Browse Forums Kitchen Corner Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 21Sep 28, 2009 10:47 pm jose27 - We are building with hickinbotham. The design is provence alfresco but we have made a fair few alterations, extending moving rooms around etc. The sales person we went with really was one of the main reasons we decided to build with them, she is fantastic so willing to help with anything from helping me with colour choices now to making any changes i wanted done to the plan originally, and probably the biggest plus with her is that she does actually get back to you lol. I have heard that hickbotham are really bad with communication and do take forever to get stuff done but she has told us just to call her if we have a problem and she will get it sorted so far so good. All the changes basically inside didnt cost anything either as long as it was just shifting things around. Who are you building with? What design? kb46 - thats a good idea and i would love to do this however it think that it would prob end up costing me to much to add any more cupboards, i will have a chat to them though and see what they say. I guess it might not cost me that much more if im already paying it just shifting it around if you know what i mean. Helyn - Not a left field suggestion that is actually how the plan originally had the kitchen. I got it changed to how it was after seeing some show homes that had the set out as we have it now. I probably would of saved myself a lot of stressing if i had of left things the way they were! V Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 22Sep 28, 2009 10:48 pm Oh if anyone wants to post a pic of there huge kitchen benches that would be great so i could get an idea of what it will actually look like. Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 23Sep 29, 2009 6:04 am Hi All The Sand I'm with Helyn...I would be concerned that the areas each end of your bench would be too small. We have a U shaped kitchen so our setup is different to yours but, between our bench and the opposite wall we have a space of 2.2m. That's the only place we can put our dining table (which is not big - 1500mm x 900mm) and we have to have the table up against the wall most of the time (luckily there's only 2 of us). If we have visitors then we pull the table out, but you can only just squeeze past the chairs then. I would love to have at least an extra metre in that space. Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 24Sep 29, 2009 8:02 am Have you actually measured the 2.5 metre rooms out? It looks cramped. As soon as you put a table and couches in, it will start forcing people to walk through the kitchen. Not great when you're working at the stove or carrying boiling water. Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 25Sep 29, 2009 10:19 am Agree with Helyn.. Your family/meals rooms look way way too small, to me theyre more like walkways, not rooms. With a house that size and those constraints, better off going with original plan. Theres no flow or evenness in your floorplan. Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 26Sep 29, 2009 10:39 am Hi All the Sand, After looking at your plans again, I too think the kitchen would be best where it originally was. Not only would it create a larger living space that would give you more options, but the way it is now, does not allow for an easy flow/walk way to the other rooms in your house. You would need to wakl past your table, around your bench and through the TV area to get to them. Having the kitchen back where it was would essentially create a hallway down the side and better flow. Cheers Jane Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 27Sep 29, 2009 11:26 am Thanks for all your replies, i think i have decided to just shorten the bench. We have measured out the spaces this morning and compared them to the sizes of the showhome that we stole the idea from and i think it will work fine. The house is not huge, but not the smallest i have ever seen and i really love where the kitchen is now. The other option is to extend the house a little into the alfresco area just to give some extra room. I didnt like the kitchen where it was because i dont like having to look over the kitchen table into the family room, i know ssounds very strange but i guess we all like different things lol! Ill try and post a pic of the showhome kitchen afterwards to try and give a better 'view' of the space. Thanks again V Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 28Sep 29, 2009 2:11 pm Do what you like, but I would hate the asymmetry of the kitchen. For me, a galley kitchen like that should have both sides the same length and equal. I dont like the way youll shorten it hence it will be asymmetrical.. I like symmetry. Asymmetry is a major design fault, unless used effectively. Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 29Sep 29, 2009 2:52 pm all the sand jose27 - We are building with hickinbotham. The design is provence alfresco but we have made a fair few alterations, extending moving rooms around etc. The sales person we went with really was one of the main reasons we decided to build with them, she is fantastic so willing to help with anything from helping me with colour choices now to making any changes i wanted done to the plan originally, and probably the biggest plus with her is that she does actually get back to you lol. I have heard that hickbotham are really bad with communication and do take forever to get stuff done but she has told us just to call her if we have a problem and she will get it sorted so far so good. All the changes basically inside didnt cost anything either as long as it was just shifting things around. Who are you building with? What design? V Hi all the sand, we are building with D3ch3llis Homes and it is our own design. If you click on the link below where it says my thread you will find some photos and a copy of our plan. To make the house fit on to our block we omitted the front enterance/hallway. It's not everyone's cup of tea but we are the one's who have