Last minute change of heart on kitchen layout. Need help deciding!

[vera16]

Electrician coming tomorrow to run cables and after marking out the floor plan with tape I am thinking that the layout looks cramped. I am trying to squeeze in a sitting area and a kitchen island but actually I think both are compromised. I have redrawn with just one large feature island and I think I prefer it but not sure if I'm just having a last minute panic! If you have a minute please can you help me out by saying which layout you prefer and why? Left is island plus seating area. Right is island only. Thanks.

I wouldn’t have an island at all

we also have a narrow kitchen diner. we have kitchen with worktops on one side, flu height on top narrow end. Then a long dining sofa bench with dining table and chairs down the other side.

I would just move the island up to go right across from the sink then. Put in lots of storage on that side. Maybe a couple of units on the opposite side of the island and then the banquet in the corner.

Here's what I would do.

I'd have 3 units to the left where you currently have them, and opposite a peninsula. Your sink and hob can go here.

Down the right hand side I would put units all the way down for loads of storage etc. Something like the screen shot attached.

Then I would put a bench, table and seats by the window.

I don’t like the island big or small in that space. It would be nice to fit a sofa in.

@vera16 I’m struggling to read the dimensions of the room. However I love my big island! 3.5m long. Has a second sink at one end and hob at the other with second oven under it. Waste bins and loads of storage both sides because it’s 1.2m deep. I would not have a narrow small island. It will look marooned!

The rest of the kitchen has units on 2 walls in an L shape but the island just looks great with that layout. The other 2 walls are glass so it’s light and airy. My kitchen is 7m long so the end of the island has an offset circular wooden breakfast table with curved cupboards under it. We decided casual dining worked for us in the kitchen but we have dining spaces elsewhere in the house.

I think your layout is too narrow around the island. 1.2m is minimum between units and Island but with chairs moving around it will be cluttered and narrow. Have a big island and put the dining area at the end of the island. Forget about other seating. It’s probably not big enough but not sure about measurements.

Thanks. I was actually thinking along these lines this evening.

@vera16 you're welcome. If you put comfortable seating around a table you dont need island seating, meaning it won't be as cramped. Your peninsula faces that way so you can easily chat to anyone in the kitchen if you out your hon there. You could put your oven to the right, at eye height. I find that once things are in the oven they dont really need watching.

You also don't need corner cupboards, which are a waste of space in my opinion. I'd go for as many drawers as can, I find it really helps maximise the units. If you can, I would put the sink in the units at the back of the room, and make it deep to hide dirty pots. Sinks are always the messiest area.

Good luck!

I had a kitchen with a peninsular. You end up walking round it all the time. It’s horrible and these days, dated. There’s much better solutions than breaking up the space with a barrier. I’d never go back to one as it makes the space feel enclosed and small. A no from me.

@TizerorFizz I have a peninsula snd don't spend any time walking around it, until the meal is ready and I need to sit at the table? Surely it entirely depends on where it is and the layout of your kitchen/how you use it?
In the above example the only reason you would be constantly walking around it is if you're always heading to the back door i think.

A dining table and chairs need a lot of space to be functional. You have lots of countertop space. I would make the island perpendicular to the sink / parallel to the back short wall (a bit like the peninsula idea, but an island for ease of getting around), and put a dining table and chairs parallel to the short back wall. I’d also have units on the wall opposite the sink.

@Seaside3 So nothing ever happens on the other side of it!? I guess you don’t have dc doing homework or playing then. It’s a total nuisance and I’d rip one out immediately. They just aren’t seen these days in classy kitchens.

@TizerorFizz Classy kitchens. Gotcha.

No, my kids dont need help with homework. But if they did, it would take seconds to walk to the dining room table.
Whats the alternative in the ops kitchen?

This is the idea I like

The layout drawn by @Seaside3is more of an island tethered to the wall. I also dislike the classic peninsula with all the unnecessary corners.

