Please critique our kitchen design
We're building a new house and this is our (close to final) kitchen design. We'd love your feedback - particularly any issues you can see.
It is a large kitchen and is part of an open plan living/dining room which opens to a covered alfresco area to the north (not shown).
The cooktop is a 900mm induction hob (with 5 elements) plus a 300mm gas hob alongside (note the drawings only show a 900mm cooktop).
Not show are 2 x 610mm cavity sliders between the kitchen and scullery.
The wall behind the cooktop is one single pane of (non-opening glass) as there is a great view in this direction. We plan to have the benchtop and cabinetry go right up to the glass on this window so it appears "edgeless".
There is also a light well (with opening roof windows) approx 2.7m x 1.2m in size positioned above the main kitchen space. It is positioned as close as possible to the south cabinetry. The ceiling is raked from 2.4m and the south wall to 3.6m at the north edge of the pantry.
Things to note about why our design is the way it is:
- We love to cook with friends and family and can have up to 5 cooks operating at once some times.
- We want room for 5-6 people to prep/eat at the breakfast bar.
- We want noisy appliances and the main dishwashing activities to be able to be closed off from the living room when needed.
Any and all feedback appreciated. Thanks
(The house plan can be seen at https://www.houzz.co.nz/discussions/please-critique-our-house-plan-dsvw-vd~4521715)
Comments (6)
Jason Langworthy
6 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (1)With the pantry being located where it is, it provides a opportunity to make it inbuilt and continue your bench top along. This would then provide more bench space and would make sure you are using that wall to its full potential. However for space and flow and to make your kitchen more ascetically pleasing, we would suggest keeping the island bench and making the appliances integrated. This provides opportunity to make that far wall a feature wall, which can be as simple as a blackboard or pictures, to making it a colour feature (depending on you cabinetry) or even to make it high class you could create a wood paneling feature. I hope this helps, either way you can add bonus features to your kitchen, you can create more storage and bench space with changing the pantry, or you could make a design feature out of that wall. It is up to you and where you design flair may take you. Good luck! :) If you would like to see these designs with a quote please call us on 03 423 9067 and we can organise a free one for you. Below are some pictures - in built pantry vs. feature wall. (making where the appliances are a low bench top with below cabinets). (goes beautifully with a black and white colour palette)....See MoreKitchen colour design tips
Comments (4)Your layout for you kitchen looks really good and would fit well with the mixture of black and white cabinetry. With the lament bench top, we would suggest melamine (entry level cabinetry) or acrylic bench top, which can come in high gloss feature or matt. The matt surface would go lovely with your choice of bench top, and acrylic is also a affordable cabinetry material. Below are some examples of how Reno4u has incorporated both black and white cabinetry together, without making it to dominantly dark. We feel as if these examples would be perfect for your layout, and depending on if you want more black cabinetry or white you can go either way. This design above is an example with more black than white, can be made matt or gloss with different handles/splash back and wallpaper. With a u shaped kitchen similar to yours, however from the pictures you provided your style may include different design below the island bench. Another kitchen designed by us which shows more white than black, with a bar built in which may suit your design better. We hope this helps you, please feel free to call us on 03 423 9067 and we can provide a free quote for materials and kitchen design, and help you finalise your design further. :)...See MoreJason Langworthy
6 years agoJason Langworthy
5 years agoThanks for your comments everyone.
We've taken your advice (Luke and NH) and changed the island to a rectangle (1200 x 3000). We lose one breakfast bar seat but gain storage and dining room space plus it shortens the distances from the island to the cooktops. It also removes the need for a corner carousel. We're much happier with this result.
Dairy_maid, we've done what you suggested and walked through some common tasks. Overall it works reasonably well although we may keep some coffee spoons and butter knives in the scullery drawers for morning toast and coffee. We've also invested in a "silent" rangehood which has the motor on the outside of the house behind the fridge and we've upgraded the scullery sink to one that is 600 x 400 (internal size).
Fabrication starts tomorrow. Woohoo.
Once again, thanks so much for taking the time to respond. The design has been significantly improved with your input.
Luke Buckle