please advise measurements of all the rooms

You could try something like this to open up the space internally and externally cheers

Updated floor plan with measurements.

Hi Judy,

I'm not a pro but just thought I'd offer up the following idea :)

Large butler's pantry adjacent to kitchen.

Fridge in main kitchen but situated in a place that shouldn't disturb the cook or others in the kitchen if someone is grabbing drinks/snacks etc.

Microwave/wall oven tower out of the way with cooktop close to main sink for straining hot veges or adding water to saucepans etc.

Pantry has room for a separate stand alone freezer for cooking and freezing bulk meals etc, additional sink, counter top space for toaster, kettle and other appliances and shelving for food.

Do you need or have you considered an outdoor bbq/kitchen area? Perhaps a servery window?

All dependant on measurements and a pro drawing up your wishes to scale and in conjunction with your budget - either way, good luck with your dream kitchen :)

Hi Judy,

You could do open shelving or overhead cabinets above your window - depending on size of course :) Some inspiration photos....

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what size are the windows in the dining area? ie height, width and distance from floor to window sill

Hi Judy, how lucky to have so much space.

have you gotten advice on whether you can remove the wall. That would be my starting point. Get a builder in to give a quote.

Then do you want the sink to stay where it is or could it be under window in the dining space.

do you want an island bench with seating or a peninsula

do you want oven in a tower with mocrowave or under Bench,

in butlers pantry do you want any appliances and sinks. You have room for everything. It depends on your preferences

The more specific you can better the more the responses will be tailored to your needs.cheers

with the big low window extending the kitchen into the dining room you would need to either remove the window or consider having all the kitchen cabinets along the living room wall and what's the size of the smaller window in the dining room, what do you want to have in the new kitchen and how would you use the bay window in the new kitchen?

Just me playing. I love the idea of the family becoming the dining. Flow from lounge and garden. I realized how many windows you have and if you moved the sink to the middle, you can have 3 views and feeling of space. I have not put much detail in the kitchen and pantry. The pantry has no door, so you don't loose the window, costs less and keeps the kitchen open. Didn't put the windows in - but all window's can stay as they are. Other than moving the wall, nothing changes and now you don't have angles to fit a kitchen into - You could even do an off the rack kitchen rather than custom made if the budget got out of hand.

Hi Kim, the drawing looks great! Just realised that there shouldn't be a solid line between the living and dining as it's open. In your suggested plan, we would have to put up a wall and close off the living, right?

Ummm, your right, I did it so quick I didn't pay attention. I should have a proper look and read all your info on window sizes. With more detail I can give you a 3d drawing. A very quick one LOL Imagination needed. See if we can't keep it more open some how.

Taking Kim's plan, I would consider:

>deleting the cupboards to the right of the island, and perhaps add a sliding door into living room

>centralising the island to the centreline of the bay window by shifting the island to the right.

> putting fridge on left end of bench that houses the stove. remember that fridges are deeper than a standard bench, so I would widen the bench to suit fridge cavity.

I love the seat in the bay window.

Re think. Doorway into lounge. Pantry is now 2000mm with 600mm standard units one side and 400mm on the other. Or you could have units on one side and a bigger opening. Just grabbed any old colour and design - your imagination and dreams to be inserted :) You would have your own ideas for kitchen design depending on how you use your kitchen and the island can have seating on other sides or even none - forgot the sink LOL You can even have a full wall of tall units on the lounge wall and have your oven on the pantry wall. You can get real creative and have some fun.

is this what you mean Kate?

oops, overlapping post...looks excellent Kate

I'am coming up the rear, Banquette seating in the bay window, 3.3m of pantries with expansive views to the rear from the kitchen's 190h x 180w window cheers

Or you could open up the wall between the living and kitchen completely, so effectively you have two island benches, see pic of what I mean attached. But where the windows are this would lead into the living on one side, on the other the window seat...depends on whether or not you wanted the separation between living and kitchen with a wall or not?

