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Kitchen design help

Lorraine Stephens

8 years ago

We are converting our garage to extend the kitchen. The final dimensions will be 7.5m long x 3.3 m wide so long and narrow. we will also have a low bay window to the front which I would like to make into a window seat. I like traditional style. I Would like an island with seating but concerned it will be too narrow. Any design ideas would be great fully received thanks

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Comments (5)

minnie101
8 years ago
Hi. I don't think it's the ideal width but you may have options. Why not post a plan with windows and doors and people may have ideas. Could you also add more detail, is it just kitchen and dining or seating too. Is the room to house wm and TD too?

https://www.houzz.co.uk/discussions/when-should-you-consider-a-u-shaped-kitchen-dsvw-vd~3856123
Jonathan
8 years ago
Since the run of units against the wall will be 600mm deep and you need 1000mm each side of the island to walk through it means that you can only have a 700mm deep island.
I think you should find a good local kitchen designer to give you ideas other than the island
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Some brief responses to your various questions: 1. Need a cover panel here but IKEA cover panels have a max height of 240cm – we need 260cm so there will be a join ideally in line with the wall cabinets – any alternative solution to this? If you were able to identify the matching board, it might be possible to buy a larger panel through a different route - many are up to 3m long if bought from a panel distributor or the manufacturer. But that will be less likely with Ikea, assuming they are making their own. 2. 400mm height wall units – proposing to have these opening vertically – good/bad idea? Hmmm, I'm in two minds here. I don't like side opening for short but wide doors, but your top boxes will be a nightmare to use if they are top hinged because of height. You could consider pinning the top box doors to the ones below & side mounting, such that they all open together. 3. Corner is currently inaccessible with the drawers – trying to maximise drawer space over cupboard space – is this a good idea? No, a bad idea - a lot of waster space. Go for a corner with pull out Le Mans. Will be similar price to the drawers, but you get to use the corner totally. Could reconfigure with 600mm drawers but thought a 400mm cupboard to access space in the corner would be unusable. Basically, is having more drawer space a better idea? As above, use wireworks - they were designed for a reason! 4. Extractor – gone for an integrated as wanted to have no break in wall units – good or bad idea? Good idea - we do plenty of these! Consider also telescopic options and be SURE to check installation dimensions to be sure the extractor you pick will fit the wall unit - not all do! 5. Proposed a small shelf to the rear of the worktop which would be tiled as we are reducing the amount of worktop compared to the current, and wanted to maximise useable space for small items that would usually clutter up the worktop e.g condiments, kitchen roll, etc. Any thoughts on this? Anyone ever seen this, and if so, what depth/height would you suggest, and did it work/look good in reality? Yes, I've seen this done and it can be useful & effective. BUT we would normally step all the base units off the wall by that full amount, in which case you need to ensure the design of wall units takes this into account where you return around corners! 6. Kitchen is 4.8m wide, and due the cabinet widths of IKEA, will always have about 150mm to fill along the width. Do you think where we have shown the filler panel is the most suitable location, or would it be better behind the oven (bearing in mind the wall units need something to attach to if we were to have the filler panel here)? Personally I hate to see any wasted space in a kitchen. If you have at least 150mm width, I'd consider doing a full height wine rack or cookbook shelves instead. A competent fitter will fashion something for the price of an extra fitter panel or two and an hour or two's time. 7. Worktop depth – as far as we’re aware, Minerva (with the integrated sink) only comes as 650mm deep. However, IKEA cover panels are max 600mm deep (needed for fridge and oven units), meaning our fitter would have to shave 50mm off the worktop. Is it doable for a good fitter? I very rarely do this, but I must urge caution against using Minerva. It is one product we used for a number of jobs a few years back, but now we wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. We've seen multiple problems with batch colour matching, stains, heat, and crackling of sink bases with hot taps. The company was not good at supporting putting issues right, and we came to the conclusion that we were not comfortable offering it to our clients. There are better alternatives out there, and a good fabricator and keenly priced quartz will get close in price. While you can remove 50mm from the worktop, the product will get through blades rapidly, and it is harder to work with than laminates. We really would recommend proper fabricators for such products. 8. Currently proposing this as open as only 200mm – would a 200mm pull-out cabinet be practical given the position in the corner? No reason why not. A good German kitchen would probably offer you an 800x800 L shaped carousel unit as one way to handle this "tight" corner. Or if you can stretch to a 300w unit, I would. - What colour of units would anyone recommend for a north facing kitchen, with a dark grey stone floor, and would you recommend matt or gloss? Possibly a steel or Spitfire blue or light green. I'd consider woodgrains too. Gloss or matt is a very personal choice, though certain colours can look better in one or the other. We have been going back and forward between green/grey (BODARP) or white, but is one too dark, and the other too stark? If white is too stark, a Limestone or Taupe might suit you. - Microwave – integrated or not? Could replace the double oven with a single oven and combi microwave oven. Single plus combi is a popular option - have a good look at the Samsung options which are jam packed with additional cooking features like Air Sous Vide, Air Fry and steam. Alternatively if you only use a microwave infrequently for relatively modest amounts (a plate, say) & reheating, consider a wall unit mounted one. - Considering going for push open for all wall units – what are thoughts on this? Anything with a push mechanism will need periodic adjustment and some mechanisms are better than others. German handleless wall units are better designed with a "finger space" rail so need no tip-on mechanism - Base units/appliances – would we be better with handles or grooves? Personal choice! If going handleless, you really can't beat true German kitchens or the Omega "flat" rail system. - Lighting – would warm or cool lighting work best in a north facing kitchen? Neither - pick "natural" (in between) at about 4000 Kelvin. And finally, interesting to hear people’s thoughts in general please? The design is a little lacking in symmetry for me and is quite "fussy", but given the limited unit options from Ikea, I kind of see why it is as it is. Be aware that IKEA use their own slightly strange "grid" system, so all sizes are pretty unique to them and them alone. Their carcasses are very basic, and I see more than the average number of customers looking to change IKEA kitchens a lot sooner than most other brands. If budgets are tight, you can get a good looking kitchen for not a lot - but with some careful design from an independent studio whose suppliers have more extensive ranges, you will probably get a much better looking kitchen that lasts longer for not a huge amount more. We could probably design a tidier layout that used far fewer overall units, but which delivered more usable space - to give an example, using German units, you could do extra-high wall units as single units, so no top boxes or triple-stacked units required! Hope that all gives you a little food for thought. I would certainly do your homework and look at reviews for Minerva - only 1.9 stars on Trustpilot. Feel free to ask anything else and I'm sure we'll be happy to give our thoughts! Caldicot Kitchens
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PRO
Amber Jeavons Ltd
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Hello Lorraine,

