To all you clever design-savvy
people out there….. we have an 80’s style house in Melbourne that is being refurbished. Badly need your ideas and advice for our new kitchen!!!

We cook a lot. We have a large
extended family and at times there could be five people in the kitchen, cooking
and cleaning up together. We love entertaining, sometimes having 25 guests in for
dinner, (I like a small space for privacy at these times!) We have separate
areas for eating, as shown on the plan.

To be included in the new kitchen
are:

- 2 x 60cm-wide wall ovens,

- 29cm-high warming drawer,

- 2 x full-size
semi-integrated dishwashers,

- 65cm-wide induction hotplate,

- 73cm-wide integrated
rangehood,

- 1200cm-wide integrated fridge/freezer,

- double sink,

- pull-out
bin drawer,

- microwave (either built-in or hidden behind cupboard doors).

We want the new kitchen layout to
be efficient in food preparation and clean-up, with as much storage space and
clear bench space as possible. We would prefer to keep the sink under the
window. We have a toaster, kettle, coffee machine and Thermomix, which we would
like to be accessible but not on display: in a bigger walk-in pantry with a
worktop for appliances? Or an appliance cupboard with bi-fold or slide-away
retractable doors?

But, the big question is … how do
we fit all this in?? To allow for more storage, we could have a two-sided
island bench / peninsula, and the kitchen on the window wall could be extended
down to the door in the family room for bench/storage/pantry/fridge? However,
we are very open-minded about the layout, although the size of the kitchen will
have to be in proportion to the size of the adjoining living room.

Unfortunately, we have a load
bearing column (700mm x 700mm) to work around. It could possibly be replaced
with a couple of narrower steel columns (to open up the area) – or alternatively “dressed up” with something
decorative, eg panelling.

The height of the ceiling in the
kitchen is 2.4m, in the living room it is 2.9m. We want a classic-style kitchen
– timber-look flooring (any comments on vinyl plank??), white cabinetry,
benchtop undecided.

We would really love to see your ideas - help is
desperately needed!! Thank you so much!

Layout of existing kitchen with measurements: