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!

I haven’t got any sensible planning arrangement comments, but just wanted to say I truly understand the thing about wanting a big oven for hosting and cooking, and I wouldn’t want to compromise on both the sink and oven - even if the range is a little oversized, if you know full well you’ll love it and it’s one of the things you’re most looking forward to, find a way of keeping it in!

Notme thank you so much for taking the time to do that mock-up. I agree the FF would ideally go where you've put it.

PPs, I've come to terms with a single sink. Want to keep the range though. We're getting induction, and I'm told you can use the top as prep space at a pinch.

I'd rather avoid structural work unless absolutely necessary. We have two young children, I really can't face it.

Photo of one of our bridging units with shelf below is attached. I'll go back and read the thread now!

I think the number of door/openings is part of the problem - can you post the whole floorplan? There might be something a bit out of the box which people can spot.

Aha thanks for the bridging pics everyone. That looks great but it's not for us. We have cabinets like these in our current house (no shelf though) and they don't work for us. Things are always falling down on our heads, so we avoid them.

Should I wait until next year for a rangemaster? Or settle now for Stove. The preference for RM is purely aesthetic.

We are moving in later this month (this is a new house we're buying) and the reason I'm rushing all this is that we won't have a dw as the vendor is taking their freestanding one. Should i not rush and just live in the house for a while?

well if you definitely want 3 ovens. You can fit a range right next to a corner, we had that in a previous house, and then a 30cm unit on the end next to it. Just make sure your doors open on the first cupboard round the corner.

We have a range master but it was in our kitchen when we moved in. It does look great but I really miss my oven being higher up. It's much harder bending down especially when things are hot. Also I ached after cleaning it!!! Definitely not bigger ovens. Previously I still had a big 5 burner hob then eye level double oven. Then they don't even have to go next to each other so more flexibility. Also you could get a combination microwave oven which my mum has.

I've always had a conventional bend down oven, so I'm ok with bending down. Keeps me supple? I know people say eye level is much easier, but where am I even going to put this? I'm already struggling to fit in the FF. Plus c'mon let me have my range.

I am firmly in team range - I had one in my last kitchen (almost identical dimensions to yours) and loved it. New house has double tall oven and I hate taking stuff out of the top one. I always feel like it's going to land on me.

I did only do a single sink though (albeit a big one) and no built in drainer. And we didn't have so many openings so we were able to bring the kitchen as a U shape which made a huge difference

Btw I'm enlisting Howden's help now. I promise to be back tomorrow with alternative plans in any case, for further comments from you lovely helpful people.

Should I sacrifice the window?

We did up a house to rent out and we had the kitchen designed by howdens. IKEA did one for us too but howdens were much more flexible in terms of sizes of units. IKEA couldn't fit corner cupboards into a small corner but howdens could as they build it for you. We had a lot more options with them. Also you could order in a few days.

I have to admit I'd rather stick with IKEA as the thought of Howden's weird pricing structure stresses me out. But I'll see what design ideas Howden's come up with, and I may well be won over!

I've just found this pic. They have a FF where I had mine in my original pic, plus wall cabinets to its right. It doesn't look too dark and unusable to me?

I would swap position of sink and oven as you don't have enough prep space and the work surface either side of the sink is where the dirty dishes will inevitably pile up. If you swapped them round then dirty dishes could congregate in that much less prominent corner to the left of the door. Plus you'd have worksurface either side of your cooker.

You'd need to move dishwasher too probably.

Also having the tall fridge where you have it is causing you to have an annoying useless corner where all the doors will be hard to open.

I would try a version with the fridge at the opposite end of the run.

Oh you have a conservatory stuck on the back too!

I have to say I think you would be making a mistake to get a new kitchen without doing anything to increase its size. You have plenty of space (dining area and conservatory) and it seems a great shame to end up with a new kitchen which is still too small, lacks prep space and still not connected to the garden. The kitchen you have looks ok - personally I’d live with it until your dc are a bit older and you can face structural work.

Personally I wouldn’t invest anything into the kitchen for a bit until I really think about the layout and the doors. I think it would be a mistake to spend money on the floor plans as it currently is, it looks like you need to consider moving at least a door to make this work—whether that’s the door on the right or on the left. The kitchen essentially doubling a as a corridor makes the space less safe and vastly limits what you can do with your space. If you didn’t need a path through you could have more against the wall and shape for a small island/protruding bit.

Induction range is a good idea; as you say you can use it as additional prep space if necessary. If it's built in well it will be seamless with the rest of the worksurface.

I have a 100cm Britannia range cooker currently but I do not think I have more cooking space than I had previously with my 100cm Neff induction hob and a built in 60cm double oven. Perhaps Stoves ranges give more oven space than Britannia though.

Why don't you wait until you've moved in and know how you use the space? It seems a bit mad to fit a new kitchen just because you won't have a dishwasher! (Or have I misunderstood?)

Is there a reason why you couldn't buy a new freestanding one? Alternatively, get one second hand. We bought a second hand one from someone local who was having a new kitchen. It's a Bosch, and 4 years later is still working perfectly.

We are moving in later this month (this is a new house we're buying) and the reason I'm rushing all this is that we won't have a dw as the vendor is taking their freestanding one. Should i not rush and just live in the house for a while?

I missed this bit! Absolutely take your time. Buy a second hand freestanding dishwasher on gumtree or whereever - they are easy to fit if the plumbing is all there. And then just take the time to figure out what are the problems with the existing layout, where the sun comes in, what you miss from your old place and what you love about the new one and wouldn’t change etc. You will 💯 regret rushing for the sake of a missing dishwasher!!

Ok we'll move in first. Though we won't be using that kitchen - honestly cannot handle no dw. Ours broke a while ago and not having one for one week was dreadful enough. There's another kitchen so we'll use that until the new kitchen is constructed.

Just buy another dishwasher!! ?