Advice on small kitchen design - brain stuck
Hi All
I could do with some ideas and inspiration for re-designing my kitchen. Ideally, I am wanting to go with IKEA - just to save money! I am desperately small of space but having lived here for over 20 years, my brain simply cannot imagine a different way for this kitchen to be! I need as much space as possible (another thing which attracts me to IKEA!) In my ideal world, I would have space to have at least one stool by a breakfast bar but with the limitations of space, I can't see how that would be possible.
I'll attach two pictures. Dimensions are along the long wall where the cooker is 2880 mm, the unit where the fridge is is 1650. The side where the mircrowave is measures 1320mm. There is a small window above that unit and the front door is next to that. Unit depth is 600 mm and ceiling height is 2250. I'm wanting to keep the flooring to would delight in getting rid of the tiles!
Any ideas would be very very welcome! Fingers-crossed and thank you!
Sue
Comments (28)
Ellie
3 years agoSue Brown
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Kitchen design - stuck!
Comments (14)Thank you Minnie. That looks really good. We were planning on a range, we'd want two ovens and ideally a built in microwave, if the space we have means we need built in appliances, then that would be something we would consider. In terms of the utility, we plan to put the washer and dryer in there, as well as somewhere to squirrel things away such as shoes etc. You mean have the utility and porch as one, with washer/dryer hidden behind cabinets, perhaps? That extra 2 ft might give us room for a range, perhaps? We are definitely going to have doors into the lounge, just not showing on the plans yet. I see what you mean about the island, a longer one would give us more storage too... storage is an issue we have in the current layout, so the more the better. Thank you so much, I really appreciate your input. :-)...See MoreKitchen design missing something.... looking for advice/inspiration!
Comments (36)We chose to put our sink in our island as it was the best place for it. Our island is very long so it can accommodate the sink on one end with a clear space on the other end for seating - I am personally very against having a hob in the island as it will send splatters of hot oil etc. across the island and people (kids) sitting there. I also think the current trend for open shelves is odd - I always think they just end up looking cluttered (beyond the perfected curated pages of houzz), and everything will get dusty and oily if near the hob. One thing that we did in our kitchen was include a defined tiled area around the island - I love it and everyone comments on it. It may help add that little bit of extra in your design. (please ignore 1) our bar stools - we still need to get 2 more! and 2) the hole on the left where our broken wine fridge is waiting to be replaced!)...See MoreSmall kitchen design advice
Comments (7)Hi India, first of all I feel your pain! My first flat's kitchen was even smaller than yours, but once I'd had it refitted it was brilliant for just me, so don't worry you will find a way to do it that you will love. Secondly I recommend that you approach a local independent kitchen designer/shop - your choice isn't just big shed (cheap)/bespoke (expensive): local independents should be able to help you design a kitchen using off-the-shelf units, so not necessarily any more expensive than Ikea/Howdens/etc, and you'll get a more personal service. Your Ikea design looks ok actually. The adjustments I'd make would be: - Have an inset sink without drainer (you can get dish drainers which have a lip to drain into your sink, which means when it's not in use you can put it away somewhere, sitting on end, so it doesn't take up much space). I have this one https://www.josephjoseph.com/collections/dish-racks-drainers/products/extend-dishrack-grey?variant=36470412181576. This will look much neater and will give you all that worktop space over the washing machine, when you're not drying dishes. Fixed draining boards are ugly things - I still don't have one even now I have a substantially bigger kitchen - still love my Joseph Joseph drainer which is quick to pack away when it's not in use. - I'd also change the 600mm door on the sink unit for 2x300mm doors - smaller doors make sense in a small kitchen. Or you might also consider deep drawers instead of a cupboard under the sink. - For extra storage, you could consider a top box over the fridge-freezer too. - Personally in the drawer unit, I'd have two deep drawers (with a hidden internal drawer at the top for cutlery etc) - lots of shallow drawers are frustrating as you can't get much in them other than the sort of c**p which shouldn't be in a kitchen anyway, whereas you can put pans or stack plates in a deep one. I have an Ikea kitchen at the moment, and love my deep pan drawers. I've actually had two Ikea kitchens so far. If you choose your finishes carefully, get a good fitter and really think hard about your design to make it work for you - ie don't rely on their expertise alone - they are fab kitchens, good quality with good internal organisation bits and pieces Your "dead" corner is tricky. I'm not sure whether the Howdens unit will actually open/pull out, as less than half of it is accessible - but I've never had a corner unit so not sure how they work. But they'll be able to advise you on that and again I think this is where a local independent might be able to take a creative eye to it. Worth looking whether Howdens or someone else does a 500mm sink cupboard too - in my tiny kitchen that's what I had and the round inset sink I had was plenty big enough for washing up for one person. Means you can have wider drawers next to it. Good luck!...See MorePlease help with window and door advice - completely stuck!
