Slightly awkward kitchen

StatisticallyChallenged

I use a big chef's pan all the time. I would maybe be inclined to get a hob where the largest ring is to the right hand side so if you are using your very large pan the handle is over the corner, but I have seen other sites which say 300mm either side of the hob is adequate.

Can't fault DIY at all - they delivered exactly what I ordered when they said they would. I have fitted Ikea kitchens before (several times) and they are cheaper, but there is also a discernable quality difference in my opinion. The DIY cabinets are solid (and come pre-assembled), the doors far heavier etc, but it's things like the internal fittings that you really notice. I have a Le Mans pullout in one of my corners (recommend this over a carousel btw) and it is rock solid. It's loaded up with tins and going nowhere. The ikea equivalent seemed incredibly flimsy by comparison.

For me though it was the flexibility in unit sizes that made the difference - I needed fiddly sizes to make things work properly (e.g. a 700mm sink unit and a 150mm pullout). My kitchen isn't far off yours size wise - 3.2m*2.3, and I think I paid £2300ish to DIY for all the units, plinth, worktops etc. That is with me going for their extra tall (900mm) wall units which bumped the price up a bit but I have high ceilings so it made sense.

LittleMax

sibot74 wrote: »

Hmm. The wall with unit 14 etc on it is an external wall also, and it's solid brick. Moving the hob there but not the oven means the hob would be over the fridge, and I presume it would be a lot more awkward to move the gas pipe to there than to get it extended a few feet? I'm also not sure i'd want the hob sticking into the room that much - the door between the sink and the fridge/freezer section is to the sun porch and the back door.

If I had the microwave and kettle over on the unit 14 wall, I guess that would let someone make a cup of tea etc without getting in the way if I'm at the cooker (I do most of the cooking)? I'm also actually thinking about a metal extractor hood now anyway instead of that fan cupboard thing, since I wouldn't want to reach over the hob when in use and I know i'd just fill the cupboard up there with stuff that lived there permanently until it got moved to the loft...

Do you think the oven next to the corner cupboard is likely to cause a conflict without a fairly large spacer post?

Sorry, yes I meant moving both the hob and oven. I have a cooker so forget sometimes that moving one doesn't always mean moving both!

I'm not sure why you think there is an issue with the oven and hob sticking out more, as it looks as though you were planning on having a standard run of base units there including the fridge.

I think if you are having a feature extractor such as a chimney it will always look better in a central position. If it were my kitchen, I would be keen to make a feature of it on the wall opposite the window. I would have the extractor and the oven and hob central in that run ... this may mean you need to go to a different supplier as discussed to source different sized units to go either side.

sibot74

The main reason for being worried about that area sticking out if it had the hob/oven on it is because I can spend quite a while standing in front of it, whereas I wouldn't spend much time in front of a fridge . We're going around looking at various kitchen places at the weekend for more ideas, and I'll see about mocking up a cooking station there at the right 'sticky-out-ness' and see how it goes with other traffic in the kitchen. You may be right, it might be fine if other kitchen users could use the corner area for toast/coffee/microwave - it's only through traffic to get out the back door that would be a problem really.

Thing is we're probably only going to be here for another 4-5 years, so don't really want to go too expensive. (And i'm tight ).

LittleMax

sibot74 wrote: »

Thing is we're probably only going to be here for another 4-5 years, so don't really want to go too expensive. (And i'm tight ).

That is a factor to consider. I would only do my plan in my own kitchen - I wouldn't bother to do it in a rental property.

Good idea about trying to mock it up first, and see what it actually feels like. Remember we are only going on plans and haven't got a feel for the room.

Worth getting some ideas from kitchen planners in the DIY stores, but be prepared to adapt what they do. We had a few plans drawn up and all of them said I did not have enough space to have my cooker central across the end of the kitchen without tray spaces! Turns out when I did my own research I could do what I wanted by having a 55 cm slot in cooker rather than a standard 60 cm oven and hob (but sure they didn't suggest this as they wanted to sell me an oven and hob!)

I found it helpful to modify someone else's plan rather than starting from scratch myself.

sibot74

LittleMax wrote: »

I found it helpful to modify someone else's plan rather than starting from scratch myself.

I'd suspected the shed designers would find the same, and just give me their on-trend version of what i already have? Will give it a go though and see what they come up with. I have a decent and honest joiner for fitting etc, but he doesn't do the design part.

StatisticallyChallenged

I did have one of the kitchen companies do a design - but he totally ignored my desire for a BIG cooker.

Just looking at your design - if the cooker was moved to either of the other walls would you then be able to move the sink so that it was centred under the window? Again might not work ikea unit sizes but it may well annoy you once it is in place.

sibot74

Will play about and check tonight . The sink in my plan is pretty much where it currently is - not sure whether it's centered on the window or not, will check that too.The window just looks across two drives into the neighbours kitchen anyway, so it has the semi-opaque blind down almost all the time.

The space opposite the window is a bit of a pain - i measured it at 1580, with tiles on both sides. I'm going to have to take everything out to get a proper measurement, because everything is much easier if I can get 1600mm worth of units in there. There's no guarantee it's even the same width at the back as the front - with this house I'd be very surprised if it was to be honest . If I center the cooker in there, and have 2x400 units on either side that would give me 90-100mm either side of the cooker for tray/cutting board/towel storage I guess - is that likely to be a semi-useful width? Anyone else have a 'gap' less than the normal 150mm that they've found a use for? Spice boxes maybe?

StatisticallyChallenged

It's not so much the view - it's that the sink off centre under the window will look a bit wrong if that makes sense. But have a look and see how it is at the moment.

You are likely to struggle to do much useful with the 90-100mm spaces I think but some companies do a 450mm wide unit which could be put either side?

I do feel your pain - my kitchen was plain awkward, with two doors in one corner (on different walls), window on the other long wall (and a massive window so cooker could not go there) and a boiler on the same wall as the cooker. Made for some fun planning!

sibot74

So, currently the sink is offset to the right of the window. Apparently that doesn't bother me too much since I had to go and check .

I've done a design with the cooking area moved to opposite the window. We actually think this one looks pretty smart, but need to price it up properly. On rough pricing it's about the same for Ikea units, or 50-70% more expensive using DIY kitchens. This design has the sink more central under the window, and the fridge and freezer would be either side of a 900 L-shaped corner unit. While it allows for a 1.5 bowl sink which the other design doesn't, we currently find that the under-sink storage isn't used to it's fullest - maybe if I put a pullout in here that'd be better, but again Ikea is limited for under-sink options.

Link in Ikea planner.
Link to plan image.
Link to 3d image.
Link to 3d image looking through the window.

StatisticallyChallenged

I think that looks much, much better. I think the 90cm l-shaped corners are ok as long as you put a carousel in - we had one before which didn't have anything except shelves and it was a 'mare to access it.

One thing - I can't get the planner to load but on the pictures I can't see any drawers?

If you are worried about the internal fittings (e.g. for under the sink) it may be worth looking at some of the better quality ones on the market and investigating whether they could be fitted to an Ikea cabinet. They won't all work as ikea cabinets are deeper internally, but some would.