Please give your opinion on this kitchen design

Idiophreak

Tbh I don't like the design much - it seems like someone's trying to cram a big kitchen into a small space.

I'd personally move the sink under the window (I like looking out the window when washing up), have a regular oven under the hob on the other side, get an under-counter fridge and move the existing one to utility - so you'd have work surface going from the sink right to the glass door shown in the picture - this will allow you to get rid of the stupid sticky-outy bit without losing work space (and probably give you some surface space to stick a microwave on if you really need one).

turk3y

can i just say argghhhh i spent so long writing a reply it logged me out and then lost my post as i logged in

right in biref, as the kitchen is small stoage is at a premuim. Are normal cupboards the best use of space? i thought draws and larder units where better ? perhaps someone better qualified can give an anwser, also curved or angled units finnish the look nice but I think would probably be very bad on storage space, like cupboards but worse.

I assume the washing machine is in the utility? also i dont know what is a must and a must not, so my ideas may be just plain wrong.

with that in mind, I was thinking of a layout

first starting to the right of the door at the end of the kitchen going right.

Tall larder followed but the wall cupboard for your boiler. Magic corner below this to maximise uable space, the larger will make this worktop coner cramped tho so perfect place for kettle / toaster / microwave as you cant prep food here. Sink the other way round and then your slim dishwaher.
Next dont have the tall built in unit as it will look large and dominate, base unit and wall unit, followed by freestanding lader fridge such as a smeg so its a "design" led exterior or similar, you could also have fridge draws and this would allow even more morkspace if the freezer is in the utility.

Other side from the door no units to start with to allow door space, make this a folding door? to reduce impact of opening it to the kitchen.
Draws on the bottom either side of a double under oven and then a flush hob to make it look bigger. Extractor pinned by two cupboards above. Then work out if you need more storage if you do what about a slim base unit at 90 degrees so it open to face the dining room, then you can have a slight over hang on the worktpop there to create a breakfast bar so you get storage but it feels less kitchen intruding on dining space.

without dimensions its hard to say, but hopefully my ideas at least make you think, they are probably totally impractical for reasons i dont know as i am not a designer.

looking forward to see better designs and to see what could be achieved, mine got too stressful to enjoy, but I hope yours dosent get to that stage. :beer:

andrew-b

edgex wrote: »

ok
what if the door from the hall is moved to the wall next to it, swing it clockwise by 90degrees

yep that's sort of what i'm suggesting and reading back it sounds like the door has been there in the past so more than likely the lintels will still be there for it to make the works nice and simple.

edgex wrote: »

the kitchen then goes as per previous plan, in the blue corner.
that puts all the kitchen along one wall, like a galley kitchen.
it also means your using a lot more standard units, which will be cheaper than all those angled units & odd sized doors.

yep..though i'd refine your blue blob and lose the sticky-out bit again!

edgex wrote: »

the other thing that could then be done, is to move the outside door that is currently in the dining room area to where the window is above the sink. (green arrow) that puts all the doors, & therefore the traffic, in one end of the room, stops it being a corridor.
the old doorway then becomes a window, & that area, together with where you have the tall cabinets drawn, is then the dining area.
where the boiler is, that could be put into a full height cupboard, somewhere to put random items.

Your thinking is very much like my own (god help you!!:rotfl:) I like this idea and it did actually occur to me but we don't know whats on the other side of that window..i'm guessing there will be a drain gully the other side so might add some extra drainage works and your moving the sink to the other end which could present further probs..but if it's possible i agree with this plan. Again the building works isn't huge as the lintel above the window becomes lintel above the door. Where the door is could either be extended into a bigger window or just bricked up. Only thing is i'm not sure how this fits in with Jenner's existing plans as i think she was getting quotes for swapping the back door..if possible it might kill another bird with the same stone of a narrow step at the back door. Other downside is what to do with the boiler to cover it up a bit though i daresay a floor to ceiling cupboard could be created as a broom cupboard as you suggest.

