Anyone want to have a look at my kitchen plan?

[Bewarethequietboy]

Does anybody have any opinions on my kitchen plan? I've drawn it in the Ikea planner, although I'm not entirely decided on whether to get it from there. We are a family of 5 with kids aged 8, 6, and 3.

Its for a self build so I'm finding it really hard to visualise the space. Does it look ok? Any glaring mistakes/things missing?

Washing machine/recycling bins to go in Utility room, and I'm wondering about moving the Freezer there as well...?

I'd like to try and get an armchair/small sofa in the room as well, maybe against the utility wall looking out the windows?

Anyone any opinions or ideas would be very gratefully received.

TIA

I'd move the oven so you can access it from both sides Also there seems to be some dead space in the corner between the utility room and the fridge freezer. I'd have fully fitted cupboards or work surfaces wrapped around that area to make use of the space.

Right I've had another go...

Thank you so much to everyone who has looked at this, its great to get so many opinions!

Unfortunately we can't move the utility room away from that corner as we have a mechanical ventilation system which joins to every room and the pipe runs are too long if its in the other corner.

I had an inspiration during the night to push the fridge and freezer through the wall so they open into the kitchen but stick back into the larder/utility, and the larder door can open against them so its not blocking any storage space.

@mumdiva99, that's a really good point about the size of the space, at the moment we're in a tiny cottage with low ceilings and a modern but tiny kitchen. So I'm definitely finding it hard to imagine having so much space! It'll be a 4 bedrooms house and going to be 'upside down' with living rooms and kitchen upstairs and bedrooms downstairs as we get really nice views, and a vaulted ceiling. The doors at the other end go into a living room and shower room.

Thanks again for so many responses!

But that makes it tricky again with the larder and utility there because it cuts it off vertically so it doesn't feel like such a big space.

Wow @athollplace that breakfast cupboard looks amazing!! Not sure where I'll be able to get one in, but I'd love to! Also, you'll notice I made sure the extension on the island has a leg supporting now - not just floating!

Sorry OP but I think you need a kitchen designer to look at this for you. Is that the utility room top right now or part of the kitchen? It's very cramped. There's a lot of wasted space in the main part of the room and it doesn't look functional to me.

I don't understand why you would seating round that end of the island as it means whoever sits there has their back to the window. You want to emphasise that window, not cover it. I wouldn't like the oven and hob on the island.

I'd put a bank of tall cupboards on the wall where you've recessed the FF and have a long Island parallel. Oven in the bank of tall units, prep space on the island with possibly a sink. Some base units along the wall where the back door is. Maybe even a kind of dresser/appliance garage there to the side of the window, making use of the wall space, with the kettle, etc. Put crockery there so loading and emptying the dishwasher is contained in one area and not messing up the island.

I think you need to plan to scale what is going where in the utility room so you can see whether it works and whether there is any more space that be given over to the kitchen.

I'd also look at the possibility of making the big windows smaller so that you could put units under them.

I've done quite a lot re-designing since I started this thread, including managing to pin DP down to actually look at the designs, and this is what I've come up with, which he actually conceded looked 'quite good' (that's high praise indeed - he's not very interested in the kitchen design)

The pantry is going to have a pocket door on it so can be closed off, as will the utility. This all feels like it has better 'flow' than previously.
I'm pleased to have the worktop next to the oven for lifting things onto. The only bit at the moment which looks a bit funny is the units with the sink, but I think they'll be ok with other things around them.

@Soontobe60 we can't change the windows now, they're already bought, but I know what you mean, maybe that would have been more sensible to have higher windows so the units could go underneath. But we'll have window seat there, and I'll put a rug underneath to make it a softer space, maybe for the kids to play in.

Anyway, I just thought I'd keep this thread updated, as I've found this type of discussion really useful while I've been planning and looking for ideas.

Thanks to everyone who commented, I'm not totally finalised with this design so if anyone spots anything terrible/missing please shout.

That's better - I'd put full height storage to the corner on the wall where the sink is and also consider putting the fridge there rather than next to the oven.

Do have a think about whether walking round the units to get from the dining area to the pantry/door/sink will work in practice or be a pain.

I know you have ordered the door and window but is there any chance you could move them to the right and the sink to the left. You are going to end up children running through exactly where you are trying to cook. If there is any chance they can go right then your kitchen space will be uninvaded. Alternatively I know the utility needs to be there but have you considered putting the table by the back door and the kitchen down the other end? If you switch the walk in larder and utility over it might work but I can’t see exactly where the door in is. That way the window seats and seating are all in one bit. There may be practical reasons why you can’t.

The kitchen is on the first floor so I'm not how much of an issue children running through will be as presumably there will be garden access elsewhere either instead of or in addition to from the kitchen?