Critique my kitchen design

[deancatherine09]

6 minutes ago, Temp said:

John Lewis sell a double dishwasher in a single unit. So you can take plates from one, use them and put them in the other. Probably ok for a single person in a small kitchen? Kids wont remember which is the clean/dirty half.

 

https://www.johnlewis.com/fisher-paykel-double-dishdrawer-built-in-dishwasher/p3096098

 

We've always had a F&P double drawer dishwasher and love them. For us (a couple), they are excellent as you only have half the space to fill and so it means we are not running a half empty dishwasher. It also saves a lot of bending when loading / unloading the top drawer (which is the one we use most often).

 

We got ours several years ago and paid £800 in the sale.

[AliG]

TBF it probably works for a couple, he had three kids so ended up having to run both drawers all the time.

[markc]

I like the idea of two dish washers, saves moving stuff into a cupboard,.. energy saving

[jayc89]

24 minutes ago, AliG said:

I really do think the chairs and front of the island are too close to the door. When you swing the door open it is only 50cm from the back of the chairs. If someone was sitting there you couldn't get into the sitting area.

 

I would take that 1200mm cupboard out from under the island making it 1050mm wide I think. Looks like the 600m wide cupboard is 460mm deep. I'd even go to 900mm wide with a 300mm deep cupboard.

 

This also means that the 600mm cupboard under the island will be flush with the edge and not tucked back under the worktop which will be very awkward.

 

Are you thinking something like this?

 

I'm wondering whether an island is just a no go and we should be looking at a peninsular instead. 

[Kelvin]

Islands are fine if you have the circulation space around them otherwise they are an inefficient use of the space so a peninsular layout might make more sense for you. It’d make the kitchen feel bigger too as you wouldn’t feel you’re walking around the island to get from one side to the other. It also means the cook is facing into the room. 
 

We originally planned two dishwashers with two sinks until we removed the back wall of cupboards and everything moved to the island. Our island is relatively big though. 
 

I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll repeat it. Blum have an office in MK that has a test kitchen in it. All the units are on wheels so you can mock up your layout and see how it works. Handy if you live near enough to MK. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Kelvin

[joe90]

19 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

Islands are fine if you have the circulation space around them otherwise they are an inefficient use of the space so a peninsular layout might make more sense for you.

With my build, despite having the room you have I went with a peninsular and think it works better 🤷‍♂️

Edited November 15, 2023 by joe90

[Bozza]

@jayc89  attached pic of my DIY kitchen, similar room dimensions, and also in dove grey but with darker island.  For comparison reasons.

 

We have 1.4m between units and island and that works perfectly.  Also have boiling tap.    Keeping the island clear of sink/hob has worked perfectly for us.  
 

only thing I’d change would be to have a short run of matching wall units off the corner larder unit, to take the extractor.  as opposed to what I put in, which matches the darker island.

 

we have plenty of storage in this design.  The corner larder is amazing and the pan drawers the other side of the island take all the crockery etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AliG]

33 minutes ago, jayc89 said:

 

Are you thinking something like this?

 

I'm wondering whether an island is just a no go and we should be looking at a peninsular instead. 

Yes with the worktop just 900mm

wide.

 

I do think people push to have an island no matter what, especially when they have a large room as you do.

 

You just have to be careful you’re not packing too much in. They use space quite inefficiently.

 

I didn’t push for a peninsula as it requires a bigger redesign. But if you want to you might want to play around with it.

 

You could incorporate a peninsula from where the wine rack is shown. It could be over 2m long with the hob on the kitchen side and stools on the living area side and would leave a lot more space as you come into the room. But it would require redesigning the oven/fridge area 

[jayc89]

6 minutes ago, AliG said:

Yes with the worktop just 900mm

wide.

 

I do think people push to have an island no matter what, especially when they have a large room as you do.

 

You just have to be careful you’re not packing too much in. They use space quite inefficiently.

 

I didn’t push for a peninsula as it requires a bigger redesign. But if you want to you might want to play around with it.

 

You could incorporate a peninsula from where the wine rack is shown. It could be over 2m long with the hob on the kitchen side and stools on the living area side and would leave a lot more space as you come into the room. But it would require redesigning the oven/fridge area 

Still a bit rough around the edges, but something like this

 

 

[AliG]

That was fast!

