Kitchen plan with no eye level units... (daft question)

[lisbapalea]

We are re-doing our kitchen this summer and as it's a cottage with very low ceilings and can feel gloomy inside, I am trying to keep the space open and as light as possible so I am opting to avoid eye level units but that's making me fret over storage of certain items!

If anyone has avoided them for the same reasons (i.e. to maximise light) can you please reassure me that it's OK to store things under the work surface that would 'traditionally' live above?!

I have attached a pic of the kitchen plan (we're not having these exact cupboards, floors etc but it gives an idea of the layout) to make some sense of it - there will also be a dresser to the right of the very light open doorway (no idea why this is so light on the pic - it isn't an entrance to Heaven, but is n fact a doorway into the playroom).

So my question is, where will I keep mugs /glasses!

In my mind the dresser would be for wine glasses etc but would it be odd to keep 'normal' glasses here as well (e.g. for a glass of water), as well as mugs, when the sink is over the other side of the room?

I think I am at the stage of the planning process when I am doubting every decision so if anyone can reassure me that glasses and mugs don't have to live in eye level units next to the sink, please do so! Or any other practical ideas to make my plan work!

Bloody hell this is long and boring, sorry.

[ItsALuigi]

I am planning my kitchen too at the moment. I doubt every decision I make!

We moved into a house with no eye level cupboards (renovation house) and we've stored mugs etc in there. I cant see it being a problem if you've got plenty of other space. Keep your mugs closest to your kettle not your sink in my opinion.

I'd keep all my glasses together too! I cant see an attached pic by the way.

[lisbapalea]

Thank you for the reassurance!

I forgot to upload the pic before - doh! Here it is

[P1nkP0ppy]

It's perfectly feasible to not have eye level cupboards, you could have open shelving or hanging rails for mugs?
My new kitchen's started being installed today; I agonised over everything but now just can't wait to see it completed!
I do have 2 eye level cupboards on only one wall, mainly because it's an odd shape and because there's room.
Good luck op!

[mithy]

I have no eye level cupboards for the same reason. I didn't want a bog standard fully fitted kitchen, I wanted it to feel more spacious and slightly quirky.

The answer to below counter storage is drawers, Ikea in my case and huge. Get as many as you can, so much better than cupboards. You can buy all sorts of dividers for crockery storage. Food is much easier to access.

I have some shelves near the sink that hold just the right amount of mugs, glasses and plates for daily use and a magnetic knife rack near the hob. I don't have an extractor hood and haven't missed it, walls still clean after three years.

The main thing is that it actually works really well and it's quite a small room. I actually like it even more now than I did when it was new.

[vienaa]

I like it, we are not having no eye level cupboards due to the high units but the little bit of space we do have I will be putting up some shelves with light

[Spandexpants007]

Sorry confused. Is that an image of the plan or how it is now?

What's the other end of the room like?

I prefer floor level units

[lisbapalea]

Thanks for all of this feedback - I was expecting cries of 'no you HAVE to have eye level units to make a kitchen work'!

I am going to look into some canny drawer storage and maybe see if we can swap one of the cupboards by the hob for another set of drawers instead.

Thanks all!

PS - pic is of the plan; how it is now is HIDEOUS!

[123rd]

We just did our kitchen/new extension
I didn't want any wall cupboards we have an island and base units. And v similar to your pic we have two pull out larders straddling the bank of four ovens

[TJEckleburg]

I have huge Island, 2 large drawers high. Bottom drawers have plates, pans and larger stuff, top drawers have mugs and glasses and bowls, and a shallower drawer inside which holds cutlery

Above my sink I have very high shallow units, up to the ceiling, which hold stuff I don't use much. They are high enough and shallow enough to not bang my head on when stood St the sink- wouldn't that be an aoption at all?. And hung from the bottom of those I have an ikea rail and hooks that hold my (matching) mugs

[RNBrie]

My parent's kitchen doesn't have a single wall unit and you know, this is the very first time it's occurred to me! All glasses and mugs are stored under the counter and I've never given it a second thought. I think your design will be fine.

[TreeBird16]

I'm just about to get my kitchen fitted with no wall units. It is a narrow extension with a wall to wall window on one end and i was afraid overhead presses would make it gloomy and crowded as well as lessening light. I have designed it to fit overhead presses if i ever decide to add them though.

[TreeBird16]

better pic

[lisbapalea]

Ah thanks so much for all of these extra replies - I feel reassured!

[AhHaaaaa]

You can always add a mug stand, or hanging rail or small shelf. I think it would annoy me having to walk to the dresser for a mug/glass.
Agree change for one if the ikea style big deep drawers and have glasses/mugs near the kettles.

[PigletJohn]

you will certainly need the big pan drawers, otherwise stuff will get lost at the back of the base cupboards and never seen again. Magic corners are a bit clunky.

Wall cabs or shelves are more convenient for small items like cups, glasses and cans.

[ChopOrNot]

Agree - no wall cupboards will be fine - you can use some shelves for every-day plates/cups/glasses (so stuff used a lot and will not gather dust/grease).

When I designed our kitchen I spent a fair while imagining me using it. How was I going to make a cup of tea/coffee/glass of water etc and then worked out where I wanted the "stuff" to be on hand. Where I wanted to be reachable to empty the dishwasher (eg plates/cutlery in a drawer within reach of the dishwasher. Where I needed the tea/coffee/sugar. What I did not use that much (ie baking stuff is a once a week thing not daily) so that is in the corner cupboard but tins and packets are in the larder drawers.

I made loads of post it notes with each category (plastic tubs, saucepans, baking stuff, tins, teatowels etc and then planned where each thing would go. In planning I also took into account what used to drive me nuts in our old kitchen (if you opened the dishwasher you could not get to the cupboard to put the cups away.


And don't forget the Mumsnet Kitchen Thread about "lessons learnt" It is about 4 years old now but still relevant. have you planned where to hang teatowels and where to put your bin yet?

[MrsMarigold]

I hate high level units - we have ours hanging on hooks which mens they don't take up much space.

[RaisingSteam]

We ended up with just one wall cupboard for glasses and cups which is a

[RaisingSteam]

Oops
One 80cm wall cupboard above the 80cm pan drawers that have all the cutlery and plates. Working side of room is free of wall units- better headroom and light- but has a few narrow shelves. In your kitchen maybe a cupboard across the corner for cups would work?

You need not have all pan drawers, you can get same pull out function with inner drawers or wire baskets behind a door instead of shelves.

If you are not sure on layout see here