Would an island work?

[LexingtonsHome]

Hi, we have a new to us home and need to redo the kitchen. I'd really like the kitchen to be a bit more sociable with somewhere to perch with a glass of wine whilst someone cooks. Could an island work in this space?

Also just to add there is a dining room next door. We originally wanted to knock through but the structural engineer has advised it will need a picture frame supporting steel, 4 steels in it's place so we are planning to just put a door between the two rooms now.

Hard to say without fully understanding the rest of your floor plan i.e how much you have to go round it to get to other spaces

My immediate thought is your kitchen has an awful lot of doors.

Is the wall between it and the boot room structural? Is that a door or a window? That could be lovely space for a more sociable table.

The room is quite a decent size but consider your route round it if getting things from pantry etc and all the other doors. Will the people sat at it permanently be in the way? Do you have a table or some big boxes you could mock up?

IMO it might be a bit tight and cramped, especially when trying to put shopping away, etc. Could you get a small armchair or breakfast table instead to go in the corner where the utility room meets the boot room?

I'd be more inclined to put a small table in. I think an Island would get really irritating...

I'd pay for the steels as incorporating the dining room would be far better.

Don’t quite think there’s the space for it, what about a kitchen counter with high stools? Is there going to be a table in there too? (If so then no counter top with stools!)

How about something slimline like these?

I think it would work, but would you take a picture of the room as is. If you can afford it, I would definitely do the knock through though.

Thanks all, I'm starting to think there might not be space. I'm struggling for how to lay this kitchen out as we really want double eye level ovens, and american fridge freezer and some seating. Its a good size room but the awkward shape and doors have me stumped. We can't take the boot room wall out as the boiler is in there.

Give yourself a minimum of 1 metre from all counter edges and backs of chairs when someone is seated at the table, and that's your island max size

Then scale back from that so you still have a reasonable size. I agree the ideal would be to pay for the steel and open it up, but even without that, you have a perfect space for an island.

Do you have the whole ground floor plan? Where do all the other doors go?

If the boiler in the boot room is on the outside wall you could perhaps just build it into a cupboard?

How long have you been in the house? I wouldn't commit to a new kitchen layout until you really have a sense of how you use the space.

What is stud wall and what's structural? Is the whole space one extension carved up badly or does it join parts of the original house?

The utility looks big. Is there a structural reason for the awkward corner it slices off?

Do you know why the structural engineer is over designing your beam? We have a 15ft span supported by a beam. Yes, it has to sit on a pier at one end due to it being unable to embed in the wall safely, but it’s a big space and you really should open the rooms up. We also have big beams supporting the corner of the house where we opened it up. DH is a structural engineer and your piers (if needed) would be brick, not steel.

This gives a lot more space and I’m not sure you need a boot room and a utility. 5 doors in the kitchen is excessive and wastes walls. A pantry is a luxury too. More doors and an unusable wall. I would rethink opening it up and having less doors.

here is one possible option.

First, make the utility room a bit smaller by putting the door at an angle. that gives you more space for a 'corridor' around the edge of the kitchen.

then you can have a peninsula with the hob on and seats behind. The sink (S) stays in the same place.

you can have a door to the dining room in the middle of the wall, where there is currently a hatch. that means people sitting on the kitchen bar stools get a view through to the dining room which will feel more social.

beside the doors to the dining room, you can have oven (O) and fridge/freezer (F).

I think that kind of design gives you a more sociable kitchen and keeps all the dull stuff (boot room / pantry / utility) out of the way.

Can you consider partially opening up the wall between the kitchen and dining room? I've seen similar to this recently using a structural wall and it was really effective
Pics give an example l, 1st view from the kitchen, 2nd from the other / dining side

I’d get another structural engineer to look at it, unless you’re supporting a tower block above it seems a bit unlikely.

Could you post the plan of the whole ground floor it’s very difficult to get a sense of the space piecemeal.

Even if you decide against major RSJs you can still open up the kitchen and dining room with a central doorway.

I think I’d get rid of the boot, pantry and utility room walls. If the boiler is in the boot room that’s ok you can just put it in a cupboard.

Thanks all, this has been really helpful and some suggestions I wouldn’t have thought of. I am also now considering getting a second opinion from another structural engineer. Here is the full floor plan for those that have asked. The house was built in the 60s. No walls are stud walls, they are all brick! The engineer has said to us even walls that weren’t designed to bear load will now be bearing load which has been frustrating to hear.

Whoops missed off the floor plan.

now i see the whole floor plan, I think the kitchen is acting like a corridor through the house, especially if you want to use the family room & study at the back.

if you can, how about extending the kitchen into the garden a bit to give more space and then you can have a big peninsular (as shown) or an island to make it really the heart of the home.

I think island units are often a huge mistake. The first thing I did upon moving to our new house recently was to rip out the (very expensive) island unit. If you don't have a HUGE kitchen, don't do it.

If I had your house, I would see whether/how much it would cost to move the washing machine/drier into the pantry (shouldn't be much as water already near there for Cloakroom), move your Boot Room "stuff" into the Rear Porch, and then open I'm up the kitchen to include the Utility and Boot Room spaces. Then your corridor kitchen has become a hub of the home, with room for a island/kitchen table etc, and all the light from the current utility and boot room windows would come into the kitchen.

Just put a lovely big table in the middle for everyone to sit around rather than an island with a sofa against at a wall

I absolutely love our island but we have a kitchen diner and the island is sort of in between the two. Not sure it makes sense in your current set up as it’s sort of just a big thing to walk around. Agree that you really need at least a metre around the island, especially where it’s next to cupboards/fridges etc (we reduced the size of the island in our kitchen because it didn’t have that space and it’s much better).

I do think a knock through to the diner would be great if affordable.

Hi All, thanks for your ideas it's been helpful and some I would never have thought about I am starting to think we perhaps need to sit it out a bit longer with the shitty kitchen and save more then knock through to the dining room. It's what I really want and may regret not doing it.