Opening up the kitchen - please comment on the design
Dear Houzzers,
Since we bought our house a few years ago I’ve been dreaming of a new kitchen. The one we have now is quite basic and boring, and we are also growing out of it. It took me years to convince my husband that the wall between the kitchen and living needs to go to open our smaller U-shaped kitchen, and I have finally got his OK, exciting times.
Below is what I am thinking about. The idea behind this design is that we have four adults in the house (my parents live with us) and two primary school aged kids, and as they grow and start using the kitchen more, it’s becoming increasingly busy, which is annoying and even unsafe at times. So I’m trying open up the space, spread the working areas and create some duplication for ease of use. We are planning to stay in this house for at least 15 years so the goal of the reno is to make it comfortable for years of use, though money is always a consideration of course.
Compared to what we have now, the cooktop stays where it is, but I want to swap the main sink and DW because the way it is now, the DW is too close to the corner and not very convenient to use. Does this make sense? Is it expensive to swap plumbing for the sink and the DW?
I am also convinced that a small second sink in the island will make our lives much easier, providing access to water when somebody is using the main sink. This will also let me have a large single main sink rather than a double one (disregard the pictures!), which I think will work better.
The small cabinet next to where the microwave is is supposed to be the "cat feeding station", I liked this idea from somebody else's design. The narrow tall cabinet near the oven is for brooms, mops and alike.
The wall that we are planning to knock down runs from the external wall on the left (looking at the plan) just where my proposed island is, you can see its footprint on the plan. This wall has the fridge and cabinetry that I'm planning to move (not the existing cabinetry of course but a rough equivalent of the storage space) to the other wall, currently just vacant.
If it makes any difference, the glass door in the middle of the wall in real life goes to the deck/backyard.
What do you think? We have zero design or renovation experience so any advice will be really
appreciated.
Comments (10)
dreamer
5 years agooklouise
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
Vote and Comment to win Kevin 'Grand Designs' McCloud's book!
Comments (17)Given Australia is fairly dry country (current flooding excepted), we changed our water usage considerably: changed to a front-loader washing machine, updated the dishwasher to one with minimal water usage, and changed a lot of taps and our shower heads to low flow types. It's cut our water usage by 60-70%. In particular, the Miele washing machine made a huge difference....See MoreDesign Dilema medium size open plan kitchen, U shaped or Island bench
Comments (9)thank you for the suggestions & the photo helpful I get down to a ushaped kitchen with a 2.2m island & sink maybe across the U and a servery bifold window - does this close out the room and make it look crowded ceilings are 3.1m OR the island butted close to sliding doors which looks like an island when sliding doors are opened like the photo Also does the window splash back add very much in a small kitchen with no outlook from this window, that is the splashback window spilts the attention focus and doesnte seem to add much to the overall perspective. Is a more traditional title a better option & shift all of the focus to the large sliding door opening & garden....See MoreLooking for help with a Kitchen renovation layout design please
Comments (26)I understand the beam being installed when you did your earlier extension as that was an external wall, that's why I have suggested keeping part of the wall next to the island which was also an external wall, to support this, I will check this in the drawing to ensure it lines up for you. By opening up this wall as much as possible you are allowing more light back into the house The cost of running plumbing across I think is negative/comparable to moving the plumbing for the re positioned laundry and kitchen and removing any load bearing walls. Storage in the new kitchen is a big 2900 x 900 island of drawers for easy access, I have added a wall oven but that could become a 600 pantry with drawers in the lower part with a shelf above for small appliances. The wall with the TV could be a wall of narrow built in storage to be used in any way you need. This floor plan gives better flow between kitchen/family.dining/alfresco and better for unloading the car with the driveway running down beside the kitchen and verandah...See MoreShould we design our living room open-plan or partly open?
