Please give your opinion on this kitchen design

puddy

Bennifred wrote: »

Does the kitchen have to be all at one end of the room like that? I think I'd use the whole space (incorporating the table) - or have the kitchen at the other end.

well, thats what my partner wants. the 'other end' is the dining room. at one point back in its past, the wall to between the kitchen and the dining room was obviously knocked through. the kitchen wall would have been around where the oven is in the plan (moving downwards obviously). the door to the kitchen from the hall would have been where the hob is in the plan

trouble is, im on a budget as it is, we didnt plan to get the kitchen done when we bought this recently and its only when trying to use this kitchen that ive realised just how impractical it is.

i worried that to move the whole kitchen to the dining room and probably have the kitchen as the dining room would put people off in years to come and be impractical in terms of getting through to the utility room

puddy

edgex wrote: »

sorry to say this, but

that is an awful design
not only is it visually bad, but also from a usability, & even safety point

youve got a corridor running through the middle of the used area, right between the 2 seperate cooking appliances



could the kitchen not go into the alcove at the bottom, like so:

the door to the kitchen is where your blue corner is (coming in from the hall)

theres no way the kitchen is going to be perfect, its a very poor layout, fine in the 30s but not now! so we're going have to do the best of a bad job, im just not sure about what is the best!

edgex

where specifically is the door?
as its not indicated anywhere on that plan

also, where does the door on the left go to?

puddy

the door to the left goes to the utility room

the door to the dining room (and kitchen) (which you cant see) is in the corner 'underneath' the sticky out bit of worktop if you look at the birds eye view. so you enter the dining room from the hall, the dining room is straight ahead and you turn left at the moment to get round into the kitchen.
if we extend the current work top to make it the sticky out bit, then you would walk into the kitchen, have to walk all the way round the sticky out bit and then enter the kitchen that way

edgex

jenner wrote: »

the door to the left goes to the utility room

the door to the dining room (and kitchen) (which you cant see) is in the corner 'underneath' the sticky out bit of worktop if you look at the birds eye view. so you enter the dining room from the hall, the dining room is straight ahead and you turn left at the moment to get round into the kitchen.
if we extend the current work top to make it the sticky out bit, then you would walk into the kitchen, have to walk all the way round the sticky out bit and then enter the kitchen that way

so the door is one of the green boxes, as below:




as for the utility room, is it just a room, with no other doors?

PasturesNew

To me, my thoughts were:
- damn that top microwave is way too high to even use safely, it'd be a danger to a short person who would be lifting out hot stuff above eye level
- the oven/etc seemed to "crowd" the space where light was coming in, I'd prefer to see a blank wall between the window and the door
- I've never been keen on any wall units to be honest (or most base units either)... I'd be looking to see if I could get a damned good larder somewhere and take out all the wall units.
- there's no space to put anything down if you're waiting to put something into the oven, or take it out. Ditto for the fridge/freezer.

Overall, it confused me and annoyed me, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

PasturesNew

I've had a little more thinking and it's just "all wrong", it all looks cack-handed to me. That end piece will become a nuisance when people come into the room - and if they're off to the utility room and back they're in your way.

There look to be too many ovens in there - do you really need that many? And too many base units.

What's the utility like?

I'd be looking to see if I could fit a darned good larder into the utility room, a combination/microwave standalone in the utility for backup/occasional overflow, take out the ovens and get a normal under-counter positioned one, move the fridge/freezer into the utility and have one long work space between the window and the door.

Take out all those wall cabinets too. So I'd go for a minimal, low level kitchen, allowing as much light as possible in. A good larder doesn't limit what you can put in/together, like cupboards do, so you can fit more in less space.

Not sure I like the hob on the other side of the room either. I'd like to see one clear, long empty space for all the preparation and serving up type of things, but then you're going back and forth with dishes/empties etc to the sink/dishwasher.

So, I'm "not there" yet, but certainly jiggling stuff in my head still.

Wall cupboards are the devil's invention. They crowd out kitchens and create more storage issues than they solve. I'd also be wanting to see a nice big deep set of pan drawers... I find them more accessible than cupboards

edgex

ive put black X's through those cupboards that you wont be able to use, due to the boiler in one, the sink & hob over others, & others that seem so small as to be pointless


if the microwave is to go above the oven, the whole set needs to move down, so that the ovens start at the bottom of the rack, & then the microwave is at eye level

fridges/freezers - not a good idea to put them next to heat sources like that, they end up having to work harder whenever you use the oven, costs you more

that dishwasher looks like a slimline one
if you ever want to change it, or put something else in its place, that could be an issue


another thing ive noticed:
no plug sockets?



is this a family kitchen, or just for a couple?

missile

jenner wrote: »

do you think by having the worktop extending so far into the dining area it would put people off when we sell??

do you think its worth having a sink with no drainer for space saving as its such a small kitchen?

Kitchens sell houses, so it is worth spending the time to get it right.

Difficult to visualise and suggest an alternative design. However, have you considered having no units on the wall oposite cooker? If you need more units maybe extending units along cooker wall past the door, i.e. below that window.

If you have just bought that new small fridge/freezer it makes no sense to leave space for a full size item. I suppose you could sell that item and buy a full sized item?

I don't understand why the designer could not give you a price?

I don't think they have done a very good job and would suggest you speak to several kitchen designers. :j

PasturesNew

OK. Starting from the door, remove those wall units (except the boiler)
Fit the dishwasher under that top somewhere.
Sink drainer the other way round (on the left)
Where dishwasher is now, put in some deep pan drawers.
Where oven stack is now, get a normal under counter oven and hob on top, losing the 2nd oven and the microwave (you could have an extractor over the hob if if you wanted)
Where fridge freezer is now, remove the whole stack and have empty worktop there with a cupboard under

So, at that point you now have more worktop space, next to the sink and the cooker, but you've now got a fridge/freezer and microwave left over

So ... it's back to ... what's the utility room really like for space and do you have to have a built-in microwave or could it be free standing on one of the two long work surfaces.