Please dissuade/reassure me about our new kitchen diner!

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

Ok,I am at the crazy lady, can't sleep for thinking about worktops and pan drawers so please bear with my sleep-addled brain as I try to explain!

DH and I moved into our 'forever' house 6 months ago. The kitchen is at the front of the house. Immediately behind is the dining room and behind that is a junk room study, which has huge windows over the garden.

Our plan is to knock down the dining room and study walls to make one large kitchen diner. This room will be 9m long by 2.8m wide- so quite long and narrow.

The plan is to make the front of the house, where the existing kitchen is now, a utility area and build an arch way between the utility area and the main kitchen area. there will then be a breakfast bar seperating the kitchen from the main dining area at the bottom overlooking the garden.

The rationale for having the utility at the front is that we do not want to waste the large window at the back by having it there. the rationale for having an arch way rather than a seperate door is that we don't want to lose the light from the front window. House is east-facing and the kitchen seems dark at present, but that may be due to there being wall units on both walls.

So my (one of many)question is, do you think its wierd to have a utility area at the front of the house? A couple of people i've discussed it with have been a bit . I should say though its not like you would walk into it, you would have to choose to go in there IYSWIM.

Anyway, my other question is (if anyone is still with me at this point!), the room as i've said is fairly long and narrow. All along we have been planning oak units with black quartz or granite worktops. But now I'm getting the heebie-jeebies because a) will black work tops make it too dark and b) I don';t know what flooring we would go for that doesn't look matchy-matchy with the units (see other thread) so c) would dark flooring and dark worktops be too much?

I am in a complete tizz over the whole thing TBH, I've never done anyhting like this before, its a huge amount of money (to us) and I'm so scared of getting it wrong.

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

Oh God that's long.

[said]

Will the utility bit have a window that looks out on the front? Could you put that frosted glass sticker stuff on 3/4 (?) of it so that passersby aren't looking at your undies drying? Otherwise, well, lots of people have kitchens at teh front which are, essentially, utilty rooms as well so don't think it;s a problme.

I'd avoid teh dark worktops though.

I'd make teh archway a squared-off arch though. Think archy archs look a bit dated

[Fiddledee]

Utility room in the front is odd and I wouldn't have an archway as you hide stuff in the utility room and I like to close the door to it. Is there anywhere else you can put the utility room?

If you have issues with light dark flooring and dark worktops doesn't sound good.

Oh and i hate breakfast bars, I don't think they are very modern and block the flow of the house, islands are best.

[Lizzylou]

Instead of an archway could you have glass panels in a door, from halfway up? Then you won't get the noise of the washing machine etc but still get the light.

[said]

Sliding door to close off utility room?

Not keen on breakfast bars either, or islands.

[GooseyLoosey]

I'm not a fan of utility rooms - think they eat up space unecessarily. If this was my space, I think I would have the large kitchen diner at the back (no breakfast bar, but table in front of windows). I would have a purpose bulit ceiling to floor cupboard that housed all my laundry stuff (I have this now and its fab - a tuility cupboard rather than a room).

I would use the front of the house as a room - a study or a playroom - if a study, it should open off the hall rather than the kitchen - if a playroom, then opens off both. If you have a door off the kitchen, put it right in the corner, then you can curve your run of units on to the wall between the 2 rooms.

[lalalonglegs]

Don't like breakfast bars, and think they are a bit pointless in rooms that are big enough to hold a dining room table. Prefer islands as I think they can be quite space-saving if designed properly.

I would make the front room a study and build a narrow small room behind the front room (more of a big cupboard) as a utility room - it would be the full width of your kitchen/diner so wouldn't have to be very deep, iyswim - maybe only 1.4m, discreet entrance into it off the hall or preferably the kitchen end. Don't do an archway.

I wouldn't worry too much about light into the kitchen end of the room (assuming that it will be back away from the large garden window. You need proper task lighting for a kitchen anyway so people don't object to using that in the same way that they would having a living room in which they had to turn the lights on all the time.

Don't like black granite - think it's had its day. If you are going to spend that much on a work surface, I would get a lighter granite or marble. There are beautiful very pale granites with grey and black flecks.

[Pannacotta]

I really wouldnt waste a West facing room on a utility, I agree with lala about creating a study (or den) and a utility space in the middle - 9m is very long!

Also agree with not going for black granite, its a bit of a cliche and is not create for bouncing light around. Wood is nice or Corian or even quartzstone whcih catches the light.

Post a floor plan if it helps?

[DisparityCausesInstability]

Agree black granite looks old and dated - go for pale gray if going contemporary or a pale beige if going more traditional. Islands can produce a very useful, sociable working space...I like the idea of an office/snug at the front - maybe a large kitchen diner at the back rather than a utility. I divide the space with frosted bifolds rather than an arch.

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

Thank you all for taking the time to read and respond! To say you've given me food for thought is an understatement!

To give more info, to call it a breakfast bar was a bitmisleading, as what it will actually be is a long run of worktop space which comes around the corner. This was actually our top priority design-wise, to have a long continuous run of worktop, as the current design is so bad you have to prepare meals in about 3 different areas of the kitchen!

The other thing which i think is making me so indecisive about what to do with the space is that we don't have any DCS yet, but are TTC, so we are trying to imagine what the needs of a family will be, without actually knowing, IYSWIM.

I think the idea of having either sliding doors or a door with glass in it is excellent. This would as you say have the added advantage of masking noise fro the machines. I'm having difficulty in visualising what it will look like. i suppose with the arch way i felt like it was a halfway house between open and closed- but maybe its just that and I would never be happy with it as a compromise. (agree archy-arches are dated and it would be squared off if we went for it). I suspect a door would be the best I'm just being a wuss.

There really is no where else the utility room could go unfortunately. I would liek to know more about your utility cupboard though Goosey- I guess this is where you keep mops, irnong board, hoover, etc? Where are your washing machine and tumble? The kitchen designers have been pushing us towards integrated which to me seems a huge waste when we have perfectly adequate working appliances, but they would wouldn't they?!

DH and I talked last night and we are both thinking as you all do that really black granite will suck the light out of the room. i am defuinitely leaning towards pale grey or beige quartz(although typically the ones i like are dearer than the black!)

I don't thave the floorplans on this computer but i do have some jpegs of an early design one of the designers has done- I will try and upload to my profile and let you know when they are there.

[GooseyLoosey]

My utility cupboard was designed to match the kitchen units. Its nade of MDF and painted - so no huge materials cost.

It is ceiling to floor. It does not have integrated appliances but a normal washing machine with a normal drier on top with a shelf above for washing powder etc. It also has a long bit of cupboard with ironing board and brushes in and then shelves above with cleaning stuff on. I have another cupboard next to it with a fridge and feezer in it, so no integrated appliances, but the kitchen looks like I have. If you put it at the end of your run of units, you can still have loads of bench space.

I would still retain a small room at the front of the house as a study for now and then a playroom if you have children (they are great spaces for shutting up toys and clutter and will help keep the rest of your lovely kitchen looking lovely).

[QuintMissesChristmasesPast]

Could you hide the machines behind sliding doors? I have a 3 meter wide room, and divided it off by sliding doors, and put washing machine with tumble drier on top behind the sliding doors. There is room enough for an airer also inside the sliding doors if I want to hide them away. Could you do this inside your "utility" room? This way the noise is less when you have the door open. Could you consider double doors with glass on the top half?

I would not use it as a utility room. I would make the kitchen big enough to fit all food essentials in the kitchen, laundry related stuff in the front room behind sliding doors, and make the front room into a playroom or study. Especially if it is light.

How about a birch floor? Both Birch and Beech are very light. Oak is also quite light.Birch kitchen units with Oak work tops and light oak floor is also very nice.

