Move kitchen or improve existing?

ChasingtheWelshdream

Hi all,

We have reached a point where we either need to finish our existing kitchen, or I am quite taken with the idea of moving it.

It is currently very dark and has barely any units and little workspace. The room I am thinking of moving it to is beautifully sunny leading to the garden with French doors. At the moment this is a dining/sitting/corridor and we struggle to find a decent layout with the furniture.

I'm thinking of swapping them round, so the current kitchen becomes a dining/snug area instead.

The 'back room' - as it is inventively called - has drains and services the other side of the utility room wall, so that is quite easy to connect into. We would need a new electric circuit but otherwise I don't think it would be too much hassle.

So I'm just after opinions. Whether it would improve the general downstairs layout or the gains are not enough? Excuse my very rough scribbles!  

Current:


Proposed:

ka7e

It looks a much nicer position for a kitchen, but get some graph paper and draw the units and island/table to scale. The room is 3.72 wide and if you allow 3 x 60cm for the depth of the cupboards and an island it leaves you a smidge under 1m either side. Factor in allowing space to open cupboards and oven doors and the size of chairs or stools and it might be a bit cramped.

You can use wall cabinets as base units on the right hand side, but that only gives you an extra 30cm and limits the sorts of things that can be stored.

I wouldn't bother making another opening into the new kitchen unless you can fit a pocket door it will just obstruct the cabinets behind it.

FreeBear

ka7e said: You can use wall cabinets as base units on the right hand side, but that only gives you an extra 30cm and limits the sorts of things that can be stored.

Had slim line (another name for wall units used as base units) in my old kitchen. Useful storage space, but the worktop was never wide enough to do "stuff" on, so it ended up as a dumping ground for tat.

New kitchen uses full depth base units and I've not used any wall units - This helps to make the space much bigger and the reduced cupboard space reduces the tendency to hoard stuff.

As for the proposed door, either go for a pocket or have it open out in to the hallway - Opening in to the kitchen means losing counter space when the door is open. And if someone is working in that area when the door is flung open, it could result in an injury.

Emmia

I see you've got a sitting room at the front, do you need a "snug area" too? 

I'd move the kitchen to the rear, and have a table / dining area in the snug area instead, lose the middle island or make it shorter and have base units around the edge of the kitchen

housebuyer143

I would be inclined to knock the utility into the kitchen at the same time? 

ChasingtheWelshdream

Emmia said:

I see you've got a sitting room at the front, do you need a "snug area" too? 

I'd move the kitchen to the rear, and have a table / dining area in the snug area instead, lose the middle island or make it shorter and have base units around the edge of the kitchen

Yes, second snug is required to escape the kids and TV! :-D It only needs a sofa for a reading corner though. Before we knocked through to the back, the dining table was in there so I think there would be enough room for both.

housebuyer143 said:

I would be inclined to knock the utility into the kitchen at the same time? 

That can't happen for a couple of reasons (structural, major work/money and I love my utility). It has crossed my mind in the past though. Ideally I would swing relocate the utility round to the north side of the kitchen and have it opening into the hallway but the cost doesn't justify it.

Thanks all. I should add that the cupboards on the right hand side of the back room are already there as built-in alcove cupboard/shelves and could easily be converted into a couple of dressers rather than work-space. The blocked up door is still actually there too (well, the door is in the hallway and the opening only covered with plasterboard as we never got around to finishing it) My husband didn't want it blocked up in the first place as it let a lot of light into the hallway. I wondered if reinstating it would provide a more direct route to the garden if an island wasn't actually central in the room, and then maybe lose the current kitchen door to give more wall space?


There is a lot of thinking and planning to do, but I think it could be on a comparable cost to finishing off the existing kitchen. And doesn't sound a too stupid an idea, if planned properly then.

(Off to browse Howden's brochure that was delivered this morning.....)

jennifernil

I was going to suggest a wall of shallower full height cupboards, we have that and it gives fantastic storage space, plus the shallower units mean no searching for stuff at the back of a deep cupboard.  That would leave you a bit more space for some sort of island unit.    We have a slim one, about 500 mm deep, on wheels that we can move around or remove completely if necessary.

The space in the middle of our kitchen is a little too big to waste, but too small for a decent island, my OH made a "trolley" to a suitable size and it is in constant use.  It has a large cupboard in it plus a couple of open shelves.  No space to sit at it, but we have a table not so far away so that is not a problem.