Last minute kitchen rethink

[CalvinHobbes]

Hello, son and partner were home and told us we were mad to put oven under hob, we should raise it to counter level and put in a built in microwave on top. We are getting a sinarp kitchen from Ikea but because we have a utility room intended not having any top cupboards and just decided on 3 drawers to keep it sleeker since its open plan.

The only problem is now son thinks we should raise the oven after seeing the other grandparents struggling with their kitchen. So yes we can do it just not sure where best? We even considered just putting it into the utility room. Problem is I would need to get the wire run on Monday because the plasterer is coming in and can't get a quick enough appt with ikea. 

I was thinking another option would be to put it where the fridge is going but then what about the fridge? Maybe our bosch fridge freezer could sit in the utility room? The utility room door is nearest the sink.

 

Edited August 24 by CalvinHobbes

[Dave Jones]

bending down for an oven is bad design

[G and J]

My oven is likely to go below worktop.  It’s not used that much and it’s not that hard to use in that position, and I am someone who’s knees are such that I have issues getting into the back of our under counter fridge. 
 

I think oven cleaning is harder when the oven is below worktop - but one could always use an oven cleaning company or get a self cleaning oven or both. 
 

My microwave will be a standard one in a cupboard.  Cheaper and easier to replace, not in show and I like hidden, and when I’ve talked to sales peeps they’ve been cagey about whether a combined oven/microwave is as good as a simple stand alone microwave.  

[ProDave]

What is to the left of the picture?  the obvious suggestion is extend the units under the window a little and have a tall unit just left of the window matching  the fridge one, housing an oven and microwave.

[Conor]

Deffo eye level oven. Under counter is a thing of the past. Btw your kitchen design is lacking storage. I understand your philosophy but you could make much better use of the space. I'd replace the three units where the hob is to full height, one with built in oven, another microwave and third storage. And put hob on the island and lose the overhead extractor. And extend the run down to the end of the second window, put the sink in the middle.

 

Finally... We hardly use our oven these days, 90% air fryer. I'd have provision for one somewhere that's not in the way.

Edited August 24 by Conor

[ProDave]

We like the hob on the island right across from the sink.  We have an Island cooker hood, more for show that practical use.

 

Rounded corners on the island worktop, to matching rounded cupboards can be expensive.

[G and J]

2 hours ago, Conor said:

air fryer

Tuck, our air fryer, has proven itself invaluable, but like his fictional namesake he is a wedgie one so takes up a lot of space in me pantry.

 

So I’m going for a combined fan oven/air fryer.  Methinks all an air fryer is is a powerful fan and a nicely powerful heating element.  

[SteamyTea]

48 minutes ago, G and J said:

Methinks all an air fryer is is a powerful fan and a nicely powerful heating element.  

That is right.  Used to be called Pizza ovens.

 

(there is a load of shit spoken about kitchen equipment, easy to keep clean should be the overriding criteria)

[Eric]

I would fit tall units in the space instead of the unit’s & worktop, should get 3 of them there.

Eye level oven, fridge & freezer built in & loads of storage. Downdraught hob on the island.

 

The other units will go up to the utility room wall & will look better without the fridge there.

[CalvinHobbes]

6 hours ago, ProDave said:

What is to the left of the picture?  the obvious suggestion is extend the units under the window a little and have a tall unit just left of the window matching  the fridge one, housing an oven and microwave.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Not long back from work brilliant ideas thanks so much. Will get hwmbno to redo it, much appreciated. Already contacted spark who is a friend and cool too. Cheers. 

[ETC]

Between the windows.

[MikeSharp01]

16 hours ago, CalvinHobbes said:

The only problem is now son thinks we should raise the oven after seeing the other grandparents struggling with their kitchen.

We have thought about this one a lot - as we approach more advanced years, not so much for the ovens but for the fridge, we have no high units, other than one place in a wall for the ovens - maybe you could do that, in the kitchen only the utility. We have looked at the under counter pull out fridges - EG the Liebherr UIKO1560 which should make access easier and then have a fridge freezer in the utility room for deeper stock!

 

PS - BUT before you take aboard your sons advice ask yourself how often they took aboard any of yours.

Edited August 25 by MikeSharp01
PS

[ProDave]

Having seen the plan, I would move the door to the utility room to the entrance hall then completely re jig that end of the kitchen.  Having the utility room door in that corner of the kitchen really messes the layout up.

[JohnMo]

Sorry to be blunt, that kitchen looks boring. Get yourself to a decent kitchen designer. It's in the living space, you need to think of it as furniture.

 

Things I don't like, kitchen units finishing part way across a window, looks naff. The area where the hob is really needs to be tall units, and incorporate your oven, microwave etc in there. 

