advice about kitchen layout. is what i want stupid...?

ariarnia

okay so we're about to finish the bathroom in the next couple of weeks (after several snags and frustrations as with all projects. it was only supposed to take a couple of weeks!)

i'm being pushed to confirm what i want for the kitchen. which is fair... my OH doesn't care. happy to go with whatever i want, but 'helpful' friends and relatives are telling me what i want is stupid (not in so many words)

Basic kitchen layout:



currently there's an oven and extractor hood on the back wall (where the 2.8 is written) then units floor and ceiling to the window level on both sides. floor units continuing to the pantry/understair/external door on the right (with a little half unit with the gas meter in it right before the door as the door is too close to the wall for a full unit). 

my main issue is that the fridge freezer is right by the main door into the room. you walk in and on your right is a wall, then on your left is a wall of fridge freezer and it makes everything feel 'close'. 

My idea - get rid of the stove and block up the small window. Move the external door about 15 cm so we could put the washing machine and dish washer on either side of the sink. Then pay the utilities people to move the gas and electric meters to either outside or up high in the hall (it's also got the house circuit breaker and separate power supply for the OHs workshop).

Then put the fridge freezer in the middle of the back wall, put floor and wall cabinets on that wall, and put a breakfast bar/large work-surface where the fridge freezer currently is. 



everyone is saying getting rid of the stove is stupid and I know it's expensive to move the meters/utility supplies, but we've never used the stove in the 6 years we've lived here (I use countertop mini ovens as I have mobility issues and it's too low and heavy getting things in and out of the oven) 

we're not planning on ever selling this house, but even if we did, someone could remove that bit of counter and put a stove back in easily enough I would think?

Bendy_House

Stove? Do you mean there's currently an oven or cooker where you propose to put the FF?

Anyhoo, when you look at the layout you've drawn, does it look 'right' to you having a tall FF in the middle of a run?

On a wee note, that current rad is begging to be replaced by a tall column type, which will be both a practical and an aesthetic addition. Less sticky-outy than a conventional rad too, which might help the view as you come in that door.

If you place the FF in the correct/normal/expected/position at the end of the LH run, what if you set it back another 100mm away from the door? Ok then, 200mm? Final offer, 3...

Moving that ext doorway could be quite costly. An alternative could be to fit a cut-down (by 150mm) base unit at that end to avoid the door frame, perhaps make it an open shelf, wine rack, bin space, whatevs, and then to start the full depth run, say, 400mm from that wall. The worktop should be seamlessable (depending on type), and you then fit the W/M and D/W side-by-side to the left of the sink base.

Rosa_Damascena

Having the space interrupt the run of worktops is, ahem, highly unconventional.

Ajmason42

Have to say not convinced that is a good design. Why not have a high level oven with separate hob the f/f in the middle looks awkward.  Moving an external door 15cm I think would be far more costly than moving altering some plumbing. I would get some more kitchen layouts off another company if I was you. Plenty of u shaped ideas on the web if you do a search

Grumpy_chap

Who did the design?

If you visit local branches of the national DIY chains, they will do a design for you.  No harm in obtaining a few design ideas to give you guidance.

Slinky

We planned to move the bathroom door about 6 inches as part of a bigger project, a builder quoted £800 to do it, and that was just an internal door.

I'll be truthful, that f/f in the middle of the run looks very odd. It dominates the room.

Doozergirl

You're talking about spending thousands in building work to end with the most unconventional kitchen I've ever seen, especially given that you're deliberately designing it that way.  With respect, I think you're out of your depth and would really benefit from help 

There are kitchen options for people with disabilities.  30 years ago, we had lowered worktop and just space instead of units under the hob so my mum could get her legs under in a wheelchair.  The oven was also set raised at eye level for her and we even had a dishwasher that sat on the worktop.  

There are lots of solutions these days.  Howdens have accessible kitchens in their brochures, even.  

A no-brainer for me would be an induction hob and inbuilt eye level oven.  You need to know what is actually available to you rather than bodging something together like that.  

ariarnia

Thank you for the input... but why should i make space in the kitchen for something we have never used and will never use? 

twopenny

I can see your point about opening the door and seeing the side of a freezer. I have a similar conundrum.
Why can't you put a fridge and a freezer under the countertops? A lot cheaper than blocking off windows.
That takes away the problem, seamless worktop, keep your windows.
But it's what you really want and know suits your disability.
I was constantly told i couldn't have 500mm units and lowered as I'm only short, until I found a mfi worker with a hangover and too tired to argue. It worked fine.

ariarnia

that would be a solution and we did have an undercounter freezer for years. the problem is that this is a it's a miele 60x62 cm monster that's oversized for the space but my mil bought for us to be kind when we bought the house we had been renting for years... now we need to make it work or she'll get huffy and spending a few thousand to get someone to move a door is nothing on the mil when she's feeling rejected  

Doozergirl

It's your kitchen and you can do what you like with it but there will be better value, better looking and more useful options available.   You only mentioned that a large freestanding cooker isn't suitable for you, not why other options seem as bad to you. There are many different options available and they won't all involve movable objects being placed on worktops - making them hard to clean around and under, as well as being insecure.  

Your suggested building work and the sheer cost of it for that end result really defies logic.  You'd be thousands deep in the knock on effects of moving doors and meters before even looking at purchasing the kitchen units, which is fine if it provides the ideal kitchen, but the cost of moving things should be balanced by the value they provide.  Professionals are out there that can help you. You can't know what you don't know, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't find someone who does know what they're talking about to help you navigate something that is both ergonomic and attractive.  Even if you're desperate to continue cooking in the way you have been, the placement of that fridge freezer is totally bizarre. 

After 20 years of designing homes for all sorts of families with differing needs and expectations, I know for a fact that you can achieve something better than that and I believe it's borne from not having sufficient knowledge of the range of units available for the average kitchen, let alone those that need to be more accessible.