Critique my kitchen design

[Indy]

Just started the kitchen/utility design journey for the new place and happy to hear thoughts on how this could be improved. One change we're looking at straight away is to swap the sink hob even though I don't really want the sink so prominently visible from the living and dining room but it looks a little odd on the other side away from the oven/microwave. 

 

[shuff27]

Have you considered putting the hob on the island?  That works well for us & is more sociable - in your layout whoever is cooking faces the wall rather than other people in the room.

[Conor]

1. Hope it's just the rendering, but really do not go for a high gloss finish. 

2. Hob (induction, recirculating) in middle of island. Other wise what's the point of the island?

3. Go for side by side ovens at the correct level. What you have there is neither of them at an optimum level.

4. Do you need all the overhead units on the long run? At very least drop them where your sink will be. Always feels closed it and you will bang your head some day!

5.whats with the gap where the plates are? Looks like an ideal nook for an air fryer. One thing I miss in our kitchen.

[Bozza]

Agree about wall unit height above sink.

 

we have a similar size island (1800x1200) island without sink / hob.  It’s great for food prep etc but it aesthetically inevitable looks plain and difficult to “dress”.

 

I’ve attached a pic. 
 

with hindsight would have put the hob on the island.

 

 

 

 

[MikeSharp01]

Yes - hob on the island makes sense with a downdraft recirculating extractor so you don't clutter the ceiling.  I would also break up the pattern of lights in the ceiling - it looks like you are coming in to land at Heathrow as it stands perhaps use a 4 - 3 - 4 - 3 scheme with slightly wider angle bulbs in the 3 lamp groups.  

[Indy]

On 21/09/2024 at 08:47, Conor said:

1. Hope it's just the rendering, but really do not go for a high gloss finish. 

2. Hob (induction, recirculating) in middle of island. Other wise what's the point of the island?

3. Go for side by side ovens at the correct level. What you have there is neither of them at an optimum level.

4. Do you need all the overhead units on the long run? At very least drop them where your sink will be. Always feels closed it and you will bang your head some day!

5.whats with the gap where the plates are? Looks like an ideal nook for an air fryer. One thing I miss in our kitchen.

1. Yes - they’re not so glossy so it’s just the renders. They’re a Matt finish charcoal (idea being dark units and light worktop and light flooring)

2. Hmm… this is one thing we were a little insistent on - ie having a hob on the side rather in the middle of the island to keep the island clear. The idea being we want to use that as prep/staging and also a place for the kids to do their homework, so away from flame and spillages 

3. Good shout - I would like them side by side as well

4. Noted - will try a render with that gone over the sink and see what it looks like.

5. The idea is that it’s a breakfast bar with pull down shuttering. My thinking was air fryer on the side of that in the corner and the pull down unit would have things like a toaster, coffee maker and kettle - which can all be hidden away when you close the door to keep it clean.

 

[Indy]

On 21/09/2024 at 10:12, MikeSharp01 said:

Yes - hob on the island makes sense with a downdraft recirculating extractor so you don't clutter the ceiling.  I would also break up the pattern of lights in the ceiling - it looks like you are coming in to land at Heathrow as it stands perhaps use a 4 - 3 - 4 - 3 scheme with slightly wider angle bulbs in the 3 lamp groups.  

Lights are a placeholder from the designer and definitely not something I would have chosen. 
 

Will take the point onboard re hob on island but I’m still not fully convinced that not having a clean island isn’t the way to go? Surely it looks neater? 

[Conor]

1 minute ago, Indy said:

Lights are a placeholder from the designer and definitely not something I would have chosen. 
 

Will take the point onboard re hob on island but I’m still not fully convinced that not having a clean island isn’t the way to go? Surely it looks neater? 

 

Kitchens are to be worked and lived in, not looked at. A hob on an island, with a sink, and oven behind / adjacent is a great arrangement. We've had about 4 different kitchens over the years, this arrangement is by far the best.

 

Our induction hob is white, our worktop is white. Hardly notice it. Either way, don't get a gas hob.

[Thorfun]

 

here’s our kitchen. Contrary to the suggestions above we put the sink on the island and the induction against the wall. Works well for us!

 

we also love the ceiling led strip which replaces the need for down lights. 

[MikeSharp01]

7 hours ago, Thorfun said:

we also love the ceiling led strip which replaces the need for down lights. 

Is that two MVHR extracts in the light square? If so why two and not a single large one - is it catch air from different areas or is there another reason?

[Huckleberrys]

Hijacking this thread slightly...does that LED strip give off enough light? Was thinking of something similar.

[torre]

The pull down shutter unit cuts off the corner, makes it a bit unusable (hence the vases in the render maybe). Perhaps if needed put it in the right corner instead?

 

I've found with hindsight that side opening wall unit doors tend to get in the way when open, if have more lift up does next time. Bit of a mix of sizes on that wall. Island hob works well for us, very sociable.

Really like the waterfall island.

[Thorfun]

2 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Is that two MVHR extracts in the light square? If so why two and not a single large one - is it catch air from different areas or is there another reason?

Yes, 2 extracts. I’m not sure why they designed it that way sorry. 

[Thorfun]

2 hours ago, Huckleberrys said:

Hijacking this thread slightly...does that LED strip give off enough light? Was thinking of something similar.

It can do but we keep is slightly dimmed as we have other lights to compliment it. 
 

also I made a mistake and only ran a single cable for the led strip (which is 10m long) and so had to get a lower power strip as the current was too high for the driver in my home automation cabinet. 
 

if I’d run a second cable I could’ve used a higher power led strip which would’ve given off more light.
 

