Opinions on kitchen diner design/layout

[Moo31]

I would really appreciate opinions on our kitchen design. We are knocking the wall between the kitchen and dining room down and putting a new kitchen in.

My "must haves" are continuous work surface (which is lacking currently), hob against the wall rather than on the long stretch of work surface (to avoid a suspended extractor fan), eye level double oven, wide drawer/pan drawers and a tall larder.

The door between the hob / fridge freezer is into the utility room. The window in the dining room is currently the patio door but we are moving that to the other wall (the end wall).

Let me know what you think - is there anything we have missed or anything you would change? Thanks!

I love that! I've been looking at silestone (granite alternative) so we might do something like that - it would make the counter top seem more continuous wouldn't it.

@iloveonionrings thank you so much - 2 80cm drawers it is! We have 2 corner cupboards currently and it feels like such wasted space since you can't reach anything at the back of them. Need a solution to that one as well!!

@iloveonionrings do you have a suspended extractor fan?

whenthewhistle how much space does the person sitting on the bar stool nearest the wall have? It looks like the wall cabinet would be right in their face.

I like Iloveonions' idea too, but I do understand your wish for the larder cupboards and they hold significantly more than a base cab with wall cab above.

Do Howdens only do 30 and 60 larders? If you are stuck with those then I think your current design may be your best option. I think 3 X 30 would look far too bitty. If they do 40s or 50s then a pair of those might be better, either in the middle flanked by fridge and oven or at either end.

Some places do shallow larder cupboards. I absolutely love ours for crockery. So you could have deep fridge and oven on the left of the run and then maybe 2 X 60 shallow larders on the right. (These would also be cheaper as you can easily reach everything and don't need the £££ gizmos like internal drawers and pullout units.) I'm assuming you could use more of that wall if using shallow units. With deep units I think you're right not to push the cabinets too close to the right hand door.

How wide is the walkway at the end of the breakfast bar? I was told it needed to be at least a metre. Yours looks more like 60cm in the pic but hopefully that is the rendering.

@SerendipityReally the space is between 90 and 95cm so it's short of the metre ...

We don't have howdens in NI but I've checked b&q and the larders are only 30 or 60. 2 x 40s would be better - I'll check with the independents we are talking to and see if they do them. If not I might be better going for 2 x 60s.

Ok similar ballpark though.

It might be worth a look for an 80cm or 100cm double larder as an alternative, if you were thinking of any options where you have 2 side by side. I think Wickes do the 1m ones. A double tends to be a lot cheaper than 2 singles too (but fewer gizmos).

So confusing! Thabks for your help @SerendipityReally :)

Drop the breakfast bar to table height and make a feature of it by having it in a different material from worktops. Then make the area at the end a couch and tv area, best or both worlds.

Excuse the mess! (Friday night apathy!)
We have a full height larder cupboard next to our combi microwave oven.
The cupboard at the back houses our boiler and all the children's craft 'stuff'.
We opted for silestone too and are very happy with it.

PS our kitchen is smaller than yours 5m x 2.9m.
We are very happy with our breakfast bar decision. As you can see from the mess - we practically live in the kitchen now!

Good luck deciding.

Ours is similar dimensions and a bit smaller than Ilovecakes's one, but we were OnePlanned from a blank sheet of paper so ours looks totally different.

OP do bear in mind that one person can always tinker with another person's design, especially when the space means some compromise is needed. It's your kitchen. You decide when it's right for you - and it already might be just that.

You could have the microwave in the bottom half of one of your wall cabinets. That's what we did in the end.
I was no way ever going to have a microwave on the side ever again.
I'm only 5ft tall and manage fine with it but you do need to consider the height gap between wall units and work top. I went for the lower end of normal. J can't remember the measurements but my builder said standard was a certain height but anywhere a couple inches each side is normal. Being I'm so short and with the microwave i went for the lower end. I'm very glad too. Those 1.5/2 inches inches mean I can reach back of cupboards and see inside the microwave to clean it easily etc.
Wall integrated microwaves can be small and low powered and over priced compared to standard models of the same size and spec. I spent ages researching. Interior size for me was more important than power, getting my Denby dinner plate inside was essential for me. Smeg did a good one but I couldn't justify the cost. I went for an AEG one in the end at 800w.

For the best use of space in corners we have doors that open out away from each other - means the whole space is accessible.

My microwave is in the utility room.

Bottom cupboard

With doors closed

Try again

The layout is fine.

But do you really need a big fridge? Looking at the 2nd picture with the fridge facing you it really dominates the space and visually it fights with the oven for attention. I think that you would have a much sleeker finish if you integrated it. A tall 70/30 fridge would look better in the space you have. It would also give you space for a decent size tall lader unit instead of the small one you currently have.

Your kitchen is almost exactly the same size as ours (yours is 5 cm longer). I desperately wanted an island or peninsula but ended up putting the table in the middle which is fantastic as we use it all the time to sit and chat whilst cooking. We have managed to fit a sofa in because we don’t have an island and the room flows much better. Don’t want to post photos on the thread but will send you them privately if you want to see.

Would you mind pm’ing them to me too Happee? Would love to take a squizz.

Mrs Collins - I’m not sure our breakfast bar is, over two meters I think, and I think the wall cupboard is 30 cm. i don’t think the occupant nearest the wall will be staring at the cupboard unless the door if it is open. It’ll mainly only be used by two people anyway.

@ilovewine we already have 2 living rooms so don't really need another living space.

@worriedju thank you - that's a good tip!!

@nbee84 definitely accessible - our current corner cupboards are awful but those are really good.

@iloveallcakes what a gorgeous kitchen!! Maybe a shorter breakfast bar like you've got might work for us and i like the hob and oven on the same wall. Might try reconfiguring our design to see what that would look like on ours.

Oh @happeee would you mind pm'ing them? I find it so hard to visualise so I would love to see exactly what you mean!

We have our microwave at eye level an unit is not completely symmetrical but it works well.