to live with it and when/if decide to sell it we will have to see what happens. PCI Done Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 30Sep 29, 2009 8:51 pm all the sand, this is too funny - I think I am really clever suggesting a change - only to find it is the original design which you have changed away from Anyway, as requested, here is photo of my bench, it s 4m long in a U shaped kitchen, we have 4 stools along the bench. We have a raised breakfast bar - I know they have fallen somewhat out of favour but I like the way they separate the kitchen whilst still maintaining open space http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj187/nurselovescoffee/HPIM1249.jpg Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 32Sep 29, 2009 10:52 pm I agree with most comments although it is nice to have a big kitchen it needs to be proportionate - in that room the kitchen becomes a hallway which could be a bit dangerous. Shortening it would look okay, if centred , but look at some kitchens like this because if not done well could look odd. Good luck Our bench to be is 4.4mx 0.9m but facing into a 6x9.6m family room...can't wait. Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 33Sep 30, 2009 2:17 pm Ours is going to be 3.6m (and I can't wait!!). We got the sink moved over to one side so we essentially get the whole bench space as working space. If we're put on this earth to help others, what are the others here for? Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 35Sep 30, 2009 4:35 pm Hi all, Thanks again for all the replies. At this stage we are definately going to shorten the bench by .5 on both sides. I have asked as suggested by someone on here (sorry forgot who it was at the moment - brain freeze again!) to use the 1m we have shortened it by to make the bench wider. Also to move the sink to one side and to have half of the side of the island bench that is facing outside to have cupboards and the other half will be where we could put some stools. Thinking that we will move the whole kitchen down by .5m as well so that will give us 2.5 for the meals area (where we will never eat anyway as the alfresco will be enclosed and hopefully the main eating area, and the living area will be 3.5m enough for a small couch). Ahh so over this building thing at the moment, thought i really wanted black gloss cupboards as well but the more i look at everyones nice, crisp looking white kitchens im starting to second guess my choices yet again.....Ill be so glad when its all done and im in there and i cant change my mind anymore lol. V Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 36Sep 30, 2009 9:07 pm Vanessa Sorry have to laugh. I am the same with my colour choosing. I will be glad when it is at the point where it is too late to chane my mind. I cancelled my last appoinment to give my final decision and now up again looking at photos before giving my final decision tomorrow (although I have said that before). I have almost starting rethinking cabinet choice but I won't let myself go there. ............too late the thought is already in my head Between all the decision making benches, cabinets, floor boards, gas or electric, door or no door, wall or no wall, paint, electrical appliances .... and the list goes on..........I think I am becoming incapable of making a decision. .........................................decisions! Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 37Sep 30, 2009 10:20 pm Kez - Maybe we need to go to some sort of building rehab lol!! Im not even looking at the electrical fitout thats just way to confusing for me. My dad was telling me tonight about some mate of his at work who is building and getting a gas connection in the alfresco area so that is the new thing thats wanted in this household...... Ive told the boys that there job is to make sure the electrical stuff is done correctly while i swip and swap my kitchen colours. My new issue is floor coverings, i originally wanted to have big dark drey glossy tiles but now i think i have decided i want the gloss floorboards but that is just way to much for me to handle at the moment, i cant work out what flooring is what and dont even want to think about the cost......... You really must tell me when you eventually decide on your colours though. Well i best be off to TRY and get some sleep......who am i kidding.....sleep whats that? V Re: How long is your island bench, please help! 38Sep 30, 2009 10:42 pm Flooring.......I just ripped up all the carpet and vinyl and Im getting the floor boards polished (but with tiles in bathroom and toilet). That was the only easy decision I have had to make. At the moment my colour choices are - cabinets - White Matt (I have even had trouble deciding between all the Whites!) and for the bench top Stipple Seal Diamond Gloss. I am waiting for a sample to arrive in mail tomorrow. I have all the little samples but I have rang Laminex to ask for bigger samples. They arrived today but since that phone call I changed my mind to the Stipple Seal so that one is arriving tomorrow. AAAGHH! - but then I saw some Stipple Seal cabinets and almost made me think of changing my cabinets. But I have always said I wanted white cabinets so ....................I don't know. Well I am definitely putting in my final decision tomorrow! Then I am closing the book on cabinets and benches. And then the splash back decision starts!!!! I will keep an eye out for your progress Night. DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Are you going to have the frame exposed or are you cladding it with something. Usually if you are making an exposed frame you would use solid legs around 100x100 or… 3 6585 Hi - thanks for your reply. Yes I think 'Ill go for whitish with very speckly bits rather than pure white something like this. PS was actually 2008 I built the… 2 11694 Building Standards; Getting It Right! These can be easily filled and repaired and it doesn't cost them much to do. Id get the builder to do this first and if the repair is not suitable then a replacement is… 12 31266 |