what is the purpose of the daybed and desk?...these extra make the kitchen work areas feel very cramped and if there's a chance that you would rent out the property you should either leave the integrated fridge in place or allow for a standard wider fridge...what's the size of the whole room and does it include a dining or sitting area? a plan of the whole room showing adjoining rooms would help explain the spaces better

Hi Oklouise and thanks for your reply. The daybed and desk are just that. We want somewhere within this area to have our laptop tucked away in it's own space rather than being used on the island or at the dining table. And the daybed is underneath a great window that overlooks our front garden and street. We included these items as we believe that it how we want to use the space. I want smart integrated storage like this.

It doesn't feel cramped at all when we have marked these spaces but are you referring to the day bed/desk as making it feel cramped or the kitchen?

The kitchen widens to a lounge area near the day bed and the dining space (marked on the old floor plan below as "family") further along the north facing wall.

We have just taken out the internal walls that divided the lounge and kitchen and dining areas, see bad mark up attached. So we now have that back area where the kitchen is marked up (old kitchen) to use. Does this make sense. There will be a deck off the family off the new dining space with a big sliding door.

At a quick glance the fridge is in the wrong place making access to it for family very difficult, it would be better placed on the end of the sink cabinets, this would also give cover to a messy sink. The two decorative extensions on the island should be removed as they take up needed space and as you have mentioned you think that shaker stye is too fussy for you and these fit with a more fussy style. I actually think the shaker profile can look excellent in any size space. Could you change the "Day Bed" to a narrow banquette setting?,

Thanks for your reply. It definitely won’t fit at the end of the sink cupboard and I don’t want an huge cupboard there blocking the view and light to the deck. It is definitely not the place for a fridge.

The day bed shoul be renamed to under window bench, agree that day bed sounds too big! Many thanks

The fridge centered behind the island isn't a good position as everyone will need to enter the kitchen to access it, especially bad for children, could you consider moving the desk across onto the bench seat wall.?

Thanks siriuskey. Even with 1200m between the island and fridge cabinet? I always see fridges in kitchens so now I’m super confused!

based on the assumed width of the room i think the location of appliances is good but there's enough space to have a bigger island (up to 2400 x 900) so there's about 1.1 m between the ends of the island and the day bed and the sink, and about 1200mm between the island and the stove but strongly advise a wider fridge space and a 1050 x 1050 corner cabinet would allow 450 wide doors that make easier access for large appliances ...you should be able to use the day bed as a seat for the desk and potentially have storage drawers under the bench seat ...and, if you're using flat pac cabinets they're usually designed to include the wall thickness and any "leftover" space could be added or subtracted from the desk and, unless you prefer waterfall ends to the island, open ends on the stool side of the island allows easier access for stools and very few microwaves need a 600 wide cabinet and the extra space for the bin cupboard allows for two bins and a drawer above

ultimately it is about personal preferences/priorities and we always respect these..... but I must say I echo other comments re the fridge size - I'd probably suggest space for a 900mm option........& also re the daybed....whilst the desk/daybed are nice ideas, it's arguably compromising the overall kitchen layout........possibly there should be consideration of removing one or the other to improve the benchspace/flow of the kitchen - a bigger kitchen will function much better

Practicality/function should always rule....it depends on what type of house this is though, say a daybed idea might work nicely in a scaled down beach house/weekender set-up, but for everyday living I'm not so sure - I can understand the desk nook form a functional perspective but with understanding of what makes kitchens work, clearly here benchspace is being compromised for the inclusion of a daybed, which may look pretty, but arguably not the best/relaxing spot for something like this....I'd suggest for the purpose of the exercise looking at the configuration/potential of an expanded kitchen layout with the desk shifted to where the daybed is - looking out not the window - and the rear kitchen run being extended more centralised rather than offset and squeezed into the corner......

just my 2 cents - Cheers PD :)

the extra depth for a fridge would also be useful for the pantry and the desk

Sorry J AH79, I'am not trying to confuse you just adding suggestions, at the end of the day it's your kitchen to do as you want with, The following plan moves the fridge which is built in/intergrated and the distance between the island and rear cabinets is 1200. I have added an oven tower to house both oven and MW as you have plenty of space. I currently have an under bench oven and I hate it cheers

Thanks everyone. I will respond properly tonight but I’m a bit shocked the current plan is seen as a small kitchen. This is already double the size of the old kitchen!

something that we often talk about is resale value but from our experience it doesn't matter what we do the new owners always seem to want something different to personalise their new home so when do we have things just to suit ourselves?? sometimes too much storage just means there's too many places to look for things that we don't need or use...the original kitchen plan is excellent and all the drawers and generous island will make a comfortable kitchen to suit yourselves

I think the kitchen floor plan needs to be reworked to give better storage, most kitchens these days are opting for WIP's. The fridge as mentioned was in a difficult position, not only for access for family but also considering that you plan on a large deck off the kitchen, the fridge is now in a better position to serve this new area. The desk will fit 2 comfortably instead of just one person tucked into the corner, consideration of 2 adults plus any children doing home work, plus the bonus outlook cheers

What we try and do in a professional position, is take the time to identify,clairfy and extract the underlying goals and the specific needs of the owner.....every situation has different and varied (intimate) order of priorities for different aspects/details/functions etc....eg storage for some people is more or less important, same goes for benchspace, or fridge size or any other detail......but until we understand this order of priority of the owner, we are just comparing different sets of personal opinions, and one suggestion is not necessarily any better or worse than the next........this goes for all types of design situations, whether fit-out like this or say the larger scale complete home scenarios.......in my opinion, having the capacity to set aside personal preferences and focus on getting inside the head of the client/owner is critical/key to productive design assistance & support

Style and layout is really dependent on your budget and how you intend to use the space. Ideally you would want the fridge to be off to the side as a lot of people tend to open the fridge door and stand looking for a good minute or two, select nothing and come back again to repeat the process (This is from viewing different households). Which because its centered in the kitchen could be a nuisance.

It's also good to have the fridge close to the sink for veggie prep, rinsing chicken, fish and corned beef etc