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Housekeeping

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Original poster

If you have an open plan kitchen...surfaces?

15 replies

NotWithMyShoes · 08/02/2021 13:18

We have an open plan living room, so the kitchen, dining area, living room and entrance hall are essentially all one room. At the moment we have a high bar on the back of the kitchen units which are not against the wall, so this hides the sink from the dining area and partially from the living room.

We are going to replace the kitchen, DH wants the hob to be moved to the island (currently against the wall), which I think would mean we'd have to lose the bar and have a larger standard height counter. But then the washing up liquid, soap, kids paints etc would be visible from wherever you stand in the main room.

If you've an open plan kitchen, what do you do with this stuff? Leave it out? Hide it cleverly somehow?

OP posts:
NotMeNoNo · 08/02/2021 13:26

Why can't you still have an upstand behind the hob? Even if you don't have seating it could be a serving shelf.
To be honest we just leave the soap etc on the windowsill by the sink. If you are going to be completely open plan you need to embrace all the uses of the room.
The easiest room to keep tidy is one where everything has an accessible home and what's left out is at least organised, colour co-ordinated or lined up so it's not an eyesore.

Original poster
NotWithMyShoes · 08/02/2021 14:02

We don't have a windowsill. The window when closed protrudes away from the wall slightly and it opens into the room.

I assumed it wouldn't be possible because of the heat. But that's nonsense as my current job is against the wall Blush. What I'd like is part bar, then two units long which are one and a half depth. Which might look weird, but would mean there's a break between the kitchen and dining area but also give more cupboard and counter space.

OP posts:
WaiterTheresAFly · 08/02/2021 14:06

I put everything in the cupboard under the sink. I've got hand soap out but it's in a nice bottle.

Actually, my mam decants her fairy liquid into a pump thing that matches her kitchen. You can see her kitchen sink from the street so that's probably why. She'd be the talk of the town.

WaiterTheresAFly · 08/02/2021 14:09

For what it's worth I absolutely hate the hob not being against the wall as you can't have an extractor fan that vents to the outside.

You can only have one that 'recycles' the air back into the room. So absolutely pointless. It's pretty much just for show. We have to open the patio doors if we want bacon.

Original poster
NotWithMyShoes · 08/02/2021 14:11

You can see her kitchen sink from the street so that's probably why. She'd be the talk of the town. Grin

Thankfully it's just us who can see ours! But we have very little built in storage and you see every single thing in the rest of the room, the bar makes the kitchen a bit more forgiving.

OP posts:
Original poster
NotWithMyShoes · 08/02/2021 14:12

For what it's worth I absolutely hate the hob not being against the wall as you can't have an extractor fan that vents to the outside.

Our hob is agains the wall and can't/doesn't vent to the outside. It's one of the reasons we want to change it. If we put it on the island we could have an under-counter extractor that we could put through to the outside.

OP posts:
bagshot32 · 09/02/2021 18:59

My kitchen is open plan. My washing up liquid is in a bottle that had once held a special liquor.

If you have an open plan kitchen...surfaces?
minipie · 09/02/2021 21:25

For what it's worth I absolutely hate the hob not being against the wall as you can't have an extractor fan that vents to the outside

Not true at all, our hob is in the island and we have a flush ceiling extractor which vents straight up out of the roof as our kitchen is in an extension. If the kitchen has a room above it you can vent to the outside by running the duct between the joists to an external wall (although if it’s a terrace this only works if the joists run the right way ie front to back, and there’s no RSJ in the way).

OP: we have our hob in the island which is all one level. Room is open plan. Solutions for hiding mess:

  • built in washing up liquid dispenser
  • soap: we don’t have any, use w/up liquid to wash hands. But we could have a nice looking bottle
  • sponge/washing up brush live in a caddy
  • dirty pots and pans get slung in the (large) sink while we eat so we’re not staring at them while we eat
  • storage! In our island we have a charging drawer for phones and tablets, a drawer for hair stuff/tissues/suncream etc, a drawer for paperwork/stationary, and a drawer for small toys. We have a sideboard that holds arts and crafts stuff, and a built in shallow cupboard that holds boxed toys and games.
minipie · 09/02/2021 21:25

bagshot32 I love that!

PCar20 · 09/02/2021 21:27

Glass amber bottles with a pump

TheDogsMother · 09/02/2021 21:31

Every thing is stored under the sink. The hob is against a wall so that we can have an extractor venting outside and the sink is the underhung type in the end of the main L shaped island.

WaiterTheresAFly · 09/02/2021 21:36

Not true at all, our hob is in the island and we have a flush ceiling extractor which vents straight up out of the roof as our kitchen is in an extension. If the kitchen has a room above it you can vent to the outside by running the duct between the joists to an external wall (although if it’s a terrace this only works if the joists run the right way ie front to back, and there’s no RSJ in the way).

Ok, then I hate my hob being in the middle as I haven't got the ability to have an extractor fan that vents to the outside as my kitchen is not in an extension.

I love your bottle @bagshot32

Original poster
NotWithMyShoes · 10/02/2021 07:28

To complicate matters, our kitchen doesn't have a ceiling... it's open straight to the rafters (top floor flat) so we can't suspend anything above an island. We would have to look at something like this one from Siemens because the end of the island would be the only place touching an outside wall.

Maybe I'm worrying too much about surfaces! Of course we would almost double our storage, so I'd actually have somewhere to put things away Grin

OP posts:
minipie · 10/02/2021 09:14

Yes storage makes an enormous difference. Look at all the stuff that hangs around on surfaces in your kitchen, list it out, and make sure you have planned a home for it in your new kitchen.

There are some clever ideas on Pinterest for organising/storage, eg hanging stuff on the inside of cabinet doors and having a “command station” on a wall for paperwork.

NotMeNoNo · 10/02/2021 10:50

If you have a high room and sloping ceiling, I would think some sort of wall/roof/ceiling mounted fan or even just some vents would work with the natural airflow of the room rather than fighting it with a downdraft extractor.

Have a browse in TK maxx they have loads Joseph+Joseph type designer sink accessories.

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