Small kitchen - larder cupboard or worktop space?

[Sum2021]

Hello All,

Designed and ordered a kitchen but thinking I have made a mistake. Its a 3x6m square but with 3 doors going into/out of it which means one side is totally unusable.

I have a lot of dishes and opted for larder cupboard, wall mounted single oven and microwave and a tall larder cupboard (to house everything). Aside from that we have 2 cupboards, washing machine and dishwasher. We have designed for a small peninsular to hold a hob and drawers (the only way we can fit).

My dilema

Is it better to have more worktop space or a larder cupboard?

For insight, we host a LOT and cook a lot of curries abd different dishes and will need places to put down dishes and platters as they're being transported from kitchen to diner

How big or long is the workspace you will have?

Is there a way to make it deeper as the extra space doesn't have to be linear.

We have only 1.2 m of workspace but it's double depth so works perfectly. We do a LOT of cooking, sometimes multiple dishes and it works well.

We also have a large larder and it's brilliant because it holds so much and is easy to get to.

Pull out extra workspace below the normal workspace like a skinny drawer? Or a pull out butcher trolley when necessary. I'm all for a larder at the cost of workspace. Particularly as you like to cook you at least can have clear workspace rather than gadgets everywhere around.

I agree with the utility of a pullout trolley. My mother did that, the trolley drawers held vegetables, plus it lived next to a corner cupboard that could be accessed when the trolley is out, useful for storing less used items.

Why are there three doors? Do you want to actually keep this configuration? Your kitchen is a decent size and isn’t small. It’s a shame you cannot utilise the space.

I would go for a big fridge and a decent larder cupboard. Make the best use of the space you have from floor to ceiling. Pull out trolleys need storage space somewhere.

Did you say which wall has 3 doors? Did I miss that? Are they at one end?

We have a larder cupboard and it is brilliant. We fortunately have quite a bit of worktop even though our kitchen is very small but the larder houses the majority of our food (we have some jars of pasta on the worktop).

The three doors are all at one end. One to the garden one to a dining room paralell and one coming from the living room.

We considered bricking up the door to the garden, the attached dining room is 3m x 5mish and has patio doors or breaking the stud wall between the kitchen and dining room (but kinda need the seperate space). A bit stuck as current kitchen is spacious as it has only L shaped units but only drawer is below an 80's oven in a larder so nowhere for cutlery. I need drawers and dishwasher.

Worktop space is only in the corner (maybe a meter) and above the washing machine and maybe 1/2 meter where the hob is.

Bricking up the backdoor is the only other option but its quite expensive. This isnt a forever house and we want to sell in a few years and fear buyers might be put off by having no back door.

Looks like larder is winning

Post a rough plan and we will be able to help

For me, worktop space would be more important. Can you gain cupboard space by tdd as king wall units to the ceiling

taking

I had a kitchen with no access to back garden. If you have it in the dining area, what’s the issue? I would want a better kitchen and any buyers might too.,it’s difficult to make a silk purse out of a sows ear of a kitchen, sadly. Most kitchens don’t have a door to the lounge either.,Do you not have a hall? You seem to have a lot of unusable space. Your dining room is long. and it’s a shame some of that space cannot be kitchen.

You do need worktop space but I can’t work out from your description how much you have - can you post a plan?

Is your workspace in a block or in little bits? Small sections are just clutter traps and shouldn’t be counted in to usable meters.

How much uninterrupted length do you have?

Ha, I like the phrase “clutter traps”. So true!

Thanks for taking the time. Ive attached some plans (should have done so in the first place shouldn't I?)

A few more

I’d be very tempted to block up the kitchen back door if you have one just next door from the dining room, and use that space for tall larder cupboard or something instead. But it is hard to tell how it would make the room feel.

Could you not wrap the worktop around in a D shape, as in my bad diagram, and have wall cupboards all along the wall opposite the sink, culminating in the fridge at the end of the D shape? Then you could have an oven with a hob above it along that line. Feels like it would be less broken up. I do think a big larder cupboard is a good idea too, but I think the wall mounted high up oven is a waste of worktop space, and if you combined it with the hob along one of the walls, you’d have potentially more usable space. We put our microwave up high at “base of wall cupboard” level, and have a smaller cupboard over the top of it.

Alternatively, or additionally, is there any space in the dining room for crockery or food storage? We put a big larder cupboard in the dining room right next to the kitchen to free up space in kitchen cupboards.

Forgot to add the diagram

I would say larder and get some sort of portable trolley or table on wheels to augment the surfaces.

I've lots of work surface but barely any storage and the kitchen always looks a tip.

I don't like that hob taking up so much space out in the open like that. Were there any alternatives?

Can you reposition the sink to the end of the run so you have a larger L shape worktop space in the corner with out the sink breaking the worktop space up in the middle?

You can also get chopping boards that fit over the sink, which would give you more work space.

If you don't want to brick up any doors I'd put the hob where the larder cupboard is. Then you have a very usable counter and diner area.

Otherwise I'd ditch the bar seating entirely given the living and dining room are off and have a run along that wall.

I take it that knocking through to the dining room is not an easy option ?

I would do C shape/U shape layout roughly as drawn by Talipes

Sink run stays as is under the windows

Hob goes on the back wall (where you currently have oven) extractor above, wall cupboards each side

Full height run on the wall facing the windows. Larder cupboard goes in front of the pillar, fitter can cut the larder cupboard and shelves to fit in front of/around the pillar (shallow shelves are better anyway) or did you plan to have drawers/wire pullout in your larder?

This way you get an L shape of worksurface and a full height run for lots of storage.

Admittedly it does mean 2 corners but wit magic corner inserts you can use these for pots and platters.

The current design with a small peninsula with hob on it doesn’t work imo, not enough space around the hob, have to cross the kitchen to get from hob to sink. And then an unused blank wall.

I'd do as @Talipesmum suggestion, I love having plenty of uninterrupted worktops, makes it much easier when entertaining. I'd prefer that to a larder cupboard.

You can have both…I’m in the middle of planning a 6x3m kitchen and am getting pantry and a long run of worktops. I’m going for an island which will be the equivalent of your peninsula. The pantry I’m going for is a corner one-DIY kitchens is where I’m going for it …I also have 3 doorways