C, I vaguely remember seeing one or two of your pics before. Your kitchen wasn't featured in a Houzz story by any chance, was it?

No, not in a Houzz story :-)

So, that was my kitchen. Sorry for going on about it. Colourhappy started it ;-) Just hope it shows that two different brands/cabinet styles can work together.

Tani, can you share the layout you're going for? Or isn't that definite yet?

That's great, thank you. Yes very different but because the two colours are so different as well, the contrast works.

I know flooring wise I either want a warmer/richer wood (not tiled) or a grey tone so I have to make sure the island doesn't clash with that.

Plans are attached for the kitchen - basically a back run of 4200 (say 4m to allow for tollerances) and then depth is whatever as lots of space.

I'd planned two taller units either side (larder and F/F) then a straight run in the middle with small sink, dishwaser, bins etc and some smaller set back higher units (or metal framed shelving to make it more industrial style - can hang all my champagne glasses off there as well perhaps)

Then the island is max 2400 wide with induction hob and large pan drawers - maybe oven under the hob so all cooking is done in one space.

Will post general 2d layout from my phone as don't have it on my pc

Lovely! I like the glass doors to the pantry.

Okay, you know what I missed in my new kitchen? A breakfast bar. And that is weird, because in the previous kitchen (same space, different layout) I had one that was hardly ever used. Everyone just gathered around, sat on the counter, was in the way. So I thought, don't need it. But with the peninsula, and I'm guessing it will be the same in your situation with your cooker in the island, it's just nice if people can sit at the other side when you're cooking. So I bought a bar table, still had the stools from the other kitchen, and put it at the end of the peninsula. Didn't have it yet when I took those first pics, so it's not on there.

Perhaps think about having a breakfast bar and see if you have space for a sideboard to hold the stuff that you'd have in the drawers on this side of the island. Think you need 60 cm per bar stool, so you could have two cabinets and two stools. Anyway, it's just a thought.

I'm having a think about what I would choose for your kitchen :-)

Oo sorry yes, I did forget to say that the app only had the same style of island and I will definately be having an overhang all across the back to seat 4 people :-)

We had a breakfast bar in our old house as we lived on it!! lol.

One of the kitchen companies added cupboards across the back of the island that we can store things we don't use very often (maybe extra glasses for parties and certain cookware we rarely use) which is useful and something we didn't have before as the peninsula wasn't deep enough.

The glass doors were going to work as we would have had an outside door going from the utility room but we had to have a major re-shuffle ie lose the larger dormer upstairs to save costs and go for a smaller en-suite which meant needing a larger bathroom downstairs to service 2 bedrooms. So pinched more from the utility room to make it a cupboard. Sigh. At least the washing machine will be hidden away and less noisy behind a door :o/

I had so many desires when we thought up the planning sketches then got costs and now shrinking back on literally everything because of the basic building work. Whah.

I love your kitchen Carolina. I designed mine too and one thing I'm glad I did was think about what items would go where and that helped determine the design. For example, one area of mine near the dining area and breakfast bar stores all of the items that aren't used in cooking but easy for kids to grab (bottled water, drinks, coffee area, cereals etc) and the 'carb' cupboard. The only thing I wish I had done differently and I could kick myself was put in wall lights!

there is that as well - actually making sure all the space we have in the limited cupboards will fit out stuff in. We aren't big bakers and rarely use the oven (tend to use one of those counter top halogens which is ugly and takes up worktop space) but I do have things I can't just get rid of - just in case, haha.

If only we had unlimited budgets :-)

Yes, colourhappy, that's what I've done too. Think about what I need around the cooking area, what near the coffee area (a tiny sink to empty coffee tray and to fill water container), etc.

Tani, go for the biggest sink possible. You'll thank me for it. Things that can't go into the dishwasher are usually big. Oven trays for example.

Have you looked at Schuller kitchens?

