Kitchen design - suggestions or thoughts?

Hi everyone,

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions on my kitchen layout ideas below. I quickly put them together using the Bunnings Kitchen Designer.

The position of the fridge and g-shape bench has to remain as its part of our renovation plans. The building designer put a 900mm stove in the wall that has 2 slim windows but we were wondering if we should swap to a double wall oven instead even though this takes away bench space.

We have only allowed for a 600mm pull out pantry as there are only 3 in the family. We had the option of having a walk-in but it would mean we would have to have a laundry in a cupboard.

I have a pullout drawer under the double sink that will hopefully hold the bins.

I haven’t extended any of the wall cupboards to the ceiling - which is what we are planning.

We are planning to have all storage under the bench as drawers.

The sink bench faces a loungeroom which is accessible via a step down where the corner stool is.
Opposite the hallway is a small sitting room. Walls will be white, cupboards & benchtop white and floor stained Tassie Oak.

In the first option we have the built in 900 cooktop and stove under on the window wall.

In the second option we have a double oven on the wall and a small hatch that holds the kettle & toaster.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

Hi. Personally I would do a wider pantry (900mm) and put the ovens underneath as is the first image. Have you thought about over head cupboards with a inbuilt rangehood?
It is the same shape as my kitchen so I love it

I like wall mounted ovens better, no bending over to get to your food:)

Also consider Dishwasher location. You won't be able to get to any cabinets to the right of it while the door is open given your kitchen size. Don't see any way around that other than putting it at the end of the U but that means it's further to get dishes into it from the sink.


Sent from an iPhone please excuse the ridiculous spell correcting software. My forum thread is at viewtopic.php?t=74944

[quote="Gilbert106"]Have you thought about over head cupboards with a inbuilt rangehood?

Hi. Originally we had that idea but then thought it might look weird having those 2 350x1200 thin windows surrounded by wall cupboards. If anyone has a picture of how this would look I'd love to see it!

[quote="TheBigHouse"]
Also consider Dishwasher location. You won't be able to get to any cabinets to the right of it while the door is open given your kitchen size. Don't see any way around that other than putting it at the end of the U but that means it's further to get dishes into it from the sink.

Thanks. Yes we have to weigh up whether it's more important to have a DW near the sink rather than have access to the cupboards next to the DW location.

We also thought about swapping the sink to be on the 900mm bench top where the stools are (opp the windows) (where you are talking about relocating the DW) but I wonder if it might be weird having friends/kids sitting at the stools with a sink in between them and the kitchen.

Yeah I think that would be weird.


Sent from an iPhone please excuse the ridiculous spell correcting software. My forum thread is at viewtopic.php?t=74944

I like a wall oven too. Also a micro wave above - not below sink. I try to have as little bending as possible - good for me and back.

Lots of space and big bench. Plenty of double PPs. I'd also like a large pantry.

Not sure on house size or kitchen size really. May be only 3 in family - but do you have guests/family etc staying over ?

Doesn't seem a lot of storage room ?

Saint Mike

I like a wall oven too. Also a micro wave above - not below sink. I try to have as little bending as possible - good for me and back.

Lots of space and big bench. Plenty of double PPs. I'd also like a large pantry.

Not sure on house size or kitchen size really. May be only 3 in family - but do you have guests/family etc staying over ?

Doesn't seem a lot of storage room ?

We seem to get by with the 600mm pantry at our rental unit so I hope that 600mm will be sufficient in our new build.

We really love the full wall design of sko77k's kitchen which was posted on the 'show us your kitchen' thread on page 146 - especially the pull-out pantry, appliance cupboard, wine racks and colour. It's practically the same width as our fridge wall - I hope she doesn't mind me posting her image here....

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy141/sco77k/9-gg_zpsaio0jrih.jpg

Personally this last image makes more sense. Think about having an island vs wrap around. People will have to walk all the way around to get behind the cabinets or jump over. I also think the sink should be between the windows and if possible have one large window vs two smaller ones. I personally spend more time at the sink than at the stove.

Our sink is as shown - double - and it is quite good - you just get use to where it is. BUT - we do have quite a big bench. So lots of space.

Re pantry - size is relative - but the WI pantry does give you room to set up things and store long life items. Also - allows ease of access to all items.

Our kitchen is longer - if you slid the end bit in that picture (fridge and ovens etc - around - and made the bench longer you'd get the idea.

Agree on being able to walk around it - we also have our internal access door at one end - next to fridge. Great for groceries etc.

I still have trouble finding things at times - Mrs SM claims I don't look - BUT I do ...

svard75

Think about having an island vs wrap around. People will have to walk all the way around to get behind the cabinets or jump over. I also think the sink should be between the windows and if possible have one large window vs two smaller ones. I personally spend more time at the sink than at the stove.

Hi and thanks for the feedback, unfortunately the windows have been ordered so its too late to change them.

We have a sunken lounge room next to the kitchen that's why the building designer only put 1 step down to that space (you can see better in this plan)

If we have an island bench that would create 2 ways to get into the kitchen but would people feel its a pain (or dangerous) to have a step so close to the edge of cabinets like this plan?

Interesting about the step up. Was that intentional? Most modern home designs are integrating the kitchen and living/dining room areas so the transition is seamless. Step down/up is very dated design. It's still not too late to implement a change control to have one large window instead of two small ones and the sink in place of the stovetop. It may cost you but it's worth it for that change. I searched houzz.com for sunken dining rooms and found very few where the kitchen and dining rooms were not on the same level. Perhaps repurposing the family room as a dining room would work better You really wouldn't want to have to step up and walk all the way around to the kitchen. The other risk is if someone is carrying a large roast from the kitchen to the dining room they may fall at that transition.
Anyway this is just my opinion, however it is based on research by simply typing in modern kitchen design into google images.

I agree but we are gutting and rennovating an existing house that had a 70s step down extension - it would cost too much to bring our back section up to be level with the rest of the house. We have removed the old 70s spiral staircase though!

Thanks for the suggestion re swapping the sink - where would you suggest the cooktop & range go in that instance?

What about a stove and hood where the double ovens live and install sink where windows are then have overhead bins on either side of the windows and a horizontal cabinet above the sink for perhaps glasses. The dishwasher should be close to the sink from a workflow perspective so close to the living room. That would form a nice workflow triangle. Also perhaps consider having the kitchen only extend to the end following the step. This way you can kind of hide the step by having the stools in the living room area. Not sure if that makes sense. A C shaped kitchen.