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Should I move my kitchen or keep it where it is?

4 replies

KitchenDilemma · 17/01/2024 23:23

I bought my house intending to extend it at the back. Sadly life got in the way and then covid hit and building costs spiralled and now I can afford it.

Currently kitchen is at front of house and pretty knackered. Washing machine and dishwasher are under counters and it annoys me because food gets spilled on them, and I just dislike having them in a food prep area.
I have a very old 70s extension at the back of the house, which has no insulation in the flat roof and failed old upvc windows and a stupidly placed side door that makes the room really impractical because you can't really put any furniture in there so it's a hot in summer waste of space. There is a desk in there with the family computer.
Pic 1 shows current layout (nb. There is no longer a wall between dining and living room)

Regardless of kitchen location I intend to renew and insulate the extension flat roof, and move the garden door to the end of the room, turning the old door location into a window. I will also reinstate the small window in the living room into a garden door, which it was originally and there is still space for.

I am trying to decide whether to move the kitchen into the back room, making a separate study in the front room or leave it at the front and make the updated extension a study come second sitting area.
Pic 2 shows kitchen at back, pic 3 shows kitchen at front.

I have long lists of in depth pros and cons of both layouts, but I think the main ones are:

Kitchen at back - PROS:
Lovely views in kitchen (I'm on a hill and back onto a park)
Laundry in separate room
Lots storage in study/laundry

CONS:
No second sitting area (wouldn't be nice to sit in front study)
Potential costs and headaches in complicated moving of water/drainage front to back - main drain is at front
Back kitchen very open to noise from living area
I worry that study might become a dumping ground

Kitchen at front - PROS:
No need to move drainage
More storage and worktop space in kitchen
Second seating area with lovely views in back room
Can put doors of some sort (maybe sliding/pocket) on both kitchen and back room for noise control/separation

CONS:
Less light in kitchen
Laundry still in kitchen (though stacked in cupboard just inside door)
Kitchen and dining area quite separate

Any thoughts welcome

Should I move my kitchen or keep it where it is?
Should I move my kitchen or keep it where it is?
Should I move my kitchen or keep it where it is?
OP posts:
KitchenDilemma · 17/01/2024 23:27

If kept kitchen at front I am thinking to remove the unit under the window so that there are no annoying corner cupboards, and have slimline bar stool/s by the window ledge for a cooks perch/coffee spot - inspired by the picture attached. Although it is at the front I have made a lovely garden which is often filled with small birds in front of that window, and I'm on a cul de sac so there is little traffic and only the occasional passer-by.

Should I move my kitchen or keep it where it is?
OP posts:
Twiglets1 · 18/01/2024 07:59

Have you had a bathroom fitter round yet to get quotes? They will be able to advise you how much more expensive it would be to relocate the bathroom compared to leaving it where it is.

FoofOfTheWalkingDead · 18/01/2024 13:19

You could leave the kitchen as is but give access to it from the front hall. It's cut off from the rest of the house so adding a door would give better flow. I've added a floor to ceiling pantry cupboard on that wall so you can avoid wall cupboards on the other walls to make the space look bigger.

Should I move my kitchen or keep it where it is?
KitchenDilemma · 18/01/2024 15:11

That's a thought, and there is an old - currently blocked up - door to the hallway which could be reopened (as shown in the moving kitchen plan) but unfortunately that wall is a major structural support wall, so adding a door through in a different position would be tricky and expensive. It's the bloody washing machine and dryer which really limit things, but I've thought it through and through and there's just nowhere else for them to go. The cupboard under the stairs hasn't enough height, and is needed to stop the narrow hallway being cluttered.
Some neighbours have moved their laundry equipment into the garage, but I have 4 kids and A LOT of laundry so I wouldn't want to have to schlep outside every time I wanted to do it. I did look at adding a door from living room into the garage for this purpose, but that is also a structural wall, and it would have to be an outside quality door for security and insurance, the garage has asbestos in its ceiling, and it would then be limiting in furniture placement in the living room. It's a right PITA

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