Please critique my kitchen design

[abbaroony]

We are about to start the build on an extension which will give us a long rectangular kitchen, but I’m struggling to come up with a kitchen design that ticks all the boxes.

This is what I have come up with so far on DIY kitchens. One of my problems with it is that I feel that the island is very long compared to its width.

I would really like to be able to have an island, but now I’m wondering if this is really possible. I think that having the two doors into the kitchen (left is from the dining room and right is from the hallway) is really limiting my options.

I’d really like to avoid wall cupboards. The tall cupboard on the left houses the boiler, and the one on the right is a pantry style unit where we will put some dry food and also the microwave, toaster and glassware. The washer and dryer are next to this. I was trying to avoid having to constantly walk around the island whilst cooking, so I’m imagining staying between the island / cooker / sink when cooking and having the other side as more of a laundry ‘zone’.

I don’t feel at all confident that what I’ve come up with is ‘right’ so any advice or help is really appreciated!

I'd have a peninsula and breakfast bar on it rather than an island

Plus 5 seats in a row is a bit silly. 3 at most is sensible I think



My kitchen is that width, although not as long.
There is no way I'd put an island in the middle of it, it would be totally in the way.
With that length I'd consider a peninsula across part of the room separating the cooking and sitting areas.

My kitchen is about 4.5m wide and about 6.5m long and I have a 2.2m long peninsula about halfway down. Works nicely and helps zone the room

I think that islands will soon go the way of avocado bathroom suites- a fashion that is best left behind. I'd suggest a table and chairs. At least if you get a set that is too small or large you can sell it and get one in a different size.

Where is the fridge? It needs to be near-ish to the cooking area.

Lose the island, will be a total pain. Why no wall cupboards?

The problem with your design is that it emphasises how long and thin the kitchen will be. Having a design that incorporates a peninsular sticking out into the room will work much better as it will make the room look wider as well as creating zones. Have seating on the peninsular. Maybe three in a row and one or two at the end at 90 degrees.

Do you have doors or windows at the end? If doors make into one large opening. If windows have units underneath not a ff which again emphasises how narrow the room is.

Trying to work out how wide my kitchen is, it has an island as you have shown and it works for us though I know many people would put a peninsula into the space.

I think ours is about 4.2m wide, and I don’t think you could really go narrower. We have a shade over 1m each side of the island.

I also really don’t like your FF placement. That’s going to not look great in reality.

No windows?

I think you probably need to get a pro round to give you ideas.

The island is far too long and obtrusive, no one wants to sit in a row in the middle of a kitchen like that and it’s awkward, the walls look odd with no cupboards or shelving and getting from fridge to cooker is very awkward.

What style are you looking for?
It is hard , I remember doing our kitchen.
Can you think about your fixed points ie doors/ windows, drainage, then what you absolutely have to have ie cooler, fridge, washing machine etc . Once you have those in and fixed you can think about your working space, eating area and cupboards, drawers. You cannot have too much storage . If you are having shaker style then a table and chairs , I agree with pp, is a practical solution. If you are going for banks of shiny units I can understand why you are thinking of an island as that is the look one sees all the time in pictures. It is often a compromise by the way.

Thanks for all of your comments - really useful, but disapointing to realise that probably have to give up my dream of an island.

I have re-jigged things to add a peninsula, but now it feels like there’s a big space in the middle which feels weird - is there any way around this?

In answer to some of the questions....

@atalune no windows apart from the bifold doors at the back as we’re mid terrace but there will be large Velux windows above where the sink / cooker are.

@sskanky I was thinking more that the people sat at the island would be talking to whoever was cooking on the other side, rather than sitting in a long row talking to eachother, but yes 5 is probably overkill!

@titchy we can’t make the doors at the end one large opening as they lead into different rooms. Unless that’s not what you meant?

@murbblurb I just really don’t like the look of them, I think they make kitchens feel small and closed in and I’d rather put shelves / art on the walls

Ah I though the two doors were your extension end not the existing end! So nothing on that wall then, as in your revised plan. Which looks much better!

Where will you eat as a family? I'd be tempted to replace the units on the right with a dining table and chairs/bench. But you might not like eating in the kitchen!

I think there is enough width for an island and because of the placement of the two doors it might not get in the way too much.

However I think the island looks unusually long and may create a corridor effect, and definitely has too many stools.

I would consider just having 2-3 stools at 90degrees to each other at the far (sofa) end of the island, one stool facing the two doors and the other 1-2 stools facing the sink and oven. I’d also make the island a little bit shorter, and at the 2-doors-end of the island, underneath the worktop I would have a full-width unit or nice decorative bookcase facing to the doors, so you see something nice and not the side of a cupboard+side of a stool when you walk in. You could keep a vase/fruit bowl in the middle of the island to break up the long look.

Alternatively I agree with earlier suggestions of a peninsula from one side, it would separate the zones really nicely, and make it a bit less symmetrical.

You have a lot of options with that size and space so I can see why it’s hard to decide.

I like wall units personally and they look ‘missing’ to me in the picture.

Where will your table and chairs go?

@titchy would be happy to put a table where you suggest, but then I don’t know where I’d put the washer, dryer and larder which are currently there? I think that we’d eat either at the breakfast bar or in the dining room.

@yikesanotherbooboo we like the shaker style, so not the gloss / handle less / minimal look. The doors and windows are fixed as per the plan, but the drainage etc can all be moved as part of the extension build. I think in some ways not having more restrictions makes it harder! You’re right, it definitely feels like a compromise!

Put a utility room/cupboard top right, where the '1622' unit measurement is. Stack washer and dryer in there. Move ff and larder unit to other side, losing some base unit space. To get back the base unit space have the peninsular unit double width, so it's made out of back to back base units.

Or have one less unit under the peninsular so you can have all of you sitting round it.

I don't really get the point of an island - who wants to eat perched on a bar stool? If it were me I'd lose the island and replace the peninsula with a table and chairs or benches.

In your second peninsula suggestion, you’re right the kitchen area is much too big and empty, the peninsula needs to be much closer to the 2 doors, and I probably wouldn’t make it stick out so much (you could make it extra deep instead so you could have units opening both sides).

I think the lack of wall units means you will need to spread out more on the floor to get everything fitted in and it might look disproportionate compared to most kitchens.

Fair enough with no wall units . I am function over form every time so prioritise storage over looks, but obviously your call .

Already looks more usable without the island. You could always have a table.

Loose the peninsula and have a proper table and chairs instead of a sofa.
For an island you need a metre between it and another cupboard or wall, and if you have bar stools even more (if someone is sitting there and you are cooking no one would be able to walk by).
I'd shorten the length of units by having wall cupboards one one side.
So, the inly way to have an island is to only have units in one side, so I think it means no. To gave no wall until makes your kitchen very long. Remember it already is like a corridor to the garden.
This may be why there are professional kitchen designers....