I invite your comments on my kitchen plan (with photo)

[kitchenplanner]

I'm planning our new kitchen atm - it's going to have IKEA carcasses and Naked Doors fronts. This is the plan. It's not a big kitchen, made worse by the fact that we want a range (90cm) and double Belfast sink (80cm). I'd say these two things are non-negotiable.

I find wall cabinets quite oppressive. I'd probably rather not have any at all, but have been persuaded to have some in the left corner. Storage is hopefully not an issue, as we also have a separate pantry, and a utility room.

The thing that worries me is prep space. Is there enough? Should the sink swap with the dishwasher to create a bigger prep space?

Please do let me have your comments!

To PPs saying they don't like bending down for the oven. I get that point, totally, but I really like the traditional look of a range.

This must be why people pay for the likes of deVOL to come design the kitchen. I'd live a deVOL kitchen

Waspie could you please show a photo of this bridging thing? I can't visualise it!

Can you post a floorplan of the room OP?

(With or without a kitchen in it)

Minipie it's 1.8m x 4m and you can only use that L shape that I've currently used, for various reasons

I think the cupboard configuration on the left looks messy…is the tall cabinet the fridge/freezer?

I like the bridging units with shelf idea, a quick Google gave me a howdens pic but it’s a bit blurry. Couldn’t find the exact one on their website easily.
Just the section with the high units and shelf underneath.

@kitchenplanner

Zinnia I've vaguely heard about the suspension rail but figured it was something for the builder to worry about. Do I need to worry about it too?

Not at all, I just meant to point out that the back panel of the carcass isn't integral to the structure, so your builder can use the 9cm gap at the back of the unit for services.

Personally I'm a huge fan of Ikea kitchens, their units are amazing value for the quality, you can customise the interiors to the nth degree, and the options for personalising them now are incredible. Naked Doors are beautiful.

Is there any way of moving the door to the kitchen eg around the corner from where it is currently? If you could do that you can have more units next to the fridge (could have an oven tower for eg) and you could also have an island.

It definitely feels like you need more prep space, you have a decent size room to play with so that’s why I was asking for a floorplan to see if anything else could change to allow more kitchen

As @minipie said, a floorplan would help massively, if poss, OP 😉

I'm another fan of double butler sinks and range cookers as the more traditional look suits our 400 year old property, so I can see where you're coming from. I'm just not sure you can fit both - and, most importantly, have enough room for prep - in the space you've shown as available. If this really is all the kitchen you can fit in, I agree with a previous poster who suggested a long, narrow island/work table for additional prep space.

We also didn't want lots of wall cabinets - although having previously done the whole open shelves with jars thing at our last-but-one house and found they got incredibly greasy - we wanted a compromise. Instead we went for one double wall cabinet, a plate rack over the sink and a tall display shelving unit. This way, glassware is enclosed so avoids a greasy film, we have the open shelf to display a few pretty items as well as the useful plate rack for draining above the sink, whilst jars are kept in the larder on an opposite wall.

Whilst we have a larger kitchen overall (7.3 x 3.6m, widening to 5.1m), because a huge chimney breast takes up one wall, our cabinets - as well as the 90cm range and double butler sink - are mainly along the length of the 7.3m wall (with island facing) and without the benefit of the island, we would struggle to have enough unbroken worktop space for extensive prep. Due to the positions of range and sink, we have the following runs of worktop - 1.6m, 1.8m (although this has the shelf unit sitting on it centrally) and 1m. By the time you add small appliances (we have kettle, toaster, coffee machine - our microwave is in the larder), I really don't think you'll have enough useable space for prepping large family meals, ie, Christmas, whereas with a single sink or even just rejigging the layout this would undeniably be improved. A long, narrow - and possibly mobile - island would help. We have a 60cm square butcher's block in addition to our island and, tbh, the prep space it adds is almost not worth having 🙄

I'm not at all keen on the arrangement of FF and small grouping of wall cabinets in your design - it looks scrappy and ill thought out, imho and would be improved by putting the FF at the opposite end with the open shelves where you have the wall cupboards currently.

On the subject of swapping the dishwasher etc around, anything is possible if you throw enough money at the problem - we moved the whole of our kitchen into what was previously two reception rooms that we knocked through because the space works so much better for us 😉

Have you thought about where the microwave, toaster and kettle will go, because they will take up some workspace.

In my current plan, I was thinking the microwave etc. would go in the dark corner. It's currently in a dark corner in our kitchen and we find it ok. Kettle perhaps near the window.

The window on the wall next to the dw is very near the wall. I'm not sure there's space for the FF.

Here's a floor plan. To the left there's a dining room. The arch can be broadened but not by much. Not enough to allow an island without the island obstructing the flow of the rooms.

Sorry to be tedious but could you post the whole floor? Which bits of the arch are going to be widened - just the bit by the kitchen door, or the other end (garden end) too?

Also could you have a U shape rather than L and put the sink under the window?

Yes, how about the double butler sink under the window, the draining area could be the harder to reach space on the left hand side as you stand at the sink.
That keeps two things you want.
Then you have a bit more straight line to house the DW, oven, cupboard, worktop.

Boiling water tap water to get rid of the kettle?

Minipie the arch is not being widened. It's not worth it, because even if widened, there won't be enough space. You'd end up shimmying around the island to get anywhere. I did consider having the sink under the window, but the window is very narrow. The plan is not to scale.

Have you tried using squared paper to draw a scale version of the space, then cut out scaled bits for appliances, etc and move them around?

I found that helpful (still doing it tbh as space not built yet so I’ve got to fiddle about).

Livinginabuildingsite that's a good idea but I'm using the IKEA planner for now. It's pretty good once you get the hang of it.

Kitchens with little preparation space are a nightmare. I now prioritise that. We had a free plan done by Howdens. It sorted out a lot of the problems.

Ah ok I assumed the arch was going because it doesn’t appear on your 3D kitchen mock up

Can you move the kitchen door around the corner so you free up the space where the door is for more kitchen?

Also what’s the cupboard in the bottom left corner, is it a larder?

ie move the door so it comes into the dining room section

Another idea: move the whole kitchen into the dining room part - but appreciate that adds to cost due to moving plumbing

I think with such a small space, you have to scale everything down to keep it in proportion and have a balance between appliances, worktop space and storage. I would think carefully about your dedication to an oversized range cooker and double Belfast sink. A 60cm cooker (there are stylish options) will have two very good size ovens, and a sink with a drainer lets you tuck the dishwasher underneath. A small space needs to be fitted out with perfectly fitting cupboards like a caravan, I agree other suppliers will give you more choice of unit sizes.

I'd lay it out something like this. If necessary choose a new fridge or tweak the window opening to make it fit. that gives you much more workspace and a separate spot near the fridge for your kettle.

I also thought you could perhaps move the sink under the window, but guess there isn't enough space for that.....

In your position I'd be seriously considering doing what minipie suggests - moving the entire kitchen into the dining room end of the space. I'm so pleased we moved ours, it's transformed the way we use our ground floor 😉