Awkward kitchen

sibot74

Hi,

Looking to 'upgrade' our kitchen now that we've done most of the other work we wanted to in our house. The problem is it's small - 3m on longest side, 2600 on short side with a cutout and two doors. The current layout has the oven/hob in the corner - which I dont find a problem to be honest, there is enough space to either side. I've attached a plan and 3d view from Ikea's kitchen planner of the current layout. It's mostly accurate - the door beside the radiator goes to the living room, the other door to the sun porch then outside. Where the plan shows single wall cabinets on the 'closest' wall there are actually two 900mm bridging units one above the other going right to the ceiling, and there are no cupboards under the worktop underneath these, just a space where we currently have some 'drawers on wheels'. The 'cupboard' above the washing machine is actually a wall-hung combi boiler.

The wall behind the cooker has been brought out so that the angle is filled in, with a stepped shelf on the splashback but the rest of the void effectively waster. I was thinking of opening this out - even if the space wasn't very useable it would look bigger, wouldn't it? Anyone else had to deal with a cooker in a corner like this? I also want to put in a proper extractor fan with a cupboard. The current unit is one of those huge, noisy recirculators - can I get a built in extractor that would still allow some cupboard space to be used above the cooker (for pans etc, stuff that wouldnt be used that often)?

Any thoughts/advice much appreciated (was thinking of a gloss white unit, with oak worktops - but not sure about the gloss :cool: - might be 'too much' in such a small space?)

Plan:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/73453781@N00/3856610553

3D:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/73453781@N00/3856610425

ic

Lighter colour units will actually help to make the room feel larger, glossy will help reflect the light around. My kitchen is about the same size as yours and I went for units from Ikea in ash, a light coloured wood with a hint of grey. The worktop was their Numerar in grey with silver edge, the floor solid oak, the walls painted white, and a mix of grey mosaic and large white tiles between the worktop and wall cupboards. It looks fantastic! (You can see some pics here)

I went for an induction hob so that the space it used would double up as worktop space when it wasn't in use as it has a flat glass top. I also managed to move my washing machine out of the kitchen to under the stairs, and then put an interated slimline dishwasher in - this meant I could get away with a small sink and drainer, rather than the large one I had previously. Reality is I never use the drainer as I never wash up now that I have the dishwasher, in hindsight I wish I'd gone for a sink with no drainer so that I had even more work top space!

sibot74

Thanks ic - can't really move the washing machine, plus theres only two of us so no real need for a dishwasher. The hob is gas, which I really like for cooking on, so probably not looking to change that either.

Your new kitchen looks great. How did you find the quality of the Ikea units? The units/doors we have at the moment are white, it's just the style we want to change really, since its a bit fussy and dated. Also, if possible, rearrange for a bit more room - e.g. tall wall units instead of normal, and build in the fridge/freezer (currently a standalone but sitting in a built-in space - looks carp).

Meepster

It doesn't look too awkward to me, I've seen a LOT more difficult kitchens to plan...

Can you put some dimensions on there so I could have a play about with it for you?

ic

sibot74 wrote: »

Thanks ic - can't really move the washing machine, plus theres only two of us so no real need for a dishwasher.

There's only one of me

How did you find the quality of the Ikea units?

I'm over the moon with it all. Its been in a year now, and everything feels as good as when I put it in.

Looking at your kitchen, I'd be tempted to make those units facing the window all floor to ceiling, and even put the oven over there. I'd certainly remove the corner bit. Having a smaller sink would free up work space to give a reasonable gap between the hob and sink.

sibot74

Thanks guys. Not sure about wall-to-ceiling opposite the window - we like having the extra piece of worktop there, it's where the microwave and breadmaker sit at the moment. Were thinking of putting in a built-in microwave on that wall though to get some more space on the worktop, and moving the worktop up to normal height (it's currently at about 65cm).

Added some dimensions (could be out by 10-20mm on long runs though, length into corner behind cooker was by extrapolating from walls I could measure and assuming the corners were square): https://www.flickr.com/photos/73453781@N00/3859083362/

Radiator is 600 wide with TRV to the door side - possibly could change to 3-400, tall radiator since it's only about 2000 BTU there atm, but would only gain 100 on the 300 end cabinet to allow door to open fully.

Meepster

How about something like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41929112@N08/3858465349/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41929112@N08/3858465459/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41929112@N08/3859253926/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41929112@N08/3859253994/

It's not deviating much from the plan you did, but it allows for a conventional cooker hood with a wall top box above and your microwave to be fitted on the wall.

This will only work if you change the radiator to a tall think one...

sibot74

Thanks a lot :T (how did you know I had dark grey tiles on the floor? ). I did a similar new layout using the Ikea planner (the one I put up earlier was the current layout) - I'll put up a picture when I'm home from work.

Is it possible to get basic vertical radiators for a reasonable price? Reasonable being only 2-3x the price of an equivalent horizontal one? Some of the prices I've found are horrendous.

If I wanted to open up the corner behind the cooker (its just a thin partition) how would I build the worktop to fit in around the cooker and have it back fully into the corner? Best to have one piece across the diagonal like the current worktop, then a fill-in piece in the corner behind? Supporting wouldn't be a problem, could easily fix battens to the wall and put a vertical support in the void. I see Ikea have a 'custom corner' piece in their desginer which fits here, but the planner just adds two short worktop lengths to your shopping list rather than a single custom-cut piece - anyone know how they work it?

Meepster

Use a small section of 900mm worktop and cut to suit would be the easiest way of putting it into the corner, you end up with less joins that way...

BTW I know about your floor tiles as I am secretly stalking you

sibot74

So, the plans I drew up were similar to the one you drew:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73453781@N00/3859092717/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73453781@N00/3859092847/

I had a full height cabinet for f/f with a 300 and 600 tall wall cabinets. Underneath I have shown shallow units, but I think I want to use the full 450 depth without sticking out, so would either have to cut down a base unit or make my own frame and just stick doors on.

The open wall cabinets on the other wall do appear to open out the space, but have to admit from current experience they are pretty useless - may go with your suggestion of a full cabinet here (a 600 should fit on both sides I think, depending on how far out the extractor fan is set?)