 

I wouldn't have a chair with its back to the door. I would have a flat end to the island and there should be room for four chairs in a line if you want four, make the peninsula 2.4m from the jutting out wall, so the length of the worktop shown. TBF it would work space wise, I just think it looks untidy and it is in the way of the flow between both sides of the room and through the door. The trouble is that people will not always push the chair back under and it will stick out a lot when someone sits there. It looks fine when it is pushed under in the picture.

 

Do you have cupboards facing the chairs for a specific reason, they have been in every design? I would make the peninsula 900mm wide and lose the cupboards facing the living area. They will be a real pain to use with chairs in front of them and you'd have to duck under the worktop. If there is no hob there, 1200m width in unnecessary.

 

It might be an idea to decide where the furniture goes in the sitting area to make sure it works with whatever kitchen design you end up with.

 

[Kelvin]

Agree with AliG on the cupboards. You seem to be obsessed with them. 😂 You have loads already. The likelihood of you using everything in them is pretty small in reality. By removing them from under the peninsula you create the illusion of more space. 

[jayc89]

Probably my OCD, was trying to find somewhere for some drawers for cutlery etc without a mismatch of highline and drawer line units on the same wall.

 

Latest revision;

 

 

 

Stools look a bit snug. 

 

[jayc89]

Also might need to swap the hinges on the internal door - not sure where I could put the light switches otherwise. 

[Kelvin]

Do you really need four stools? We only have two. Depends on your family and how you’ll use the seating area of course. There will mostly just be two of us in our house so two stools work. We do entertain a fair bit so guests on the stools as we cook. Then move to the dining table which is in the same room. More than two guests then they’ll be sitting around the dining table or in the open plan living room. 

[AliG]

I think that looks so much better.

 

32 minutes ago, jayc89 said:

Stools look a bit snug.

 Four stools in 2.5 m should be fine. It might just be a trick of the 3d render. You only had three on the island so I would stick with three unless you need four. If you never need four I’d maybe lose 1-200mm off the peninsula

[Iceverge]

2 dishwashers for us. Would certainly recommend. Maybe it'd be easier to remember which one was clean if they weren't beside each other.

 

We have no islands, peninsula's. Just a kitchen table.

 

We do have a chaos corner in front of the hob by the kettle where we constantly bash into each other mind you. Not sure that can be avoided.

 

 

 

[Iceverge]

 

Thats ours just before we moved in. 

 

from the left, 

 

Here's a 2.5 year report. 

 

1. tall sweeping brush cupboard. ( full of crap)

2. fridge and wine(cordial) rack. works well

3. 800mm pantry cupboard. about 60/40 split of useful food storage/full of crap. 

4. double oven. top half used once a year. microwave, very good.

5. wide cutlery drawer. works well. other two full of crap. "Mrs Cupboard" on top. Full of crap. 

6. 400mm cupboard, works fine. 

7.  600mm induction hob in corner, very pleased, drawers for utinsels and pans work well. Extractor fan mounted on MDF diagonal across the corner makes a drumming racket. Not Ideal.

8. 300mm cupboard full of crap. Shelves for tea and coffee above, super useful.

9. 600mm pull out bin, very good.

10. Ikea 2 bowl and drainer SS sink. Very pleased.

11. 800mm under sink cupboard. contains shoe polish, bulbs and various crap.

12. Integrated Dishwasher.

13. Integrated Dishwasher. Above one cupboard full of crap and two for dishes and cups.

14. 400mm cupboard in the corner. Full of crap.

 

We have too many cupboards and the compulsion is just to fill them.

Free standing dishwashers would be better in my opinion. I had some issues with the integrated door on one not closing properly and had to dismantle the kitchen somewhat to fix it.

Double oven is a waste for us.

A boiler tap would have been nice I think.

An extractor with the fan at the far end of a very long duct would be much quieter.  

We used a Laminate worktop. Quite Pleased with it. 

600mm cupboards are too deep. The back of them is too deep to access properly. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pocster]

2 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

 

Thats ours just before we moved in. 