Hope that makes sense.  

[ProDave]

This corner is just horrible

 

 

continue the wall units round and ditch that upright cutting across the worktop.

 

Another vote for hob in the island in our case directly backing onto the sink.  I don't subscribe to the "island is the place for homework" thought, no it is part of a kitchen for food preparation, and the seating bit of it for a short break looking out over the view.

[Originaltwist]

@Thorfun I love your kitchen picture - the close coupled triangle of hob,sink,fridge is perfect. I'd advocate having the dishwasher next to the sink in the island so you get lots of landing space for the dirties and can rinse quickly before stacking. Mine is similar but looks rather cluttered by comparison. The pan hooks above the sink were good in practice as they could be hung up to drip and not take up the drying rack.

I love the lights too, is that easy to do?

 

[Mr Blobby]

On 21/09/2024 at 08:47, Conor said:

Looks like an ideal nook for an air fryer. One thing I miss in our kitchen.

 

Sorry to hijack this a bit... @Conor, Do you mean an integrated air fryer?

We are thinking of dropping our planned combi microwave/air fryer for simpler stand-alone units on the worktop in the pantry.

 

... I agree with other comments on here, hob on island, sink behind is a good layout.

Edited Monday at 10:39 by Mr Blobby

[Conor]

2 minutes ago, Mr Blobby said:

 

Sorry to hijack this a bit... @Conor, Do you mean an integrated air fryer?

We are thinking of dropping our planned combi microwave/air fryer for simpler stand-alone units on the worktop in the pantry.

 

... I agree with other comments on here, hob on island, sink behind is a good layout.

No, just meant a space for a countertop airfryer. I think we'll remove our second oven and set the airfryer there instead of on the island. Really no need for two ovens! We have our microwave in the pantry / utility and works out well. 

[Mr Blobby]

5 minutes ago, Conor said:

I think we'll remove our second oven and set the airfryer there instead of on the island. Really no need for two ovens!

 

Our thoughts exactly. 

The world has changed since we did our original kitchen design with two integrated ovens.

Counter-top air fryer and microwave just seems to make more sense for us now.

 

[Conor]

26 minutes ago, Conor said:

No, just meant a space for a countertop airfryer. I think we'll remove our second oven and set the airfryer there instead of on the island. Really no need for two ovens! We have our microwave in the pantry / utility and works out well. 

 

15 minutes ago, Mr Blobby said:

 

Our thoughts exactly. 

The world has changed since we did our original kitchen design with two integrated ovens.

Counter-top air fryer and microwave just seems to make more sense for us now.

 

since this has been posted, my partner has moved the air fryer from the island and in to one of the larder units (has worktop in it) and relegated the coffee maker to the utility.  See how it goes. 

[Thorfun]

1 hour ago, Originaltwist said:

@Thorfun I love your kitchen picture - the close coupled triangle of hob,sink,fridge is perfect. I'd advocate having the dishwasher next to the sink in the island so you get lots of landing space for the dirties and can rinse quickly before stacking. Mine is similar but looks rather cluttered by comparison. The pan hooks above the sink were good in practice as they could be hung up to drip and not take up the drying rack.

I love the lights too, is that easy to do?

Thanks. Our dishwasher is next to the sink. 
 

the light were relatively easy to do but trying to mark the position on the ceiling before the kitchen was in was tricky as we wanted the island central to the lights. Probably took us longer to mark out than to actually fit the channels! They’re plastered in so completely flat to the ceiling. 

[peekay]

@Originaltwist is that a copper worktop?

 

Mind me asking who supplied it, as we've had a couple of quotes and it may be someone we've missed. 

 

Happy with it? We expect it to tarnish, mark and dent, but quite like the idea of it on our island gaining some character in what will be an otherwise quite modern ply kitchen.

[Originaltwist]

No sorry - it's solid chestnut with an inlaid stainless sink. I prefer wood for worktops as you don't have to look after it much and it is kinder to wine glasses at the end of the evening.

[Benpointer]

Next kitchen we do will be a replica layout to our current one because, not wishing to boast, but I think we have got it perfect: 

 

Island with flush induction hob.  Two single wall ovens with a warming drawer & microwave in the unit between them.  Dishwasher next to the sink. No above worktop wall units.  Granite worktops. Pull-out drawers in every unit, no cupboards.  Solid acrylic doors - high-gloss and virtually bullet-proof.

 

Oh, and the island unit is table height, not worktop height - makes it much easier to see into the cooking pans (we've no small children around, mind).  

 

Sorry but that lot can't be bettered imho.

Edited Tuesday at 12:38 by Benpointer

[Iceverge]

10 minutes ago, Benpointer said:

Next kitchen we do will be a replica layout to our current one because, not wishing to boast, but I think we have got it perfect: 

 

Island with flush induction hob.  Two single wall ovens with a warming drawer & microwave in the unit between them.  Dishwasher next to the sink. No above worktop wall units.  Granite worktops. Pull-out drawers in every unit, no cupboards.  Solid acrylic doors - high-gloss and virtually bullet-proof.

 

Oh, and the island unit is table height, not worktop height - makes it much easier to see into the cooking pans (we've no small children around, mind).  

 

Sorry but that lot can't be bettered imho.

 

Any pics? 

 

What do you do with any corners of the kitchen? As shown above they can quickly just get cluttered and unused.