Kitchen redesign(with pics)

[Kitchenplan]

We’ve just had our kitchen planned by wren, love the kitchen but we’ll be looking elsewhere after reading reviews.

Has anyone seen anything similar with the copper flash?

First picture is from the website, rest is our design.

Any comments on the design?

A couple more pictures....

I don’t think you have enough worktop space and what you do have is fragmented. I’m not sure that will be a fun kitchen to cook in. You have a big space - I’m assuming an island doesn’t work? The seating area looks quite rigid as well.

Honestly, the best thing is to get a few different people to design it and then combine the best bits of all.

I like the profile kitchens with the copper rail. I’d probably choose a navy rather than the grey but that’s just personal choice

Not convinced by the layout. No drop off space for the ovens. Seating looks awkward. Not much worktop. The garden, in particular the patio doors seems cut off from living space.

It maybe the space is awkward and there need to be some compromises, but i would get a few more designs before deciding.

have a look at the diy kitchen range.
they have a design site where you can play around with the design as well

OP if I were you I would completely start again. That is not a good layout at all, as PP have said.

Have you visualised how you will actually cook in it? ie where will you have your chopping board and do the food prep (handy to have next to the sink for hand washing & washing vegetables/ salad etc, plus your bin/ recycling so you can scrape stuff into it).

You then move from there to the hob and oven. I don't see a logical flow with the current design at all; you'd be constantly having to move from one side of the peninsular to the other where the bank of ovens is. And there is nowhere to take hot stuff out of the oven and put it down (for instance the thought of taking a tray of boiling hot roast potatoes out of the oven, or a carrying big turkey all that way would give me the heebie jeebies!! Really dangerous)

The other issue is that imagine you have a house full, people out in the garden and you are cooking. Can you imagine how that will work with traffic constantly cutting across your cooking zone to the doors to outside??

I'd ditch the peninsular unit, and put the sink in the window if you can, or certainly on the same run of units as the hob (for reasons mentioned above). I'd go for an island instead, it looks as if you have room for it (they are bloody useful even if they are quite long & narrow). It would mean you have worktop much nearer you ovens, too, as well as increasing your worktop space for prep.

I'm also not a fan of the fitted seating - or certainly not the amount that is shown. Much too restrictive in terms of how you could adapt the room as your needs change (for instance you might decide you want a smaller table and a squashy armchair in the corner, or you need space for a dog bed/ buggy I don't know what. )

NB my comment re ditching the peninsular in favour of an island also means that if you have "traffic" going to and from the garden, at least they can walk round the far side of the island away from where you are cooking, rather than coming round the end of the peninsular which will be a bit of a bottleneck.

It’s a large space, but somehow not quite big enough. Kitchen is currently where the seating area is. Really dark, as the only natural light is at the back. Also we have zero worktop space due to hob, sink and oven.

Area with the hob on is over 2 metres long, plus over a metre under the window.

Colour is navy/grey. It’s a dark blue tinge to the grey. It looks a lot bluer in real life, but without being too navy.

I agree with others that it needs tweaking. The logical place for the sink is under the window, leaving that peninsula free as work surface. The seating right up to one side where the sink is strikes me as a recipe for disaster and is very inflexible - no one can get up to that side of the peninsula without at least putting a knee on the seating and water will splash, etc. Built in banquettes on two sides is plenty.

Really interesting comments. I really welcome them!

Sink was originally planned under the window and the hob on the peninsula but the current plumbing and stop cock is under the peninsula so trying to save £££on moving them.

We are a family of 4, kids are small now. Regularly have 3 family members round (at least weekly), and Christmas/special occasions we have 10-14 people I want to be able to seat without extra tables.

Oven to hob is only 3 standard units away.

I can’t imagine how an island would work, once a table is in you wouldn’t fit past it anyway.

I agree about layout. You seem to have benches blocking the sink and people sat staring at a wall of ovens. I think you need to show everyone a plan view to get better opinions.

I think the kitchen would be better mostly in the dark bit, with lots of spots to deal with that issue. A wrap around counter or a big island would resolve the space issue.

I would go for a lighter colour, if you are concerned about it being dark. You can buy copper flashing (which I love) and have your fitter attach it.

We are doing ours at the mo, and have put some copper in. Not the same look, but might give some ideas (not all painted or finished yet).

The units were 4k from DIY kitchens, about 8.5k for everything fitted. The same kitchen was 20k from wren, so I would not scrimp on moving a few pipes for the sink.

@Donq stunning kitchen! So much bigger than our space. It’s so hard to figure it all out!

When wouldn’t give us a plan view.

I think the seating area looks bigger than what it is in the picture. It’s deeper than it is wide (2people on the back, 3 on each side), but looks the opposite on the picture.

The sink tap is on the wrong side too.

I'm not sure our kitchen bit is bigger than yours- only 10 units, a range and a dishwasher. Yours is an awkward shape, hence the importance of figuring out how it will work.

I would try some independent places. I also wouldn't bother wasting your time with anyone else who won't provide plans.

When you have a rough idea what you want then use the DIY kitchens planner:

planner.diy-kitchens.com/plan/units/

Remember that extras are really cheap online and a fortune from a kitchen shop. Those Moroccan handles on mine are £1.30 each. The copper shelf supports are about £13 each.

What's the tall dark unit by the French doors - a ff? And where does the door next to that lead to?

I think your eating area, ideally, should be in front of the French doors but that internal door might create a problem. I think your fixed bench seating is a waste of space.

Do you have the room dimensions? I’m sure you’ll get a few suggestions for where to put things just from this thread

I also think you should concentrate your eating space into the darker part of the room and focus on decent lighting

@SwedishEdith it’s just a cupboard. We have a tall fridge and tall freezer each side of the ovens.

@foxatthewindow this plan has put the seating in the dark bit. Where the sink is is originally the end of the house, previous owners extended.

We’re hoping to get a velux / vaulted ceiling in the extension bit.

I’ll try do a simple diagram. 😊

Ah sorry my bad I typed the wrong thing! I think you should put the kitchen itself in the darkest part of the room. You can put decent lighting and you won’t notice so much as if you had your dining part in the dark. It’s usual to want good/artificial light for chopping and cooking. We have previously had this setup and it works well

I really don't think you want to be washing up just behind the heads of people sat eating, they'll get sprayed. Can you cost-up moving the water/waste pipes? Alternatively, keep the kitchen in the darker part of the room and have seating near the garden?

It all looks awkward, dark and rather stark at the moment.

Yes much better idea to have the seating area near the garden. Nicer in the summer to be sat looking outside rather than at the walls, easier for the children to run in and out without going through the cooking area.

Can you ask a professional to design it? Pay them and then just implement the kitchen from Wren? The sink is in the middle of nowhere, the lovely garden doors are blocked when they should be an extension into the garden from the eating area, and the ovens placement make no sense at all.

Plan view with current layout.

Problems we have with current layout;
Not enough worktop space
Seating area not big enough for a 6 seater table, as when people sit down it’s too much of a squeeze.

Plan view of the wren design