 

from the left, 

 

Here's a 2.5 year report. 

 

1. tall sweeping brush cupboard. ( full of crap)

2. fridge and wine(cordial) rack. works well

3. 800mm pantry cupboard. about 60/40 split of useful food storage/full of crap. 

4. double oven. top half used once a year. microwave, very good.

5. wide cutlery drawer. works well. other two full of crap. "Mrs Cupboard" on top. Full of crap. 

6. 400mm cupboard, works fine. 

7.  600mm induction hob in corner, very pleased, drawers for utinsels and pans work well. Extractor fan mounted on MDF diagonal across the corner makes a drumming racket. Not Ideal.

8. 300mm cupboard full of crap. Shelves for tea and coffee above, super useful.

9. 600mm pull out bin, very good.

10. Ikea 2 bowl and drainer SS sink. Very pleased.

11. 800mm under sink cupboard. contains shoe polish, bulbs and various crap.

12. Integrated Dishwasher.

13. Integrated Dishwasher. Above one cupboard full of crap and two for dishes and cups.

14. 400mm cupboard in the corner. Full of crap.

 

We have too many cupboards and the compulsion is just to fill them.

Free standing dishwashers would be better in my opinion. I had some issues with the integrated door on one not closing properly and had to dismantle the kitchen somewhat to fix it.

Double oven is a waste for us.

A boiler tap would have been nice I think.

An extractor with the fan at the far end of a very long duct would be much quieter.  

We used a Laminate worktop. Quite Pleased with it. 

600mm cupboards are too deep. The back of them is too deep to access properly. 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve got 30 boxes of “ kitchen stuff” that has been packed away for now 7 years . Or “ crap “ as you technically call it . SWMBO is adamant it’s all necessary. I’ve thrown a few bits out over the years - but it’s hard to make 30 boxes vanish unnoticed. Once the kitchen is complete I assume some will migrate from “ box of crap “ to “ cabinet of crap “ - much like yours 🫤

[AliG]

My parents moved to a flat which had a very small number of kitchen cupboards. They ended up throwing away half of what had been in their old kitchen and it all fitted.

 

In their new place they have far more cupboards which enables them to keep empty boxes and so on that they will never need.

 

This whole trend for pantries that you see on social media. I don't have anywhere near that much food in the kitchen and if I did stuff would just end up constantly going off before it got used.

 

Kitchen companies must be sponsoring influencers to persuade people to buy far more kitchen than they need. Never ending videos of look at my kitchen. They always look like they have way more cupboards than necessary.

[crispy_wafer]

14 hours ago, joe90 said:

With my build, despite having the room you have I went with a peninsular and think it works better 🤷‍♂️

Now that's why I advocate looking at what others have done!  I love what you've done with the cooker position.  You see I have windows on two walls too and pretty much discounted positioning the cooker anywhere but on a flat wall.  You placed in a corner and I think that works quite well!  Thanks @joe90 for posting that!  I'm going to send this to the boss and send her brain into a tailspin!

[crispy_wafer]

@jayc89  Don't forget about extraction, or a recirc jobbie and position if you need it.

[joe90]

36 minutes ago, crispy_wafer said:

I love what you've done with the cooker position. 

Yes it works very well, I hate corners in kitchens with cupboards you can’t get into. It’s just timber framing and plasterboard, took a lot of working out to end up with the cooker fit with the worktop cut at 45’. That cooker hood is re a circulation one but easy to make direct outside. It also gave a great place to route water pipes etc up to the next floor 👍

[jayc89]

Funnily, my parents recently did the same with their hob (45 angle) and say they hate it. Takes up too much room etc. To be fair, I can see their point, their kitchen is a reasonable size; probably 4x3 and that unit just looks overbearing in it - can certainly see it looking better in a larger space. 

[joe90]

3 minutes ago, jayc89 said:

can certainly see it looking better in a larger space. 

+1, my kitchen was similar in size to @crispy_wafer

[Kelvin]

The only issue with the cooker like that is that in an open plan kitchen the cook’s back is to the congregation. Most of the time this is fine but when you have guests round it’s a pia. Less of a problem when the kitchen is an obvious separate room and the cook is shut away anyway.