Comments (11)thank you all for your suggestions... meme - the front room currently doesn't get used for a few reasons a) it's only me in the house b)family room gets more sun and natural light c) family room looks out to the garden/courtyard which is a nicer view than the lounge which looks down the drive way (i'm back section of a duplex). I have contemplated the idea of moving dining room to family and using lounge as tv room but as it's just currently me it's nice to have the sun flowing in the family room whilst sitting on the couch and reading a book/watching tv (both rooms are deceptively small - i think wide angle camera used in the promo photos) oklouise - again I think the photo makes the rooms appear larger than they are - I have attached some more photos of the family room for you. I have considered moving the door way to the hall as it is in an awkward position for furniture layout (although I'm not sure the room would accommodate the furniture as you have placed it). Another thing that I should mention is that I'm planning to add a door way to the garage from the kitchen, as I currently walk to the sliding doors to gain entrance to the house. The door will be in the position you have the fridge or even next to it in the far corner - which would still work in your plan. Dr Retro House Calls - I think for me I do like the open plan living (no children yet.) I'm not sure the house would be big enough for a family with teenagers (the 3rd room is very small.) In terms of keeping kitchen tidy - no i'm a very messy cook but it's quickly cleaned up by putting most things in the dishwasher/sink (also I would hope my friends and family wouldn't judge me on the state of my kitchen - and if they did I wouldn't be bothered by it :)) I guess if it was for me then I would go ahead and open plan everything to let as much light in as possible, but also I do need to be aware of resale at some stage (but people are either going to like it or not no matter what you do) Kate - I hadn't thought of that idea - I guess making it smaller would turn it into a min theatre room or reading room? Siriuskey - Interesting suggestion - I'm not sure how the placement of furniture would work in the family room, but I think I need to get past my fear of placing furniture in the middle of a room....See Moreanother bird
5 years agoanother bird
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agooklouise
5 years agomy concern is to provide seating for four adults and two children but unable to read the exact measurements my suggestions are only approximate with separate living dining and kitchen areas with the breakfast coffee making centre in the dining area with the small sink and space for an underbench bar fridge and optional extended counter in front of the tall window adds extra work and stool sitting space...
another option could be to steal space from the mudroom to install the coffee bar in that space accessible from a wide opening from the dining area
dreamer
5 years agoHi, I think oklouise first plan is wonderful. I also could not read the measurements correctly. It would be whether you want more space in dining, or the living area, to which way you position the island. I was also thinking, with your or ok's design, what about an island on wheels. This would mean forgoing the sink in island, but, the island could be moved in any direction or out of the way when required. (Just thinking outside the box)?
another bird
5 years agooklouise and dreamer, thank you so much for your input! Sorry I disappeared for a while, the weekend was a little crazy, also a lot to process after your suggestions.
oklouise, your idea to turn the island 90 degrees is genius! I was obviously mentally stuck on the existing wall and could only imagine the island going along (instead of) it, not across it.
I can see the beauty of the suggestion to use that whole "left" wall for the kitchen. I have even walked the rooms imagining how it could work. However after much thinking and discussions with my husband, we prefer to have the living/TV area in that corner rather than in the open area as suggested. Again, I see how this suggestion will work beautifully for many families but not for us. Also, the window in the living area (on the left wall) is 190cm wide and floor to ceiling, and looks into a park. It's the top floor and no neighbours on that side, the view is lovely and we would really like to keep it unobstructed.
dreamer, thank you for the idea of a portable island. However, I am very keen on having a second sink and there seems to be no other place for it (provided I'm sticking with what ). Also I thought I'd have a couple of power points there to be able to use my appliances, also it'll be around 2m long, so probably either way too big to be portable.
For now I've used oklouise's fantastic suggestion and rotated the island, and made it smaller, now it perfectly aligns with the window on the left and the door at the bottom of the plan. It now looks like there is quite enough space to have a proper dining table to the right of the kitchen.
What do you think? I'm providing the current floor plan with the dimensions, the grey area is the existing kitchen/dining footprint. This plan is accurate (done by an experienced person) but my design is probably off as I'm not experienced at all, was just playing with some ideas and a design tool.
another bird
5 years ago
oklouise