitchen where it is. Therefore we chose to change from a window to having one run of units. Would this work?


      then I am wondering if we moved the kitchen to the left hand side of extension could this work better or would the seating area look strange being behind an island.


      So confused!!

    • Jonathan
      5 years ago
      Personally I think the dining area is too big and the kitchen area too small. Personally I think you should make the utility into a laundry room so you don’t need a door from the kitchen. If you need extra storage have it in the kitchen, then I would get rid of the under stairs cupboard and the extra storage cupboard as I think the principal sitting area should be as big as possible. I would add a coats cupboard near the front door and use the larger utility I have drawn to store vacuums and ironing boards etc.

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    • Danielle H
      5 years ago
      Do you mean one long run of units across the right hand wall with the island in front? An island needs at least 1000mm to walk round, I see you’ve got 4188mm so that would leave you with an island size of 2188mm MAX. I have a 1500x900mm island and I can fit 3x barstools on it so I guess it depends if you’re wanting stools to sit with it and how many.
      I’d guesstimate the island in this photo around 2.4m.
      I think it’s doable but maybe have a play around with a kitchen planner tool?
      meeliebell thanked Danielle H
    • cazSF
      5 years ago
      Having gone out 4.5m (4.3m internally), I can sympathise! If you want to run the island front to back, yes, 2188 would be your limit. Mine is 2250 and it really packs a punch, we love it. If you did this, I would just have an outside run along the right wall and split your enormous utility in two - the left hand end to be accessed from the same lobby as the downstairs loo, and the right-hand end to be a walk-in pantry, accessed by a pocket door from the kitchen. I’d continue the countertop into the pantry.

      This said, I’m inclined to agree that your dining table is kind of rattling around in there. Consider what other furniture you’ll need to support entertaining, like a sideboard or cocktail cabinet. We use the outside face of our island for wine glasses and wine because we don’t have the overall width in the space that you do, but napkins, placemats, etc needed to find a home in the next nearest piece of storage furniture, in the adjoining living space. Consider also whether you might have space for at least one lounging chair by the bi-folds - you’ll want to sit there on sunny but cold afternoons.

      Alternatively, I do love the suggestion above about rotating the island and really going for it with huge island. The space will definitely take it. Just make sure that your dining table is a suitably substantial piece to provide balance in the room.

      Good luck!
    • cazSF
      5 years ago
      Ps Danielle H’s photo is exactly the one I had in my mind - if you zoom in, you can see the countertop continuing inside the pantry. To locate the fridge per the photo, you’d need to steal a bit from your pantry / utility room in order to create a recess for it. It’s a good location for a fridge (and the pantry for that matter) because people can help themselves to drinks and snacks without disturbing the chef while cooking.

      I’m so excited for you!
      meeliebell thanked cazSF
    • meeliebell
      Original Author
      5 years ago

      Wow thanks so much for your replies!!


      @drawinginc your comment made me crack up. The front room is a separate lounge. THe guy that done the drawing named it a dining room for some reason. We love our food but we don’t need two dining areas ha ha ha


      @cazsf yes we plan to have a larder style cupboard on the left hand side of the extension dining area and/ or a chair and standing lamp in the corner by the left hand of the bifold. Otherwise the space is going to feel quite empty.


      @jonathon and @ drawinginc. I had never considered changing the island. This has given me a lot of food for thought. Would it look strange having the island and the dining table both facing this way? Or maybe I could turn the dining table the other direction to have a bit of contrast.


      Lots to show the husband today, so pleased to hear I can have an island. Might pop to howdens to try and get a plan done to see what they come up with.


      Thank you

    • Carolina
      5 years ago
      Do consider lighting too. If you have a skylight over the dining table and over the island, it’ll be a problem to have lights over those. Also, as others have showed in their drawings, you have a door too many in the area in front of the bedroom/bathroom.
      meeliebell thanked Carolina
    • meeliebell
      Original Author
      5 years ago

      Thank you Carolina !!


      Its a north east facing kitchen so we are trying to maximise light. We only have direct light on back of the house between sunrise and 11 in the morning in summer so it does get quite dark. they Will be flat roof sky lights and hopefully the positioning of the one in the kitchen area will allow some pendants to hang over the island.


      However i I was only thinking about lighting over the dining table the other evening and realised that it wouldn’t be possible for a pendant.


      absolutely agree with everyone re the doors into downstairs room and shower. It does feel a bit “doorsey”

    • Tani H-S
      5 years ago
      We went out 4.3 and have a 2.4 island with just a back run of units. It’s fine as long as you don’t have units at the side.

      You could scrap the side units and just add extra cupboards at the back of the island for storage

      Agree re the dining area is wasted and you seem to have two dining areas.

      Ours is L shaped and although we did loads of mock ups before it was built, we have way too much space in the dining area now so we will have to maybe put extra seating/reading look to fill it up. Lol. Our room is only 8m long as well!
      meeliebell thanked Tani H-S
    • meeliebell
      Original Author
      5 years ago

      Thank you Tani,

      we will only have one dining area. The front room is a living room, the guy doing the plans labelled it wrong.


      tgere will be some furniture on the wall opposite the kitchen. And an armchair in the corner with a floor light. However point noted that it may seem like a lot of dead space, struggling to think what I can do to make it seem fuller

    • cazSF
      5 years ago
      One thing to start filling the space might be to make your island double depth... no need to go for the standard 90-100cm deep - just really go for it and put full depth cabinets on both sides. You are only really limited by your ability to reach the middle to wipe it!
      meeliebell thanked cazSF
    • cazSF
      5 years ago
      Then, put in a fantastic wall of storage on the left hand wall next to the dining table and rotate the table itself... just a thought.
    • A B
      5 years ago

      I'd go for a penninsula. Then I'd split the utility into a large laundry cupboard accessed from the hall, and a pantry. You could have some appliances in the pantry like toaster and microwave to keep the kitchen more streamlined (this is what we are planning). I'd definitely keep a window in the kitchen too. My biggest concern with your plan is that the living area is going to be pretty dark.