 

Your fridge in a different colour looks odd. Assume it's a stand alone, not integrated?

[Kelvin]

I’ve posted this before but worth repeating. We went to Blum’s HQ in Milton Keynes. They have a facility where you can lay your kitchen out using movable units to give you an idea how it might work. They also have weighted age suits that simulate what it might be like as you get older and find it increasingly hard to bend and move. Consequently we have very few cupboards in our kitchen everything at just above waist height is drawers. This did add a lot of cost to the kitchen but it was a good decision as everything is very accessible and useable. Having the ovens higher up also makes cleaning them really easy. I’d also make sure the ovens have some form of self-cleaning option. Ours are steam cleaners which works really well. Our island also only has drawers and I went to town with the Blum organisation accessories for the drawer units. These aren’t cheap and there are cheaper ways to do it but our drawer units are Blum so all the accessories are sized correctly. However, it’s worth putting some thought into all that too. If ever a room needed a place for everything and everything in its place it’s a kitchen. 
 

The consequence of all that is our kitchen is great to cook and entertain in. We had a family party last weekend so had 16 people in the house so was a proper test of how well the kitchen works. 
 

As far as your kitchen is concerned. Others have said it. I’d use the alcove space where the oven is for tall cabinets with two ovens or an oven and oven/microwave combo. Relocate the hob to the island. Integrate the fridge rather than stand alone. Extend the units beyond the window. Not sure if the colour in the render is the actual colour. It’s a bit dark. Also consider mixing up the colour scheme. The tall cabinets could be one colour and everything else different or the island could be a different colour. As @JohnMo says it becomes furniture in an open plan space. 

Edited August 25 by Kelvin

[Dave Jones]

cupboards below counter height are fine with pull outs and cab be more accessible than drawers.

 

The main issue for op is there isnt enough room to make it nice with the open layout and everything crammed into a corner with a door messing it up. put up an irregular stud wall to separate the lounge gives a lot more feature space to work with and keeps the stink and noise out the living room and lose the separate utility completely.

Edited August 25 by Dave Jones

[Tetrarch]

It's a great idea to think ahead and I would concur with the previous comments about a low oven being a poor choice. I would also suggest that drawers are very much more accesible that cupboards below the worktop, though considerably more expensive 

 

Have you considered putting the hob on the island (a downdraft recirculating one) and making the units where the hob currenty is three tall units Fridge/Oven+Microwave/Freezer?

 

This would remove the unsightly and discordant fridge/freezer from its current location and give you some space to the right of the sink

 

Regards

 

Tet

Edited August 25 by Tetrarch

[Kelvin]

5 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

cupboards below counter height are fine with pull outs and cab be more accessible than drawers.

 

 

Yes it’s what our tall cabinets are. Cupboard doors with low profile glass fronted pull outs. 

[G and J]

To @CalvinHobbes  The utility room will, I presume intentionally, function as an airlock and a boot room.  Yes it’s a use of space but if that’s valuable to you and you are happy with the resultant layout then that’s cool.  
 

It’s always a brave move asking for a critique of your design, but don’t take it to heart. 

[Kelvin]

Just to reiterate the point about the kitchen units being furniture in a living space. It was something we realised very early on but only after we visited another Heb Home similar to ours. The kitchen was awful as everything was greyish or white shiny laminated units so consequently it reflected everything else in the room. They’d also integrated the dining table with the island with the table being stepped down. It looked quite nice but it was an irregular shape so the dining table could seat two one side, three the other and one at the only end. The owner owned a kitchen design company too. 

[dpmiller]

gonna throw an alternate viewpoint re. accessibility. How well do high-level ovens and microwaves do if wheelchair-bound?

[CalvinHobbes]

Would this fit in an island? Looking at the recirculatory rather than ducting. Seems a lot better price wise than neff although neff has a better duct shape. Was going to put a dishwasher in the island too and more drawers

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/eiq80indd/electriq-eiq80indd--4-induction-hob-hob?refsource=apadwords&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=21235198742&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrKu2BhDkARIsAD7GBotRrXpYZHbCvi9v8XvbVPl9fLuGyYn8gRVsiOC5_969tfBVYTq88rUaAjRGEALw_wcB

 

[Kelvin]

30 minutes ago, dpmiller said:

gonna throw an alternate viewpoint re. accessibility. How well do high-level ovens and microwaves do if wheelchair-bound?

You’d design the entire kitchen differently for wheelchair access. There are lots of options available nowadays for wheelchair users plus wheelchairs with adjustable seat heights. 

[dpmiller]

doesn't help if you find yourself in a chair at short notice. BTDT...