Just a tip that I did in one of my houses. If you are building a new wall (pantry) you will be able to have a step back for the fridge.....Ummmm how to explain. It's a bit like the way they do a little hole in a wall that goes into a shower. So that you can pop your shampoo etc creating a box/shelf. See photo! Obviously for a fridge it's from floor to above the height of the fridge. This gives you an extra 100mm. I housed the fridge alone in our new house - anything to get away from the sticky out fridge. In another home I had deeper than normal tall units both sides of the fridge. If you start to plan the build its a good idea to think about the fridge early because you can't add step backs after its built when you are at the kitchen planning stage. One other thought I had - if you did like this plan and went ahead, if you want an extra fridge, freezer in the pantry. You may want to do a switch with the 600 units on the opposite side of the panty and the 400mm being on the wall you can see from the kitchen. With your window one end and being able to see units at the other end, tall appliances would sit better on the kitchen wall side. I am also assuming that the skinny window is too low for kitchen units which is why I ended the 600mm's leaving a space.

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Over view of floor plan cheers

Hi Judy,

I may be a bit late but the first thing I would ask you is how many people in your family and is storage in general a problem for you. Also do you have a rough budget?

Kitchens have come along way, you can redo the kitchen using the existing layout but making it a lot more efficient as well as more visually pleasing. As soon as you start moving walls and plumbing it becomes a lot more costly and involved. Not to mention messy. Would you live in there though that sort of reno. Bare in mind moving the wall will mean new flooring as well.

I personally don't a butlers pantry unless they are primarily for the storage of things you don't use often. If it will be your actual pantry then you are making yourself walk a lot further each day to get your pantry items. Thus making meal prep take longer. I think the best place for your everyday pantry is next to the fridge so you can easily pack away after shopping and easily access what you need.

If storage is a big issue then yes turn your dining room into a butlers pantry / storage area. It is a great place for a second freezer as well as small appliances and general family storage is set up properly. I don't think most people really need a second sink in the if it is mainly for storage.

I would be careful putting in an island as ideally you want 120cm all the way around it for easy flow. Also bare in mind the work triangle, if you want an island they make the bay window a bench seat don't leave the sink there as you will increase the amount of steps you take.

If I were you I would download the IKEA kitchen planning software and have a play around. You can input your measurements and put cabinets in and see different layouts and style combinations and it will give you a indication of price. I would put in as many drawers as possible and do all tall cabinets on the wall that currently has the fridge. I would put the fridge, the pantry and a tall a cabinet for your oven and microwave together. The only tricky thing is the angles if you go with standard size cabinets. You may have to have a small voids at your angles. You could probably redo the kitchen using the existing layout with updated more efficient cabinets with stone bench tops and installation for close to $10,000 if you install it yourself then you can save more.

I think you need to take a step back think about what you want and what you need. Not just for the kitchen but for your home in general. Once you identify the problems or issues the you can start to fix them. A kitchen or far that matter any space in your home has to be not only beautiful but practical and efficient. At the end of the day it doesn't matter how pretty your kitchen if it is not practical. But a practical kitchen that is not your style can also be a downer, you have to both if you don't want a kitchen that annoys you. It has to be a space you want to be in and work in.

Good luck

Lots of powerpoints, microwave near the sink/bench, exhaust fan over sink, ( and in pantry if a sink is installed or using equipment in there) ceiling fan, place for tea towels so they will dry and not moulder .......

REMOVE that kitchen to patio bit, flatten wall add large windows one of which is used toPut kitchen bench from next to exit door left to right up to the return of dining room wall.Remove rest of wall. Make this match bench opposite with wall returns.

Use internal bench/wall space for well designed pantry with some open shelves etc.

Then design and build large central work bench. .....possibly put dishwasher into this bench with easy unload to internal pantry or simply on shelves.

I love walk in pantries, but I don't get "butler's pantry". Traditionally these were for wine and drinks, but I assume the ones today operate more like a scullery plus store? (Not such an attractive term.) Think about what you really need and more importantly, how you like to work in the kitchen. If all the "work" goes on in the pantry, it takes away from a kitchen in contact with family, dining area.

check out this design, but you have to make full use of the corner according to your house plan

I was going to make the same suggestion,
siriuskey: that bay window is just begging to be a built-in banquette! Based on the floor plans alone, I would also suggest putting the kitchen where the dining space is currently, as
siriuskey suggested... If the dividing wall is load-bearing, you may be able to retain load-bearing posts as part of the design of an island bench.

The ideal layout depends where your light is coming from, though, really... I aim to have my main prep area (often the island) and sink away from the glare of afternoon sun, and key windows placed to allow morning sunlight to flood the room in the morning.