What would you do with this kitchen?

[FriendOrFrump]

What would you do with this kitchen? We can’t afford to extend and create the large separate kitchen/diner we’d love to have, so need to think how best to use the space. Not averse to putting a stud wall up/taking utility wall down cost depending. Just can’t work out how to make it not as annoying as it is now. Will get kitchen designs done too of course but just wondered if anyone had any genius ideas! Thanks in advance!

Have you got a photo

Op can you tell us what’s annoying about it? Is it just the size? Would you like to eat in the kitchen? How would you want to use the space is probably the most important thing.

Personally I love a separate utility room, mine is full of all kinds of storage and things kept out of the way. If you want a bigger kitchen then could you put the washing machines in the toilet? Or put a door in the wc so you get to it through the sitting room rather than kitchen and utility, I can see how that would be annoying.

Could you make the living room a bit smaller by putting up a partitioning wall and creating a larger kitchen/dinner? Our ground floor was very similar and that is what we did.

I'd knock through the utility and stud the back of the living room so the kitchen runs the width of the house. And put a door in from the hallway.

On paper it looks like knocking out the wall to the lounge & the 'back' wall to the the dead space/storage (and possibly adding a length of wall from the storage into the lounge would be the obvious solution. But that would depend if either were load bearing or not & the cost. And if you need a bit of extra wall Soave or not.

I'd use the family room as a living room and make the kitchen/living room into a massive kitchen/dining area. Keep the utility room as is.

Thank you. Photos attached are from when we moved in. It’s been redecorated but I HATE the kitchen, especially that jutting out bit separating kitchen and dining space with the pole holding up the cupboard.

Yes we’d like to wave a dining part. We plan to redo the flooring with wooden/karndean type stuff we think.

Thank you!

Personally I like the utility room separate & the toilet off the utility room from the back door and from the kitchen via the utility.

Looks like the doors to the utility and the wc mean you lose useable space.
it is nice to have the utility separate, but with such a small kitchen I would take down the wall to the utility and change the wc door to be a sliding door inside the wall. Maybe even block the door to outside as you already have French doors in the living room.
Though clearly it depends on what is important to you.

Somebody really wanted cupboard space didn't they!

Ok, after the photos I'd revise my plan!

replace the 3 seater with a smaller one so it's not blocking the under stairs area,

get rid of the (1970's) end cupboard with pole bit. Just have the lower cabinets along the back in a straight line without the return.

put the new flooring down in the entire kitchen/dining/lounge area.

declutter all your kitchen stuff so it fits nicely into your new cabinets Donate as much as you can. Keep things you must keep but rarely use like a stand mixer, rice cooker type thing in the utility. Keep, if you must, one crate of special use stuff (Christmas crockery, etc) under the stairs/in the utility/garage for one year, then consider donating anything you haven't used. Non seasonal stuff consider using, rather than just storing. If you Do Dishes Daily you'll see how little you really need & what your favourite things are. DECLUTTER the rest.

Life is easier/better without so much clutter. Make your stuff fit your space comfortably, rather than continually trying to find storage for more stuff

watch Dana K white on you YouTube for her theories on decluttering, and how to make the most of the space you have. It's for everyone!! Not just people who hoard!! especially 'the concept of containers'. I haven't read her books, but her YouTube's are great. (Her website is a slob comes clean, but you don't have to be a slob or a hoarder to benefit from her outlook on life)

sorry that's not what you asked exactly, but decluttering, is a good first step to deciding what space/storage you're going to have when redesigning an area.

Can you turn the family room + toilet into a big kitchen, and then turn the current kitchen into a toilet?

@Inks42

yeah we all have our own likes/dislike & priorities don't we!

I much prefer a utility room you can close off & I like the back door from the garden, straight into the utility & toilet I think it saves traipsing laundry/dirty things etc through the main part of the house. I also wouldn't bother replacing the door as thise spaces the doors open into need to be clear spaces anyway. Whatever you out there (where the door opens into) would just be in the way anyway?! Unless of course oeople entering the utility from the kitchen are banging into people in the utility? I do love a nice pocket door or externally mounted sliding door, but getting people to close the bloody things is hard work!! And they tend to use the door, not a handle do they can get grubby.

still the more ideas the OP gets, the better!!

@TooMuchToDoTooLittleInclination
that photo was before we moved in. None of that stuff is/was ours. No clutter now but cupboards/layout obviously still the same.

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Along the lines of what we’ve been thinking but keep them coming.

If it were me, I wouldn't have any top cabinets and go for as sleek as possible cabinets and counter. I would take off the corner that juts into the living room completely to make it more open plan. I would also extend the wall of the living room to cut off the awkward space and make it a walk in pantry instead. My preference would be for a pocket door into the pantry but a regular door would also work so long as there was clearance for it to open outwards. I would take off the door to the under-stairs storage and put in a box on castors which is high at the front and slopes to be low at the back so it fits under the stairs, and use that for large kitchen equipment like an Instant Pot or a mixer. Shelve all the walls, deep on the wall above the box on castors and the wall adjoining the loo, and narrow on the wall adjoining the kitchen (maybe two cans deep).

I think it would be helpful to change both the door from the kitchen to utility room, and the utility room to loo into pocket doors if possible as the opening area takes up a lot of space.

will the kitchen be big enough if you lose the bit sticking out? If not I would consider using the utility room even if as a larder/ freezer storage etc? Could you have dresser/ cupboards behind the dining table for extra storage?

would this help?

knock down the wall between wc and utility and have a new room that does both jobs with lots of storage. to get into this room, have a new door under the stairs and a matching door from the living room (two red doors on plan). close up the door from utility to kitchen to give you more wall space for units & storage.

then get rid of all the sticking-out corner-with-a-pole in the kitchen and have a new U shaped kitchen that makes use of the wall to the utility (blue units). this will have more storage and feel much more open than the existing arrangement.

I’m not sure if this could work or would make each space too tight - difficult to tell dimensions / space and supporting walls from the photos…

@FriendOrFrump

i wasnt saying it was cluttered!! Just that really decluttering the kitchen stuff would mean you could make do with fewer cupboards so getting rid of the end ones & top ones (especially those with the poles) can easily go!

i personally wouldn't make it one room toilet/utility.

you could extend the wall under the stairs to meet the kitchen cabinets & either just put a full size door in OR if you had the money get some custom made storage (pull out drawers etc. depends what you prefer. (Lots of great options if you Google).

have fun thinking about it all!!

I would do this.

Swap your patio doors and kitchen window over, giving you sight through your home from front door to garden. Also means you get a full U shaped kitchen on that side as opposed to sections of cabinets trying to account for 2 doors (utility and cupboard) on the other side. Space for ample dining/seating arrangements.

Block up living space to give you a snug or play room, as well as an entrance and hallway to the kitchen rather than using other rooms as thoroughfares.

Retains utility and downstairs loo. You could create a doorway into kitchen if preferred (better for heat and smell retention) though keeping it open plan for ease of diagram.

Good luck!