Kitchen design

[Prinpo]

I've finally convinced DH to go for a new kitchen and we're pretty clear about the sort of style we want. We've found someone who can make the units we want at a reasonable price but he doesn't offer any sort of design advice. We've come up with a design but, having changed our minds in the past, I'm reluctant to go ahead until we're really sure about the design (which I'm not!). Does anyone have any suggestions about how I can get someone to come and design a kitchen for me? I don't want to go to B&Q or somewhere like that as we don't want a traditional low and wall cupboards set up and I'm not sure how useful their service will be. I'm happy to spend a bit getting someone in but our budget is tight enough and I can't afford to spend too much on the design (perhaps a bit short-sighted of me).

We're in Norfolk so if anyone has any personal recommendations then I'd be grateful, as well as other suggestions about ways I can get a design on the cheap.

Put dimensions/plan on here and ask MNers for their designs?
I designed my own kitchen and got someone to make it for me.

Yes, bring it on!

I found an old Jasper Conran book on kitchen design in the Oxfam bookshop which was really inspiring/architectural, it made me think of all sorts of things like the light in the room, whether to have the area separated or free flowing, loads of clever ideas for fitting things in etc as well as every kind of style from cottage to spaceship.

I am also obsessive about workflow (sorry I linked this before and it didn't work but try Dynamic Space

What's niggling you about your design Prinpo? What are your priorities?

Ooh, just had a look at Dynamic Space - thanks for that. Will explore it a bit more later.

Not sure what's niggling but we put in a cheapy kitchen a few years ago and got it very wrong. DH has a tendency to just stick things where there's space, without really thinking if it makes sense to put it there. He's all for charging ahead and ordering units but I just want to give it some proper thought first .

We have a kitchen diner which has a natural 'break' in it as the dining part is an extension so the flooring and ceiling are different. The dining part is huge but the kitchen part is relatively small and I'm worried that we won't end up with enough storage space. Also, I'd really like to have a separate utility but can't see where it would go.

Anyway, I'll take some pics and draw up a plan of what we've come up with so far and try to figure out how the hell to post it. May take me a day or two.

Thanks for suggestions so far.

No problem to have a look. I would love to do this kind of thing for a living to be honest, it really interests me.

i'd be happy to help, have done my kitchen a few times.

one thing i would say is to go for large pull out drawers rather than cupboards whenever you can. they are fantastic.

We went to Magnet and had some good advice...and then used ikea.

Look forward to seeing the plan Prinpo!

Being a complete luddite but how do I post my plans on here? Have sawdust for brains at the moment.

I'm with fedup - we got design plans from Magnet, B&Q and Homebase. The advice was mostly the same as we had a clear idea of how we wanted the kitchen to work. Its free although you do have to put up with a bit of salesmanship (mainly from Magnet). It doesn't bother me telling them I'm not interested but I know some people don't like to do that.

Are you definitely stuck on keeping the kitchen/dining room the same? If you had work done to match the floors and ceiling height you would have more scope to turn the kitchen around.

Potplant, thanks for that, perhaps I'll brave the sales push and just get as much advice as possible.

The ceiling height in the extension is double height so it would be impractical to make them the same. We don't really have the budget to change the flooring (much as I dream of oak...). Also, having lived with it for a couple of years as a kitchen diner, with the two spaces being separate, we quite like the set-up. There's lots wrong with it but also quite a few things that work.

All will be clearer when I figure out how to post photos and plans!

OK, think I've cracked it. I've posted some photos of the kitchen as it is. I think that if you look at my profile you should be able to find them. I've included shots of the dining area too as the two are so linked. Also, I've tried to show the walkway through the kitchen to the playroom (which is just off the dining room). There's lots of 'traffic' (as they say ) through so I don't want a design that prevents that flow.

As you can see, the kitchen area is quite dark. We've thought about putting in some of the light tunnels - does anyone have any experience of them? Not sure whether they'd be too expensive.

I'll try to put together a whizzy plan and will post when it's ready but I thought it might be helpful for you to see the photos in advance in case you came up with a whole new plan for us. Seriously, we're bad at this stuff so help will be greatly appreciated.

