Critique my kitchen layout

[QuantumWeatherButterfly]

Does anyone want to critique my kitchen layout? We’re going with DIY Kitchens (or least that’s this week’s plan!) so I’ve got to get this bit right.

One thing that isn’t clear from the plan view is that the window top left (by the dining table) is very tall – the ledge is only 40cm above the floor, so we can’t run units underneath it. Also – it’s on the first floor of a town house, so no option to extend

Here goes: replace the small wall units either side of the extractor with bigger ones. Is it possible to fit a hob across two sets of pan drawers? Kitchen designers let be symmetry - you base and wall units on the hob wall don't match up.

What do you intend to store in the corner base cupboards? Consider not having both with Le Mans carousels. We have a magic corner with metal racks and I've had one in the past - I store casserole dishes, etc in ours.

Thanks, wowfudge

Good point about the hob – you mean, across the join? I thought it was, as the hob only takes up the depth of the worktop, but you’ve got me wondering. I’ll definitely check that.

With the wall cabinets – this wall is tricky! I wanted fewer bigger cabinets too, but I only have 850mm either side of the extractor (and I have my heart set on a particular one so don’t want to change that), which limits my choice. I could have two 800mm ones, but then I would have a lot of filler. Would that be better?

With the matching, it’s centrally symmetrical. The outer edges of the drawers line up with the lines between each pair of cabinets to the sides of the extractor, and the centre line of the drawers aligns to the centre of the doors on the extractor cabinet, so I thought it would work. But I'm very open to other suggestions!

I went for Le Mans corners, because they seem to take more weight than magic corners. Whichever I go for, they will be the Kessebohmer ones, and each Le Mans shelf takes 20kg, whereas the Magic Corners take a total of 17.5kg per shelf (8kg in the front and 9.5kg in the back). I'm planning on storing my Le Crueset casseroles and baking dishes in one of them, with small electricals and serving dishes in the other. It is good to have a positive review of magic corners though - I had heard they could be a bit fragile.

I was worried the Le Mans ones wouldn't bear the weight of your cast iron stuff, but maybe I'm wrong about them? I never even considered them because I like the way the magic corners pull out.

For the wall units, could you have two 900mm cabinets or is it just too tight? It's 10cm more than your design.

I have Le Mans in my corner cupboards and have found them great (and have also been able to slide some stuff under the bottom level- chopping boards/baking trays to get more use from the space) do think you might be better with wider cupboards. If you had the 800 ones could the remaining space be shelf/bottle rack?

I have the Le Mans from DIY. Mine is chock full of tins (so lots of weight) and it's still rock solid. We have the larger version I think, and they're much stronger than our previous magic corners

For your wall units, are you using the taller ones? We have those and they work well and make the boiler housing less in your face too.

I'd put more cupboards or a dresser where the bins are and move the bins into one of the cupboards nearer to the working area.

Would probably be one of the corner units though, which might be difficult to keep clean...

Jfw yes, I'm tempted to two 800mm cabinets too. I was really hoping we could squeeze in 2 900mm ones as wowfudge suggests, but I think it is just too tight. It might depend on whether the fitter can do anything about the size of the boiler cupboard, which defintely doesn't need to be 600mm wide. But there are downsides either way - with two 800mm we end up with a lot of filler (we would only have 100mm spare, which isn't quite enough for a wine rack), and with two 900mm it throws the the alignment out even more. Gah! Why does it have to be so difficult!

Statistically no sadly, we can't use the tall wall cupboards - the ceiling isn't high enough to position them so there is enough worktop clearance. I'm hoping to align the boiler cupboard to the top rather than the bottom in an attempt to make it fit better. And given it is quite a slimline one, we might even get away with a standard depth, though I'll need to measure that carefully!

choccy That's a nice idea, although as you say our options for placing the bin in a cupboard are limited. I could possibly sacrifice the 600mm drawers that are next to the ovens. I definitely need to keep the shelving though, as I have a lot of cookbooks I want to keep close to where they will be needed - something DH and I have had several (ahem) heated discussions about over the years

Will your bin be portable OP? Because otherwise you will get really hacked off walking right across the room each time you want to put something in the bin.

We have an under unit pull out bin with recycling bin and it's awesome. I can just sweep detritus off the chopping board and straight into the bin. This gives me joy

I have Le Mans and prefer them to the magic corners. They certainly take more weight as they are attached to the cupboard itself and not to the door.

Hi, Yoga - yes the bin itself will be freestanding and moveable. It only stands just the other side of the door now, so not moving that far. We don't put too much in there in terms of kitchen prep, most of the food waste goes down the waste disposal and then recycling is already in that side of the room, so I'm hoping it'll be fine. But yes - moveable if it's too annoying!

Magic Corners are attached to the cupboard and the door.

Definitely what everyone else said about the bin - it will be a right PITA having the bins miles from the food prep area (and behind the door too - I'd be willing to bet the door isn't closed all the time, meaning it's another thing to go around). If nothing else, can you not put a bin under the sink?

Also - you have a 300mm pull out larder - we've had one of these, and also a 500mm larder with a normal door (with the wire baskets which come forward when the door is opened - like this). The latter was a million times better than the former. We can get SO much stuff in it. Pull out ones are a good compromise, but no-where near as good (IMO!) If you can get the pull/swing fitting inside, it makes the world of difference.

Hi, everyone - thanks so much for all your input so far. It has been incredibly helpful!

CanYouHearThePeopleSing I completely agree about the larder. Unfortunately I just don't have space for anything wider unless I sacrifice my second oven and put the microwave in the oven unit instead, and I don't want to do that. So I think 300 is the best I can do.

Two things seemed to bother people, First the bins. I'm not convinced this will be an issue, but I realised that if we make a minor change to how our dining area is currently laid out I can actually move the bin try it out before we commit, so I can be totally sure it isn't going to drive me nuts - and change it if it does.

Secondly, was the wall cupboards, something that bothered me too. I've been talking to DIY kitchens over the past few days, and learned that I can't have the 900mm extractor installed in the way that I wanted, so given I have to compromise on that, it's got me to rethink the wall units above the hob. I realised that if I go for a 600mm extractor instead, I could fit a 1000mm cupboard either side, which looks like the picture I've attached. Thoughts?

I’d be having a small island in the middle of all that, with housing for a bin. You don’t seem to have a lot of prep area and your fridge, oven and hob are a long way apart.

Unfortunately there really isn't room for an island, Curly - much as I would love one. It would leave the dining area looking cramped and the position of the door limits the space you have to circulate around it. We did originally think of a peninsular that came down to the left of the dishwasher, with the fridge being next to the oven stack - but again, that means losing one of the ovens and I think will make the dining area cramped. It's a deceptively awkward space.

Actually, this design brings the hob, sink and fridge closer together than they are at the moment, and gives us a bit more prep space than we currently have, which is fine - so shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Just work out where everything is going.
Do you have drawers for cutlery and utensils?
Where do your condiments/spices go for cooking?
Tea towels/bin bags
Glasses/mugs/plates
You have lots of pan drawers, are plates going in there?
I couldn't live without the built in bins right under the prep area.

Put a built in bin in the kitchen. Put beautiful open shelving in the dining area and use of cookery books plus le creusets etc. That should make enough space to move bin.