kitchen layout help!

3 years ago

Have been thinking about adding an island with seating to our kitchen. Currently we have a table and chairs in the middle of this square room with some extra storage along the back wall (facing the kitchen units) as we are lacking kitchen cabinets. I’m thinking an island will solve the storage, plus give extra worktop and seating. I did also wonder whether we could fit a slim island and then a slim bench and chairs along the back wall? The square in the corner is a free standing fridge freezer as there’s nowhere else to put. Any advice on what you think we have space for would be fab. Thank you

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keiblem

3 years ago

Thanks for the expanded view. I wanted to see what was behind the wall with the internal door. Sometimes moving an internal door can increase your options. In this instance it isn’t going to!

This might be a radical suggestion but have you thought of swapping around the rear door and window? It would be much cheaper than an extension and would double your workable space. You would then have a direct route through your kitchen to the garden with a table in front of the door and all that space on the left to play with for your kitchen. You would even have ample room for additional cupboards along the wall where the hob is now.

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Comments (15)

Wumi
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I don’t think you have the space for a fixed island, but you could purchase a wheeled island, that you can move around.

I would invest in some tall kitchen cupboards either side of the fridge freezer (blue) and then a built in breakfast bar with stools underneath (yellow)

You can place your wheeled island against the wall when not in use and wheel in the centre of room when you need extra worktop space.
keiblem
3 years ago
Hello Jo Young
You have traffic flow crossing diagonally across the room so anything in the middle obstructs that. However you do say you already have a table and chairs in that location so perhaps it isn’t such a big issue for you. That said I agree with Wumi that a fixed island might not be the way to go. You can easily move a table and chairs and indeed an island. You could have a fold down table fixed to the island which when stored up against the wall is at the back still allowing for access to the cupboards when in that location. The chairs can go either side or there are some great fold away chairs that are a feature in themselves hung on the wall.

Why does the fridge have to stay in that corner? Is it’s size, location of sockets? I ask because the good old work triangle depends upon the sink, hob and fridge being comfortably located near each other. Your fridge couldn’t be further away even if it tried. You must have to do a lot of tramping to and fro. I am of a mind that relocating the fridge should take priority over additional cupboard space because whatever changes you make the fridge will be a spanner in the works. Are you up for nudging that hob along the wall nearer the sink and locating the fridge on that wall? Much more additional expense but it might be worth considering.
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Hi As I am sure you are spending a significant amount of money on the extension I would highly recommend that you work with an interior designer to plan out the kitchen space - not just for the look of the cabinets but to understand how you and your family want to use and feel in the space. Check out this kitchen design I worked on for a family of 3. This was all done via zoom. www.myclaybrickhome.com/post/kitchen-concept-design You can also see pictures of the kitchen/dining/sunroom here on Houzz www.houzz.co.uk/hznb/projects/kitchen-and-dining-space-pj-vj~6337964 Please feel free to get in touch if you would like to book a free no-obligation call to talk about your needs and how my services can help. Rgds Vicky Vicky@myclaybrickhome.com
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I certainly agree with the comment about making the utility room door open outwards. We had a decent sized, but fairly narrow, bathroom to renovate. The door was about halfway down the long side and making the door open outwards made all the difference. So far as your supporting pole is concerned, this might be of interest - take a look at the final photo where the pillar has been boxed in with mirrors. It could be a stylish solution, unless your kitchen is a Farmhouse style or similar of course! https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/how-to-work-around-a-structural-pillar-in-your-kitchen-extension-stsetivw-vs~76437319
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I can see why you've designed it like that as it'll be lovely and simple to look at. For me the walking so much woud be too annoying though, so I'd choose function over beauty and put the sink (or hob) on the island - and turn the island round so it's parallel with the run of kitchen. Get the hob (or sink) plus fridge plus larder unit on one long run. Opposite tall units can be freezer, ovens and extra larder space. And I'd look for a round dining table to fit in the bay window area - something extrendable for larger dinner parties. Or a long skinny table on the other side of the island and keep all of the kitchen on the back wall and island only - would need to check dimensions of table and chairs to see where they would fit best, maybe an upholstered corner bench situation in the bottom right corner would be nice?
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Hi there! How deep is the space in the new extension from the doorway to the dining room to the outside wall? I.E is there room for units there or would the table need to go there? I would potentially avoid changing to the window but potentially add a glass door so that you have the option of access if needed.
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Jo Young
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks both. Food for thought. It is a very badly designed space I must say. Ideally we would do an extension out by 3 metres and solve all the problems but I’m guessing that would cost in excess of £50k with the kitchen and glazing etc which we don’t have at the moment. Just have to decide how much we are prepared to invest on a temporary solution.
keiblem
3 years ago
That’s an eye watering sum for 3 metres and you are probably not far out! My mantra is, unless it is really and truly hopeless, then work with what you have. You already have a good size space to work with. There are no difficulties that I can see that are insurmountable.

