Kitchen Essential

Probably one of the greatest needs when improving kitchens is to create more space by repositioning walls, doors, windows and demolishing cupboards. The objective is to achieve more usable space without going to the expense of building an extension. These examples illustrate ways of achieving this end.

Window into doors

When this young couple wrote to Ideal Home magazine for advice on their kitchen, their first child was expected. The house, built in the 1920s, had a very large kitchen with windows overlooking the garden; a large walk-in larder and a big utility room. In fact the house was featured in the magazine during the 1930s.

An interior designer herself, the owner only needed a kitchen planning expert to provide the key to spark off her own creative ideas to revamp the kitchen. In this case, the key was to convert an existing window overlooking the garden into French doors, in order to give easy and safe access into the garden for the future family.

As soon as this idea clicked, the planning was simple. They chose French Mobalpa units which match the wood panelling of the rest of the house. Rough cast white walls contrasted well with the mid oak. (Photographs overleaf.)

A large alcove which formerly held the fridge and cooker was converted into a cooking range with the gas hob set into Corian work surface. The fridge was built under the work surface and deep drawers hold pans and cooking utensils. The large collection of herbs and spices sit on the beam above the breast.

This true family room has space enough for the baby’s playpen, as well as a corner containing cookbooks, TV, shelves, in fact a mini-desk space.

Even in the best planned kitchens unexpected problems occur, and it is the skilful fitter who will turn such disadvantages around. A small gap between the corner wall carousel unit and the adjacent oven housing unit would normally be filled by an infill panel. But the ingenuity shown by this fitter created a convenient tray storage at high level.

Larderectomy

A designer’s nightmare could best describe this odd shaped kitchen in a block of mansion flats. Six walls, two doors, and a triangular shaped walk-in larder, plus pipes and pipe ducts wasting valuable wall space.

The owner was a business woman living alone, but with frequent visitors and overnight guests. Informal meals were eaten in the kitchen with as many as six people needing chairs. The washing machine had to be plumbed into the room, and a large fridge/freezer as well as a wide free-standing cooker had to be incorporated.

When the cupboards were removed and the curiously shaped walk-in larder removed, the room measured 3.6 metres by 3 metres wide. But the back wall ran several degrees out of true which made fitting extremely difficult.

To add to the fitter’s difficulties were a gas meter high up on the wall adjacent to the back door; an electricity meter on the only wall that could take several wall units together; another pipe duct preventing units being fitted into the corner; and a set of pipes housed in an uglycasing near the back door.

The free-standing cooker was placed near the rarely-used back door which led to a fire escape. The Leisure single-drainer sink and waste bowl on a 1000 mm base unit was fixed between the cooker and washing machine on the angled wall under the window. Next to the washing machine base units were fitted with worktops above them. Wall units hang on this wall which have striplights fixed neatly into the underneath to illuminate the surface below. To give access to the meters and yet still provide sufficient cupboard space, the skilful fitter made a frame- work on which to mount the wall units.

On this same wall runs a cold water lead pipe and stop cock. To disguise the pipe and still give access to the stop cock, the framework was extended down as far as the base units. A ceramic tiled panel covers the framework, and a spice shelf was ingeniously fitted into the panel which hinges out when necessary to reveal the stop cock.

The large fridge/freezer was placed opposite next to the hall doorway. Behind the fridge, on an angled wall, space was found to hang lightweight aluminium steps.

The large pipes carrying the block’s central- heating system run through a large square duct in the kitchen. The recess on one side provides space for the dining table and chairs, whilst the wall on the other side holds a plastic grid on which household items can be hung.

Everything including the kitchen sink

A mother and her twenty-five-year-old son wished to improve the square unfitted kitchen in their home counties house. Built into the kitchen was a walk-in larder, and an outside store adjoined it. A free-standing gas cooker, washing machine, dryer, fridge/freezer and sink top were to be kept. They wanted another window and the room needed heating.

Breakfast and the evening meal were to be eaten in the room. Fitting and structural work was to be done by the handy son, so the small budget could be used for new units only.

The existing kitchen measured 3.6 metres by 3.4 metres. The structural work recommended was to remove the wall dividing the larder from the main kitchen; the outside door to the store was bricked up and the wall dividing it from the kitchen was demolished. The dryer and washing machine were placed side by side and a 60 cm deep worktop was fitted above both machines up to the cooker, in its new position between the washing machine and sink. As the existing sink top was only 50 cm deep, it would not line up with the new worktops and units, and it would harbour dirt and have sharp corners, so it was decided to invest in a new sink unit to match the rest of the units.

Along the wall which had previously housed a cooker, a more efficient workflow was established, consisting of base and wall units, fridge/ freezer, food storage and broom cupboards.

The old larder area was turned into a home office with a worktop holding the telephone, shelves for cook books etc. A central-heating radiator fits snugly in the office.

New windows were fitted either side of the porch to increase the light. A dining table is placed centrally in the new kitchen.

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