I would build in as many units as possible, as what you are planning is in effect a large open living space for entertaining. Taking the expense of a new fab kitchen and save a few pounds on keeping old units (unless an aga cooker) seems a bit strange. It might look mismatched.

Can you fit a sofa in there somewhere?

[QuintMissesChristmasesPast]

Sorry, I am talking nonsense in my first paragraph. I am referring first to the sliding doors, and THEN to the doors dividing the kitchen and the utility room, with glass on the top half.

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

Pics on profile now, these are from the intial design and since then it has been changed so that in the 'utility area', the tumble and wasghing machine are on top of each other in a big cupboard, a bit like yours goosey, and the unit next to this is a floor to ceiling cupboard with space for hoover, mops etc.

[QuintMismatchedShadows]

It looks nice.
Though, you cant make the utility area like that. Sorry, what a waste of a room.
Can you have the units along the left wall instead? You could have a massive desk, or even another kitchen table in front of the window.

It could still be a utility room, but also a room for you to do all your domestic stuff and paperwork, with bills, recipes, etc.

But looking in from the outside, a table with chairs would be nice to look at, as well as a useful feature.

I think your designers just want to sell you more built in cabinets than you need.

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

I think I'm just so scared of getting it wrong that I am erring on the side of caution. Also we have to be mindful of cost, already costs are spiralling well above what we hoped to initally pay. How much extra do you think a set of double or sliding doors would be, above what putting n arch way would be? What kind of doors would you go for? In the house they are all white gloss doors but would this look wierd with the oak units? I have so little creative imagination its frightening.

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

sorry x-post quint. Do you really think its a wasted space? the area will; actually be quite small- really just the units/dishwasher along the wall, then a fridge round the corner one one side and the cupboard with weasher/tumble in and mop cupboard on the other. Argh I don't know.

[QuintMismatchedShadows]

I would just use white sliding doors to be honest.
If on the left wall, they wont really be seen from the kitchen, but they reflect light more than wooden ones would do. Plus they are cheaper. I just put the laundry basket and detergents on top of the drier. All I have behind my sliding doors, aside from washer and drier, is a laundry basket and the airer. I sometimes have my mop and bucket there, if I cant be bothered to put it back where they usually are.

[QuintMismatchedShadows]

I meant it is wasted space if what you see from your fab kitchen are more units and washing machine, right under the window!

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

Quint- I know this is really cheeky, but is there any way you would possibly consider posting a photo? I am just trying to visualise what it would look like? No problem if you'd rather not though.

[notasize10yetbutoneday]

Sorry x-post again. yes thats what DH says- about seeing them from the kitchen.

[QuintMismatchedShadows]

I can try!

[QuintMismatchedShadows]

But you avoid that if you put them on the wall to the left of your window. And you dont need such a big arch, if you narrow your opening slightly, more will be hidden.

[WynkenBlynkenandNod]

I wouldn't stick a utility room there as also think it is a waste of space, would rather have room for a sofa or something else. Like the idea of sliding doors with a long thin room.

We don't have a utility room but a utility cupboard which was built at the end of the a run of units with a big door on. Houses washing machine with drier on top then cleaning products above that, brush and dustpan down the side. hanging pockets on the back of the door for things like peg bag, dog poo bags etc. Works well and yes I would like a utility room in an ideal world but wanted a kitchen/dining/living area more so that was the compromise.

[Pannacotta]

Have looked at your 3D drawings, and sorry but I dont like the utility space, it looks a bit odd and a waste of space.

I agree that a utility cupboard would be good and you can leave your sunny front room for a study/playroom/family room etc, which woudl be MUCH more appealing to buyers if you ever come to sell, and I think with DCs you woudl find it invaluable.

There does look like some unused space in the kitchen, you could have this kind of arrangement maybe?

1.bp.blogspot.com/HNShjhgS5hY/SpA5yL-eVI/AAAAAAAAAjg/48qTyjcrY3c/s1600-h/MDR813-LaundryRm.JPG

Another option is to stack your washer/drier in a cupboard somewhere, perhaps upstairs?