Kitchen layout help please! island and supporting beam
J W
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Hi All, I would love some help to decide on the layout of out open plan kitchen area. There is an existing side return extension with a supporting beam marked on the first picture.
I would like to put in some island or peninsula but the beam is in the way. Which of the two alternatives below do you prefer? Or is there another layout I have not thought of that might work even better?
I would like to have room for a dining table and some casual sofa seating in the open plan kitchen so any suggestions would be great.
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Comments (15)
rinked
3 years agoImagine two chaises opposite eachother near the french doors.
The island has more body, as a smaller one could look flimsy with a kitchen that size.
The island worktop would have a cutout to at least go around half of the pole (is it round?).
Are you renovating the entire back or is the kitchen already there?
Personally I'd like a larger utility, but at least make the wc and utility doors swing outwards.
J W thanked rinked
Nigel Byrne
3 years agoRelated Discussions
kitchen Island - struggling to find pictures of island seating layout
Comments (28)Oh, you sound so stressed! Other than the 3D rendering, I would recommend the old cardboard box trick to show how tight all the spaces are. Not only will you not be able to stand in front of your beautiful sleek drawers when you open them - you'll have to stand next to them - imagine coming in the door from the hall with a bag of shopping or your kids coming in with backpacks and then sliding through an 87 cm space. You need a lot more circulation space for a comfortable, working kitchen AND you won't be able to visually appreciate this island of your dreams where it is currently (as Jonathan said). Perhaps move the kitchen and island down in front of the internal bifold doors so you can see the island from a distance and gain more width and then have the seating at the end with the TV on the wall you already suggested, like this photo that J posted: Good luck!...See MoreCan anyone help me with reconfiguring my home /kitchen layout please!!
Comments (13)Whilst I understand the constraints of budget I think you are approaching the planning wrong. I think the way to do this is to decide on the layout that works best and then work out what you can afford to do now- perhaps you can make economies on purchases such as the kitchen cabinets to get a better Gliw in your home. An architectural designer or a concept planner are worth considering to help with this- they would also help you visualise the finished space too. If this were my house I would be thinking the entrance wasn’t big enough for the size of house and I would be concerned about privacy of the bedrooms at the front, I also don’t like the current kitchen being some distance from a window and being a heavy traffic area. Although I can’t see the layout properly I think I have got the sizes about right to show how I would do it. I have moved the front door to the middle of the house, shown a vaulted hall with stairs to two big upstairs spaces, shown the living space as completely open plan but with the option of using one of the downstairs bedrooms or one of the upstairs rooms as an extra living room. In my opinion there are often houses with long narrow extensions across the back that should have been better considered as invariably people need bigger spaces rather than more small rooms and retrospectively opening up the original house into this space is more difficult that building in the steels originally. So my plan doesn’t change any of the external walls of the original property but a couple of internal brick walls have been removed. I have just shown what is commercial and probably wouldn’t cost the earth but a designer would spend time trying to better understand your needs....See MorePlease help me decide on my lounge / diner / kitchen layout
Comments (15)Thank-you very much for the comments. I hope it will be a great space, but playing around with it and changing the design at the last minute is getting a bit stressful! This is the design that the build company showed us initially - just their initial thought as it how it would look. I found feeling the area where they had positioned the fridge/freezer very tricky. We want a free-standing french larder style fridge and the doors and level of matching with the rest of the units didn't seem like a good fit. The support pillar for the steel that crosses the island in the attachment below has also been a real annoyance. It sticks out 23cm, so it can only really go through empty-ish cupboards. Clearly anything to the left of that steel is difficult to vent. On the design in my intitial post, I was intending to have a dropped ceiling element that stretched just beyond the steel. This would let me have a powerful extractor and exit the flew onto the flat room (hidden by the drop ceiling 'box'). I like the idea you describe of a full wall of units, then island, then table. I guess Jonathan's proposal is similar to that. While I love the efficiency of the "4 double door" hideaway I just don't like the aesthetic, so will need to think about something else. Bringing it back to what we need... Utility room: enough to stash the washing machine, store the vacuum cleaner and hang a few clothes. No need for a sink. Free Standing, 90cm wide fridge, nicely framed either by wall of kitchen units. Waist height oven with an additional "top oven / grill (broiler)" - so at least one full height column. Good size kitchen island with at least two seats. Approx 90cm induction hob, plus a gas domino hob. Powerful, externally venting extractor over hob. I'm relatively open to moving the kitchen/living area to wherever it works best. I'm also not desperate to have the hob on the island (but that would be nice). As far as I know, the builders haven't done anything that can't be easily adjusted at this stage - but I think that will change in a couple of days - and they are planning for the kitchen to be in the old part of the house. As for rooflights - I thought, perhaps wrongly, that it would be light enough with the big bifold doors. It is an east facing room, and the old room had some sliding paitio doors and it felt bright enough. So I have left roof lights out on the basis that - but I'm also concerned about noise. (Cheaper too!). The biggest window we can gave without incurring significantly more cost is 1800mm x 1000mm - I'm minded to be 2 or 3 of these in that middle section. Thanks!...See MoreHelp - How to decorate around support beams
Comments (8)These photos look good. It would be lovely if the tv-hearth would be on the opposite wall (and the radiator moved), so the sofa could go sideways (and not be in front of the hallway door..), but that would be quite a project. Perhaps a custom built media cabinet opposite the sofa, plus an extra chair where the tv is in the photo?...See MoreJ W
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago
Wumi
3 years agoJ W
3 years agoJ W
3 years agoMaybe the least weird option is second with more of a peninsula up to the pole then we can have a dining table along the utility and sofa by the french doors?
Wumi
3 years agoI like you’re first option but would go bigger on island and reduce cabinets along wall to fit dining by the bifold.
OR
J W thanked WumiJ W
3 years ago- J W thanked rinked
branko_mandicevski
3 years agoJ W
3 years ago
OnePlan