Kitchen design mistakes

[peterpan765]

We are planning our new kitchen and have a design , just talking it through with my husband and he mentioned that not having the dishwasher next to the sink may not be a good idea as you would constantly carry wet plates from the sink across to the island.

I hadn't even thought of that but can't move the dishwasher back as it would ruin the design !

Are there any other key kitchen design errors I should avoid.

Any good tips or comments on the design, I have attached the plans - dishwasher is the X and sink is along the wall

TÍA

Definitely not to having dishwasher in the utility room, we have this and it's felt like a total pain to carry everything into a different area and back again, even though the distances aren't great in reality. It means we get more dirty dished accumulating next to the kitchen sink instead of going straight in to the dishwasher, and because emptying it is more hassle we procrastinate more about doing it too. Can't wait to get it back into the main kitchen when we do it up.

The drawer lines under the sink do look great, but I think for me it wouldn't be worth having it look great if there are practicality issues. First and foremost it needs to be practical. Could you out the dishwasher on the end of the run so you still get a stretch of the drawer lines? Or would they even do an appliance door which would allow the drawer lines appearance to continue through? Also agree with PP that as well as being more practical the plumbing will be more straight forward if they are together.

We rarely use the microwave. Only to heat up a meal if we get home late

We were thinking of getting a kettle to go on the hob,

We were hoping with all the storage space we would only have the toaster out and maybe a coffee machine or the coffee machine. An go in the pantry units

@peterpan765 Ah ok, nice. I wondered if you weren't having your toaster/kettle on the worktop space, they could be stored in your pantry. I've seen examples of people using the pantry as a 'breakfast area' which I also think looks rather nice, and is quite smart. I've seen coffee machines there too, with espresso cups house on the shelf above.

Personally, my microwave is in a walk-in pantry room I've created off the back of my kitchen. It will also house my kettle and toaster as I prefer not to have appliances visible on worktops. The pantry is practically part of my kitchen, so it's no big deal in terms of distance.

Id also switch one of the ovens for something with microwave and oven function to bring the microwave back into the kitchen (put in a small warming drawer underneath if needed to get the lines right).

I think advice about thinking through all of the practicalities is really important, making sure the right things are close to other and to the main cooking area is more important than nice long lines of handleless drawer if you are big on cooking.

This is what I meant... You can get plug sockets installed in the unit and house your smaller appliances there, on top of an integrated worktop.

Our microwave is in our pantry (that I also call the utility because it has our main fridge and the washing machine!)
It’s not a problem.
The pantry also houses the toaster, we move it to the kitchen when we need it.
On our work surfaces we have, Tassimo, kettle, knife block, jars of oils and the big food mixer thing, it’s a Kitchenaid, not sure of the proper name lol 😂 that’s it, we do have lots of surface and quite a minimal look!
We also have what I’m going to call our island which is 2.5 x 1.2 m and is another great prep area.

I totally agree on having the dishwasher in the main kitchen near the sink.

Assuming one double full height is the larder and the other is fridge/freezer where will you keep cups/glasses? I'd get some wall units too as glasses under worktops are a pain imo

Might be worth getting a couple of companies to look at the design/layout for you -I personally don't like the gaps on the ends of the sink run.

Karen at OnePlan could help. For a kitchen of your size, and particularly since you're unsure on layout, I would deffo consult a professional kitchen designer.

Definitely get a designer. The last thing you want in that lovely big room is to be kicking yourself because it's impractical or high maintenance.

Have you thought of having a longer workbench island with the hob and sink on it? How does it fit with the rest of the room, dining areas and seating/ through routes/garden?

With the dishwasher it doesn't need to be next to the sink although that's the obvious place, but should be near enough you can turn from one to the other and also to storage areas .
dynamic space planning

If you’re right handed, think about the process of cooking and moving to the right. This limits the amount of coming and going, it’s efficient and makes everything feel smooth and well designed. So fridge, then prep space, then ovens, then sink and dishwasher. The reverse is true if you’re left handed. Same with cupboard purposes - chopping boards, spices, knives and prep items go after the fridge, pasta close to the oven as it rarely needs anything before boiling.

We have a similar room albeit it smaller I think than yours. Looking at some of the suggestions I thought I'd post our plan and work in progress as we've incorporated bookend units, dishwasher next to the sink, larger island, butler unit etc.

I find high stools uncomfortable so we only have a couple at the top of the island coupled with a low breakfast table for 4 at the other end.
Though it's still work in progress ... the table now has brass legs rather than men holding it up!

Contact Karen Wallace otherwise know as OnePlan. No longer posts on MN but you can find on Houzz.

She's brilliant. She redid my design and our kitchen is fab and works so well. She does a suppliers parts list too so you get exactly what you need with no extras.

Our microwave is in the utility room and I love it. I think they look so ugly, so the kitchen looks nicer for it.

Your kitchen looks fairly small for the space you have.

We have a bank of units with neff oven then neff microwave plus warming drawer underneath, they look really neat. The microwave can also be used as an oven, good at Christmas. We also have a boiling tap so the only thing on the worktop is the toaster and coffee machine.

@NotMeNoNo

Definitely get a designer. The last thing you want in that lovely big room is to be kicking yourself because it's impractical or high maintenance.

Have you thought of having a longer workbench island with the hob and sink on it? How does it fit with the rest of the room, dining areas and seating/ through routes/garden?

With the dishwasher it doesn't need to be next to the sink although that's the obvious place, but should be near enough you can turn from one to the other and also to storage areas .
dynamic space planning

Thank you so much for those links - really good site

One thing our kitchen guy said to us which was really handy was - think really carefully about how much you will use the bar stools on the island, as most people have them because they look fab but don't really use them which is a waste. We have a big island but with just an overhang on one end with two high chairs which works perfectly for us as the kids (18 & 20) will eat breakfast there and sometimes me or DH will sit with the mythical glass of wine while the other cooks. So if you already have a dining table and chairs in the room give it some thought as you can have back to back cupboards if there are fewer chairs.

@GowithFlo Can I ask which worktop you went for?

Smallgoon - this one the attached photo. In situ the gold isn't anywhere near as prominent as in the pic.

@iknowimcoming

One thing our kitchen guy said to us which was really handy was - think really carefully about how much you will use the bar stools on the island, as most people have them because they look fab but don't really use them which is a waste. We have a big island but with just an overhang on one end with two high chairs which works perfectly for us as the kids (18 & 20) will eat breakfast there and sometimes me or DH will sit with the mythical glass of wine while the other cooks. So if you already have a dining table and chairs in the room give it some thought as you can have back to back cupboards if there are fewer chairs.

We have a breakfast bar at the moment and the kids use it all the time for eating breakfast or lunch, homework and friends always sit / stand around the breakfast bar

I have the hob in the island, great for chatting whilst I'm cooking.

Experience tells me not to have white or light tiles on the kitchen floor Wood is much more serviceable.

Another vote for getting Karen on the case (OnePlan) she doesn't sell stuff if that's something that's putting you off using a designer.

dishwasher goes next to sink, people bring over the washing up and it goes into one or the other.

watch those pantry things, if you need to leave the doors open to actually use anything in it that is going to be a real nuisance. And the cost is eye-watering.

do you need an island? Just something to walk into.