Some advice on our new kitchen please :)

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We're thinking about replacing our kitchen and have had a couple of designs done (Howdens and a local company) but I'm not entirely happy with the proposals and wondered if anyone has some suggestions for how it could work.

Our current kitchen is pretty big on paper, but has absolutely rubbish no storage space, so the main thing about the new kitchen is that it must offer around 50% more than we currently have. I've drawn a very rubbish sketch to give you an idea but we have lots of 'wasted' space in the middle of the room and the peninsular sticking out cuts off the dining table from the rest of the room and makes it a bit of a dumping ground because it's hidden iyswim.

My main requirements are:

• Island unit
• Remove peninsular
• Integrated f/freezer or american/french f/f
• Built in (double) ovens

In principle, the plan they've come back with ticks these boxes, but I'm concerned about the distance between the fridge (right at the bottom rhs of the room) and the cooker (right at the other end on the left). I think it's about 3.9m between the two which I think would really bug me over time! However, I'm not sure if I'm worried about this simply because in our current layout the fridge is right next to the cooker.

I thought that perhaps a solution would be to move the sink into the island and move the cooker to the sink position which would bring everything much closer together. However, I'm really not sure if this is a good idea (sink in island). There's also the consideration that we're ending the unit run along the back wall with the fridge/freezer rather than open counter with unit above, and that this will look odd as it will block part of the window. The gap between window end unit is a radiator which will need to stay. Also the window goes right to the wall so you can't run units up to the end anyway.

Another idea is to put the fridge next to the ovens (can this be done???), move the cooker to the sink and the sink to the island. But again, I have the sink on island problem.

Any views whether my solutions would work, or can anyone suggest anything better that doesn't involve having the sink in the island?

FYI (in case it's relevant) the double doors I've indicated on my drawing lead into the family/play room and will be replaced with sliding doors so they don't open out into the kitchen. However, they will be practically always open with straightline views between the two rooms.

Added a pic of the room to give you an idea of current layout by the way - please excuse the absolute state of the kitchen

I have my fridge/freezer next to the double all oven and it's never been a problem. With this in mind (fridge/freezer next to double oven along the side wall.) a possible option is to move the sink further down and put the hob in the same stretch of counter. Leaving you with a clean run on the kitchen island to do your perpetration on.

If I'm reading it right you've got 4 food leaving to your kitchen. If that's correct a rethink of your downstairs layout might be required to give you a more workablel kitchen space.

I'm planning building work at the moment to facilitate a new kitchen. In the current layout all the wall space is taken up by doors, windows, radiators and a fireplace. When you stop thinking of these things as permanent it opens all kind of possibilities.

Could you spin your island unit around the other way so that it is front of the cooker with a fridge drawer in it? My friend has that layout that works really well. She then has another small fridge near to the dining table where she keeps yogurts/puddings/fruit juice etc.

Looking at your sketch - would you consider moving the current radiator to under the window, and have the units going the whole way along that wall instead?

You could then move the sink a few units closer to the hob, allowing the fridge unit to go roughly where the sink is proposed in the suggested plan. Another tall unit (say a larder) would then go at the end where the radiator is as a counterpoint to the oven unit at the other side. Not sure you'd really need an island then - you could use one of those nice (and mobile) large butcher's block type-thingies instead.

Not sure if the above makes sense, but I'll see if I can do a mock-up on the IKEA planner and link.

Another idea....
What if the table was attached to the island?

Thank you all for coming along and having your say - really appreciate it!

Radical - that's good to know and could well solve the problem. Why I didn't really think of putting sink/cooker on same stretch I don't know! Will have to work out how much surface I'd get between each though - as you can tell I tend to make quite a mess when cooking so I would want to be sure I had enough space either side to 'spread'...!

burnished - yes, we do have 4 doors but unfortunately we can't change those at all. One is an exterior door, one leads to the hallway and the double doors other into the family/playroom. Need them all as we don't want to only access the kitchen through playroom or not have access to the playroom through the kitchen. Makes it frustrating though I agree!

petit - that's possibly an idea although I'll have to get the tape measure out and check. Gut feel is that it wouldn't leave enough space to walk between the door from the hallway into the main room although I will definitely check.

Moonlight - we have considered moving radiator and are not against it (although probably underfloor heating instead due to size of windows and heat just leeching straight out). The problem with running the units all the way to the end is that the windows go practically flush to the wall so the units couldn't run all the way down without overhanging the window ifyswim? And changing windows isn't really an option.

burnished - love the pic. My friend has a similar layout and it has crossed my mind as a possibility. Would just need to make sure that the 'table' started after the double-doors to the family room end as I don't really want to be sitting facing into that room.

If you put in a patio door instead of the window you could block up the external door. We've already blocked up the back door in ours to free up wall space. We had 5 doors off the kitchen! I know it's extra expense but you dont get the opportunity to replace the kitchen very often so it's worth considering all options before you start.

In which case go with burnished's idea! (Have given up on the IKEA planner as has crashed computer twice now )

We already have patio doors from the family room burnished so we really don't need twice the access onto the garden plus the garden where the window overlooks is very narrow at that point sadly. Good idea though!

Not a radical change, but could you switch the places of the hob and the sink? That's the set up I would want, but I'm a bit chaotic in the kitchen so appreciate a "things I am doing now" side and a "things to be added later" side!

How about something like:

LH end wall : fridge, full height larders, full height ovens right across.
Round the corner, a gap so you can open the ovens, say 90cm. Start again: worktop with cutlery/crockery drawers under (I would have my kettle here) , dishwasher, sink (drainer to left), at least 1.2m more worktop , hob, a bit more worktop on the end. In these base units have cooking stuff, pans, utensils etc. Keep your island as overspill and prep space. That concentrates all the high things together. It also gets the work areas towards the natural light - maybe don't have too many wall cupboards R of the sink. The only problem is distance of oven from other cooking area but you have the island between to put things down on, that is the compromise I guess given restrictions of the room.

this site helpful for planning kitchens of different shapes.

Also look carefully at where the dishwasher is positioned so it doesn't block the way past the island when it's open and being loaded.

the cheap places don't have the good designers. to get a good layout you need to go to a good designer .