Kitchen design- completely stuck!

[SicknSpan]

We are extending our house at present and need to start thinking about the final plans for our kitchen which will be a large open plan kitchen/dining/living area. There are so many possible layouts and plans that my head is reeling and I think we really need someone to help us work out even the basic things like which bit of the new massive room we're going to get should be the kitchen/which should be dining/which should be sofas etc. Let alone where the sink should go and whereabouts we need to run plumbing.

How do we go about doing this? Most places -quite reasonably- seem to need exact dimensions to be able to help. However we haven't got these yet as the internal building work has yet to be defined depending on what our kitchen requirements are! It's chicken and egg.

Any advice?

[mabelbabel]

You might want to try posting similar question in "Property". I think there are plenty of people who check that board who would have helpful answers for you.

[BloooCowWonders]

Have you been in touch with an architect? Ours was invaluable at suggesting things we'd never even thought of. Not a cheap option, but I think it'll save us a huge amount in the final build.

[hillyhilly]

Start with the basics, working triangle of sink, fridge and cooker. Sink most often goes under the window.
I have an island which I adore as its always clear and is a really useful space, I only wish it had a socket on or under it for mixing cakes.
You also should think about space for people to sit/ be in the kitchen if you have plenty of room, a breakfast bar or stools or sofa.
My other regret (I moved into this kitchen so didn't design it) is that there's nowhere for my cookbooks, I think they look nice on a shelf somewhere in the room, it kind of softens it in an uncluttered way.

We recently knocked through to create a more open plan kitchen playroom, where i struggled was to get a wall colour that suited both rooms particularly as my kitchen units are cream so it needed to be an actual colour. I went for a soft green but am still not sure I've got it right, ideally I'd have a strong accent colour to bring the two rooms together better. eg a friend of mine has one (smallish) wall a deep red then has red lampshades over the island and some red accessories.

I find it useful to draw the basic shape on a piece of paper then play with putting things where they could be, if youve a bit of time then cut out sink, hob, fridge in scale then you can easily move them but even scribbles on a bit of paper usually clarifies things.

It seems daunting because its a big area but f you break it down into parts, units, flooring etc then it will take shape

[SicknSpan]

Thanks all. Architect is out sadly, have v tight budget! We had one to help us with the initial designs and getting us through to planning permission but we are non our own now.

Will post in property too. Ta.

[Inertia]

Things I would consider :

Have your hob on an outside wall so that you can run an extractor fan straight out.

Look at where exterior drains are and have your sink / dishwasher nearby to minimise pipework.

Consider blocking into zones - wet zone, cooking zone , preparation zone.

Plan storage for crockery and glassware close to the dishwasher to make unloading easier.

Personally I would have a dining area near the doors to the kitchen, and have the kitchen further from the doors (as long as it's on an external wall for extractor / drains) .