Comments (12)Hi again & thanks for all the advice/opinions so far. We are thinking of all vertical lines with the windows now, mainly because it appears easier on the eye. Hopefully we won’t miss the small openers too much. Downstairs will be sliders for the window & doors. Can anyone help with frame colour? If we stick with the brown brick (which I find dreary/dark tbh & is very marked/damaged) then we’d go with light window frames. My preference would be off white or a similar pale neutral. However, the front windows aren’t being replaced so will stay pure white for now. The soffits & fascias are white. The other half of our semi next door is white. How would this work - would we need to change fascias to a different colour so as to link the white & off white? The other option is to paint or render or clad the rear of the existing house to disguise the old brick. This could possibly allow us to venture into a different colour for the windows & doors at the back, maybe pale olive green or similar. Is this a no no when part of a semi detached building? Should we retain the same look as our other half, even if it is dated? Any advice much appreciated. Really want to brighten the house up but without making it stick out like a sore thumb as it’s semi rural here with a lot of mixed housing stock (mostly character builds). Attaching an attempt at a mock up if that helps…...See MoreSue Brown
3 years agoApologies to my old DT teacher who would probably be mortified by this drawing. Hope it makes sense!
Ellie
3 years agoWow Sue that's impressive! Probably best 3d sketch I've saw on here!
Was really meaning something simple like this of the full room....
Also, are you limited to that space or could you have another unit along
Sue Brown
3 years ago
PROClean Slate Design Ltd
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoSue Brown thanked Clean Slate Design LtdSue Brown
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoSue Brown
3 years agoJonathan
3 years agoI think the whole space is compact and the peninsula unnecessarily divides the space.
If it were me I would be thinking of moving the washing machine under the stairs, and replacing the radiator on the stair wall with reduced depth storage to replace what you lose on the peninsula.
Sue Brown thanked JonathanSue Brown
3 years agome_sourisseau
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoHi there. This space is a good challenge. I would:
- move the sink in front of the small window
- Add a glazed partition to separate the entrance
- Add an undersink dishwasher
- Move the washing machine to the bar corner with access door from the living room
- Use a cooktop with 2 hobs only and have an extra electric portable hob when needed
- Use the space unter the stair with pull out cupboards/pantry and 1 tall fridge
- remove the wall elements and replace with shelves
- add drawers on all elements
Here, I did a small model:
Sue Brown thanked me_sourisseauSue Brown
3 years ago
Mandy Ross
3 years agoI used pre-built kitchen cupboards from Howdens and because I didn’t want to fill the whole area I used wall cupboards as they are not as deep (was actually a joiner who did it) and he built in all the fiddly bits. Think it cost me about £1200 with labour and supplies (timber, plasterboard and cupboards), plastering was separate. Took about 5 days
Maggie Youngson
3 years ago
Laura
3 years agoMaggie Youngson
3 years agoLaura
3 years agoMaggie Youngson
3 years ago
Mandy Ross