There are options for you even with a narrower and long room... You could consider a central island with main cooking and washing space... This can then morph into dining.. Have a look at this image for some inspiration. It is perfectly possible to have main cooking such as range and washing further along.. In the way you would with a galley.. Overhead extraction to filter smells if a downdraft extractor was not in budget. Refrigeration could be built in and hidden.. It doesn't have to be double height and can be all designed around a long central cooking space..

This can be a very nice way to deal with the room available... I think spatially it could be ideal! For cabinetry you could have single height cupboards made and wall mounted at eye level or above and painted to blend with the wall colours... It's quite a modern concept especially this one pictured but it can be adapted to suit the aesthetic of your home. By the way the suggestion of course at some point has to be broken up to allow for access to the other side and not a 5.5 meter long walk as has been suggested in a below posting! The image is for illustration to show how you can use the central aspect as opposed to low height wall cabinetry/worktop and an island. : ))
PRO
OnePlan
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
If you want to easily work on both sides of the room and on the island - make sure you allow a walk though gap between any seating /table area and the island rather than going for a 5.5m long block in the middle - will save on all that walking around each time !!

edited to add ... Change to previous post noted. It's a lovely pic - might work if you only wanted one side of table as a walk through only. I've designed something similar for a client in a dining room, with table height warming drawers and a pair of wok hobs at one end ! That worked very well as the client was a petite lady who liked to cook some parts of the dinner at the table with her guests ! So in that instance, the lower table height hobs worked well for her. (Would be a bit low for me !)
PRO
Solid Furniture Design
8 years ago
Hi Lorraine Stephens, Our company company ethos is to bring a competitively priced, complete services to our customers, easing the stress related to works on your home. This means that we provide the design as well as manufacture the furniture that also include well professional fitting that will exactly suit the property.

Please sign up to our newsletter if you are interested in any bespoke projects and someone from our team will contact you shortly.

http://www.kitchenwardrobe.com/special-offers.html

Regards,

A&S Kitchen Wardrobe team.

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