Critique my kitchen design

[Iceverge]

 

 

We put the hob in the corner. It works well apart from the extractor fan being mounted on the MDF backing makes an awful racket. 

[peekay]

1 hour ago, Benpointer said:

 

Island with flush induction hob.  

 

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).  

 

In many years of visiting houses and looking at them on Rightmove, the only time I've ever seen this is in a home that had been adapted for a family with some mobility issues. Even then the hob was on a height adjustable mechanism for those family members that didn't need it lowered.

 

Do you have a photo?

[Benpointer]

5 hours ago, peekay said:

In many years of visiting houses and looking at them on Rightmove, the only time I've ever seen this is in a home that had been adapted for a family with some mobility issues. Even then the hob was on a height adjustable mechanism for those family members that didn't need it lowered.

 

Do you have a photo?

[peekay]

 

1 hour ago, Benpointer said:

Thanks. Unusual, but I like it. 

 

I've also recently seen someone mount a dishwasher at a higher level so that you don't need to bend down to load/unload it. 

[Benpointer]

5 minutes ago, peekay said:

 

Thanks. Unusual, but I like it. 

 

I've also recently seen someone mount a dishwasher at a higher level so that you don't need to bend down to load/unload it. 

In a similar vein, in the far corner by the pantry door is a 900mm two-drawer fridge.  By Hotpoint but I think they've sadly stopped making them.  

 

Only Fisher & Paykel (££££) and Liebherr sell integrated drawer fridges now I believe.  We will definitely look to have one again though as it's so much easier to access than the standard cupboard fridge.  Can't think why they are not standard tbh.

[peekay]

11 hours ago, Benpointer said:

In a similar vein, in the far corner by the pantry door is a 900mm two-drawer fridge.  By Hotpoint but I think they've sadly stopped making them.  

 

Only Fisher & Paykel (££££) and Liebherr sell integrated drawer fridges now I believe.  We will definitely look to have one again though as it's so much easier to access than the standard cupboard fridge.  Can't think why they are not standard tbh.

We have designed one of the Liebherr ones in to our kitchen as a drinks fridge (in addition to a standard tall larder fridge).

 

Having stayed at a friend's house where they had one filled with cans and bottles it seemed much more practical than sliding cans around a shelf on a normal fridge.

 

They are about £950 though, so we'll have a blanking panel over the space that it will go in for a while.

[Dave Jones]

the only dishwaser to look at is the fisher paykel double draw. game changer.

 

another vote for hob on island, neff do a very nice hob and separate pop up extractor. £££££ but worth it, we wouldnt be without them now.

[Benpointer]

5 hours ago, Dave Jones said:

the only dishwaser to look at is the fisher paykel double draw. game changer.

 

another vote for hob on island, neff do a very nice hob and separate pop up extractor. £££££ but worth it, we wouldnt be without them now.

I like the idea of the F&P double drawer diswasher.  One question though: when you pull the drawer out, doesn't the washed crockery drip on the floor?  There's always something that's not totally dry.

[peekay]

7 minutes ago, Benpointer said:

I like the idea of the F&P double drawer diswasher.  One question though: when you pull the drawer out, doesn't the washed crockery drip on the floor?  There's always something that's not totally dry.

When I looked at these a couple of years ago, I understood that they are in effect two small dishwashers rather than a single split dishwasher. I thought that felt like a lot of doubling both the risk and consequences of it breaking. 

 

I'm toying with the idea of having two full sized dishwashers in our kitchen. We have a space either side of the sink that would suit it, just struggling to justify the expense at the moment, so we might just save the space for the second.

[Benpointer]

8 minutes ago, peekay said:

When I looked at these a couple of years ago, I understood that they are in effect two small dishwashers rather than a single split dishwasher. I thought that felt like a lot of doubling both the risk and consequences of it breaking. 

 

I'm toying with the idea of having two full sized dishwashers in our kitchen. We have a space either side of the sink that would suit it, just struggling to justify the expense at the moment, so we might just save the space for the second.

Pretty happy with our 15yo Bosch d/w tbh and suspect we'll veer towards another when we build our new kitchen.  We chose it because it's very quiet and, as is common these days our kitchen/diner is our main living space.

[Adsibob]

On 23/09/2024 at 08:05, torre said:

The pull down shutter unit cuts off the corner, makes it a bit unusable

I agree, that was going to be my main revision.

[Gus Potter]

Here is part of my structural work and my wifes interior stuff.. we have yet to finish it off. This is an ex council house that we have extended in East Kilbride. The photo below is taken from my old phone so take it as it is.

 

Key points we resolved.

 

The hob is in the island. The grill in the ceiling is connected to a 125mm duct and the extraction unit fan is mounted outside in the external soffit. The fan I robbed from a Client that was chucking away an old kitchen extractor.. and delivers 600m^3 extraction.. is sucks like a devil and is pretty quite. The two pendant lights you see over the hob will set you back £ 500 plus.. but when offset with a standard extraction unit the lights were a bargin.

 

What you see is part of an open plan space. I started out as a builder.. then became an SE and evolved into a "desinger". The challenge for me is to marry good practical design with good cost effective engineering at an affordable cost and do something special! 

