Crisis of confidence - kitchen diner too cramped or compromised?
Hi all
After the recent arrival of our baby I'm under some pressure to get our new house ready and to get us out of our cramped flat before he is too mobile! Trouble is, I'm lacking conviction and hoping some thoughts from others may help.
The main area I'm wrestling with is a good sized ground floor space which we want to use as the heart of the home with kitchen, diner, utility and play room/office. The first plan below shows what we will have as the base plan after removing a ground floor bedroom and en suite.
The second plan shows what will probably be the most cost effective solution by retaining the utility room where it is (along with existing boiler and washing machine drainage points) and keeping the hob and sink close to existing service connections. I think the utility room walls may be structural.
I have a few nagging doubts:
1. I was concerned that the kitchen was a bit too small / not enough units but after deciding to block up the window (terrible view and limited natural light) we get a few extra wall units which I'm now thinking will probably give us just about enough kitchen storage. I've always liked the stand alone dresser / pantry units for coffee/breakfast and have tried to squeeze one in next to the island. Any thoughts on kitchen size welcome.
2. Im a bit worried about whether the room will feel cramped by trying to fit the kitchen and dining table as shown. The room is 5.4m deep and allowing 600mm for units, 1000mm for aisle, 850mm for the island/peninsula leaves 2.9m for the dining table and chairs. The areas around the table will need to be regularly used as they provide access through to the proposed casual sitting area and play room/office beyond as well as providing access through to the garden.
3. I wonder whether I'm letting the practicalities (and assumed cost savings) of keeping the existing utility room and hob / sink in their current positions determine the layout too much and whether this is stopping me considering an overall better scheme that would still not cost significantly more.
Any thoughts very welcome and thanks in advance.
Comments (9)
PROOnePlan
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Jonathan
4 years agoI also can’t open the picture properly and have a included what I can see.
I have highlighted the floor space in the utility - it represents about 15% of the total space and frankly I think the kitchen is a bit small and you need the to be working hard for you- it also means the sitting area will be in a corridor.
I would be encouraging you to take out the utility and to put the laundry area in a large cupboard. I also think that 2.9m is too small for your dining area/corridor through to playroom so perhaps how you do the island needs rethinking.
For me the WC position makes the entrance feel cramped too.
I think you need to be able to see some of these options in 3D plans to better understand how things will work and someone like OnePlan would be brilliant for that.
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Comments (39)Hi, Haven't had much of a chance to take a look but here is one alternative you could consider. To note, I'm no interior/kitchen expert and am not trained in the relative fields of 3d drawings, simply doing it through interest, hence the low quality mock ups. (resolution of images is low as my laptop is not allowing me to upload them onto houzz, so taking camera images from screen). The mock up is not exact but more or less the measurements you provided. The banquet seating shown would need to to be designed to measure and would need to be slightly more slim (I think Claire has posted images on another post of her seating which is a perfect example). An alternative design would be to switch the banquet seating facing to the window (back to bifold) to create a more zoned lounge area. Best Wishes...See MoreFloorplan help please - Kitchen and master bedroom ensuite / wiw
Comments (17)Hi Rinq, thank you so much for taking the time to draw up some possible floor plans for us - this has been incrediby helpful. I love your proposed layout for the kitchen. My only concern with your design is that the wall with the kitchen- diner entrance is load bearing and would therefore require structural work to move. Presumably this would not be an issue, just something I will need to discuss with a builder for an estimated cost. Do you think there would be enough room in the kitchen to add a pennisula on the external wall of your design, turning your design into a G shape kitchen? This is something we are considering but it is hard to tell whether the area would feel cramped. I have attached a screenshot of another kitchen design that my partner likes which utilises an island although I do not think our kitchen diner has enough space for this. Again, thank you for considering and proposing a floor plan for the 1st floor. Your approach to moving the master suite to the left of the property makes complete sense and appears a better utilisation of space, although walking this through in the house we have realised the views are much better on the right hand side of the property from the existing master bedroom and feel it would be best to keep this as the master. Do you have any recommendations on how best to use the extension for an en-suite & walk in wardrobe i.e. layout of bathroom items, which way round to have the two rooms, and also considering the window positioning & soil pipe that will need to be inserted to remove waste at the front of the property. Appreciate this is a lot of considerations I am seeking help for so any feedback / comments would be great. Thank you in advance....See MoreLayout to route traffic through kitchen.
Comments (5)As the room is only 4 meters wide getting an isle and an island where there isn't any cooking happening is tricky. you could adjust the plan like this to widen one isle where the bar stools are to promote it as the main access, with a narrow unit or feature to mirror the units on the other wall. I don't think access is that compromised, but it is an island so it could be hard. With this one if we assume the island in 0.9m wide, the cooking isle is about 1m, the wall unit is 0.7m that leaves1 1.4m for the main access isle (not including anything as a mirror feature) Alternatively you could go for this arrangement by splitting the island and turning it inside out, but it is very much a standard style You could opt for two islands, so the cooking happens in the middle and there are passages both sides, but it will be narrow so I wouldn't recomend it....See Morenewsonnewhome
4 years agoJonathan
4 years agoI had a look on a desktop site and saw better the plan. For me it seems you are trying to make this room in the middle of the house work too hard for the space available.
I still vote for a concept planner to examine alternatives such as the one included
Danny Jay
4 years agonewsonnewhome
3 years agoHello all. When I made my first post I grossly underestimated how much time (or not) I would have available to think about my project so apologies for the lack of engagement on my part. Lockdown has provided a bit more time for a meaningful ponder so thought I would throw our latest idea out there as the cross section of views on Houzz are so interesting and useful and spark so many new thoughts.
The key change is a small front extension to allow the stair to be relocated and make way for a home office - a new must have following recent experience of trying to work from home without a dedicated space. There is scope for the stair/hall to be double height.
The utility has been pushed from the middle of the room to the far corner which is the darkest spot in the house. The other option we considered was to put the utility just beyond the ground floor WC which would be cheaper for the plumbing but we wondered whether it felt a bit cramped and gave a less instant open feel when entering the kitchen / diner....
Instead, this space (where the small chair and coffee table are shown) is intended to be my little 'coffee shop' spot with a breakfast/coffee pantry and low level units on the back wall doubling up as a bench seat.
This outcome is around 4.75m length for the kitchen along the rear wall with a 2.35m island between 2 structural columns that we think will be needed. Combined with the low level units, breakfast pantry and small utility were hopeful this is a more appropriate and workable amount compared to what was proposed originally.
The area beyond the kitchen is a play space for the immediate term. Would be nice to be able to close it off in due course as a snug perhaps.
Dining table is shown in front of bifold doors (southish facing). We already have large sliding doors onto the garden from the lounge. Still 50:50 on bifold doors versus a built in bench seat with a bifold or sliding window instead (I blame the Irish architect on Your Home Made Perfect and his love of a bench seat!).
The other key change is to widen the openings into both the lounge and kitchen diner with tall sliding pocket doors so we can open the whole space up or close areas down as needed.
Quite cathartic to think out loud! Any views, observations or suggestions very welcome.
Many thanks
Austere Hamlet
3 years ago
Monica