Thoughts on Kitchen design.
Discussion
Afternoon everyone,
We're getting a house refurb done in the next few months and are just in the process of finalising kitchen design.
The entire room is approx 7m x 5m.
We've decided on Gloss White handleless doors with white corian worktops. This is very plain and almost clinical i guess, but we figured we could bring it to life with a lime green splashback, coloured stools and then change this over the years to freshen it up rather than having to change the whole kitchen.
The design below is a Hacker Systemat kitchen.
Neff appliances apart from larder fridge and larder freezer which will be AEG.
Light grey porcelain tiles on the floor.
Not shown in the pictures but we're also getting a roof lantern put in at the end of the room which leads out to garden.
Would be very interested to know peoples thoughts on the design below and if anyone has any tips that'd be greatly appreciated.
We're getting a house refurb done in the next few months and are just in the process of finalising kitchen design.
The entire room is approx 7m x 5m.
We've decided on Gloss White handleless doors with white corian worktops. This is very plain and almost clinical i guess, but we figured we could bring it to life with a lime green splashback, coloured stools and then change this over the years to freshen it up rather than having to change the whole kitchen.
The design below is a Hacker Systemat kitchen.
Neff appliances apart from larder fridge and larder freezer which will be AEG.
Light grey porcelain tiles on the floor.
Not shown in the pictures but we're also getting a roof lantern put in at the end of the room which leads out to garden.
Would be very interested to know peoples thoughts on the design below and if anyone has any tips that'd be greatly appreciated.
Fair enough, appreciate its not to everyone's taste.
The pictures don't help as obviously they don't show the splashes of colour we're going to add to bring it to life.
The worktop space was a slight concern but we felt the island was large enough along with the small useable space on the other worktop would be enough for 'prepping' meals.
The pictures don't help as obviously they don't show the splashes of colour we're going to add to bring it to life.
The worktop space was a slight concern but we felt the island was large enough along with the small useable space on the other worktop would be enough for 'prepping' meals.
Gloss white panels on the island going all the way to the ground, I hate seeing that but I suppose it's inevitable with that type of kitchen. Not a recipe for longevity though, and creates difficult to clean areas on the floor.
Whats going in the cupboard at the left hand end of the run of tall units?
Whats going in the cupboard at the left hand end of the run of tall units?
I would like to see an inset plinth all the way round, with the end panel coming down to the bottom of the actual cabinets. But that would mean that some of the ends of the boards they make the plinths out of would show, and as they are painted or foil wrapped mdf that isn't feasible. So running the panel all the way to the ground means the end of the plinth boards at the sides can be concealed.
It's important that the ends of the plinth boards when they cut them to fit are properly sealed, once water gets in, the substrate will swell and push the surface off. Same with the bottom edge of the end panel if they have to cut it to scribe it to the floor.
It's important that the ends of the plinth boards when they cut them to fit are properly sealed, once water gets in, the substrate will swell and push the surface off. Same with the bottom edge of the end panel if they have to cut it to scribe it to the floor.
Thanks, we're relying on the designer at the moment and assuming what she's suggesting is the most practical way to work with the space, but maybe we're being a bit naive in thinking that.
The corner on the end of the run of tall units has been bugging us as we've had a few designs done which make it useable space but none of them look quite right, we liked it blanked off as it squares the run of tall units off nicely but the offset of that is we lose it as useable space.
The corner on the end of the run of tall units has been bugging us as we've had a few designs done which make it useable space but none of them look quite right, we liked it blanked off as it squares the run of tall units off nicely but the offset of that is we lose it as useable space.
Blakeyjersey said:
Fair enough, appreciate its not to everyone's taste.
The pictures don't help as obviously they don't show the splashes of colour we're going to add to bring it to life.
The worktop space was a slight concern but we felt the island was large enough along with the small useable space on the other worktop would be enough for 'prepping' meals.
Kitchens are for cooking in, and you can never have too much worktop space. Especially if you've got kids/friends sat at the island, do you want to be working with food, knives etc right in front of them? Go for fewer of the high cupboards and put some more worktop space in. The pictures don't help as obviously they don't show the splashes of colour we're going to add to bring it to life.
The worktop space was a slight concern but we felt the island was large enough along with the small useable space on the other worktop would be enough for 'prepping' meals.
It looks as if it will be a show kitchen rather than a family kitchen - but perhaps that's what you are looking for.
Do you cook? Like making pastry, or making the gravy out of the meat juices just when the veggies finish cooking?
Do you like having friends round, and do you entertain in the kitchen whilst getting something to eat?
Do you need it to be ok for two people to work in the kitchen at once?
