Kitchen configuration in new house!

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I've read previous posts at length and would love to get involved to glean some of the amazing thoughts from the hive mind here.

We will be reconfiguring our ground floor, which will include a 3 x 6 extension, and today had our first kitchen design appointment. I have also been playing around with options but I am more spreadsheets than creative!!

Hopefully the pics help, but we will have a large open plan kitchen / casual seating and dining area (with a separate living room, utility and study) - the kitchen will go where the current one is (on the right).

Any thoughts on how we could best utilise the space or any glaring issues with the Wickes design?

On the Wickes image; H = hob, O = oven, Fg = fridge and Fz = freezer.

Just to add, we will be getting quotes from several companies before deciding on who we go with (DIY Kitchens don't do the handleless shaker I am after (boo!)), it was just Wickes who had availability for us 😊

Where's your bin going to go? A bit random but mine was in such an awkward place before we redid our kitchen, placing it in a sensible place was high on my list of priorities!

Great shout!! Hadn't even thought of that - will take a look and have a think, thank you!

I'm sure you've read the thread about where to put the tea towels! But the end of the run to the left of the sink is obviously the answer there.

The Wickes layout is fine I think; where are your small appliances going? Kettle, toaster, microwave (or is that with the oven?)

There looks like very little room round the island.

I don’t think the hob is great in the middle? Could you swap hob and oven?

Looks really good. I like they have changed the shape of the island from the architect's plan. Much better

Have you got enough cupboard space in the design? I don't know how much space you'll have in the utility but it doesn't really look like you've got much kitchen for the size of the space

Is there a way you could get to your utility room from the bottom of the stairs instead? With two doorways it looks very cramped. Does it need to have a door outside? Also if you removed the door between the kitchen and utility you'd have a lot more usable space. I don't think the layout is good with an island, I don't think it looks big enough and you'd be better off with a peninsula.

I agree with everything @MrsJamin said. I don’t think they’ve designed you enough storage or prep space which is partly because of the island and partly because of where you’re accessing the utility from.

What are you planning on having in the utility, will it also be a pantry?

If you really want an island could they fit some more floor to ceiling reduced depth cupboards around the pier?

Thank you all so much for your comments - exactly what I was hoping for!

I don’t think there is a way to move the utility entrance without losing the hallway cupboard which I am keen to restrain for coats, shoes, general crap! Totally hear you about the storage and have counted against our current one and it is less so will have a rethink.

Love about tea towels

We have a wren appointment next week (just doing the rounds with companies to glean ideas!) - then we may look into the designers I’ve seen mentioned on here.

Could you move your freezer into your utility room thereby freeing up space for cupboards in main run?

Oooo Penguin another great shout!! They have a large freezer in the garage at the moment so a smaller one in the house and poss in the utility is a great idea - thank you!

The prep space is awkward and there isn't much of it. If someone is at the sink, that restricts the amount of room for anyone using the workspace to the left of the oven, for example. Also, you've got hardly any room either side of the hob, so not much room for saucepan handles.

How do you plan to use the island?

Would it be possible to move the cupboard to the utility room? I just think it's an awkward way to get to it through the kitchen and uses up such useful wall space.

The utility doorway off the kitchen is really curtailing your options for a useful run of tall units.

Can you turn the coat cupboard 90 deg so you can access the utility from the hall? Or somehow from the study entrance ??

I may have completely misunderstood the diagrams however I woukd firstly move the fridge or oven as having them next to each other isn't ideal.

More to the point the middle pic looks like you are taking diwn walls? I woukd turn the kitchen into the living room and the living room jnto the kitchen so it opens straight up to dining room and much bigger run for cupboards all the way through current living room and dining are as kitchen seems small. I woukd then have dining table under roof lights next to bifold.

I agree. The new area looks big but the kitchen is cramped. Everything is pushed together and the oven next to the fridge is not acceptable.

Wren are pretty crap I think. Always complained about. Why not see if smaller companies have better ideas as you have so little storage. The kitchen is too small and the other space is too big. I have my kitchen island with great views out to the garden via glass doors and a glass wall. Yours just looks at kitchen units. There are wasted opportunities with this design. Your sitting area is way bigger than the kitchen. This needs to be addressed.

I mean the new sitting area. I would leave the old lounge alone.

Some more great comments!

Yes we are knocking down walls, not many of the existing ones on the ground floor aren’t being touched - they are all solid as well so trying to be mindful of steels and costs there!

The kitchen is placed where the current one is, my understanding is that moving it (ie to the seating area) would be quite expensive, hence leaving it where it is.

I’m trying to wrap my head around how to access the utility and keep some cupboard space - lots of scribbling on paper last night!

I think you need a gap between the oven and the fridge/freezer- it's not efficient to have them adjacent (it explicitly said not to in out fridge instructions!

I'd look at getting a 900 wide fridge freezer type thing and putting a 300 wide pull out pantry inbetween it and the oven.

I would look at where you can get electrics and water into the new area. It’s the opportunity to get it right and I think you are being too cautious. The kitchen isn’t very big. It’s so much smaller than the new extension and that’s why units are crammed into an inappropriate layout. I would get the architect to look at utilisation of space but for many a nice big kitchen is important. You have a huge dining and sitting area but not enough prep area.

I agree, that kitchen is too small for the space and there won't be enough prep space. I'd put the kitchen where the dining bit is, the dining in the seating area and make the current kitchen a seating area, although depends on the actual sizes of the rooms.

It doesn’t have enough worktop or cupboard space, I think you need to go back to the drawing board on the whole layout, sorry. Better now that later.

Thanks to the brilliant suggestions here, we have been back to the drawing board. Door to utility now moved to hallway, and island replaced... hopefully the image uploads to show new thinking 😊

Great , that is much better use of the kitchen space.

I am unsure about the job being by the bar stools, you don’t want DC to be able to reach over to a hot hob, or unattended saucepans, plus it’s better for a hob to be close to the oven to make it easy to move things between the 2.