I’d pause the electrician if you can without losing money, I wouldn’t be making such big changes the night before.. you need to sit with a few idea for a few more days and walk the area and maybe put large sheets down see how it works.

We've had a project with a massive island and the only thing I would say which you’ve done it to ensure your hob is in the island, when you put sinks in islands the clutter tends to build up around them, with a hob you can cook facing outwards.

good luck OP and I prefer option 1 out of both of them, in my next renovation I’m sourcing an island on wheels! Hunting down an old butchers block or similar large unit so we can use it and if we change our minds move it to the side. Obviously this makes it just workspace but I’m going to see how it works.

Can you send the full floorplan? Wanting to see if you have a dining room and living room etc, and where they are. If you’ve a dining room close by, I wouldn’t put a table in the kitchen personally. Also instead of a little sofa, could you get a couple of lounge chairs and a little table by the doors into the garden?

I personally like the second one better, the first looks a bit crammed in to me. On the bare wall, some open shelving , dimmable wall lights, and big art would make it look cosier and not blank. Guests sit on our countertop seats all the time, it feels social for them to drink wine and face me while I’m cooking.

Re sink on the island, if you get an extra large undermount workstation sink with various levels and rails, the washing up all gets stacked inside the sink and you can’t see it.

@january1244 @Seaside3 here is a revised plan. It is definitely a better use of the space. The only issue here is currently there is a stud wall directly under the beam which runs lengthways down the room. To match the sink run length with the peninsula I would have to move that stud wall to one side of the beam and I'm not sure if that will look strange. Or accept that the sink run will be shorter (190cm) compared to the peninsula (about 210cm) which could also looks strange! Ignore the spacing of the tall units to the right. They will actually sit under the boom but I can't get the planner to accept the wall length.

There is no additional dining space in house. It is a typical victorian terrace so the ktichen is a side extension from the back.

The large island idea looked strange when I mapped out with boxes. It sat in the middle of the room looking huge.

3D version.

Have you been on this site? I loved it when planning our extension, it has great layout inspiration from architects https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/5-ideas-for-kitchen-extension-layouts-in-victorian-homes-stsetivw-vs~173733055

https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/architecture-8-of-the-best-kitchen-extensions-on-victorian-houses-stsetivw-vs~51283133

I guess you will need a separate dining area in the kitchen, as we definitely don’t eat meals at the countertop and don’t find it comfortable for food. Your next drawing looks good

Why not have the island turned round by 90 degrees and put the dining table on the end of it? That dining space just looks odd and is that a tv on the wall? Use it for more dining storage. That tv? space looks odd to me. The kitchen feels wrong to me with a peninsular. It makes it a corridor from top to bottom on the right so I’m not sure that’s attractive in terms of design.

@TizerorFizz what is odd about the dining space? Or is it just the TV you don't like?
@january1244 thanks for the links. Yes I also love Houzz!
@Loveduppenguin the banquette idea is good but there is a wall mounted boiler which would get in the way unfortunately.

Here is revised plan.

The dining space looks like a vacant space - well half of it. There’s quite a gap between table and tv. Who can see the tv? Some people will have their back to it. A tv is odd in a formal dining space too. Not usual. Personally I’d have dining storage or even consider a fold away work station and no tv. The corridor doesn’t work for me.

There is the possibility of making the peninsula longer I am just conscious of overhanging the corridor from the door.

@TizerorFizz the dining area will not be formal. We will probably use it regularly for crafting etc. so will be handy to have a screen on the wall. Most likely it would be surrounded by built in shelving.

I would probably go woth the longer peninsula still plenty of space to maneuver around and its not as soon as you enter the room so you're not walking straight into it.
The 'corridor' is actually perfect in my opinion, as it saves people walking through the task area. You could put a drinks section on that side, of you prefer people to be able to make a coffee without getting under your feet too. Depends on sink and fridge location.
The dining space looks good too, I was going to suffer you could put builtbins around the TV. Great for keeping craft stuff etc, if this is what the room is used for.
Overall, I think the space works really well.