Which kitchen layout help

[Toomanyhats]

Hi please help me from my dithering. We are doing a barn conversion - it is an amazing once of a life time project and we are going to live there forever I need help with which way round to put the island. The room is 6m2 and is a converted corn house with a vaulted ceiling. It will make a stunning kitchen I don't want to ruin it.

We are thinking of going for a DIY kitchen in either the norton or helmsley. Colour is either blue or light grey still trying to sort. I will try and put up a photo of the room.

Please help me with if I should go perpendicular or parallel with the tall units.

Perpendicular
Pros- can use a compact laminate which is cheaper
Hob and centre of island line up to the central beam and skylight.
Cons- smaller seating area takes up more of the room, blocks bifold doors (still 1.2 m behind seats)

Parallel
Pros- more seating, makes better use of the space- kitchen is more contained gives more feeling of space in the room.
Cons- more expensive, some units under the worksurface seating area. Have to use quartz- more expensive but could be a good thing as more hardwearing,

Thanks in advance- mumsnet has been a wealth of knowledge on all things home renovation, it has helped so much.

Why can't seating be on the longer side of the perpendicular island?

Probably not a big issue but I don't like the way the end of the perpendicular version doesn't line up with the end of the units with the sink on.

why do the bar stools change position depending on which way island is positioned? Would you not have the bar stools along the long side even if the island was turned? What else will you have in the room as that will impact the position of bar stools? Do wall a and c both have bifolds/french doors?

yes i agree with swedish

From first glance, the parallel option looks best. What else are you planning to put in the room? A sofa or seating area?

1, definitely

why do you need different work top depending on position?

1 (light grey)

I like the look of the grey one most. The dark one doesn't feel right, but that might be to do with the colour of the units, I don't know.

The seating could go on the long side the perpendicular has been our design and a friend suggested changing it round. I hadn't thought of putting the seating on the long side, until i changed the island around. We were set to go for compact laminate which comes in a maximum width of 1300mm so that is why i had the seating on the end.

Changing the width of the island means we have to go from compact laminate £1800 cost to quartz £3500

A is a bifold. C is the entrance to our lounge which is down 2 steps. I was going to add a dinning table- at the bottom of wall B. Thanks for your ideas.

We would have to swap to quartz to have the seating on the long side. We can get compact laminate in 4.1x 1.3 m as soon as you go over 1.3 which you need for the seating to go on the long side you need quartz. The builder dosent want to join 2 work surfaces as we need a pop up or downdraft extractor and we need the void for this

Shall we just call them light or dark grey its easier than parallel and perpendicular.

Light grey, the other one just looks a bit odd to the eye.

I like the 1 st one best, last one doesn't look right to me

I really don’t like the way the dark grey doesn’t line up with the end unit. Can you make it a bit shorter?

I dont mean to offend but neither option looks worthy of a once in a lifetime barn conversion project. Sorry but it looks just like every other kitchen I see especially in blue or grey. I wouldnt say that if you were further on in the process. I appreciate the beams will add character and it depends on your overall style in the property too.

Designing something to go in a space where you have windows in awkward places isn’t easy. We have beams etc but you can’t put that in to this software.

Due to the barn we have had to put a full wood shell inside as the walls weren’t straight. This is to be our forever home the kitchen is a beautiful space I have thought about handless, bespoke kitchens. I took the design to a number of places and they came up with designs that were along these lines but I have spent ages looking at how we will use the space

We have a builder as main contractor and have a budget of around 20k for the kitchen but I want that to cover everything.

Attached are some photos of the barn at the stage it is. It’s been an 13 month project so far. The windows are going in this week

I am open to ideas- suggestions welcome

I want something that fits the space will look nice and wont look horribly dated in 20 years, I need something practical and hardwearing. I was looking at the DIY kitchens real wood with the idea it could be painted.

Currently we have a hide and slide oven, a compact oven with grill, a large warming draw. A 90 cm induction hob and pop up extractor. There is a full larder fridge and freezer in the design and I have put two dishwashers in- (the idea came from mumsnet but a friend has them and swears by it).

I don't love either option, you have this big beautiful space and a healthy budget I can't help but feel you could make it more special.

I'd want the dining table close to the patio doors so I'd personally start there and work the rest around that.

Where are the internal doors into the room?

The internal door is on wall C we are fixed in the sink being on that wall. The extraction had to be roughly in the middle of the room because of pipe work

I also feel its not quite looking like a once in a lifetime barn conversion either, a range cooker would be more in keeping than an eye level oven and hob for example. Also with two dishwashers and large fridge and freezer it doesn't look as though you will have a huge amount of other storage for food. With the parallel option a lot of cupboards are behind stools, we have some storage like that but only store occasional use stuff in those cupboards. Or is the third tall unit a larder one? Lots of pan drawers though which is good.

Would it be possible to move the table and chairs in front of the bifold doors and extend the kitchen the full length of wall B and round to the opening in C?

What a fantastic space. However if the £20k needs to include everything (worktop, appliances and fitting too) you have little choice but DIY kitchens or such. Perhaps HMKC but I doubt it. Using a more bespoke place to do designs might give you some different ideas but wont be able to replicated exactly due to the limited sizes DIY offer, I would still do it for inspiration. Presumably flooring is not in the 20K. Personally i would have a more period look with larder and range etc but if you have planned the whole barn in a modern style then it will match your taste.

Absolutely agree with having table near the patio doors. On nice days you could have them open, but still pleasant to look out all year round.

I think the first layout is best but please don't let the decision be driven by the worktop.

As someone who did that and has a reasonable laminated worktop the quartz would make this kitchen. I regret not stretching for it at the time.

I prefer the first picture, but agree that whatever happens don’t do the compact laminate. I’ve heard such terrible reviews about its longevity. Definitely go for the quartz- just don’t buy it from diy kitchens. You’ll get it for much cheaper from somewhere like topsco