Ideas please - what to do with kitchen space

maggie111

We're in the process of buying our first property - a two bed terraced that while structurally sound needs a fair amount of modernising - so expect to hear a lot from me as we are complete novices!!

It needs a new kitchen, and just at the minute I'm in dream planning stage, rather than the awkward complicated planning stage so I wondered if I could have some advice about what to do with the kitchen?

It's relatively small for me - because I have a LOT of kitchen crap. We're fortunate enough to have the money to be able to completely redo it, rather than working with what is there at the moment so any and all suggestions would be welcome.

I think I could cope with the amount of cupboards that are there at the moment however - it has no oven and no room for a dishwasher. In the picture you can almost see where the fridge is, and this has the tall space to incorporate a fridge freezer. Where the washing machine is I'd like to put the oven, hob and extractor. The washing machine needs to move, and I'm ideally looking for a place for the washing machine. We also need a boiler for new central heating so this needs to be in place as well.

Now the second part of the kitchen, currently houses a freezer and I assume it's space for a dining table. I'm considering placing the dining table in the lounge, which is right next door, although where I'm thinking you would have to walk through the "lounge" part to get to the dining area. I've considered knocking the wall down that currently houses the hob and making that into an open plan kitchen dining area, but I would lose a lot of wall cupboard space and possibly ruin the integrity of the lounge.

I could just put cupboards in the "empty" bit of the kitchen - but isn't it weird to have a kitchen with no place to sit? In the second picture, behind the door is a tall window, which I quite like and am not looking to cover it up.

Any advice on what to do with this kitchen would be HUGELY appreciated!
PS - this isn't our "forever" home, I forsee us living in it for 5 years or so, and am looking for something that wouldn't make the house difficult to sell.

bigdic

First thing to do would be measure the room up including doors/windows etc and take these measurements to a kitchen design shop or two. B&Q also do designs. Most places do it for free in the hope you'll buy one of their kitchens.

A good kitchen designer can come up with brilliant ideas for any size/shape of space.

Good luck, it's great fun getting a new kitchen.

maggie111

Thanks for the advice. Did pop into an independant kitchen place at the weekend to pick up a brochure, and got chatting. I did mention the problem and not surprisingly - they advised me to extend the kitchen out fully - but then they would say that - it's additional cash for them rather than me putting a dining table in it!

CKdesigner

Hi

You could try an independent kitchen designer that actually doesn't have a shop, they charge for their advice services and work with you to construct a fully detailed plan that you can then take to any kitchen supplier for a quote on the cabinetry, worktops, fitting and appliances. I am actually a kitchen designer within my own independent kitchen studio, so I am not one of these 'Independent Kitchen Designers' but I do like to think I offer the same quailty service.

With regard to your pictures - on the face of it I would say that generally people prefer fewer but bigger multifunctional rooms so removing that wall could be good. You don't have to lose cupboard space as normally you would design a penninsular/island with units on the rear.

Hope this might help.

maggie111

Hi,

Thanks for the advice!

So that's
open plan - 1
Full kitchen - 0
kitchen diner - 0

What I would worry is that I could pay for a comprehensive kitchen design, that cleverly utilises all space - but then I wouldn't be certain that Wickes, or independent kitchen place would stock the "half corner cupboard" I needed for example?

Meepster

If it is a decent independent they will "stock" every size and shape of unit you can imagine, and even some you can't imagine. Also they should be able to do "ad-hoc" units to fit where space is tight and also come up with better ideas than what you get from the sheds as to how best manage the space and ideas/solutions for maximising the functionality of the kitchen...

ema_o

We are just in the middle of converting our kitchen, so hope I can help a bit!
We have seen a number of different kitchen designers from companies like B&Q to Moben. Each design we had helped to clarify and give us ideas of what to do with the kitchen, it has taken time but now I think we have the perfect layout for our kitchen. I appreciate that all these people are doing the design in the hope that we will buy from them, but we have not yet fixed who we are buying from, potentially it could be any of them except Moben which came out a lot more and the quality didn't seem much better, so I don't feel bad about making use of their design.
I do actually feel this and the time its taken us was worthwhile in helping us decide what will work best.

We had a wall taken down, for us I wanted to have space to sit in the kitchen. However I am not sure about how attached your extra space is to the rest of the kitchen. Could you open it up without major work (with a large doorway or something)? Could you fit in a small table and chairs rather than a dining table?

maggie111

Thanks mwillets

So, as a generalisation - would you recommend open plan, a full kitchen, or whacking a table into that space?

I'm so excited about getting a clever kitchen with snazzy storage solutions - but I can't foresee going to a kitchen supplier without having decided on one those 3 options? Surely he'd work to a spec for only one of those? (there's only so much of someone's time I could take up!)

Meepster

Why not have a U shaped kitchen where it is at the moment, to incorporate washing/cooking/preperation areas. Then in the other section, to the right hand side of the heater, have a bank of 2 or 3 tall units, incorporating fridge freezer and larder storage and to the left hand side of the heater (in front of the window? I'm presuming from the photo) have a breakfast bar area...

maggie111

Ha! Excellent, I didn't consider having a breakfast bar covering the window... But of course, a bar running across it and a couple of chairs wouldn't detract from the light it gives. Thank you so much for the suggestion.

A bar was suggested before, but I only saw it facing into the wall, which I thought wouldn't be right.

Thanks

Meepster

maggie111 wrote: »

Ha! Excellent, I didn't consider having a breakfast bar covering the window... But of course, a bar running across it and a couple of chairs wouldn't detract from the light it gives. Thank you so much for the suggestion.

A bar was suggested before, but I only saw it facing into the wall, which I thought wouldn't be right.

Thanks

See, that's what you get when you ask an independent kitchen designer for advice, you get new ideas

If you want any more/detailed advice, gimme a shout...