Oh, crossed posts. You don't use the oven, lol

We are planning on having a larger sink in the utility cupboard - which will be right next to the island and near the dishwasher/other sink. So we can dump pans and larger things that won't go in the dishwasher, out of sight. ha ha. That's important in open plan I feel.

Good point re the coffee machine as we use ours every day and it nears to be near the bin to empty the grounds into. Eek, so much to think about. Will have to start making a proper list once I have decided on the actual units/style ...

I have a tiny bin mounted on the inside of the door to empty grounds into . Hold on, I'll take a pic.

Meanwhile: http://www.inhouseltd.co.uk/products/kitchens/schuller-kitchens/#range

ah thank you for the link. Forgot to comment on the brand. Just been looking at Nobilia as coming out cheaper than some of the other ones we looked at (for similar doors styles we wanted). Read they seem to be entry level German kitchens but got quoted around £8k for my design but laminate worktops and no appliances. included pan drawers only on the island ie 4 x 800 drawers. The door style was a charcoal slate so not too black and a nice texture to it. Just not 100% sure if it would be too much or look too fake being a slate texture on a kitchen cupboard! Also would probably have a quartz worktop on the island so have to price that in as well. Plus fitting - £2k !!! OMG

The Vienna (last pic bottom right) is nice on that link you just sent me - shaker style actually. I think I dismiss them when I see the door samples up close because they look a bit plasticky? And not like wood. But can't afford solid wood unless I find one second hand and paint it, haha

Oh yes we have Brabantia here. We do have a black bin we brought with us - think that is brabantia, but a smaller one like that just for the coffee grounds/tea bags would be ideal as I can put those in the soil then. Thanks!

Sounds good

I don't know whether this helps, but I mocked something up, using some DIY kitchen pics. Might put you off the idea completely, haha. But here we go...

ha bless you! Yes I do like the shaker style. I'm just on there now actually looking at some of the doors! Thinking perhaps of going for a dark blue/black cupboards with black marble effect worktop on the island - not sure on the contrast colour on the island yet but I will drop them a bell and see.

Weirdly, they don't seem to offer a layout like mine! ie straight run and an island.

there are companies that make solid wood shaker doors to fit ikea units :)

It would be nice to find a designer who knows what will work in our space for the industrial chic style I want - but I wouldn't even know where to find - or even afford one, LOL. Would be easier as it's the hardest part of the works.

Hi Tani, I have an ikea kitchen. I wanted wood doors and nothing traditional and ikea did oak doors that I liked. What swung it for me was reading about how many architects use ikea. One thing I know is that they use very good designers, so their stuff tends to be 'clever'. You do have to construct the carcasses and some fitters don't like this. What is good is that the carcasses hang off a steel rail. This is attached to the wall and then all of the cupboards hang in a straight line and then the feet are adjusted at the front. My carpenter adjusted my units as he was fitting them, even reducing the depth at times, so the whole thing was bespoke.

The other thing is that they are much bigger. They go much nearer to the floor and the kick plates are virtually invisible, this looks more contemporary. They are deeper to so you can't get a standard off the shelf worktop. I paid the same for the fitting as the cost of the units, in my opinion it's all about the fitting. Most carpenter use Howdens as they have accounts and it's familiar to them. I also saved money by using a thin layer of quartz over moisture resistant MDF (a bit like an engineered floor). Whole thing was 16K including removing a load bearing wall, plastering, electrics, kitchen everything.

We paid about 3.5K for units and freezer, sink and taps.

@Aoife Barry, don't know about the price in comparison to other materials. We went for Hi-Macs, because it was the only one we could get seamless on our peninsula, it's quite long. It's okay. We are super careful with it and still we see marks, like scratches, on it. I'm not that bothered, but if you like your countertop to be pristine at all times, I would opt for another material.

In my previous kitchen I had the darkest granite I could find. Indestructible. Very easy to clean, never saw a mark on it. Looked perfect even after 20 years.

Hi Tani, we have a 'peninsula'.