Ask a kitchen/interior designer anything

[resolve10]

Inspired by some similar threads I've enjoyed reading for other professions, if anyone has any questions on their own projects or just interiors related in general, ask away.

15 years as a kitchen designer, 3 years additionally working on interior design projects. Also done a little bit of bathroom design.

[BigRuts]

We're extending our kitchen in April so interested to follow this for ideas. Not really given the interior design any thought yet though, keep meaning to start a build thread.

[mrmistoffelees]

Kitchen is my next major project, but I can't work out what to do with it. The kitchen itself is as below (albeit without the island and the patio doors - this plan is nicked from a neighbour's house, but mine is the same layout. My units are currently a U shape).

What would you do with this space? So far I've come up with the following and are struggling to work out what's going to work well here:
1) Island as per the above. Feels like it might be tight.
2) Peninsular but then we've got a load of dead space the other side of it towards the utility.
3) Knock through to dining room?
4) Two sides, just down long external wall and the short wall.
5) Copy the plan above, have an external patio door to garden, island, etc?

The size/shape is what's throwing me as it feels like it's a bit difficult to get something that'll work well.

[scoey1001]

What units do you recommend for a very tight budget? Looking at Wickes off the shelf stuff but are there any alternatives?

[resolve10]

mrmistoffelees said:

Kitchen is my next major project, but I can't work out what to do with it. The kitchen itself is as below (albeit without the island and the patio doors - this plan is nicked from a neighbour's house, but mine is the same layout. My units are currently a U shape).

What would you do with this space? So far I've come up with the following and are struggling to work out what's going to work well here:
1) Island as per the above. Feels like it might be tight.
2) Peninsular but then we've got a load of dead space the other side of it towards the utility.
3) Knock through to dining room?
4) Two sides, just down long external wall and the short wall.
5) Copy the plan above, have an external patio door to garden, island, etc?

The size/shape is what's throwing me as it feels like it's a bit difficult to get something that'll work well.

This is a challenge I see quite often. Good size space but slightly awkward shape!

I think opening up the dining room would give you a really nice space, but wouldn't necessarily change how I'd design the kitchen itself.

You're on the right lines already I'd say. It looks like you've designed the island 1200mm deep? I'd probably go down to 900-1000mm to give you more circulation space. You can ruin a kitchen by making the island walkways too tight - makes the whole room feel smaller.

Are the cupboards each side of the main kitchen run just studwork cupboards with doors on? I'd probably look at taking these out and having one long kitchen run.

Another thought if you do open up the dining room - you probably won't want a dedicated breakfast table and a dining table in the same room. I'd consider having a couple of stools at the island for breakfast/coffee, a dedicated dining table, and then use the leftover space for a small sofa/reading chair?

scoey1001 said:

What units do you recommend for a very tight budget? Looking at Wickes off the shelf stuff but are there any alternatives?

I work at the higher end of the market so don't have direct experience, but I've heard very good things about DIY kitchens.

[K-b438t]

so thinking about our future kitchen plan, currently a bit of a galley kitchen, with very limited options, well to me very limited...

Thinking about opening up into the garage, with a small utility room. Could create a really nice space, but i fear it would leave the old kitchen area as a bit of a dead unused area.

The wife then suggested moving the front door to a nicer bigger entrance where the kitchen sink window was. ( but then your entrance would be into a kitchen

bit stuck.....

current


with garage conversion

[Equus]

I've got my own opinions on these (obviously!) but I'd be interested to know your thoughts on:

1) How important do you think the 'work triangle' is?
2) Where you're designing a kitchen with an island, do you see it as preferable to use the island for a sink, a hob, or neither (ie. just a general purpose food prep area/breakfast bar.
3) What are your thoughts on free-standing as opposed to built-in baths?
4) (one that seems to come up quite frequently) What are your thoughts on bathrooms without baths - ie. just a shower?

[TCruise]

I'll add some questions as well...

What current trends do you think will date?

By current trends I am thinking:
- Blue cupboard doors, white worktops
- Granite on the top and down the sides of islands
- High gloss grey
- multiple sinks
[I am sure that there are many others!]

[bunchofkeys]

Over the 15 years, which design of kitchen seems to be the most popular, could you drop a picture example?
And which design seems to stand the test of time? As above, could you post a picture of it.
Thanks

[resolve10]

K-b438t said:

so thinking about our future kitchen plan, currently a bit of a galley kitchen, with very limited options, well to me very limited...

Thinking about opening up into the garage, with a small utility room. Could create a really nice space, but i fear it would leave the old kitchen area as a bit of a dead unused area.

The wife then suggested moving the front door to a nicer bigger entrance where the kitchen sink window was. ( but then your entrance would be into a kitchen

bit stuck.....

current


with garage conversion

What would really help your space would be to knock through the dining room wall as well. I'd then suggest putting your dining table in the area where 'KITCHEN' is written on the above plan, and use the existing dining room as a snug/casual living area.

If you have to keep the dining room, I agree it's a bit of a coridoor from the hall to the kitchen but with a bit of thought it could still be a usable space. The space to the right of the hallway door would lend itself to a nice dresser cabinet or some kind of additional storage. And maybe a reading chair near the window?

[paralla]

TCruise said:

I'll add some questions as well...

What current trends do you think will date?

By current trends I am thinking:
- Blue cupboard doors, white worktops
- Granite on the top and down the sides of islands
- High gloss grey
- multiple sinks
[I am sure that there are many others!]

Pointless islands/obstacles to walk around.

Remember raised breakfast bars? I predict the pointless island/obstacle will follow them into cringe worthy sometime in the next 5 years.

