I need some lateral thinking...please?

[Katymac]

I am moving my house arround

Puttig the children sleeping area at the end of the kitchen and want a way of dividing it off.

I was thinking about building an actual stud wall but was also considering a screen or a curtain

Has anyone any thoughts ect about the problem?

I know of a nursery that has walls that are about chest height, so you can see over and have no trouble looking in there, but to the children they are a wall if that makes sense.

Also available are loads of screens from places like step by step etc.

what's step by step?

oh sorry, it is a website that sells childrens stuff.

It is www.sbs-educational.co.uk. Sort of do everything there!

I don't think it would be permitted for children to sleep in a kitchen, regardless of any screen so a stud wall would be needed to split the room. Not sure on the legislation/Ofsted guidance relating to this, but my gut view is that children can't sleep in a room designated as being the kitchen.

You will need to consider Fire exit routes, they can not go through the kitchen - as fire could have started there. Also access to the room should not be via the kitchen as it's a high risk area.

Of course this is just my view... ultimately it will be the Ofsted inspector who visits who will decide - changes of this type I feel would require notification to Ofsted.

That's what I wondered

I will ring them to discuss

The kitchen does have 2 internal exits - so hopefully the fire risk would be quite small

I can do the stud wall very easily - it is straight forward - just may not be necessary....hmmmm thinking going on

Thinking of it... I've been at a nursery where the Milk Kitchen was separated from the main baby room using Standard height Kitchen Units with worktop, thus creating a doorway sized gap, where a stairgate was installed. However, that kitchen was not used to prepare major food, just for bottle warming, babyjar reheat, washing dishes/bottles, fridge for storage of expressed breast milk/formular etc.

I presume you are talking about your home, rather than proposed nursery... so I expect the kitchen is used more often and for major things - eg. it has an oven in it.

Oh yes it will be cooked in.

The idea is that the current sleeping room will be MY new kitchen and that the existing large kitchen could be split into two to make a sleep area and a separate dining kitchen.

It is just whether I need the wall or a divider