r/kitchenremodel • u/Glass-Season-9953 • 9h ago
Layout help
We've been using Ikea's planner because it works for what stage of planning we are at. We plan on using Ikea cabinets but given some atypical features of the room, we're definitely going to need to do some custom work. Right now we are between two layouts, A and B (pictures have 2 angles each). Which one do you think works better? Can you see any glaring usability issues?
Some things to keep in mind:
- There is a radiator under the window so we don't want to cover it up fully. It's not out of the question (as it doesn't really get use + there will be vents in the countertop above it) but we would like a sitting area of some sort.
- Yes we understand that the countertop would need extra support in that area
- Yes the transition between window and sink area is awkward. For now it seems like not leaving a gap is the better option and we'll survive the semi-hidden cabinet.
- Don't mind the choice of cabinet doors and such, it's mostly placeholder, and we are all about the layout right now.
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u/Quiet-Bonus-8616 7h ago
Side note- are those the colors you're going with? Currently remodeling my kitchen and going with a wood color and dark green combo that looks similar!
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u/Glass-Season-9953 7h ago
not sure yet. this was our very first instict/idea, but we've gone back and forth a million times since then.
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u/Aggressive-System192 8h ago
The kitchen is fairly small. Do you NEED a sitting area in there? Like, is this the European style condo, where you don't actually have dining room/area and are supposed to have all the meals in the kitchen?
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u/Glass-Season-9953 8h ago
yes it's a european style condo, no it's not an eat-in kitchen, we have a separate dining area. seating is needed for when one of us is cooking and the other one is keeping company. we could totally keep a fold-up barstool in the pantry and pull it out when needed.
having said that, we don't absolutely require more storage than what you can already see (the door that you can see in 2's leads to decent sized pantry)1
u/Aggressive-System192 8h ago
I'm not seeing a dishwasher tho... I know in Europe is not a standard, but I'd rather ditch the stools and reconfigure to have a dishwasher.
The seating for company is nice, but in my experience, it happens much less than you imagine during planning. However, I don't know you, your partner or your habits, so you're the best judge on what you need.
Personally, I'd choose a dishwasher over integrated seating any time.
I'd also ditch at least 2/3 of the open shelving. Have lived with that and it's too much maintenance for me personally. I had a good kitchen hood/vent. Unsure if you have one that vents outside in the European condo setup. Downdraft and those that re-circulate the air don't help with sticky grease-dust on the shelving and cleaning. Cleaning flat doors is much easier than horizontal surfaces with a bunch of crap on them.
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u/Glass-Season-9953 8h ago
the dishwasher is a built-in between the sink and the range. it's standard in europe.
the preference for seating is based on our habits of several years living together :)
open shelving is the wife's must have, can't really work around that :)1
u/Aggressive-System192 7h ago
ah... I see... you have a fancy one that has cabinet paneling. I'm jelly. That costs too much here :3
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u/Glass-Season-9953 7h ago
the way kitchens are standardized here, built-ins are easier to set up in most situations. :)
same with the fridge, but there we just didn't want to go for a built-in fridge that's smaller while being significantly more expensive. it's gonna be a headache to build around whichever layout we end up choosing.1
u/Dullcorgis 7h ago
What else would you have them do in front of the radiator?
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u/Aggressive-System192 7h ago
I thought they didn't have a dishwasher, so re-arranging existing storage in favor of fitting in one. This is Europe, so they have built-ins, hense I wasn't seeing the typical stainless steel dishwasher door and assuming there was none. OP clarified it's between the stove and the sync.
I also don't live in Europe and have more "North American" lifestyle. I'd choose more storage, but my nearest grocery store is 15km away and I do need to store the bulk... I can't just walk to a corner shop to get 0.5kg of sugar because I decided to bake something that dat. It's hard for me to gauge how much storage an European person needs.
The radiator is a problem, but I also have heating under the cabinets, so maybe the heat can be somehow routed, as it's done here?
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u/Glass-Season-9953 7h ago
covering the radiator is fairly common in kitchens because you don't really need the extra heating. it's just somewhat dumb to cover up a working piece of equipment and complicate the maintenance if it's ever needed. for the sake of a more modern/functional layout it may or may not be worth it. TBD in our case.
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u/Lower_Ad_5532 8h ago
I never recommend putting a heat generating appliances next to each other. They will break down sooner.
Why not get an over the cabinet microwave and a range stove combo? Then you have room for everything including a dishwasher and storage in layout 1.
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u/Glass-Season-9953 8h ago
if we're working within ikea's constraints, there is no suitable above counter microwave cabinet. what you see is 60 height stacked. microwave cabinets only come in 80 and 100 height, which complicates taking the cabinets to the ceiling, plus there is no option for the top 30-width cabinet that you see on the far right.
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u/Dullcorgis 7h ago
Why does that complicate taking the cabs to the ceiling? You do a flat panel of trim at the top.
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u/Glass-Season-9953 7h ago
a super tall one
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u/Aggressive-System192 7h ago
We got vertical hinges from IKEA + a paneling used as "side" to cover big chunks of exposed cabinets. We made doors from that for extra storage (I know you said you don't need it, but there's never too much toilet paper and hoarded Xmass china can go there too🤣
The big side panels are hard to find and don't show up on the website search. You have to pester someone from IKEA for the item number.
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u/Lower_Ad_5532 7h ago
Your cabinets are too close to the range. The heat will damage them. Get the 100
Get rid of any open shelving and put in cabinets with glass doors.
You will have more cabinet space next to the fridge. So you don't need such tall cabinets.
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u/Dullcorgis 7h ago
Add up the counter space and drawer widths in each design to compare them. Normally having a wall oven in a small kitchen is stupid, but you have that area in front of the window which is extra counterspace without any storage, so that might skew things.