Try to imagine doing tasks associated with your lifestyle in the kitchen. Where you'd put things as you do them, where used stuff goes at the last minute before serving etc.
For me, I'd like more worktop for prep area, and just landing stuff. But that's for how we use our kitchen.
What's the advantage in having the hob on the island?
Do you cook? Like making pastry, or making the gravy out of the meat juices just when the veggies finish cooking?
Do you like having friends round, and do you entertain in the kitchen whilst getting something to eat?
Do you need it to be ok for two people to work in the kitchen at once?
Try to imagine doing tasks associated with your lifestyle in the kitchen. Where you'd put things as you do them, where used stuff goes at the last minute before serving etc.
For me, I'd like more worktop for prep area, and just landing stuff. But that's for how we use our kitchen.
What's the advantage in having the hob on the island?
We do cook, perhaps not to the extent of making pastry but we do buy ingredients and prep rather than just chucking something in the oven to heat up.
Valid points about worktop area and we are going to look into that.
We want the kitchen to be a social 'all in one' family room, hopefully sofa and dining table at the end of the room. We do also have a separate lounge.
Hob on the island was done so that whoever is cooking can be facing the rest of the room rather than having their back to them if it was against a wall.
Valid points about worktop area and we are going to look into that.
We want the kitchen to be a social 'all in one' family room, hopefully sofa and dining table at the end of the room. We do also have a separate lounge.
Hob on the island was done so that whoever is cooking can be facing the rest of the room rather than having their back to them if it was against a wall.
You have so little work surface that it is difficult to imagine where you would prepare the food. Have you done mental walkthroughs?
Larder -> Prep area -> hob
Fridge -> Prep area -> oven
Prep area -> bin
I'm not seeing it.
The hob on the island will coat that whole island, and the stools, and the people on them, and the floor behind them, with hot oil and red sauces and bits of food...
Larder -> Prep area -> hob
Fridge -> Prep area -> oven
Prep area -> bin
I'm not seeing it.
The hob on the island will coat that whole island, and the stools, and the people on them, and the floor behind them, with hot oil and red sauces and bits of food...
Blakeyjersey said:
What do you mean alock? We will have a separate dining table in the room, the stools at the island will be more for the social aspect rather than dinning.
If the stools are for being social, why do you want to sit in a line? I cannot think of any other example where 3 people socialising would chose to sit in a line.My dining table example was just to get you thinking of how 3 people socialising would choose to sit. You would normally have two on one side and one on the other or maybe the three of you would sit around one end of the table each on a different edge.
Thanks for the replies everyone, much appreciated.
This is the first time we've done our own kitchen so a bit of a learning curve !
Bit frustrating that the designer didn't highlight the point that we don't have enough worktop space, i guess that could be because they make more money from putting the tall units in?
Alock - We may look at some sort of peninsula for the island to avoid the 'waiting room' element of having the stools as they currently are, or possible a curved edge to the overhang.
DDg - We had thought about having the tall units on the wall where the sink is but i honestly can't remember why we didn't get a design mocked up for that. Looking again now it does make sense and should give us a longer run of worktop whilst also helping the room to look larger.
This is the first time we've done our own kitchen so a bit of a learning curve !
Bit frustrating that the designer didn't highlight the point that we don't have enough worktop space, i guess that could be because they make more money from putting the tall units in?
Alock - We may look at some sort of peninsula for the island to avoid the 'waiting room' element of having the stools as they currently are, or possible a curved edge to the overhang.
DDg - We had thought about having the tall units on the wall where the sink is but i honestly can't remember why we didn't get a design mocked up for that. Looking again now it does make sense and should give us a longer run of worktop whilst also helping the room to look larger.
Haha, we asked for a lime green splashback to add colour but the designer got a bit excited and created that frame in green, we'd definitely get rid of that.
I agree about the raised breakfast bar, not a fan.
We're going back to the designers and will ask them to look at changing the tall units so they go along the wall where the sink currently is. The more i look and think about it the more sense it makes.
I agree about the raised breakfast bar, not a fan.
We're going back to the designers and will ask them to look at changing the tall units so they go along the wall where the sink currently is. The more i look and think about it the more sense it makes.
We did our kitchen a few years ago and one think we inisted on was no wall units over the sink. Makes it more difficult to use the sink, risk hitting your head and feels hemmed in.
We decided to put the sink in the island along with the hob. The island is pretty big though and you may not have room.
Would definitely recommend radiusing one side where the stools are to get a more "wrap around" feel.
We decided to put the sink in the island along with the hob. The island is pretty big though and you may not have room.
Would definitely recommend radiusing one side where the stools are to get a more "wrap around" feel.
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