Kitchen Island Philosophy

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, Oz07 said:

Do you mean 8.9 m or are you feeding the 5000?!

 

Corrected ?

 

Room is about 15 x 19ft.

Edited May 5, 2019 by Ferdinand

[Moira Niedzwiecka]

10 hours ago, puntloos said:

What's the reason for this? Are they being slow? I've heard tons of horror stories about suppliers of materials like this being dreadfully slow, so I can't quite tell if this is bad or not..

It is me that is slow.

My circumstances have changed & I am way behind on the build and have no money.

[Ferdinand]

How easy are things like Silestone to work?

 

eg This 30mm Silestone panel on Ebay at £45 - 555mm x 1085mm - is nearly the size I need, but would need 125 mm taking off the back and pipe holes etc drilling. It already has 3 sides polished.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silestone-Quartz-Amazon-30mm-Ex-Display/273450425752?hash=item3faaea5d98:g:NTwAAOSwf2pbhAfe

 

Is that simple to do for me or my plumber?

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by Ferdinand

[Jeremy Harris]

49 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

How easy are things like Silestone to work?

 

eg This 30mm Silestone panel on Ebay at £45 - 555mm x 1085mm - is nearly the size I need, but would need 125 mm taking off the back and pipe holes etc drilling. It already has 3 sides polished.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silestone-Quartz-Amazon-30mm-Ex-Display/273450425752?hash=item3faaea5d98:g:NTwAAOSwf2pbhAfe

 

Is that simple to do for me or my plumber?

 

Ferdinand

 

 

I've tried cutting a left over bit of 20mm Silestone.  A carbide tipped saw wouldn't really touch it.  A diamond blade on a Dremel cut it OK, but I'd guess you'd need to use a diamond disc cutter to slice through it cleanly, used wet (it doesn't seem to like being cut dry).

[lizzie]

In my utility room I used Howdens units.  I wanted a waterproof top not just a standard laminate but granite was overkill.

 

I found a product called Zenith.  It is completely waterproof wont lift like laminate and is scratch proof and pretty bomb proof I think.  

 

I had a 12.5mm thick one so nice and modern and slim.  I had it to look like my oak in the kitchen so it reflected the style of my kitchen without the same cost on natural materials. Zenith comes in all sorts of colours and styles.

 

I had a piece 3065 x 650 x 12.5mm for £190 plus vat. Matching up stands 4065 x 95 x 12.5mm £40 plus vat.  So got the lot for £230 plus vat (and delivery if you need it). It looks amazing and is so durable.  I would use it in a main kitchen without hesitation.

 

 I got mine from www.solidsurfacekitchens.co.uk 

Edited May 5, 2019 by lizzie

[puntloos]

4 hours ago, lizzie said:

In my utility room I used Howdens units.  I wanted a waterproof top not just a standard laminate but granite was overkill.

 

I found a product called Zenith.  It is completely waterproof wont lift like laminate and is scratch proof and pretty bomb proof I think.  

 

I had a 12.5mm thick one so nice and modern and slim.  I had it to look like my oak in the kitchen so it reflected the style of my kitchen without the same cost on natural materials. Zenith comes in all sorts of colours and styles.

 

I had a piece 3065 x 650 x 12.5mm for £190 plus vat. Matching up stands 4065 x 95 x 12.5mm £40 plus vat.  So got the lot for £230 plus vat (and delivery if you need it). It looks amazing and is so durable.  I would use it in a main kitchen without hesitation.

 

 I got mine from www.solidsurfacekitchens.co.uk 

 

That's pretty, great tip I will be sure to consider, thx!

[puntloos]

6 hours ago, Ferdinand said:

My total worktop length is 89m of 600 deep, plus a 900 x 1400 island, and a 600x600 cubbyhole which used to be a built-in microwave. Plus a 600x600 Ikea moveable trolley which fills in the gap at the end, with a microwave on it.

 

Of that more or less fixed

 

1m is sink + drainer.

1m is TV and charging gubbins.

1m is range cooker.

600 is kettle, tea, teapot, cafetiere etc.

600 is Gaggia machine.

600 is bread, trays and toaster.

Island is used for storage and transient things.

F

 

 

Is "600 deep" the standard to go for? What limitations do I impose on myself if I do that? In particular:

 

- Are there awesome fridges that are deeper?

