AIBU to ask you what will drive me crackers about new kitchen design in six months?

[Waffles80]

Crystal balls / hindsight / voice of experience / wild speculation.

We are having the kitchen done in the house we’ve just moved in to. We’re knocking the existing dining room and kitchen into one space, and putting the dining room where the kitchen is and vice versa.

We’ve mulled over the plans approx eleventy bazillion times. I think the plans work now. But....what am I missing that will do my head in at a later date? What’s in a stupid position?

Can’t really add more units without encroaching on dining space, but could change what’s going IN each unit.

Any thoughts? Images attached!

If that is the fridge/freezer between the oven unit and the wall- will you be able to open the door wide enough (ie beyond 90 degress) without it hitting the wall?
It may not bother you but it can be tricky to get shelves out for cleaning.

Where do you stand for food prep? Worktop space looks a bit limited (always gets a bit cluttered at my place) and there's not room for an island. Maybe do something along the unused wall or at the dining room end?

@Bonkersblond what tap have you got? Ours is going to be a Quooker.

I can’t really tell from your picture but make sure you have some where to hang tea towel & hand towel. In our lovely new kitchen I have to hang them on oven handle which doesn’t look in keeping with rest of neat (when it’s been tidied!) and sleek kitchen. Also think about socket for where you are most likely to want your phone charger

A drainer on each side of the sink is nice if you can manage it space wise. And storage, storage, storage is very important.

Do you have any pretty china which you like to display? I'm old fashioned and if I didn't have the space for Welsh dresser I'd at least like a 'mid-way' shelf between the wall units and the worktop to display things.

Do the wall units reach the ceiling? You'll have an unreachable dust trap at the top if this isn't the case.

Look at the orientation - an east facing kitchen gets the morning sun. My old kitchen faced south west and got very hot during the late afternoon, almost unbearable in the summer.

Can you do underfloor heating and then ditch the radiator? That way you’ve got more cabinet space.

I agree with others re worktop space and more storage than you can believe you need. When we redid our kitchen I took photos of what was in all my existing kitchen storage and then sat with the designer and mapped it all on to the new cupboards. Until then they kept insisting there was enough room - there wasn’t!

I'd consider taller units.. To the ceiling unless you live in really high ceiling house

Definitely put in more sockets than you need. I put extra in, with USB sockets, and still have to unplug things regularly to find a space!

@TheNemesisOfLame I must check that because not being able to get the shelves out would be infuriating!

The cupboards are very high. I’ll need a step to get up to them and I’m 5’8”. Can’t go all the way to the ceiling as the room is really, really tall. We’d need a step ladder to get the to top!

No room at all for an island and worried that a breakfast bar would eat into the dining space.

I know coloured units is a possible thing we’d want to change at a later date. But I absolutely LOVE them. They can be painted and I’ve seen the quality of them painted so I’m confident that’s an option.

Have a breakfast bar and that will give you more worktops and cupboards.

Make sure your sink, fridge and hob are close.

Have plenty of lighting.

Here's our mid-installation so you can see what I mean

Are you planning to install a skylight to the sloped roof of what I think will be the new dining area? We have this and it really helps the room feel bright

Yes @happyhouralways that’s a very good point. I’ll think - possibly on the end of the sink side with a bar, or would that look awful from dining room end?

We’ve moved from a house with a tiny kitchen, and storage in a brick built shed, to a much bigger house but the existing kitchen is ridiculously small so it’s really hard to judge our actual storage needs because so much of my kitchen stuff is in boxes in the garage still!

@Myshoesarenew yes! Two skylights there - vaulted ceiling.

My kitchen has similarities to yours. I would get rid of the units at the bottom and instead run them in an L shape across the back wall. Not a good idea to have to have an aisle in middle of kitchen if you can help it. In the design, the units are blocking clear access to the door and are blocking the light from the bifold doors and make it look cramped. You could, if desperate, have a set of narrow tall cupboards, but no counter space.

given the space is wide, you could consider making your worksurfaces deeper than normal. So rather than 60cm deep, make the worksurface on the hob side 80 cm deep. That gives you an extra 20cm at the back to put gadgets (kettle / toaster etc) and still have space for cooking in front.

More importantly, think through the space in terms of how you will use it and how people move around the space. Is there a place for the toaster & kettle? Is there a place for rubbish & recycling? What about a place for cookery books? Or for a phone to charge? If you think about space in terms of users (not just layout), you'll get more out of it.

Would you mind DM’ing me a pic @daisypomd?

We had an L shape originally but it meant really limiting the storage space and really struggling to get dishwasher / washing machine / dryer in. We need all three and not a combined washer/dryer!

I would have my oven and hob on the same run.
Also cupboards up to the ceiling.
Thinking about draining boards,I am right handed,I hold the dish with my left hand so pass it to the left hand draining board when washed.My DD is left handed and she had to reach her right hand across to the draining board.
When our slippery decking dies I am paving the area and having steps.

DO NOT split the space in two by having a breakfast bar that comes out in an 'L', the room is not big enough for that! I would move the entrance door to the kitchen up, if possible, so it sits centrally in the left hand wall, and run the units back behind it to the left of the hob. Put a large larder unit in there. Love the colour OP. Good luck with it.

Work top wise. On the hob side there are two full units for food prep either side, so that’s 1.2m either side of the hob. The pics make it look quite squashed.

This was the L shaped design but it meant there were NO cupboards at all.

Whoops! This:

Does your washing machine and dryer have be in the kitchen,if they could be somewhere else that frees you so much cupboard space,you need more than you think.Also where are your bins?

@parietal that’s such a good idea!! Thank you! I’ll speak to the designer on Monday.

Thanks all for the input. I’ve now got a long list of things I just hadn’t considered at all.

I personally dislike cupboards above the worktops. I think they get in the way and it looks more minimilist without them.

We have tall cupboards as one big unit on the back wall, which you currently aren't using. They include our fridge, microwave and oven with loads of storage as well