I would get rid of that little return bit at the end.

The timber battens on the walls suggest that the walls may be asbestos sheets, so you should clarify this before demolition.

I would try and avoid corner cupboards as they are difficult to access. Unless you can put access doors on the corridor side of the bench. I would ditch the little return bench as it doesn't add anything. If you have more than one person cooking in the kitchen at once consider an island bench so it doesn't become a cul-de-sac kitchen.

Don't forget to include plumbing and a recess for a dishwasher. Include an elevated recess at eye-height for a microwave, so your microwave doesn't eat up valuable benchspace.

Take your time to get your research, planning, design, details and selections right. A well designed kitchen is never rushed.

Best of luck,

Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls/Dr Retro Virtual Visits

I had a similar fire place in two kitchens. In both I’ve pulled them out. It is much easier to get a functional layout without them. It was a DIY job if you take is easy (and be aware of asbestos).

Agree to get rid of end bit that is wider.

Agree that it could be an L kitchen with an island bench rather than a U shape as it is awkward.

The top pantry in the corner should removed and just be a bench and a slim overhead cabinet. Put doors on all the above head cabinets. They could sit a bit higher and have some top molding as they look too low on your tall walls.

Paint the fireplace surround and make it a feature. Could you add a bit more trim to make it awesome? Maybe paint it a rich charcoal or very dark navy. You could add a nice geometric print tile up to the ceiling above it with a mirror, massive clock, big art piece, or knife magnet rack and hanging chopping boards, or a neat little wooden rustic shelf.

Replace the current oven with something more rustic in black or a modern chrome, and make it a nice wide one that fits snuggly into the space. A gas cooktop one would match the fireplace theme.

Get a silver fridge.

Turn the bookshelves into a pantry with doors. that matches cabinet style.

Replace spashback tile with white subway, glass or paint white. Or it would look great to have a fun geometric print that is timeless - see below.

Maybe paint the bottom cabinets darker e.g. mocha, and could have paint counter as white/grey speckle granite. You can just reuse your current cabinets and replace handles with something more modern. I don't mind the current colours.

Paint the kickboard white, or line with chrome, or make wooden.

I think an under bench microwave would work well and have the dishwasher under the sink on left or right.

Best of luck.

Julie

as Dr Retro suggests first have the asbestos checked before making and changes and we need the dimensions of the whole room including the of all the doors and windows and what is the tall space with open shelves and can you post a plan showing all the adjoining rooms? your photos shows only half the room..what's on the other side? and do you plan to use flatpac cabinets or have the kitchen custom made to fit the room or have you considered recycled the original and what do you love and hate about the old kitchen and why do you want to replace it?

Ok I thin pk you have 3 choices.

1. Make a real feature of the fireplace and design a kitchen to suit the aesthetic it creates
2. Remove it and chimney completely
3. Strip as much of the fire place away as you can
4. Break into the chimney breast to access more storage space. This can be an unknown.

I’m assuming you are at 3. And fitting drawers is a great option. As I don’t know how someone Can use the current stove.

Option 2 would be what I recommend so you can fit in a more useful pantry. And if you are doing a kitchen Reno now is the time to do it properly. In terms of the peninsula can you make it 900 deep?

The next thing to question is can the door next to the fridge be moved further up to get some more space for a pantry. I did that at my place to unlock a tricky layout. This is why it would be good to see a full floor plan. But I know it adds cost, but hey it’s a new kitchen, do you want to do it right the first time?

Option with no chimney

First off, thanks all, love your work.

Dr Retro: You're spot on the money, asbestos everywhere - we'll have it cleared prior to anything going in. The island bench is a great idea that we hadn't considered so thanks for that.

Bigreader: The fireplace stays according to the boss :-\

Julie: Some great points, love the two-tone colour scheme for the cabinetry and using the fireplace as a feature.

Oklouse: That's the room essentially. I've attached a more complete drawing of it and the rest of the house below.

Kate: Unfortunately I think that option 1 is where we're at. It would be nice to remove the fireplace but happy wife... The door will likely be removed anyway to open up the threshold into the dining room but at most we reclaim 600mm which probably doesn't make additonal benchtops worthwhile unless the fridge ends up somewhere new? Rough overall floor plan attached below.

FYI: good access underneath floor so electrical and plumbing will not be an issue.

keeping the chimney intact and using wide freestanding stove or built in oven and cooktop my suggestion would be to enhance the vintage kitchen feeling with a central island to use like a table for quick meals and set down space and use the space under the window for pantry storage ..the "table" also fits around the other direction but it feels nicer sitting with a view towards the stove and out the window

does your sketch show current floorplan with changes? as it looks like too much space is used for passage way access as shown could the mudroom space be off the kitchen?

can you explain the rationale behind your wife's desire to keep the fireplace? Is it because she believes removing it will be too challenging or because of an aesthetic attachment?
If it's the latter this will then dictate the style of kitchen and having drawers in the fireplace would surely go against that style?
There looks to be plenty of options for opening the space up.

Without correct dimensions and knowing that you will be removing old walls I suggest the following (siriuskey)

Differentways has a great layout getting rid of what looks like an odd dogleg into kitchen. The fireplace won’t be swamped. I would place sink and stove on laundry wall and pantry on side wall and close the wall opening closest to bathroom.

I like oklouise's layout with 2 major changes. I would lose the cabinets/ counter/ sink along that wall. Keep counter beside fireplace as you need it beside the cooktop. Make the island as big as the space will take and put your sink in the island. This eliminates corner cupboards and allows for more storage in the island. Also, think about how you use the kitchen. Do you want/need a seating area? We opted not to have one and this enabled us to put more storage in the island.. Also, with a bigger island you get more prep space. A single, good sized sink is better than 2 smaller ones. Go for one that takes your biggest baking dish. If you make your island your prep area, having the sink close and underbench rubbish bins, makes for a better workflow.

If you want wall ovens, I would make the cupboards along the other wall full ceiling height, with two wall ovens. We went for a convection microwave which gave us versatility, and a full oven underneath, for those times we needed the extra oven space. The convection microwave is more energy efficient if you are only using one shelf in the oven. We use it most of the time and love it. If you have a big island you don't need any more counter space. The extra storage enables you to put everything away and keep the island uncluttered.

A final note: we went for drawers under counter height, increased counter height to 950mm and drawers in the pantry to about chest height. All the kitchen was custom made, giving us extra height in the drawers under the island, and extra depth in the cabinetry along the wall, as we pulled it out to fit the fridge in flush. We had a special double height drawer made for tall appliances. You need to think about the dimensions and quantity of what you want to store and watch the details. Make sure everything has been included in the design. Don't be afraid to nitpick and ask questions, particularly about the drawings if there is anything you don't understand. Don't assume something you have said has been considered in the design. Check and double check. Misunderstandings can happen over the smallest thing.

This is a photo of our kitchen close to finishing. We have been using it for a month now and have so much space to store and cook. We love it! (Especially the lack of corner cupboards!) The Island is 1100mm deep, allowing for drawers on both sides. The cupboards above the fridge and ovens have vertical divisions for platters, trays and cutting boards. The opening on the side was originally a window to the sunroom at the back of the house and has now been framed in wood stained to match the cabinets. Cornices to match the existing cornices have been installed at the top of the cupboards.

The Island extends out into the sunroom to allow a small bookcase for cooking books. It wraps around the narrow bit of wall that remains between the former window and the original door from the living area to the sunroom. The Island is fully open to the living area.

Hi David, I notice that you are listed as a Chippie etc on Houzz so you should be able to takle the job in hand. With some dimensions missing ( I thought that you would find it a breeze to draw up a floor plan with dimensions)? Anyway with more accurate dimensions this time the following for you (perhaps you could add dimensions to my floorplan You could even recycle a pair of old doors into Barn doors