    • PRO
      Drawing Inc Ltd
      5 years ago
      Just revisiting the plan, and nothing to do with the kitchen but you have a lot of circulation space being wasted by not having the bedroom accessed of the hall. I can see that the en-suite is being utilised as the ground floor wc but you could achieve a separate wc in one of the storage areas and gain back so much more storage space from the circulation.
      Also going back to the island I would suggest caution in positioning any appliances on the island - especially if this is going to be just a large flat plane - a sink will make the entire island a wet surface, a hob will do the same but just with hotter water!
      meeliebell thanked Drawing Inc Ltd
    • meeliebell
      Original Author
      5 years ago

      JennP, thank you for your comments. I’m starting to think perhaps the utility is too big. Now when I stand in the space which is currently a garage and look at the width I’m thinking s perhaps we have gone too big. I like the idea of splitting it.


      Thanks geoff, good point ! I think because I’m all out previous homes we have never had a hallway, we have always had a space that is a square lobby that we want to keep our hall table rather than adding another door to create another, if not larger, lobby effect. i absolutely see your point re circulation space though.


      Im starting to sway to the idea of making the seating area the dining area, and having the extension by a kitchen / lounge area.

    • rinked
      5 years ago

      Personally I'd like a utility like that, it can double up as pantry, hold a fridge and/or with the proper ventilation it could be used to hang dry clothes. Turning it into two separate boxes would feel cramped.

      Here are some examples of what your kitchen layout could look like:

      The island sideways would be great as it goes right under the rooflight. The long look of the dining table in the same position would not put me off. I'd also like the look of having 4 tall cabinets with ovens in the middle two and a tall built-in fridge in one of the adjecent. But since an island is an island, you would miss some place to put a coffee machine and such, so I added a shallow 'buffet' (top right). Another option is to put the 'coffee corner' in the row of tall cabinets. The fridge could go under a compact oven and so will a freezer. This would look great in smooth modern cabinets, either with or without handles. Not suitable for a more classical look though.


      A layout such as this would look great in shaker style too. Narrower cabinet with sink, because then you could have a coffee corner on the worktop next to the stove/cooktop.


      meeliebell thanked rinked
    • rinked
      5 years ago

      Sidenote: I also tweaked your ensuite and storage areas. Added a wc.

      meeliebell thanked rinked
    • Carolina
      5 years ago

      I like both Rinq's suggestions for the kitchen layout and agree that one large utility would be better than two small ones. Personal preference though.

      meeliebell thanked Carolina
    • PRO
      Drawing Inc Ltd
      5 years ago

      @ rinq, I like the second plan it works well and 'flows'

      I have to disagree with the combined utility/pantry idea as there is a direct conflict between teh two uses - clothes airing and tumble drier humidity with food storage is, in my opinion, just wrong.

      The idea of the pantry is to provide a cool, utilitarian space (adjustable shelving etc) for all your food and 'kitchen' storage.

      The idea of a utility room is to provide a room that you can put all of the things from teh house that don't have an official home and so that when your mother in law comes over you can hide all your s@£& and close the door on it!!

      @Rinq - scheme 2 would allow for that (with 2 flush doors (painted out to be invisible with the wall!!) ) in a slick and stylish manner.

      I personally feel that having a internal WC accessed from the lounge is not great - add 1 m to the front lounge, take 1 m from the rear lounge, put the wc under the stairs accessed from the hall - job done.

      also forget the fireplace in the rear room - its not the centre of the room and its restricting your thoughts.

      @meeliebell - Off the wall thought - why not put the kitchen where the lounge area is in the centre - this affords you the whole of the rear space as lounge/dining etc..

      G

      meeliebell thanked Drawing Inc Ltd
    • rinked
      5 years ago

      Drawing Inc, good point about the pantry and utility.


      We have a small cellar at home, so I'm used to stocking only moist resistant things in there and the dry food in my kitchen.

    • meeliebell
      Original Author
      5 years ago

      Wow rinq - what great plans.

      All of you guys are so inspirational with your feedback and ideas.


      Geoff: not an off the wall thought at all. I think my worry is that would it be dark in the kitchen as we are north east facing. But it is a thought I am thinking about more and more

    • PRO
      Brandler London
      5 years ago

      I too think that Rinq's second option works well and the independent toilet will add value to the house rather than the option of sharing an ensuite.


      The Pantry/Utility rooms are a moot point but this area could be sub-dividedand dont forget that you can place a dry ontop of a washing machine these days which give you room for a small worktop.


      We too like Islands and they are very effective if you have the space to put them in such as in this reclaimed barn wood project:-



      Kitchen in Kingston Edwardian House Refurbishment · More Info


    • Danny Jay
      4 years ago

      I think you have had some fantastic ideas and advice and I would think about the flow of the home and how you would like to use it in the future. You'll only get one chance to get it right.

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