Small kitchen design advice

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Hello all,

I have a very small kitchen in a second floor flat that I'm planning to replace, however the size of the kitchen and it being a flat means I'm very limited in design options and can't move any gas or water connections. I've already had a consultation with IKEA and plan to have a consultation/measurement with Howdens, however I would appreciate any input/opinions!

Space is 2.67 x 2.06m. Problems with the current kitchen are as follows: (photos attached)

- Freestanding gas oven that I don't like (gas hobs are fine, but I hate using the gas oven)

- Drawer perpendicular to oven hits the oven, so basically un-useable

- Cupboard perpendicular to oven difficult to open, have to jimmy the door past the oven door handle (so not optimal to use)

- Base corner space is completely dead space, and feels like a waste

- Under-sink cabinet is 1000mm wide, which feels excessive and could be way better used IMO

I am keeping the existing fridge-freezer (550mm wide) and washing machine so cabinetry needs to work around these. I don't really have the budget to get custom cabinetry so am planning to use standard size IKEA or Howdens cabinets.

The IKEA design that their specialist designed for me is as follows -

This design is using a 200mm pullout next to the oven, and an 800mm standard base unit in the corner with about 200mm of dead space between the wall and the 800 unit. They can't offer any pull out or 'clever' storage with this size unit as it's not one of their dedicated corner units. This then has a 400mm drawer unit and 600mm sink unit.

I don't have a fancy 3D plan from Howdens yet but based on their unit sizes on their website, these would be my rough schematics.

NB: green indicates doors. The door by the washing machine is a built-in larder/boiler cupboard. Red is a radiator.

Is it okay to put the oven next to the corner pullout unit? I basically have no other choice as I need to have worktop space between the hob and the fridge (according to safety regulations), and can't move the gas connection by much. I've purposely got some 'wiggle room' in terms of blank space as the washing machine sits against the larder door frame and therefore takes an extra ~20mm on the wall side, and I'm also aware that the corner unit may not sit completely hard against the wall on the other side depending on the depth of the 'short wall' units, and therefore may be more than 1000mm. Similarly there is 'wiggle room' on the short wall depending on where the corner unit sits against the long wall - the unit is 575mm deep but depending on positioning I have allowed for this to be up to 600 depending on positioning.

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :)

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Comments (7)

hedgehog99
3 years ago
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!
keiblem
3 years ago
All very good suggestions hedgehog99. I hadn’t heard of the dish drainer so checked it out. What a clever idea and makes total sense.

I only have one thing to add. Is there room inside the larder for the washing machine? You might not gain much more storage space but I imagine it would be more convenient to have it in the kitchen than in a cupboard.
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India T
Original Author
3 years ago
@hedgehog99 - thanks for such a constructive response! I can't believe you had a smaller kitchen than me :S but clearly you made it work. I will look around in my city and see if I can find any good independent designers.

I was planning to re-use the sink from the current kitchen (although replace the tap) as it's in good condition and seems a shame to not use it, but if as you say I could find a 500mm sink unit and then be able to fit 500mm drawers it could be worth replacing it. Howdens do a 'standard' 500mm base cabinet but I'm not completely sure if these can be used for sinks - although my father is fitting the kitchen for me and he's good at workarounds, so I'm sure it can work! It would mean having to replace the sink with a 1 bowl unit but in the scheme of things this is definitely something I can afford, and am willing to sacrifice reusing the old sink if it means a better overall solution! I like the look of that Joseph Joseph drainer too - really clever, as all of their stuff is! I'll weigh up whether I need the extra countertop space there, as a lot of that wall is a window with an opening on that side so could potentially get in the way if it's on the countertop there but definitely food for thought.

I've revisited the Howdens design after finding a PDF with their tech specs - the 1000mm corner unit is wider and deeper than I had planned (1131 / 631mm respectively) as it needs to account for the corner post/filler between it and the adjacent unit (in my case oven) and distance away from my 'short' wall to allow half of the unit to be accessible (which loses around 130mm). Therefore I've revised the design to their 800mm blind corner unit to give the overall length of 1031 (according to their tech specs) so 500mm drawers, 500mm sink and washing machine will all still fit on the long wall. It looks like their 800mm corner units can only have this 'magic' solution rather than the pullout (https://www.howdens.com/kitchens/kitchen-storage/corner-storage/pull-out-corner-storage/pre-fitted-full-extension-corner-base-unit-obj-sku-family-202510) but I think it's still a good option to avoid awkardly reaching around into the cupboard - which is what I'd have to do with the IKEA option. The extra depth of the corner post means I'll need to change the 300mm drawers by the oven to a 200mm pullout, but that's fine.

@keiblem - an interesting point! I haven't actually measured the floor space in there but it could potentially just about fit, but there'd be no other floor space (I currently keep my bins in there) and it wouldn't fit in through the door - the larder door is 520mm wide so would have to deconstruct the door frame to do it. Sadly I think the washer needs to stay put, there's nowhere else in the flat that it could go :(
keiblem
3 years ago
You certainly sound as if you have put some serious thought into this. I’d be interested to see the result.
India T
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
@keiblem what can I say - I'm a perfectionist (and my father's daughter!). We're planning to start in early May, I'll definitely post a couple of photos to the thread once it's all done :)
keiblem
3 years ago
Looking forward to it!
hedgehog99
3 years ago
Yes I literally had washing machine, sink, one base cupboard, oven/hob, fridge/freezer and wall units. I hosted many a dinner party from that kitchen!

Sounds like you've thought everything through very thoroughly and great that you have your Dad's support - if you haven't already, good idea to involve him now in the planning as he may be able to see pitfalls/solutions. I agree that you'd be better off with a cupboard that allows you easy access to things stored in the corner - so that probably rules Ikea out. So I guess your next step is to take your thoughts to Howdens (one key question is whether the door will open wide enough for the swingout things to come out - given that the oven handle will inevitably stick out a bit, but I think you've already fully accounted for that with the filler piece?). And also talk it through with a local independent just in case there's another solution. Look forward to seeing it when it's finished!

Small kitchen design advice

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Small kitchen design advice

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