[singlecoil]

Equus said:

I've got my own opinions on these (obviously!) but I'd be interested to know your thoughts on:

1) How important do you think the 'work triangle' is?
2) Where you're designing a kitchen with an island, do you see it as preferable to use the island for a sink, a hob, or neither (ie. just a general purpose food prep area/breakfast bar.

I won't, I daresay, have designed nearly as many kitchens as the OP although I have designed every one I've ever built, and that's been a fair few over a good many years.

1) It's obviously desirable to have these things in a close relationship but in every kitchen I can remember that consideration has been overruled by other factors relating to the size and shape of the kitchen, position of the windows and the customers' requirements (for instance they may want an American fridge freezer and there may only be room for it in one place).

2) Customers' preferences. I've done them every way but haven't had the opportunity to go back a few years later and learn whether they feel they made a mistake in having it the way they did (if they would even admit it if they had ).

[stuntmaneddie]

scoey1001 said:

What units do you recommend for a very tight budget? Looking at Wickes off the shelf stuff but are there any alternatives?

I used the Orlando Grey range on a flat i have recently sold refurbished and sold. The quality is OK, but not amazing. Doors were good, cabinets were
thicker material than some cheaper stuff. They are actually made by Symphony i think, and you can get identical units from Travis Perkins for around 20percent
less.

[RizzoTheRat]

Any recommendations for reasonably easy to use room plan software that cope with different floor levels? Place we're buying is on split levels and I'd like to knock up a plan of merging a room that's half a level down with the kitchen to create a much bigger dining area that's half a level down from the kitchen.

[Equus]

RizzoTheRat said:

Any recommendations for reasonably easy to use room plan software that cope with different floor levels?

Without wishing to derail the OP's thread, SketchUp is the standard answer, here.

[singlecoil]

Equus said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Any recommendations for reasonably easy to use room plan software that cope with different floor levels?

Without wishing to derail the OP's thread, SketchUp is the standard answer, here.

Seconded. Sketchup Make 2017 is free too. Masses of free tutorials on YouTube.

[resolve10]

Equus said:

I've got my own opinions on these (obviously!) but I'd be interested to know your thoughts on:

1) How important do you think the 'work triangle' is? Good question. I don't actually think about the triangle when I design but most kitchens will default to a triangle anyway, so I suppose there is some value in it. The two things I focus on most for are distance from each work zone, and making sure to avoid any hazards (for example - needing to cross a thorougfare with a hot tray from the oven before you have somewhere to put it down).
2) Where you're designing a kitchen with an island, do you see it as preferable to use the island for a sink, a hob, or neither (ie. just a general purpose food prep area/breakfast bar. Modern builds often have huge bi-folding doors which look great but present a challenge to kitchen designers as they limit the wall space available for your sink or hob/range cooker to go on. I judge each space on its own merit but unless absolutely necessary I try to keep the island as just work surface, as it looks cleaner and also simplifies plumbing/extraction.
3) What are your thoughts on free-standing as opposed to built-in baths? I've only experienced very basic contract bathroom design (certainly no freestanding rolltop baths!) and it was a number of years ago, but my view purely on aethetics is a freestanding bath needs breathing space to work. I've seen them shoehorned into small bathrooms and they can make the room feel smaller.
4) (one that seems to come up quite frequently) What are your thoughts on bathrooms without baths - ie. just a shower? I always say first and foremost it needs to work for the client, and personally I'd rather sacrifice a bath for a larger shower. I'd be cautious removing a bath if I was considering selling the home in the medium term as some buyers will always want a bath, particularly families with young children or dogs.

[resolve10]

TCruise said:

I'll add some questions as well...

What current trends do you think will date?

By current trends I am thinking:
- Blue cupboard doors, white worktops
- Granite on the top and down the sides of islands
- High gloss grey
- multiple sinks
[I am sure that there are many others!]

I think blue cabinets will eventually pass as a trend. Most people are very conservative with cabinet colours, which is why grey has been popular for a decade or so. White worktops are popular because they make a room feel so much brighter, and the onset of good quality quartz & ceramic worktops have dealt with the traditional drawback of light coloured worktops (cleaning/maintenance), so I think they will be here to stay. I'd stay away from marble or white laminate worktops though!

Worktops down the side of the cabinets isn't actually a new thing, it was arguably more popluar a few years ago (Redrow Homes used to put it in all their new builds). I like it, gives a substantial look to the kitchen. I think most people refer to it as a 'waterfall end' but I've also heard it called 'worktop end panel' and 'worktop downstand'.

Multiple sinks I've never personally understood, but some people with very large kitchens insist on it. A decent sized 1.5 bowl or double bowl is probably a better solution for most kitchens.

[resolve10]

bunchofkeys said:

Over the 15 years, which design of kitchen seems to be the most popular, could you drop a picture example?
And which design seems to stand the test of time? As above, could you post a picture of it.
Thanks

I would say it's the same answer for both, though if I worked for a different company it could well be a different answer. You can't really go wrong with a simple shaker design in a neutral colour.



For more modern spaces, I know handleless is really popular (my current company don't have a handleless range so I haven't designed a handleless kitchen for a couple of years). I don't think handleless will 'age' as such, as very simple designs don't tend to date, but some people really don't like handleless kitchens. For that reason if I was doing up a house as a project to sell on, I'd go for a shaker style.

[resolve10]

paralla said:

Pointless islands/obstacles to walk around.

Remember raised breakfast bars? I predict the pointless island/obstacle will follow them into cringe worthy sometime in the next 5 years.

That's a blast from the past! I remember seeing one of those on my very first day in the job, 2006. Even at the time I thought it looked like it should be on the back of an Impreza rather than bonded to a kitchen worktop.