If you stick with sink in the top left but move the door and use the recessed space at bottom right then it seems a lot of walking going back and forth between seperate areas and it doesn't really seperate the functions of the room into kitchen and dining as well.

When you start getting into building works though the price starts to escalate..but by using existing lintels etc it might not be so bad and might be worth it to create a more usable room.

Andy

andrew-b

Actually looking at the plan if you were to cut off the left section into another room what's on the right pretty much mirrors the shape of our kitchen exactly with our kitchen larder being on the left..with diagonal wall in exactly the same part..door in the same place, window in same place. Could lift my design totally and it would probably fit!!

Not sure if the photos help much but here's our:




Might give you an idea how you could layout things up that right end though..
Andy

Primrose

Our dishwasher is slightly to the left under our sink because we're right-handed and it's easier to run really mucky dishes off under a tap first and then bend down and put them down in the dishwasher but like you, we were working to a very restricted space and it was the only way it could be accommodated. The sink might be better slightly shifted to the left if you're right handed and would tend to use the worktop area on the right, more than the area of the left. Shut your eyes for a moment and mentally walk yourself through all the major functions you do in your kitchen to see if you can find any snags.

Walk your cooking saucepans to the sink to drain them and then put the food onto the plates. Will this work more conveniently with the serving/preparation area in a certain place?

Walk yourself from the fridge/freezer to your food preparation area? Does it feel a comfortable way to work.

Are your equipment storage areas convenient to where and how you work?

Incidentally our fridge/freezer is located directly next to our oven. There is a dividing cupboard-type board between them and we've never had any problems with the fridge/freezer temperature seeming to vary when the oven is on, even at high temperatures. . It's probably not the best place for it but most kitchens are so cramped that often you don't have many options and our arrangement works perfectly OK. By the way, HATE that colour . Think I'd lose the will to live if I had to even cook a piece of toast in a kitchen which looked like an abbatoire

melb

I bet you're dizzy!! I know I am and that's only half-reading most of the threads. this is probably a rubbish and impractical idea but could you just use the external access to your utility thus enabling you to "block off" the door to it from the kitchen without having to go to all the trouble and expense of moving meters etc. Pls don't tell me off as I haven't thoroughly read all the posts.

puddy

thanks everyone, this feedback is very useful.

we would have to go outside into the garden to get back into the utility room if we blocked off access to the utility room from the kitchen.

i like the idea of moving the door into the 'kitchen diner' but, the current kitchen area is not big enough to accommodate a table and chairs easily whilst still giving access to the utility and back garden doors, plus if we had the kitchen re done in the current dining room, what happens to drainage and things for the sink and dishwasher, they would be up against an internal wall??

i will be definately getting some more people in after hearing your feedback

i will post some measurements tonight

rachbc

well if we're being honest, its not a great deisgn. How about blocking the door to the garden and having access only though the utility and running units all along the back wall, some shallow depth but tall units were the hob is in the plan to give storage still giving access to the utility door and having a dining table and chairs in the diaganol bit. Or knock through to the utility - id rather a bigger kitchen than rubbish kitchen and a utility

puddy

rachbc wrote: »

well if we're being honest, its not a great deisgn. How about blocking the door to the garden and having access only though the utility and running units all along the back wall, some shallow depth but tall units were the hob is in the plan to give storage still giving access to the utility door and having a dining table and chairs in the diaganol bit. Or knock through to the utility - id rather a bigger kitchen than rubbish kitchen and a utility

trouble is with knocking through is that the utility room is not the same length as the kitchen, we would only be able to knock through where the door is now. in addition the utility room has a drain in it, and a manhole cover and is about 7 inches lower than the kitchen

Doozergirl

jenner, what is your budget? It's fine that everyone rearranges your house layout for you but is there money in the budget to do that at all?

It's great to be able to move all the plumbing, gas work, doors, carry out structural changes to the back of the house but it all really adds up.