21 Comments
User's avatar
Dinah Verin's avatar

I have double ovens myself and I love it. But in my next kitchen I will have them next to each other and not above each other. When you have them above each other, none of them are in the right height. But next to each other you can have them in the right height and still have storage and so on in the 2 cabinets.

Donal Skehan's avatar

Good thinking! May have to adjust!

Patricia Kelleher's avatar

Quick question, Is a sink in an island not a good idea?

Donal Skehan's avatar

It would be my choice not to have it there as you end up with all the wash up paraphernalia out on show- but of course each to their own!

Patricia Kelleher's avatar

Yes, I can see that, thanks, that was useful. Loving reading about your kitchen design

Deirdre Harbison's avatar

If you're tall I'd recommend raising the height of your worktop just a bit - we did and it's very comfortable to work at

Donal Skehan's avatar

Definitely good advice- a comfortable height is essential

Patricia Tyrrell's avatar

I love the images and materials. I would swop the sink with the hob. A hob in front of the window would mean constantly cleaning grease splashes off the window and I like to have the hob near the oven so that when I take something hot out the hob is a place on which to place it.

Grace I Johnson's avatar

I think a warming drawer is a must for either letting that dough rise out of the way of everything, warming bread rolls, baguette, etc. or warming up dinner plates (it's lovely to be able to serve a hot meal on a warm plate), to name a few. Warming drawers don't take up much space and keep your ovens clear for "what's cooking" . Something else I have found, and would love in my next house, is a lower end counter at the end of a countertop. All counter tops are the same height but when kneading dough or making pastry I feel you need a slightly lower counter top so that you can bend and lean slightly to give you a bit more power and control, and that's for those of us on the shorter side or who have back injuries. Or even adding a folding table attached to the end of one of your counters so that it can be folded down when not in use.

Donal Skehan's avatar

OH had one in our first home and lesson was that it wasn’t deep enough to hold a stack of plates! Would defo do again if I could find a bigger one.

Clare's avatar

I would agree with whoever suggested swooping the sink and the hob and put the sink overlooking the window. My main reason is that washing dishes/pot etc is SO boring! So let’s at least enjoy the view out the window while we are doing the washing up. Also, the point made above about grease splashes from the hob going onto the window- it will drive you nuts!

Em's avatar

I love having the hob with downdraft extractor on the peninsula so that when I am cooking, I am facing both the view and whoever is sitting on the bar stools.

Charlotte's avatar

I love all of this. I have just put away my new kitchen - remodeled on an existing space. So much of what you write about is incorporated into my kitchen - cutlery, dishes near the dishwasher, pots and pans in the deep drawer under the oven or under the cooktop. Deep countertop for baking, cooking, etc uncluttered with sink and cooktop. Big spice drawer. Mostly drawers. Upper cabinets I can only access the first shelf so that is where my mugs and cooking supplies are and the rest are for things I don't use all the time, back up supplies or things my tall husband and son use. What I am most excited about are the drawers on the dining side - which house serving cutlery, dishes, special occasion things like christmas placemats and runners, etc. Still needs some tweaks but I am loving our new warming drawer. We did away with double ovens as I rarely use them - do lots of things in the air fryer that would have been in the second oven. So fun to see how a chef would do a kitchen.

Jane Campbell's avatar

I have a sink in the public facing section of my u-shaped cabinetry (it's not an "island" because it's attached) and I have a raised narrow bar-type structure that rises up nearly a foot above the bench and blocks the view of dishes. Hard to explain without drawing it! Also - be careful of too much timber, it can date. Blonde would probably be safest.

Deirdre Harbison's avatar

Our kitchen, built in '94, is solid wood. It didn't date for quite a while but when it did we then had it painted.

Donal Skehan's avatar

Ah a nice fix and great to hear it had another life!

Neural Foundry's avatar

Fantastic take on kitchen flow as something that actually matters beyond just aesthetics. The right to left progression idea makes a ton of sense when I think about how clumsy some layouts feel where the sink and hob are in odd relation to eachother. I had a galley kitchen once with the stove directly across from the fridge, and every meal turned into a weird choreography of trying not to collide with anyone.

Janika's avatar

Extra deep counters with extra deep drawers underneath (and only drawers underneath, no cupboards where you can't reach the back without half-unloading the whole thing) were a game changer for me.

Just make sure if you have cabinets above with lighting in them that it's far enough to the front to cover the front of the counter. 😅 I learned that the hard way. But having the extra deep counter, especially with space behind the sink for a (narrow) drying rack was worth it.

Donal Skehan's avatar

Yes! I’m all for generous drawers rather than cabinets where you can’t see what’s in the back

Janika's avatar

Oh, and speaking of drawers: dishwasher with a cutlery drawer instead of basket, and put the actual cutlery drawer close to it so you can just grab all the knives/forks spoons from one and drop them in the other.

Donal Skehan's avatar

love them actually thinking of a dishwasher designed as a drawer!