 

Now over the last couple of decades I've seen folk wanting these massive open plan spaces as these have been all the rage.  But for most families with two kids and a dog they are not that great. Kids and so on want much more pricacy for example.. our work patterns are changing. Our house is designed so that the social spaces are clearly defined. We have opted for other spaces that allow us to work from home, have a space that is entirely different. It's not for all but it is worth a think about.

 

 

 

Here is a diferent view. The wall cabinets at the far end are from the 70's and sit off the floor.. The dining table is rosewood with space for 12 when extended.. the chairs contemporary. While the interior design may not be to your taste some key features are the shadow gaps in the vaulted ceilings. I set them myself and did the plastering but it allows us to easily change the decor in a weekend.

 

You'll notice some boxes in the ceiling.. there are some pretty big steels hidden there.. but we accepeted that and use the boxing in of the steels to define the different spaces all be it open plan.

On 20/09/2024 at 22:38, Indy said:

Just started the kitchen/utility design journey for the new place and happy to hear thoughts on how this could be improved.

Pick a kitchen that is not going to go out of fashion. Mine can be easily changed! Gray is not a good investment. If you look at my photos it may give the dry heaves! but think.. how easily could Gus strip that down and totally change the theme in two weekends.. and that is why I do this as a day job and you could be left with a crap gray kitchen!

[Dave Jones]

10 hours ago, Benpointer said:

I like the idea of the F&P double drawer diswasher.  One question though: when you pull the drawer out, doesn't the washed crockery drip on the floor?  There's always something that's not totally dry.

 

no its a sealed unit that you feed from the top. 

 

They also do chiller drawers exactly the same design.

 

Brilliant warranty from them as well.

 

[Indy]

I'm loving all these ideas - the pull out drinks fridge and the double drawer dishwasher are now on the list of things I need but can't afford! Please keep them coming so I can fantasize even more...

 

Have taken a note of all the changes proposed and will be reviewing with our designer over the weekend and come up with a new plan. 

Edited Thursday at 16:20 by Indy

[Gus Potter]

On 26/09/2024 at 17:20, Indy said:

Have taken a note of all the changes proposed and will be reviewing with our designer over the weekend and come up with a new plan. 

Have fun. Good design is very much an iterative process... so many things you can do. Sometimes it's easier to say.. we don't want that and that can help narrow down the field a bit. Alway sleep on stuff and let you mind work away over night.

 

I've still go bits to finish off in our own kitchen.. just waiting for the time to do it. One think though. The sink is under mounted and not expected to last as long as the worktops..I hope! The worktop is Silestone and the cost of that makes you less inclined to change it. All the worktop fitters said you need you sink in place and we will stick it to the top of the sink with our super strong resin / glue. mmm.. how do I then replace the sink if we crack it say and not risk damaging the worktop?

 

What I did was to say.. fit the worktop with no sink. I then build a timber cradle, took it to bits again, lifted the sink up from below and siliconed it into place.. then reassembled the cradle. Now if we want to relace the sink all we need to so it to cut the silicon bead and drop the cradle... well that is the theory!

 

 

[Gow]

On 25/09/2024 at 22:50, Gus Potter said:

Here is part of my structural work and my wifes interior stuff.. we have yet to finish it off. This is an ex council house that we have extended in East Kilbride. The photo below is taken from my old phone so take it as it is.

 

Key points we resolved.

 

The hob is in the island. The grill in the ceiling is connected to a 125mm duct and the extraction unit fan is mounted outside in the external soffit. The fan I robbed from a Client that was chucking away an old kitchen extractor.. and delivers 600m^3 extraction.. is sucks like a devil and is pretty quite. The two pendant lights you see over the hob will set you back £ 500 plus.. but when offset with a standard extraction unit the lights were a bargin.

 

What you see is part of an open plan space. I started out as a builder.. then became an SE and evolved into a "desinger". The challenge for me is to marry good practical design with good cost effective engineering at an affordable cost and do something special! 

 

Now over the last couple of decades I've seen folk wanting these massive open plan spaces as these have been all the rage.  But for most families with two kids and a dog they are not that great. Kids and so on want much more pricacy for example.. our work patterns are changing. Our house is designed so that the social spaces are clearly defined. We have opted for other spaces that allow us to work from home, have a space that is entirely different. It's not for all but it is worth a think about.

 

 

 

Gray is not a good investment. ... .. you could be left with a crap gray kitchen!

I am not a slave to fashion. It took me five attempts to get the right shade of sunshine yellow for the south-facing kitchen walls. I live in grey Glasgow so there's enough grey here on a daily basis. The cheerful sunshine yellow I chose for the walls brightens my day every day!  

[Gus Potter]

41 minutes ago, Gow said:

I am not a slave to fashion. It took me five attempts to get the right shade of sunshine yellow for the south-facing kitchen walls.

It's hard. There are so many shades.. nightmare!

Edited 17 hours ago by Gus Potter

[Gow]

2 hours ago, Gus Potter said:

It's hard. There are so many shades.. nightmare!

5 yellows not 50 shades of grey 🤣

[Gus Potter]

What a topper of a response!