To give you an idea of size, the kitchen area, excluding the dining area, is 530cm x 274cm at its widest. There are quite a few little funny bits (bits of wall sticking in, that sort of thing), which I'll mark on the plan.

Thanks in advance, kitchen ladies.

think you need to make your profile public/viewable to all Mumsnetters Prinpo.

That area is colossal

Oops, just realised that as I tried to click on my profile and couldn't do it . Really showing myself up in the IT department here.

Profile now public. Hope it works.

Have you thought about swapping the areas around, could you fit dining area into current kitchen space?

Or could you put utility where kitchen is?

Its hard to see how big area is (but it looks big) I love the vaulted ceiling BTW, how's about some glass in that ceiling to bring some more light in, or have you got a room above.

We could swap them round but it works really well having the dining room table by the french windows that go out to the garden. We spend so much time there and I think if we swapped the dining area to what's now the kitchen we'd stop using it in that way and the whole area would stop being somewhere where we just sit and hang out, if that makes sense.

We have two skylights in the ceiling which don't show on the pics. We can't have any more glass because of the struts. Well, we probably could but it would cost too much. The dining area is actually really light - it's the kitchen that's a bit dark. Nothing too major - I think that light colours and less clutter will help!

How long from breadbin corner to the end of the sink worktop pls?

Hi Prinpo

Would there be any scope for moving the sink/cooker part of things to the other end of the kitchen, ie. moving your half height wall to the other side of the opening. then put washer & dryer where your cooker is now. There may be space for a tall larder unit too. Fridge and freezer stay put.

At the other end, have a U of units with cooker against wall where washing machine is now, at possibly shallow depth base units along the dividing wall with worktop right across them and wall (for serving on), and sink/drainer where your tall cupboards are. Artful wall shelves, plate racks etc on the walls. Would your plumbing allow this?

You lose your tall cupboards but gain worktop and base cupboards, which could have big drawers or other decent storage.

On the subject of light tunnels, I'd quite like to use them and I don't think they're too expensive. I haven't seen any being really used but have seen them at a show and they looked impressive. Is the kitchen single storey then?

tootootired, 243cm from breadbin corner to end of sink worktop. We have thought about extending that area slightly as there's quite a big gap and, if the bins were elsewhere, we could easily add on another 30-40cm.

Yes, we're all single storey (although with a loft above the bedrooms that's ripe for conversion - just don't have the money at the moment). Light tunnels, therefore, are a possibility. I've looked at Apropos glass roof structures and dream of having a magnificent glass atrium-type ceiling in the centre of the house but I think that idea will stay as a dream. Flippin' house mags - they give a girl ideas above her station .

I've just sketched out your idea and I like it. It's really hard to imagine because it's such a big change but where the sink currently is would become completely open to the dining room. Plumbing would be ok for the sink, not so sure about the washing machine. Still, these are all surmountable problems, aren't they? What matters most is getting the layout right - I'd rather get a cheaper worktop and upgrade later. Mmm, food for thought. I'd discounted having the sink up against a wall as I quite like the idea of having it facing towards the windows. However, given that I never wash up, it's not like I'm a Fairy mum stood tirelessly at the sink gazing out at my children in the garden.

Thanks for ideas so far. Still trying to get a plan that I can post.

look on my profile now for picture
from the Ikea homeplanner software.

Could you knock a window through into the playroom ?

The plan is quite similar to ours actually which we've just had done, the main difference is that we also have units/worktop all the way down one of the walls in the dining area (the opp side to the one with the door to the playroom if I've understood it correctly) - I find that really useful for storage and appliances because then I can keep the L-shaped bit of worktop clear for food prep. If you didn't want that (and I guess it may be odd with your bits of wall sticking out) then you could perhaps have a freestanding dresser in the dining area for crockery/glasses etc which would free up some space in your kitchen area?

I'm not sure you should move the sink from the window, from what I looked when I was designing ours a lot of people are put off buying houses where the kitchen sink isn't by the window which might be a consideration for you in due course.