Kitchen Design

tobycgraham

Hello,

I have a small kitchen and am in the process of deciding which avenue to go down regarding who to buy from. I've got a 'howdens' kitchen plan that looks pretty decent to me - but for a 2.8m * 2m kitchen have been quoted near on £4k (6 units) which seems expensive. I've had another quote from a local firm for £3600, which still seems expensive, so am thinking about going down the diy-kitchens route (equivalent kitchen around £1.5k), do most of it myself but get a fitter/carpenter in for the finishing touches. I have a couple of questions. To save space, the 'howdens' designer has put an integrated washing machine and small fridge freezer in the same tall unit. I have a small issue with the size of the freezer, however, can see this makes total sense for the kitchen as a whole. Would there be any issues with this? I take it the 'shelf' for the fridge/freezer would have to be pretty strong. Would the washing machine's spin cause any problems? Lastly, if I were to order from Diy-kitchens, I'm a little unsure of the ergonomics and exactly the units I should buy. Would anyone be able to double check for me? thanks

Doozergirl

Who is charging you £4k for 6 Howdens units? Does that include fitting? I could do a great big kitchen for less than that!

We have a fridge freezer in a tall larder unit and that is on a slight shelf as I wanted it higher rather than lower. A decent fitter can work wonders.

tobycgraham

yes, that does include fitting - but still seems expensive. From a local kitchen fitter with a howdens account.

Cheers.

Doozergirl

Post up the plan and the units you think you need. The washing machine thing isn't ideal, let's have a look at it and get it sorted.

tobycgraham

thanks for the help, really appreciated! Sorry it took so long to respond, had to reopen my photo bucket account.

What it looks like now:





New Design:

tobycgraham

So, if i were to buy from DIY kitchens, I think I'd need:

1 * 600mm integrated fridge/freezer unit. (not sure which one would accommodate a fridge/freezer & washing machine)
1 * 600mm belfast sink base
Then I thought how could I make the best use of the space that goes under the boiler? So I was thinking,
1 * 950mm LeMans corner base unit
With a 150mm unit in between the sink & LeMans corner unit (though in theory there is still 500mm available ?)
1 * 900mm high single wall unit to house boiler
I'm waiting to open the chimney on the other side, so dont have exact measurements for them yet, but,
2 * slimline 300mm base units.

Doozergirl

Trying to get my head around it - you are opening the chimney breast to fit a range inside?

Next question. It's obviously an old house, I'm sure it's something you fancy, and I understand the sentiment but do you really need that great big range in such a small room? I'm thinking either the house is big enough to hold the washing machine somewhere else or if the house is small, is that huge range more than you really need? I'm thinking if you had inset appliances, even a five burner hob with a regular oven underneath, you'd get the visual of the hob inside the chimney breast but you'd be able to bring back more of a U shape into the kitchen which will hold either a larder fridge or you could even have a proper fridge/freezer in the larder unit

The £4k - did that include your appliances? I'm pretty sure that the Stornoway is one of the cheaper Howdens kitchens as well!? The fitting is certainly a challenge though - far from straightforward.

tobycgraham

yes - only a small range depending on the size of the hearth (hopefully I'll get at least 80cms). It probably is a bit of overkill, but thats all i can use the space in the chimney for anyway.

It was built 1700's and there is no where else for a washing machine to go. It is currently a u-shape, but this is something i'm really trying to get away from because there is really limited floor space and it feels claustrophobic.

The £4k doesn't include appliances. I know it will be a bit of a challenge to fit, the walls aren't straight, its small and tight, but that seems excessive to me for 6/7 units. I'm awaiting one more quote, but cant see that being much cheaper - that's why I was thinking DIY kitchens - then maybe get someone in to fit it ?

Doozergirl

Are you absolutely sure that knocking out the chimney breast is worth the expense? You don't seem to be gaining any space at all, in fact it looks like you're losing it. You gain a 20/30cm cupboard on the window wall (fairly useless), but you lose two decent sized cupboards either side of the cooker. The ones you do get are wall units (you need to change that shopping list to wall units) and with dummy drawers, losing you even more space! All for the cost of making an almighty mess, re-plastering it all, plus the additional costs of fitting to make units bespoke to the awkward sizes you have.

There is a company called Pineland who make painted kitchens, they are based in Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire. Their prices are very reasonable and they will make the cupboards to fit your spaces - which if you go ahead with the chimney thing, you may save on the cost of trying to fit carcasses into odd spaces and end up with slightly better kitchen. If you are desperate to go with the age of the house, then it will work infinitely better than a bog standard kitchen. Our friends have one of their kitchens in their new build and it's the most characterful kitchen I've seen! I've been to their factory/showroom in Cleobury as well. It smells like proper wood!
http://www.pineland.co.uk/intro.htm


I'd go one way or the other.

a) You love this old house and want it to look old. Embrace the old house, open up the chimney breast and have a genuinely characterful kitchen to go with it, not a plastic wrapped, bottom of the range from Howdens or DIY. The Howdens kitchen, without even checking, I could easily purchase for less than £1500. I suspect I could get a better Howdens range for less than that as well. Your fitter needs a kick up the backside. Result: characterful kitchen, bespoke units that work for you and with the space.

b) You need to save money and keep it clean. I'd go with roughly what you have now, minus the U shape, but I would hide the boiler behind some kind of false wall to make that chimney wall flat. You could tile a splashback all the way across; you only need access to the top part. The Howdens kitchen, without even checking, I could easily purchase for less than £1500. I suspect I could get a better Howdens range for less than that as well. Your fitter needs a kick up the backside. Result: Cheap and cheerful, modern kitchen.

I probably wouldn't do what you're trying to do now by trying to wedge units that don't fit into wonky spaces where they won't fit and losing valuable storage space in the process of trying to create more space. With a good fitter you will get a half decent result but it's a funny half-way house of modern wrapped units, even in an older style and the old house.

Innys

I'd echo the sentiment of Doozergirl in respect of the range.

However, my overriding observation is there is minimal worktop space in your design and the range only contributes to the problem.

If you're planning to do hardly any cooking in your kitchen, fine. If you are planning to actually use your kitchen to cook you may have an issue.

You currently have around 1400mm of worktop space which isn't in a corner. Of that, a significant proportion (around one third) will be the "landing space" next to the sink so will often be used for that purpose. That doesn't leave you much.

Call me old fashioned, a.k.a. a slob, but I do feel you can never have too much worktop space.

tobycgraham

I understand your sentiments - I do quite a lot of cooking and only ever use a small portion of the workspace (the bit next to the cooker where the kettle is). I've been quoted £200 to knock out the brick wall and install a lintel - this would mean around another 500mm of floor space - quite a lot in this kitchen. I might then, depending on the condition of the bricks, leave it exposed? I'll have a look at pineland, thanks. I was trying to go for a traditional kitchen - there is a firm near me that make the carcasses any size you want - would that make a difference ?