Thoughts on Kitchen design.
Discussion
Layout reminds me of our last house's kitchen (could only find a near-completion, but already moved back in shot)
We had a row of tall units opposite the ovens which were great for storage. There was room for a large dining table between the island and wall units.
Certainly used the additional worktop space around the corner from the sink.
Corian? Looks great, but slightly annoying to maintain.
The down draft extractor wasn't especially effective.
And yes, before anybody points it out, the steam oven was later replaced with one with the controls at the bottom! I'll happily pay the extra for Gaggenau when we come to replace our new kitchen.
We had a row of tall units opposite the ovens which were great for storage. There was room for a large dining table between the island and wall units.
Certainly used the additional worktop space around the corner from the sink.
Corian? Looks great, but slightly annoying to maintain.
The down draft extractor wasn't especially effective.
And yes, before anybody points it out, the steam oven was later replaced with one with the controls at the bottom! I'll happily pay the extra for Gaggenau when we come to replace our new kitchen.
Been back to the designers and changed things round a bit, it's a touch unfair as one uses a much better rendering package than the other so that one looks a lot better on screen but it may not be better in real life.
We've shifted things around and created more worktop space as the lack of it seemed to be a running theme with the previous design.
We've looked at things slightly differently now thanks to some of the comments on here, we liked the first designs but came to realise that we liked them because they were 'show' kitchens and in reality we need to think of how the kitchen would work for us rather than just how it looked.
Interested to hear peoples views on the changes.
We've shifted things around and created more worktop space as the lack of it seemed to be a running theme with the previous design.
We've looked at things slightly differently now thanks to some of the comments on here, we liked the first designs but came to realise that we liked them because they were 'show' kitchens and in reality we need to think of how the kitchen would work for us rather than just how it looked.
Interested to hear peoples views on the changes.
I would move the hob, there's no good reason to have it in everyone's face, it'll be a pain or ugly for extraction and it'll cover everyone/everything in fat.
Most of cooking is prep, the actual interaction with pans bit is usually quite low, so it's potentially more antisocial to be preparing elsewhere. If you really have to face people as you turn their steaks, I viewed a house that had a normal hob on the side then a small induction hob flush-mounted in the island which seemed like a decent compromise.
Most of cooking is prep, the actual interaction with pans bit is usually quite low, so it's potentially more antisocial to be preparing elsewhere. If you really have to face people as you turn their steaks, I viewed a house that had a normal hob on the side then a small induction hob flush-mounted in the island which seemed like a decent compromise.
I take your point regarding the hob but we have decided we definitely want it on the island.
We had thought about getting a downdraft extractor to create a barrier when cooking but read that they're not particularly effective. The ceiling height is coming down a touch anyway so routing ducting for the overhead extractor shouldn't be a problem.
We may look at moving the hob so it is closer to the end of the island where the oven is and therefore the other end can be prep area and people can sit towards that end so they're a bit further away from the cooking. Although having the hob off centre may stress me out a bit!
We had thought about getting a downdraft extractor to create a barrier when cooking but read that they're not particularly effective. The ceiling height is coming down a touch anyway so routing ducting for the overhead extractor shouldn't be a problem.
We may look at moving the hob so it is closer to the end of the island where the oven is and therefore the other end can be prep area and people can sit towards that end so they're a bit further away from the cooking. Although having the hob off centre may stress me out a bit!
I've tried to comment on this previously but couldn't entirely phrase what I wanted to say. I think this article covers a lot of it, cold clinical, unusable kitchens won't be "in" forever, make it a home... http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9480072/in-pra...
Piglet said:
I've tried to comment on this previously but couldn't entirely phrase what I wanted to say. I think this article covers a lot of it, cold clinical, unusable kitchens won't be "in" forever, make it a home... http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9480072/in-pra...
Some excellent points in that article. I'm not much into 'fashion' kitchens myself either.Sink should always have a view out of a window.
Or at least a window close to it.
Costs a bit more - but extend the middle island a bit - and have the sink on the island.
Current layout looks like you are cramming everything into the left hand side of the room.
Or at least a window close to it.
Costs a bit more - but extend the middle island a bit - and have the sink on the island.
Current layout looks like you are cramming everything into the left hand side of the room.
Edited by Troubleatmill on Sunday 29th March 09:42
Move the ovens as tight to the wall as you can and drop the full height cupboards in that corner, so you can bring the worktop around the corner. Then move the tall units to the corner on the other side of the room where you have a short run of worktop.
