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.

Your last layout diagram is my preferred one. I think better to have a clear corridor also, and the island/peninsular will be great to put food and drinks on when you’re hosting.

I think a big extendable table works great, so you can add more seats, so I wouldn’t build in more units if you don’t need them. You could get a padded ottoman storage bench on one side to pop crafting bits etc into

The surfaces are in 3 lines. It’s just odd in my view. I accept others think differently but it feels very unimaginative.

@TizerorFizz I would love to see what you have imagined for the space, it seems you have some great ideas.

@Seaside3 I think I said earlier. I would keep an island. I’d have the table attached to the Island and possibly have some banquette seating. I’d look at storage on tv wall. I’d play around with the island but I just don’t feel this layout looks very special.

@TizerorFizzI played around with a big island with dining further up the thread but when I mapped it out it just looked like a huge obstruction in the middle of the room with no space for anything else. There is not a layout here that is without compromise but the peninsula (last layout) at least offers generous clearances and the dining space could be potentially used for other purposes e.g. in the summer when dining could go outside.

I think you just don’t like an island! Why is it an obstruction? It adds interest, can have a second sink on it. Can have shelves for books, can have the table/seating added in as the photos suggest. For me, three linear slabs are just an old fashioned kitchen with a corridor down one side which will be ultra annoying when you use the the ovens. In the big bank of cupboards I assume? with no space to put anything down without crossing the corridor. No obvious place for fridge freezer and is the sink facing away from the natural light? This layout doesn’t look right.

@TizerorFizzI would love an imaginative island. I would also love a room big enough to house said island with additional dining spaces in the house. I have neither of these. If you could draw an island layout which works I would be interested to see it. On my large island drawing one side of the room is wasted space and the island sits (unattractively IMO) in the middle of the room.

@Seaside3 can I ask your further opinion on the three units where the sink is? I still have the option of making this run 20cm longer by reducing the size of the door opening (currently about 110 cm). It would then match the peninsula dimensions a bit better. The downside is I would need to move the stud wall to the left of the exposed beam which may look a bit odd (or may not it’s difficult to imagine). In this scenario both runs would be 210cm. Alternatively I could make the peninsula much longer than the sink run so that they look deliberately mismatched. Or am I overthinking this!

I really dislike the island we have in our kitchen (which we inherited from the previous owners), particular the sink which is the only sink and means that the washing up is just constantly on view. It uses up so much room and there is zero flexibility. I dream of one day being able to get rid of it and put all the storage along the currently empty wall. I’d then just use our long kitchen table as extra prep space as well as place to eat. I think an island only really makes sense when you have a big floor space that would otherwise be totally wasted - a proper large kitchen that you need something to fill. That’s my personal view.

I think the last picture you've got is better, but I wouldn't stick the hob on it. It's open plan, so you don't have to be cooking in everyone's faces to be talking with them! You've got plenty of room to put it behind or besides.

Make it a bar with 3 seats each side, and everyone can sit around and be sociable, even when cooking is happening.

Advice - make sure the overhang on the bar is big enough for people to get their legs under. Probably the largest they will do.

I love cooking and chatting, I don't like having my back to people. My oven is behind, as once things are in they don't really need watching the same. I think it depends how you cook. For me, imagine one pot, whack it all in kind of person, so I'm happy to chop and cook whilst chatting. If I'm putting things in the oven I tend to prepare on the counter closest to the oven. Maybe sounds weird, but its a narrow space so works well for us.
Agree to not put sink in island peninsula if you can. And if you really have to, make sure you use a very deep sink. Even with a dishwasher, things get dumped on the side, so I love the option to sweep everything into a large deep sink. I did onec have a sink that could be accessed from both sides, one side was the hib/oven, the other side I put the dishwasher and the kettle on the other side. Again, sounds odd, but it actually worked brilliantly.

@vera16 i wouldn't worry too much about having the sides match in length. Personally, I'd go for as long as you can on the peninsula without making it feel like you're obstructing the flow.

@HarrietBond This is a biggish floor space! It’s got room for 2 sinks with decent planning. A veg prep sink is a bonus. Planning an island obviously matters and little ones have minimal purpose in a not very big kitchen. A decent double sided one with seating at the end or along one side with a table makes use of it in a creative way.

Looking at your plans, I would consider putting the fridge freezer at the opposite end of the run of units I'm always in and out of mine, so the least walking the better.
You could do ff, 2 x base units with counter tops, larder, oven so tall, low, low, tall, tall units. That would help when taking stuff in and out of the oven.

Also, probably not popular, but I'm not a fan of having seating in the peninsula when you have a table so close. I'd rather put units on the back. Currently I have our hot drink making area on the back of ours. Means people can help themselves without getting in the way. On this one I would consider open shelving, with mugs, wine glasses, cook books, vases etc. All the nice things you have on your kitchen that you dont use as often.

Also, probably not popular, but I'm not a fan of having seating in the peninsula when you have a table so close. I'd rather put units on the back. Currently I have our hot drink making area on the back of ours. Means people can help themselves without getting in the way. On this one I would consider open shelving, with mugs, wine glasses, cook books, vases etc. All the nice things you have on your kitchen that you dont use as often.

@HarrietBondI don’t actually have room elsewhere for the hob. Behind is the sink and to the right will be tall units including a ladder cupboard with built in worktop for appliances.

I agree with not having seating when you have a dinning table so close. I had extra cupboard space which I use for grandkids games, jigsaws and entertaining dishes etc. works so well.

Please try to site your hob in the same run as the sink,,or at least at 90 degrees. Turning round with a pan to access the sink is horrifically dangerous, hot fat and hot water can scald and permanently scar.

@Seaside3Yes. Exactly. Not popular on this thread but it’s poor use of space. It’s so much better to build one dining area on the end of an island or run of cupboards so the whole room is integrated. The large tv wastes space when people could use laptops. Build in charging points. The design feels pick and mix with no flow.

I have a large hob on my island and it’s 1.2m from the main sink on the wall. It’s not a corridor and it’s not dangerous. I do have a lot of work surface around the hob for serving. I find having a sink close is useful and no different to walking along a prep or serving area. Neither space is occupied by others and I can use my veg prep sink if I want to on the same island.