Help! Can't decide kitchen layout

[Ankleweights]

Hi mumsnetters,
I'm stuck between deciding between 3 kitchen layouts. Which would you prefer?
Husband and I both cook, or wash and prep at the same time. Lot of times the kids are playing as well.
Does anyone have a peninsula and wished they had an island instead so everyone could get round? Or does anyone have an island and wished they didn't?
All thoughts welcome.
Thanks

I like the 4 the picture best of alll

I have an appliance cupboard on the wall end of my peninsula with sockets inside it - I've come to appreciate this as the best design feature of the kitchen as I do all the food prep on the peninsula

I prefer the sink on the peninsula in the middle of the room, i find it more social and easier to grab a drink without getting in anyone else’s way, I don’t spend that long there so need a view.

I'd go for the island, it's big enough.

Whereas I much prefer the hob. Much less cluttered & I’m far more likely to be cooking when socialising than washing up so nice to be facing those I’m socialising with.

I do have an induction hob though so it’s very uncluttered. I might feel different about gas.

I would not have a gas hob on a peninsula for safety reasons. Better to have the sink there and the hob on the wall, then have the area by the window for prep.

We're happy with the location of the cooker. Cooking against a wall like we currently do means we can't use all hobs because pans are too wide and hit the wall. It's frustrating to have to cook in runs when we've got guests over therefore it's much more practical this way. I wouldn't have the sink on island as that would create a huge unsightly mess with the amount of stuff dumped in the sink.

@SnowyIcySnow it's a 3 strip kitchen not a W. Kitchen designers created kitchens that didn't work in real life for us. They always seem to create the same kitchen for everyone without considering peoples actual lifestyle.

In both the kitchens with islands I've had, I had the main sink somewhere else (hide the mess) and a small sink for food prep on the island.

It's really handy to have.

Given a gas hob I would put it on the outside wall. You have to contend with draughts otherwise. Plus you can vent it on the outside wall.

How about a longer island potentially with both sink and hob, with a big prep area between and storage on the back.
Then fridge, larders, freezer, ovens and storage on the RH wall. Then no units on the LHS wall, use that space for your sitting area.

So, do you already own a range cooker that you're trying to incorporate into this kitchen design? And that has a gas hob and a gas oven?

@NotMeNoNo i see what you've done there and thank you. I've taken on some feedback and re thought the layout subject to husband's approval. I'm dead set on having 2 sofas in there and to have a longer island I'd need an extra meter in depth. But I've worked out these two options.

@SwedishEdith it's a gas range cooker. It works well and we know exactly how to cook in it and all parts are easily serviceable.

This layout looks better to me.

The last one is better but if the decision is between island and peninsula, would it make more sense to flip a peninsula the other direction?

To keep the kitchen more one side but leave the route to the back door. I quite like some sort of divide in room space but I wouldn't want to have to walk around it as part of the kitchen every time I want the fridge.

In your new layout I much prefer the island. It has better flow.

If the gas range fits into the plans then it makes sense to keep it. But it is daft to design a whole expensive kitchen around a single appliance. Design the kitchen and get it right for you - that is way more important.

It would get on my nerves having the fridge over beyond the peninsular. So I'd rather have an island then 2 ways of getting at it.

We have just had an extended our kitchen to include a seating and dinning area. Went with a peninsula as that was what we already had and gave much more storage than an island ever would. We have 3 x zoned areas which I really wanted with toddlers around. Don’t regret it one bit.

I think islands can be brilliant in the right design and if you have the space.

I like this design.

You would soon get very used to having the fridge in a different area.

Do you really want stools on your pensisula/island if the dinning table is now much closer? They look like they may get in the way and removing them would give you much more storage space. I did this.

I Think the latest designs are getting much better - it’s horrid to have a dining area in a dark corridor, much nicer to be closer to light. A cosy seating/tv area in that darker zone makes much more sense.

The access to the utility looks odd though…..if you square up the wall and make the access to utility from kitchen (next to tall units), you would free up more wall space in sitting area Abendsegen more useful to go straight from kitchen to utility.

I love a peninsula, however it is easier to make varied worktop choices (around particular cooking/prep use) with an island!

In that last pic, I'd move the utility door on an angle right up to the corner of the kitchen units, so that corner with seating is a "proper" corner with no interruptions

The utility is odd, I assume that's a hangover from the original house, a semi? and there is something like a rear single story extension. When people extend on the lower floor there's always that weird awkward dark bit left in the middle. Simply moving the door might be difficult as it could well be a load bearing wall. It's an somewhat weird layout.

I thought this too….but one of the OPs drawings had an entirely different middle section layout, so assumed it was up for rearranging!

my instinct is if you get that section/flow sorted first (as it’s the messy and complicated bit of a build like this), the kitchen layout choices will be much better