Kitchen Plans

[WabsicleCat]

Hello all,

I'm new on Mumsnet! Hope you don't mind me starting with some questions.

We've just moved into a new house in Dorset having relocated from Berkshire. House is a bit of a project and one of the first things we are hoping to do is knock through the kitchen and dining and put in a lovely new kitchen.
We've had a look at Handmade Kitchens in Christchurch, but I think it is going to be prohibitively expensive, so we're probably going to go with DIY Kitchens.
DH and I have come up with two plans that I would love your feedback on. He does most of the cooking so I'm happy to let him spec it all up. He wants a few things - American Fridge Freezer, 90cm range cooker and an island. The plans are from the DIY Kitchens online planner.
The first plan has the fridge up by the cooker. This seems to work ok, but we're a bit concerned about having room to open the freezer door - usually the smaller door is on the right so this should help.

Second plan has fridge and pull out larder between the window and the bifold doors. Concern with this one is about the tall units dominating when you walk into the room and blocking light from the window and door.
We haven't really designed the island yet- we think 1m x 2m will be plenty big enough. It will be just for storage and workspace.
The entrance to the room is roughly in the middle opposite the window and we won't have a door there. The doorway on the left hand side of the cooker leads to a utility room - again there is no actual door. It is just an opening.

Thanks v much indeed!

And here are a couple of 3d renderings....

Zone the areas

1 water - dishwasher sink
2 cooking - think about where to store ingredients and utensils while cooking so in easy reach
3 plating up! Work surface for things coming out of the oven and plates for the food

Storage for non daily items can be further away from the action

Very little room to chop in both these

Second 3D if you move the cooker to the longest part

Try that

I prefer the one with freezer on left wall near cooker. It nice and open near the window as you walk in.
The freezer between window and bifold dominates the room.

What is your concern about space around FF on left wall?
What is last tall unit left of FF?

Thanks GreenTulips - I think this is roughly the case already.
Dishwasher is just to the right of the sink.
Cooking - food is in fridge or pull out larder (next to the cooker in one of the plans). Utensils will be in drawers either side of cooker.
Plates can be stored in island - close to cooker and dishwasher

I prefer the tall unit away from the window, just seems more open.

(Just came on to post a very similat thread)

Second plan better 👩‍🍳

Wheredoesthistoiletgo:
Concern is freezer door not being able to open fully because of the wall on the left. But I think it will be ok - there is about 70cm of wall before the opening. The tall unit is a pull out larder.
Agree about FF and larder dominating. But that plan has cooker more central in the room - that end looks better to my eye.

Just looking at the 2 plans side by side, it's amazing how they make the space look different.

I don't think the freezer door opening is an issue, mine is currently next to a wall and the door on mine opening at right angles isn't an issue at all.

I really like the curved end units, especially on the island. I have one of these open end units in my current kitchen and it just gathers dust and displays things I don't actually need displaying.

Personally I don't like the built in stuff all round the oven.

Try and make the island wider than one metre....as long as you have a metre between the island and units. Try to get an overhang at end of the island so you can use to sit around a d perhaps not sit along the full length...means if a few sit around it you are facing each other, not lined up like a firing squad, but check with DIY as there is a maximum overhand of it is quartz with the weight

I prefer one rather than two. If you have two, then have the board and cornice go above the cooker hood...looks neater.

The little box above the fridge...have a lift up lid put on it...we use ours for kitchen roll etc and is great.

We got ours from DIY and is very similar to yours...we love it

Thanks MarieG10. Would you be able to post a few photos?
We got a few door samples through - they seemed a bit shiny...
We want to do inframe.

I’m a bit worried about having an island at all. I keep trying to imagine what it will be like to walk into the room and be confronted with the island. There will only be about 90cm between the island and the doorways/small bit of wall. We will probably have a radiator on that bit of wall.
The plan is to have an overhang with some seating on the long edge of the island closest to the doorway.
Will that work?

I was wondering on the gaps around the island.
Your measurements for the actual kitchen area look very similar to mine and I couldn't fit one in - but then my layout is very different.
It looks good on the plan but would it work in practice.

I agree that in the first design the FF dominates too much - could you lose the boxing in and have it freestanding? It might seem less overbearing that way.

In the second one there isn't a lot of room either side of the cooker, which might be frustrating practically and it doesn't look that aesthetically pleasing as a whole IMO.

What's the purpose of the island? What's going in the space in the right hand side of your plan? If it's a dining table or sofa, will people really sit at the island? Will it just become a dumping ground for stuff? All questions one kitchen designer asked me and I wanted to punch him in the face but he probably had a point!

Would your DH be willing to compromise on something?

If you had a hob on the island, you could have a run of tall units on the wall that currently has the cooker on, then the hob and sink would be opposite each other.
Alternatively, if you had a fully integrated fridge freezer instead of an American, the kitchen may look sleeker and it would be less dominated by the fridge.

We designed our kitchen recently - kept the range cooker but sacrificed the American FF. We have a run of tall cupboards along one wall with integrated FF, range in the middle of the other wall with pan drawers either side, and then an island with the sink and dishwasher (and the wine cooler I snuck in...!)

All good points.
The space at the other end will have a dining table. The island will be extra worktop - not fussed about people sitting there.
We had an American FF with ice etc in our previous house. DDs loved the ice maker hence the wish to have another.
The reason the cooker and sink etc are where they are is due to their position in current kitchen and a desire to keep cost down by not moving the plumbing etc.
I think we would sooner sacrifice the range than the FF.

I used an independent designer and so glad I did. I provided a layout.woth measurements and a list of must have & nice to haves and he came back to me with a design that I would never have thought about.

A couple of emails.back.and forth tweaking things and job done, a design with shopping list that can be sent to any company you wish to quote.

Cant remember how much it cost but I'm fairly sure it was in the region of £250 and worth every penny.

Link below. There are others around too. One Plan is highly recommended too but I think might be a bit more expensive.

www.independent-kitchen-designer.co.uk/