New kitchen - looking for insights

[ConfusedAboutKitchen]

Hello ladies,

We're in the process of planning our first kitchen (yay!) and it's been a nightmare so far. We bought a house last year and didn't plan on making any major changes since we're only planning on staying here for 5-7yrs. But the kitchen is really doing our heads in and because we cook a lot it has gotten to a point where we really need to do something to make it more functional (not to mention that the current kitchen is falling apart - the foil is falling off the doors, the cabinets and the doors are all bent and squeaky). We have a galley-style kitchen with almost 2m wide walkway in the middle, with hob and sink on opposite sides so a lot of time is spent walking back and forth and a lot of food bits end up on the floor. We don't like shelves - need drawers as we end up cluttering the cupboards and are never able to access the back of the shelves. There's no gas, we will have an induction hob. Last year we made a mistake and bought an american fridge for £600. We're stuck with it now but it does make the design of kitchen more complex :( The layout is strange and we just dont know how to best use the space so that it won't feel too cluttered and will give us enough storage. We're thinking that perhaps we have a wide peninsula coming off one of the sides and also use it instead of a dining table. Anyone has experience with that? We're probably over-thinking it but we've looked at so many layout configurations and still can't decide so I was hoping for some feedback or practical guidance from anyone who may have some ideas/thoughts/experience to share.
I'm attaching the floorplan here and will also add a few designs in comments below to show what the options we;re considering are.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

This is one design that we're thinking of but not sure it would give us enough storage space and not so keen on ceiling mounted extractor.

This one seems ok but again not sure about storage. Couldn;t have pull-out larder next to the oven. Wide peninsula would replace dining table and provide extra storage. We like this but it feels so definite as well..

I tried to create this with ikea kitchen planner but find it quite difficult to navigate so have added descriptions where some units are missing. The worktops would be deep (80cm), which would give us space for appliances and reduce the width of the walkway. But with hob/sink on opposite sides it means we still have to walk back and forth...

Can you cut your losses and sell the fridge so you would have more options? I would likely consider this first and replan the kitchen to see if it suits you better. I had a look at your plans I think they could all work, sorry that is unhelpful 😂😂

I think your plans look great - the one with the oven built in near the door I would change because it's potentially dangerous, but other than that they look good.

How many of you would be sitting down to eat? If you're all in a row it can be a bit hard to chat and feel like a bar (as it's really a breakfast bar). You look like you've enough space for a dining table. Any reason why you don't want one in the kitchen?

I don't really like any of those plans! They don't seem to make the most of your space.

We tried to plan our kitchen round our American FF and couldn't find anywhere to place it where it didn't compromise the design.
We finally decided to replace it with an integrated fridge and separate freezer. Suddenly the design was so much easier.
I love my current FF but they are not always that easy to work into a plan

We've built a unit around our American fridge freezer so it blends with the kitchen more

..

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Unfortunately it looks like it may be difficult to sell the fridge. The doors need to be taken off in order to get it out of our house and there are enough fridges being sold around here to choose from so I don't think people will want to bother.

It's not our forever house so don't want to spend crazy amount on a kitchen. (Plus there's much more work waiting to be done in the garden which also won't be cheap)

@soakedat3 The reason why we're thinking of using peninsula as a dining table as well is because we need a bit more worktop space for food prep around hob and the sink area. It would also give us some extra storage space underneath. We're four (2 adults, 2children) so I think we could manage seating 3+1 or 2+2 if kids sit together. My main worry is about the permeability of this solution.
On the other hand, if we cut out the peninsula and opt for a dining table instead we will have to push the table against the wall anyway and I'm not sure I like that.
Do you have any suggestions on how to make better use of the space?

@WBWIFE this looks lovely. Where did you get your kitchen from?

@wowfudge good point about the oven next to the door! I’ll see if we can move it on the other side next to the fridge instead.

Some more thoughts for you: if you keep a peninsula and have a dining table, don't put the hob on the peninsula as it's the natural place to clear the table to.

You can get narrow tables and you could build a banquette along the end wall with storage drawers underneath. This could help with fitting a table in as one of the issues with a table and chairs is having the room to pull chairs out.

Oh and about your FF - a new kitchen is much more than £600 and something you'll live with for many years before changing it. In the scheme of things, is it worth compromising the kitchen design and layout for a few hundred pounds?

@ConfusedAboutKitchen DIY kitchens they have been fantastic!

Could you do something like this? I don't have all the table measurements.

Moving the sink would make your work triangle a bit tighter.
You can have storage opening on both sides of the peninsula. If you don't have seating at the peninsula you might not need to push the table in.

I switched the ff and cooking around so heat is away from table and it's easier to grab a drink while eating (something I think I will not be able to do easily in mine!!)

