Please help me redesign my kitchen layout

[LadderToTheMoon]

Moved into our new house a few months ago and the kitchen layout is driving me mad.

The main issue is the hob being right next to the sink; there is no space for preparing food next to the hob, we can't have anyone cooking at the same time as someone standing at the sink and I seem to spend the entire time walking up and down the length of the kitchen. This is excaberbated by the (what I presume are) retaining walls, which used to be the back wall prior to an extension, next to the hob.

There is another retaining wall on the opposite side of the kitchen. This, together with the door to the garden, more or less makes one side of the kitchen unusable in terms of work surface space.

I've also realised that I don't particularly like eye-level ovens. I prefer a more traditional oven & hob combo.

Although very 70s, I love the serving hatch - so useful for passing things through to the dining room and for keeping an eye on what's going on!

Any ideas on how to improve the layout? My DH would always take the line of least resistance and would prefer to just move the oven and hob along to near where the serving hatch is.

I've got a crazy idea of moving the kitchen door so it is between the retaining wall and where the dishwasher currently is, but don't know whether that would help the layout.

Move the hob to the left of the serving hatch?

That would certainly be the easiest option, I think. I'm just a bit concerned about the heat from the hob being so close to the hatch, especially as DD likes to stand in the dining room and pass things through. Got a vision of one of her Little People going up in smoke!

And also potential burns from hands coming through the hatch.

I'd have the hob to the left of the hatch by a few inches, to avoid that, if space will allow, and teach your DC to be careful.
Can't see any other workeable solution really.

Personally, the first thing I'd do is knock the wall between the kitchen and the dining room.

I knew someone would suggest knocking out the wall between kitchen and dining room .

I can see how it would work (perhaps with an island unit), but I actually quite like having a separate kitchen. I like shutting myself off whilst cooking dinner, either with DD playing in the dining room or DH keeping an eye on her. It sounds daft but the kitchen is almost like my sanctuary when I'm cooking or baking and I don't want to open up the space.

Could you change your sink to the opposite drainer - looking at my kitchen (which has the sink on the opposite side to yours) it puts you possibly just enough further away

It might mean purchasing a new double unit to house it (or depending on whats under your sink you may get away with the existing one) but I guess you could transfer your doors over

Is there enough space to have it to the left of the hatch but away from the hatch?
e.g.

Yes, especially if you hang your kitchen door so it opens to the other side of the kitchen, i.e. instead of opening into the left it opens to the right.

Yes! Good plan Cuthbert