May I suggest you upload a full plan of the ground floor or at least one that includes the adjoining room. It is much easier when you can see the room in context. It also seems to encourage more people to come on board with suggestions.
Jo Young
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks. So we live in a townhouse. I’ve included the ground and middle floor with some changes that we’ve made so excuse the scruffy lines over it. But you can see we have a more formal dining area on the middle floor that we use for entertaining. Therefore the kitchen is really used for breakfast and kids teatime etc. Hence why we thought about an island. The fridge freezer is a pain but I haven’t found weirdly that inconvenient to walk across the kitchen! You’re right though that you would have to navigate round a fixed island to the garden. But we sort of have to do that with the table.
Jo Young
Original Author
3 years ago
That is actually a great suggestion. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to move gas/drainage for the hob and sink? Would also require new steel I think.
Thanks so much for responding
keiblem
3 years ago
I am afraid costing a job isn’t something I can do. Getting someone in to handle the whole job is the easiest route but will of course be the most expensive. You say you have already had some work done so perhaps you already have reliable tradespeople you can contact for a quote. Get a couple more quotes and, most importantly, ask for a breakdown of costs. Ultimately much depends on where you are, how far you need to move the services, if the contractor is VAT registered (a rare breed not to be these days), how long you are willing to put up with the upheaval and how much you and your friends are willing to get your hands dirty.

Looking at what you already have. The sink is on the rear wall so your external drains must be close by. Moving your sink across to below what is currently the door shouldn’t involve too much work and the materials are not too expensive. For drains Building Regs would have to be involved. You can contact the council or go on to their portal for more information.

For obvious reasons you must have a registered fitter for any work involving gas both inside and out. I suggest you go online to find a registered fitter in your area and get three quotes to put you in the picture. You can then work out the logistics and cost of moving the hob and boiler or just the hob.

If you work within the existing dimensions then you shouldn’t need new lintels for the window and door. On your plan the window and door appear to be about the same size. If the existing are in good nick then, with care, you might be able to make a straight swap. A builder or window manufacturer/fitter can advise you about the logistics and cost of doing that or fitting new.

If they are in good nick then you might be able to reuse your kitchen units or just the carcasses with new doors. There are also some good companies now that sell on second hand and ex display kitchens. It involves a bit of legwork working out if what is on offer will fit your plan but it might be worth looking into. The one that springs to mind is https://www.usedkitchenexchange.co.uk but there are others.

Is your building listed or do you live in a conservation area or both? If yes then you need Listed Building Planning permission for work to windows and doors. Again the council can advise you about this.

Then comes the fun part, planning your kitchen.
Gail Valentine
3 years ago
Hello, our kitchen is 16 x 12 and we have an island with seating. It was there when we bought the house and it’s fab. We also have a bank of units along the wall behind the island.
Gail Valentine
3 years ago
This is an alternative view, we have two sets of double doors, window and door to the utility. Our fridge freezer is in the utility room...I thought it would be a pain but we’ve quickly learned to live with it.
Jo Young
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you for uploading this! This is super helpful to see it actually works - and looks good!
Gail Valentine
3 years ago
I don’t think I would have considered it, as I always thought islands were for huge kitchens but so glad it’s there. We’ve also got storage cupboards on the island and pop up power sockets, so we use it for prep too! 😊
Aaron Brown
3 years ago
Can you hang the door in to the kitchen the other way and put the fridge freezer in the bottom right corner?
Brett
3 years ago
Maybe something like this could work for a more budget friendly option until you want to extend - with a breakfast table in orange?
PRO
Marshall-McKay Design
3 years ago
Hi. I think you should be able to have a run of units (possibly reduced depth) along the wall facing the hob units and an island 1600wide x 900deep with seating for 2 maybe 3 people, running vertically on your plan. If you need to seat more people, then there is not enough room for an island that would be big enough, unfortunately. I would keep the island vertically to aid flow through the room to the outside. Depending on where your current oven is - I don't know if it is under the hob or in a tall unit to the bottom right of the plan, the fridge could be moved to the bottom right of the plan. The hob could go on the island. If the fridge is kept to the right hand side of the kitchen this would be ideal, so that when the island goes in, it is not in the way of crossing to the other side of the kitchen where the fridge is currently.

Another idea is to have the fridge next to the entrance door into the kitchen, to keep it close to the working side of the room, and then base unit storage dropping down to bench seat pull out drawer storage in the left hand bottom corner of the plan. The bench seats would be in the corner and you could keep your table.

If the aim is just more storage, you could put a tall larder either side of the fridge on the bottom wall on the plan and keep your table in the centre of the room for breakfast. The larders could be completely different to your existing units as a feature in their own right! - Or matching - it's up to you.

The third option is a peninsular with breakfast bar, coming off to the left of the sink.

Have a think about your budget, how long you want to stay in the property where you live, how you want to use the room - do you want it just for breakfast or for entertaining? Would you like a TV in there? Do you use the garden much?

I hope this helps.

Regards

Zoe

kitchen layout help!

keiblem

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