I reckon that gives you a better balance as you lose the dead corner and you're swapping work space where you'll be working for storage that is less important to be close by.
I reckon that gives you a better balance as you lose the dead corner and you're swapping work space where you'll be working for storage that is less important to be close by.
we have a very similar space and design. based on my initial ideas and subsequent experience I would suggest:
- the floor to ceiling units replace with a worktop and undercounter units.
- the island, if you're going to have another table in the room, lose the breakfast bar and have units under instead, making up for those lost above. whilst they seem trendy at the moment, who actually uses a breakfast bar? they've one of those must have things but no one seem to like the contrived nature of them. and the chairs are always way too heavy and uncomfortable to sit in for munch longer than 5 mins.
- consider the wall mounted tv carefully, if the room isn't quite as big as you'd like you end up with a quandary about where to place a sofa / dining room table.
- and if you haven't already plastered I'd recommend putting some wall mounted speaker cabling fairly high in the walls in each corner, as this allows music to be heard without being obtrusive if you're entertaining etc.
- the floor to ceiling units replace with a worktop and undercounter units.
- the island, if you're going to have another table in the room, lose the breakfast bar and have units under instead, making up for those lost above. whilst they seem trendy at the moment, who actually uses a breakfast bar? they've one of those must have things but no one seem to like the contrived nature of them. and the chairs are always way too heavy and uncomfortable to sit in for munch longer than 5 mins.
- consider the wall mounted tv carefully, if the room isn't quite as big as you'd like you end up with a quandary about where to place a sofa / dining room table.
- and if you haven't already plastered I'd recommend putting some wall mounted speaker cabling fairly high in the walls in each corner, as this allows music to be heard without being obtrusive if you're entertaining etc.
It certainly won't be a 'cold clinical, unusable kitchen'. Yes, we're going for white gloss handleless but there will be plenty of aspects of the room which will make it feel homely. Obviously the renders don't take into account the personal touches that we will be adding such as artwork on the walls etc.
We have struggled regarding what to do with the dead corner. We don't really like the roller shutter look and if anything I think we would put some chunky reclaimed wood shelves in there to contrast against the modern handleless units and provide storage for the ever growing cookery book collection.
We definitely want an island with seating round, it's something we've always wanted and the people we know with them do seem to get a lot of use from them.
Thanks for all the feedback.
We have struggled regarding what to do with the dead corner. We don't really like the roller shutter look and if anything I think we would put some chunky reclaimed wood shelves in there to contrast against the modern handleless units and provide storage for the ever growing cookery book collection.
We definitely want an island with seating round, it's something we've always wanted and the people we know with them do seem to get a lot of use from them.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Blakeyjersey said:
It certainly won't be a 'cold clinical, unusable kitchen'. Yes, we're going for white gloss handleless but there will be plenty of aspects of the room which will make it feel homely. Obviously the renders don't take into account the personal touches that we will be adding such as artwork on the walls etc.
We have struggled regarding what to do with the dead corner. We don't really like the roller shutter look and if anything I think we would put some chunky reclaimed wood shelves in there to contrast against the modern handleless units and provide storage for the ever growing cookery book collection.
We definitely want an island with seating round, it's something we've always wanted and the people we know with them do seem to get a lot of use from them.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Walk in larder?We have struggled regarding what to do with the dead corner. We don't really like the roller shutter look and if anything I think we would put some chunky reclaimed wood shelves in there to contrast against the modern handleless units and provide storage for the ever growing cookery book collection.
We definitely want an island with seating round, it's something we've always wanted and the people we know with them do seem to get a lot of use from them.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Dam it, sucked back into a kitchen thread.
You can use a worktop dresser unit to fill in the dead corner above worktop height. All white kitchens can work but id still be tempted to add an accent material other than coloured glass. Those lift up units are just daft that high up, use deeper base units and the height is less of an issue as you won't crack your head on them if your further back.
You can use a worktop dresser unit to fill in the dead corner above worktop height. All white kitchens can work but id still be tempted to add an accent material other than coloured glass. Those lift up units are just daft that high up, use deeper base units and the height is less of an issue as you won't crack your head on them if your further back.
In terms of accent material we are going to have some rustic, uneven shaped reclaimed wood shelves on the side where the wine rack is. The thought being that these would contrast nicely with the sharp clean lines of the kitchen units.
Yup, agree about the lift up units, we're thinking of not having one above the sink and then maybe just having a run of three starting from the nib but at a more useable height.
Yup, agree about the lift up units, we're thinking of not having one above the sink and then maybe just having a run of three starting from the nib but at a more useable height.
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