- My hob will likely be on the island so don't care

- Are there awesome dishwashers that need extra room? (and how much space is needed for tubes, water etc behind that 600?)

- Anything else I haven't thought of?

[Jeremy Harris]

2 hours ago, puntloos said:

 

 

Is "600 deep" the standard to go for? What limitations do I impose on myself if I do that? In particular:

 

- Are there awesome fridges that are deeper?

- My hob will likely be on the island so don't care

- Are there awesome dishwashers that need extra room? (and how much space is needed for tubes, water etc behind that 600?)

- Anything else I haven't thought of?

 

600mm is about the "standard" cabinet depth for non-island wall units, so there are a lot of work surfaces available around that depth.  For stone and stone composite materials there doesn't seem to be a standard width as such.  600mm is too narrow for an island, IMHO, I'd say around 900mm to 1000mm is probably as narrow as most would want to go.

 

Most kitchen appliances are designed to fit into a 600mm depth OK, including the pipe connections at the rear.  The exception is washing machines, that are often a bit deeper and end up projecting slightly from a 600mm deep slot.

[Russdl]

On 30/04/2019 at 09:12, jack said:

the sink against the wall behind and slightly offset so both can comfortable be used without standing back to back

 

That's good thinking, I'll file that one away for future reference. ?

[MJNewton]

3 hours ago, puntloos said:

Is "600 deep" the standard to go for? 

 

I prefer to go a little deeper whenever possible (ie assuming availability of the chosen worktop) as it allows for greater worktop area when you've got things sat on the top at the back. It can also make plumbing at the back a little easier. 

Edited May 5, 2019 by MJNewton

[puntloos]

1 hour ago, MJNewton said:

 

I prefer to go a little deeper whenever possible (ie assuming availability of the chosen worktop) as it allows for greater worktop area when you've got things sat on the top at the back. It can also make plumbing at the back a little easier. 

Can you define 'a little'? 650? 700?

[MJNewton]

I had a 750mm in the last house and that worked well. Shallower could probably still give some benefit. 

[jack]

I think ours are 700. The little bit extra makes a difference imo.

[Chablais]

has anyone used the Franke stainless steel worktops? Been available in mainleand Europe for some years, only launched in the Uk last year. Can be various thicknesses, and can be ceramic coated, so does not really look like stainless steel. Big benefit is sink is welded in position so no joints and no hygeine issues in that area. Price is up with Dekton though. 

[Triple07]

Love our kitchen island, our last one didn’t work too well and had put me off a bit but now we have our hob set into it, and sockets on the furthest away end panel like someone else has mentioned making it easier to wipe surface. 

One thing i would change is a separate cutlery drawer somewhere else as ours is under the island along with pan drawers and i constantly need to step aside to allow folk to get things. I would also have chosen/made better end panels as underestimated how much i would be looking at them.

We also have 1200mm space  around island and intended pushing it back to 1/1.1 once building control signed off but now really like the space as is.

The silkstone worktops are really easy kept, and nice and cooling as our kitchen is prone to overheating from the glazing. 

I like the worktops kept clear, so small appliances are in the adjoining  pantry and no kettle as have Boiling water tap.

[Moira Niedzwiecka]

@Triple07Very nice indeed.

Love the white hob. What make is it?

[Onoff]

Cheap seats here!

 

[joth]

1 hour ago, puntloos said:

Can you define 'a little'? 650? 700?

This page has some useful guidance. At one point I thought it was an actual British Standard, but it's just a company name but seems fair enough. 

 

https://britishstandardcupboards.co.uk/design/process/design/

 

Quote

The standard or average worktop depth we aim for is 650mm, this is made up of a 30mm overhang at the front, 600mm over the cupboards themselves and a 20mm void behind to take pipes, wires etc. The worktops are supplied 670mm deep giving you 20mm extra at the back to scribe to uneven walls. If you are not short on space a 650mm worktop gives you a more generous proportion and a little more space at the back of the worktop for storage jars, toasters etc.

If you don’t have pipes and wires running behind the cupboards and you are tight on space the worktop can be slimmed down to as little as 630mm, by putting the cupboards hard up against the wall and maintaining a 30mm overhang at the front, or as little as 600mm with no overhang at all. 

It’s best to keep the overhang consistent around the room, 30mm will give a more traditional look but if you are really tight on space or are looking for a more contemporary look, then the worktop can be flush with the cupboard facade.

