Any Galley Kitchen Owners?

[platypus]

We're considering a galley kitchen in our already narrow kitchen, to (almost) double our usable space. I'm just after some advice, things to avoid and look out for.

This is a very rough sketch of our existing kitchen,

It has wall cabinets all down the bottom (in view) wall but I couldnt be bothered to stick those in.


We're probably going to go with something like this:

It's a very rough sketch knocked up in the first kitchen planner I found online.

To have a final look sort of like this:

Note, this is the default set that the planner stuck in, it's not the actual cabinet/worktop design we'd go for.

It gives us a gap of around 1.2m between the counter top. Given that we want some large slidey out pan drawers, amongst other things, is that enough?

Should we consider cupboards down one side that aren't so deep?

We'll likely go to Howdens or Kitchens Direct for the actual kitchen set, not sure about appliances.

 

[SPG]

Make all doors open into the room (fridge especially)

 

[Ace Modder]

whatever you do.... avoid Wren kitchens.

I have a very bad experience with them this year, so did a staff member at OcUK who is on these forums very regularly.

 

[Bailey]

whatever you do.... avoid Wren kitchens.

I have a very bad experience with them this year, so did a staff member at OcUK who is on these forums very regularly.

Yes I did indeed

Bailey

 

[GSXRMovistar]

I also used Wren this year, follow up customer service is poor but the kitchens are very good. If you are organised and can stand your ground you can beat them into the ground on price and get them providing lots of additional extras at no cost.

EDIT: FYI I used Wren for supply only, arrange my own fitter.

 

[platypus]

Make all doors open into the room (fridge especially)

ie towards the double door at the end?

 

[WillyNelson]

1.2m distance between the units on either side is fine. My kitchen is 2.4m wide so that's exactly what I have.

One of the things we did was to minimise the number of wall units - we have 1 double cupboard in the corner housing the boiler and glassware. It makes the room feel bigger but it does restrict your storage somewhat. However, that forces you to reduce all the junk you keep but never use.

I had a kitchen thread that I never updated with finished pics (not that is it quite finished yes, still the tiling and a bit of painting to do!). Will take some & post them to show.

 

[a1ex2001]

I'd avoid the big chunk of full height units they really narrow the space down and emphasise the small rather than the spacious.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

What is cabinet 14 and why doesn't it line up with those below it?

 

[WillyNelson]

The boiler, I'd imagine.

 

[Aberfala]

I did my kitchen a few years ago and like yours it's long and thin with cabinets all the way along although I do have 1.4m gap between the cabinets so I'd not quite call it a galley kitchen.

We did an extension which doubled the size of the kitchen and went with Howdens cabinets and have been very happy with extra aspect of them.

I agree with other posters that too many wall units can make the kitchen feel smaller but as the key aspect of my design was fitting in as much storage as possible I added wall units all the way along. We managed to fit in a total of 24 cabinets so have plenty of space and it doesn't feel small to me.

 

[Steampunk]

Get as much continuous worktop space as you can. Chopping it into smaller sections is not as useful. Not having enough worktop space to work will kill the usability of any small kitchen.

Get as much storage as you can, but be careful of too many trick storage systems inside the cupboards. They can be expensive, and limit the amount of stuff you can get in there because they take up space and have weight limits.

Basically you need to maximise all your space, but more importantly you have to maximise your useable space.

And long term, be prepared to implement a "only one of us is in there at any one time to cook" rule. It will save arguments involving hot water and sharp knives.

 

[platypus]

1.2m distance between the units on either side is fine. My kitchen is 2.4m wide so that's exactly what I have.

One of the things we did was to minimise the number of wall units - we have 1 double cupboard in the corner housing the boiler and glassware. It makes the room feel bigger but it does restrict your storage somewhat. However, that forces you to reduce all the junk you keep but never use.

I had a kitchen thread that I never updated with finished pics (not that is it quite finished yes, still the tiling and a bit of painting to do!). Will take some & post them to show.

Cool thanks for that - pics would be great .

I'd avoid the big chunk of full height units they really narrow the space down and emphasise the small rather than the spacious.

Do you think it would be ok with just 2? We'd want the double oven and an integrated FF.

What is cabinet 14 and why doesn't it line up with those below it?

Yep as per the post below yours its just a cabinet I chucked in to represent the boiler - we'd probably box that in.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Yep as per the post below yours its just a cabinet I chucked in to represent the boiler - we'd probably box that in.

Any opportunity to relocate the boiler to the loft (if your house has one)? That would make the kitchen feel much bigger or even allow you to mount wall cabinets on that side of the wall.

Also do you have a dishwasher in the above setup? If so maybe swap the 1.5 sink for a single bowl giving you more worktop space. Depending on the worktop material (if stone, quartz, composite) you could undercount the bowl and put drainer grooves into the worktop itself, again making the room feel bigger.

 

[Simon42]

It gives us a gap of around 1.2m between the counter top. Given that we want some large slidey out pan drawers, amongst other things, is that enough?

Is there a dimension wrong on your plan as it shows width as 2.1m so how does that leave 1.2m between the counter tops with cabinets roughly 0.6m deep each side?

 

[pepp77]

Is there a dimension wrong on your plan as it shows width as 2.1m so how does that leave 1.2m between the counter tops with cabinets roughly 0.6m deep each side?

Yeah a 2.1m wide with cabinets on both sides would only give you about 0.9m floorspace.

My kitchen is 1.8m wide (for 90%) and as such my planned kitchen has units only down one side and along both ends.

 

[lynchnigel]

Where base unit 3 is the sink base - it normally looks better to line it up central to the window frame if at all possible It might look a bit odd otherwise.

Is that an extract or recirculating hood? if its extract consider which direction the pipes are going to go.

If you are shuffling things around consider if you can get water and drainage and a reasonable slope and clear space behind the units you might be going behind.

Ditto electrics.

 

[WillyNelson]

Cool thanks for that - pics would be great

Might have to wait for the weekend. My wife has decided to rearrange the storage, which means getting everything out & not getting round to putting anything away!

 

[the_r_sole]

It's a huge kitchen in a tiny space! do you really need all that storage? seems a shame to have big glass doors at the end then half cover them with kitchen units

 

[WillyNelson]

One thing to do might be to have a singe cupboard under the sink instead of a double. You can get a lot of 1.5 bowl sinks into a 600mm unit, leaving the draining board over either a fully usable cupboard/drawers, or an appliance. We have a 1.5 bowl ceramic sink over a 600m unit with the washing machine & dishwasher on either side.

These were taken the evening I got the sink plumbed in, so still a bit of a work in progress, but all the units & appliances are in.