Different strokes for different folks, as they say. We have a butlers pantry, smallish, with a sink in it. The pantry has become effectively a walk-in pantry, with storage, a wine fridge and the toaster and microwave. It's very useful, but we almost never use the sink because there isn't enough practical counterspace and because, well, who wants to do dishes in a closet? We also have an island, with a single basin sink in it, and of course the dishwasher. That's where we do prep, and it works just fine for us. We can watch TV while pealing spuds or washing those dishes that don't go into the dishwasher. Even with the sink, there's still plenty of prep space, and we have a good work triangle between sink, oven on the wall directly behind it, and fridge, oven and pantry on the end wall. In practical terms, the arrangement works for us. When we entertain, we clean up and load the dishwasher as we go, dump the pots and pans in the butler's pantry, wipe off the bench, and we're good to go. And since it's only a single basin undermount sink, the look is clean enough for us.

From the photos you have provided, it looks like your kitchen space is quite cosy. To accommodate a island bench you mentioned before we would suggest a corner kitchen, keeping your pantry within the corner however making it built in with your cabinetry in the photo posted below. (Photo a idea for cabinet layout, different materials and style in accordance with your design). To make you design flow, next to your corner pantry we would suggest your appliances are built in to the cabinetry with the fridge against the far right wall. This would then provide a whole bench top with overhead cabinetry which could feature a splash back to your liking that would blend with your terracotta tiles. Within the island bench we would suggest you have your sink and a integrated dishwasher to maximise space within the kitchen when cooking. This may not fit in with your budget, however if you would like a free quote to provide a estimate of cost please feel free to call us on 03 423 9067, if you would like to see some of out work feel free to visit out profile on Houzz. We hope this helps :) Example of layout with in built corner pantry. Example of overhead cabinetry with tiled detail to match terracotta features you mentioned. Island bench example, make one side functional with integrated dishwasher and bins with sink, and the other a dining option to merge with the kitchen, however this would depend on measurements within your kitchen space.

Hi Paul In apartments, the killer for layout changes are always drains, then water supply, then load bearing walls. Before you consider doing any changes to the layout, I would advise you to locate the drains (pics would be good) as they will likely restrict you. The drains are important for obvious reasons but also important is the fall (ie downward slope) of any drain you wish to install in a separate location. It means you have to take into account more height the further away from the existing drain you go. It is likely that your existing laundry trough/basin has a drain going down to the floor, and this is going to interfere with the proposed ensuite entry location. Ditto if it is going into the wall. The big one is the new shower. It will need to have a 50mm waste (drain) in the centre of where your washing machine now is.... and the question is where is it going to go.... I would suggest swapping the vanity and shower over to access the existing trough waste if it is large enough. In a lot of these older apartment buildings, the waste sizes are down at 38mm, which is not going to drain fast enough for a shower. If your existing waste is that size, you will need to have a hob to the shower as it will fill up, and you will also need to check health regs to see if it is allowed in your state. To get the drain for the new ensuite vanity and new laundrette sorted, I would punch through the new kitchen wall and run drainage along the wall behind the new cupboards and around to the existing kitchen sink waste. This will give you plenty of fall and a place to hide the pipes. For the new basin to the existing, you will need to see if you can get it around to the existing basin waste in the bathroom adjacent by running it around and under the bath. Cheers

The fridge space looks quite wide; perhaps wide enough for a French door fridge. I have one of these in my small kitchen / dining space which is in constant use with kids coming & going or sitting at the table in front of the fridge. It was the best decision we made after having a traditional single door fridge previously. the doors are 1/2 the width of a standard door therefore don't take up so much space when open & the kids are standing in front with both doors wide open contemplating their choices! If you went for a single door fridge; go for the hinge on the left for the best liveable option available given the limited space, unfortunately this still will block the laundry door.