 

[puntloos]

Awesome discussion btw everyone, I'm glad I found this forum. Learning a ton, and hopefully not being too annoyingly newbie about things.

 

What about food prep?  My current plan is to do it on the island (since the hob will be right there to dump prepped stuff into pans)

 

I'm thinking, I will need:

- Cutting board area (any clever things to look for? Maybe a recess to sink the plank in?)

- Food waste bin built into the island to quickly whip cuttings into

- A sink with a lid (first nice looking one I found, open for better suggestions)

- Probably some area below the cutting area allowing me to put my legs under the table (to sit & cut)

 

Main open question for me though: What tap, or perhaps tapS do I get? I would ideally like:
- boiling water (quooker, perhaps?)

- filtered, chilled water

- filtered, carbonated water

and a very controllable water flow. I think most of these fancy taps are kind of "on/off", at least the Vi tap I was was. (reason for controllable: for cleaning veg I want a very gentle drizzle of lukewarm water ideally. Perhaps I need to just use a second, standard tap for this?)

 

Does such a thing exist at a mildly reasonable price? And do they last? In UK we have very hard water.. (I know there's another topic on this, but this does come deeply into island philosophy so I figured I can ask here)

 

[Triple07]

15 hours ago, Moira Niedzwiecka said:

@Triple07Very nice indeed.

Love the white hob. What make is it?

It’s Elica

[Jeremy Harris]

15 hours ago, puntloos said:

Main open question for me though: What tap, or perhaps tapS do I get? I would ideally like:
- boiling water (quooker, perhaps?)

- filtered, chilled water

- filtered, carbonated water

and a very controllable water flow. I think most of these fancy taps are kind of "on/off", at least the Vi tap I was was. (reason for controllable: for cleaning veg I want a very gentle drizzle of lukewarm water ideally. Perhaps I need to just use a second, standard tap for this?)

 

Does such a thing exist at a mildly reasonable price? And do they last? In UK we have very hard water.. (I know there's another topic on this, but this does come deeply into island philosophy so I figured I can ask here)

 

 

We fitted an Itho Daalderop combined hot,cold and boiling water tap and wouldn't be without it.  The only thing I wish I'd done was specify the optional larger boiler together with the mixer option for hot water, as that gives near-instant hot water, using mixed down boiling water from the under plinth boiler.  We run the boiler on a time switch, so it's off overnight and only on during the day.  It doesn't seem to use much electricity, though, as the boiler is very well insulated.

 

I also fitted flow restrictors to the water supply to the hot and cold pipes, to restrict the flow to a maximum of 6 litres/minute.  These had the useful side effect of making the tap much more controllable, with no splashing at all.

[newhome]

5 hours ago, JSHarris said:

We fitted an Itho Daalderop combined hot,cold and boiling water tap and wouldn't be without it

 

Boiling water taps weren't really a thing when we did our kitchen design so I don't have one (but would like one). We had a Zip Hydrotap put in at work and to begin with it worked great until the filter needed changing and then it was out of action for about 6 weeks whilst we waited for someone to fix it. They've now installed 4 taps per floor but there are always one or 2 out of order. They weren't cheap either at circa 4k each. So it seems that they are great in a domestic setting but in an office setting with many users not so much. Mind you, it seems that some people at work don't know not to put metal into a microwave either . 

 

[lizzie]

I had a boiling water tap previously.  I did not fit one in this kitchen.  I didnt much like the qooker I had (although my sister loves hers).  I have plenty of hot water (big tank and only two of us) for whatever is needed and for hot drinks we rarely use a kettle more than once a day as I drink coffee and use a machine for that so for me the boiling water tap was an expensive white elephant.

[Jeremy Harris]

The difference for us is that we never drink coffee, only tea, so the tap gets a lot of use every day.  Arguably it had too much use during the build, as I ended up drinking far too much tea, just because it was so quick and easy to stop for a cuppa.  Not good for your health and well being drinking a dozen cups of tea a day, I discovered...

[newhome]

1 hour ago, lizzie said:

as I drink coffee and use a machine for that so for me the boiling water tap was an expensive white elephant.

 

I’m the other way round. I drink coffee pretty rarely and have a white elephant coffee machine ?. I make coffee about once a week just to stop it from seizing up. I left it switched off for about 6 months once and it didn’t much like that so I make an effort to keep it ticking over now.