If you need more storage you could maybe have a small sideboard near the table?

Just a suggestion!

@soakedat3 thanks a lot for taking the time to look into this! I think this wouldn't work for us because one of the most annoying things in our current kitchen is the distance between the hob and the sink and the amount of food it ends on the floor as we walk between the two sides. But you did give me an idea to look at the layout from a different perspective and I think we came up with something that will work for us.

Thanks everyone for your advice!! I think we have a design that we have found a design that we like, just need to decide on a few more things.

So what we're planning is to have a long L-shape along the wall with windows and that would be only base units with drawers, except for the oven which we would like at eye-level. On the other side will be shallow units. The table will then be between the fridge and the corner with shallow units.

What I am not sure about is:

1. the location of the sink: if we keep it the way it's on the photo then we don't have to make any changes to the plumbing (apart from moving the radiator) and it seems to work. If we have

2. eye-level oven: we both want this but a bit worried that the taller unit (125cm) will be an eyesore and stick out too much just as you walk into the kitchen. Another option we're considering is over under the hob, which would mean that the oven is closer to the sink as well and the worktop on L side (where the wall is) can be extended a bit to allow for a breakfast bar for 1 person or two children

3. with regard to the shallow units around the dining corner I am thinking of having either tall base cabinets with a worktop or one high cabinet of 30cm width at one end (next to the door), followed by high base cabinets and wall units. This will be our dining area and will store plates, cups, mugs, bowls, tablecloths etc. The countertop will be space for toaster, kettle and a fruitbowl.

Would love to hear your feedback on proposed layout and if you think there's there anything that we might be missing?

With your new plan, walk through carrying out common tasks in the space and see how it feels and if there are any niggles. For example, making a hot drink - imagine where the mugs, cutlery, tea and coffee, kettle and milk are. Does the layout work? Especially if there is something which currently doesn't work, does the new layout solve the problem?

On your latest plan, one side of the table isn't usable - is that intentional? Also you need ideally 1.2m around a table to able to walk round someone sitting at the table and have room to pull chairs out to sit down and get up from the table. It's also abutted by the fridge. Can someone sit that side of the table and the fridge still be opened?

Sorry - another thought: do you usually set the table and serve at the table or do you dish up near the oven? That would influence for me where crockery and glasses are stored. We have ours close to the dishwasher, under where the kettle lives and next to the oven.

Is this table an existing table? It seems quite big for a square table.

Have you considered something like this interior.diydiy.info/open-plan-kitchen-3/

OP your kitchen is larger than mine but it really interests me as you seem to have the same configuration of windows and doors, even the chimney breast!
The plan I'm attaching is how it is now, really want to change it all though. We have a 1m round table in the empty space. I'd love to put a glass door to the garden in in place of a window and a large extension

@Horatioroses That's funny that our kitchen shape is so similar. We would love to replace one of the windows with a door to the garden as well but I think we won't go this way now because that would leave us with three doors in the kitchen and no idea how we'd arrange the layout (pluswe have very limited budget since we weren't planning on doing any of this in the first place!). What isn't working for you in your kitchen and what are you thinking of doing?

@wowfudge thanks for your input! I must admit that you scared me with your questions and I started doubting myself and worrying that what I put on paper won't really work in reality. So I pretty much chopped up the kitchen and moved the kitchen units and furniture around and I am happy to report that it looks like it will work my husband wasn't at home when I set on the mission to dismantle the kitchen. We only have the counters with the sink and the hob+stove left now and the kitchen looks like a construction site. He has nerves of a saint - if it was the other way around it would be an entirely different story but he patiently moved the bits around the kitchen with me today as we tried different layouts and we set on what I shared in my last post with minor modifications: long l-shape which will be the "kitchen" and will end with eye level oven and a high narrow pull out larder on the wall between the window and the main entrance. And the other two walls where the chimney breast is and the door to laundry room will be our dining area. We won't put any cupboards there to start with as we think we'll have enough storage. This will allow us to put in a corner bench and a bit larger table. One of the recessed areas next to the chimney breast will have shelves (the space next to the seating corner) and the other one will be where we will put the fridge (it will be self standing and in case down the line we change it this won't mess up our layout). We have left the chopped up bits of the kitchen in this position and it already feels much better than it was before. It's very simple but I think it works very well for us. Now moving on to choose the colour palette and decide on other million details that are needed for the kitchen

@soakedat3 I think I just put in a random tablewould love to have space for something like what you shared but our kitchen is just a little bit too narrow (and has too many doors/windows ) to make good use of space. We will however use benches in the corner as we tried it today and it looks really nice and cosy

Scary and you haven't even met me . I hope you've got the layout you want. It would be great to see some photos when it's done.