Spain House Build - PLANNING APPROVED

Martynt74 said:
As such, we've got our kitchen pretty much designed. I'm half tempted to import from DIY Kitchens because of how crazy expensive everything is here!
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although I've had a galley kitchen , I wouldn't have a unit wall on one end of the sink, you loose ability to prep stuff on one side with easy access to sink,
and have ongoing cleanup of pans, say, on the other, and it's maybe claustrophobic;
I've had double bowled one small/one big sinks/Franke in most places too, so that you can multi-task - maybe your cad system didn't have one.

Do you have sufficient work surface space for u-wave or other appliances too ? (that can't be put on an island, versus work surfaces against wall)

Parents just had porcelain tiles on bathroom(bungalow) floor - I find they are very cold underfoot, versus lino type stuff I've had so far..
 
jpaul said:
although I've had a galley kitchen , I wouldn't have a unit wall on one end of the sink, you loose ability to prep stuff on one side with easy access to sink,
and have ongoing cleanup of pans, say, on the other, and it's maybe claustrophobic;
I've had double bowled one small/one big sinks/Franke in most places too, so that you can multi-task - maybe your cad system didn't have one.

Do you have sufficient work surface space for u-wave or other appliances too ? (that can't be put on an island, versus work surfaces against wall)

Parents just had porcelain tiles on bathroom(bungalow) floor - I find they are very cold underfoot, versus lino type stuff I've had so far..
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My theory was we just use the other side. There's around 1.4m between the sink and the hob which should be enough room. The sink is a single unit which is 76cm wide. We've typically had 1.5 sinks before but this time we're just going for a big single sink. Feels better. You can now get cool drainage slatted things too which fit over one side for drying pots, but have silicone edges so they roll/fold to save space when not needed. Seems a great invention.
We toyed with the idea of the sink in the island, but i preferred to just keep that completely empty. Same with the hob on the island. It feels nice, but then you're messing with built in hob extractors which i don't really want.

The aim is for all appliances to be stored in the cupboard on the left. Similar to what @kai has in his recent thread. The only thing on the worktop will likely be a coffee machine/kettle (left of hob). Although i'm tempted by a boiling water tap again.


Yeah, they can be cold, but just doesn't seem much alternative out here. Especially as we're going for the whole indoor/outdoor thing, so will have the same tiles throughout the house and then out to the pool too. Proper wood would be too much maintenance and tricky to keep clean with the dust. With the tiles we can set a robovac going and use a steam mop.
 
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A clutter-free work surface is the way forward; it's easier to clean and aesthetically pleasing. I would strongly recommend installing a hot water tap. I was somewhat skeptical, but now that we actually have to get the kettle out of the larder, you really realize how much it's used.

We will be purchasing a hot water tap in the next few months. If you are on the fence, just make sure to have electricity installed under the sink in preparation.
 
kai said:
A clutter-free work surface is the way forward; it's easier to clean and aesthetically pleasing. I would strongly recommend installing a hot water tap. I was somewhat skeptical, but now that we actually have to get the kettle out of the larder, you really realize how much it's used.

We will be purchasing a hot water tap in the next few months. If you are on the fence, just make sure to have electricity installed under the sink in preparation.
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Yeah, we had one in the last house, and it was great not messing with a kettle. Just unsure if it's a day 1 purchase or down the line. Makes sense to just fit it in straight away though.
 
Martynt74 said:
My wife is keen on being super efficient and planning pretty early. So that we're not causing any delays as we get to it with decisions. She also knows the value of having a design early so you get loads of time to think about it.

As such, we've got our kitchen pretty much designed. I'm half tempted to import from DIY Kitchens because of how crazy expensive everything is here!

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We've also settled on the floor tiles (ignore they're used on the walls here!)

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Id swap hob and sink around, or at least offset it from a wall by at least a couple of clicks
 
dlockers said:
Id swap hob and sink around, or at least offset it from a wall by at least a couple of clicks
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Yeah. Think the sink unit is 100cm and the hob is 120cm. We could switch those around. Would then give ~25cm from the wall.

I'm not particularly a huge fan of the shaker style for this kitchen. Especially not that specific one as it was a bit more fussy than a plain shaker style. Makes the uneven drawer lines look wrong. Having them plain would blend in much better.
 
I’d put the sink in the island, then you have a better triangle between hob/sink/oven and no space to the right seems worse for usability if right handed, not to mention water gets everywhere, so tight to a unit will also be less than ideal.

All IMO, we ended up with the sink in the island, since it was that or the hob, but cost of extractor and limited choices made us put the sink there and it’s worked out well, we have the drain grooves in the worktop to the right and dishwasher and bins underneath..
 
Cheers, it's definitely something we keep bouncing around with. I think for me it's that i don't want a load of dishes piled up on the island. Especially as it's going to be pretty central to the whole room. If something is going in the island i think i'd take the financial hit and make it the hob and then move the sink to where the hob is now.

Funnily enough my friends parents have just bought a place over here and completely gutted and renovated it. They've got the hob with a built in extractor and hate it as they said any bit of water turns it off and then want to swap it. I joked i'd have it :D

Have actually found a Beko one for €800 which isn't as bad as i thought. I think my main hesitation is the venting of it, it's going to be solid concrete floor, so need to do some reading on how effective it is as surely it needs a bit of power to pull the air from the hob, then force it down some ducting and then along ~3m to outside.
 
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Sorry about the crap photoshop but what about moving the large cupboard next to the oven then you would have working space around both the sink and the hob.
 
yes that's way better .. you get more light from outside on complete hob/sin surface

swapping hob and maintaining cupboard would preclude being able to put hot pans on either side (on trivet), even clearance to get heavy pans with both hands, big handles swung out too side ..... safety.

e: putting sink in the middle seems irrevocable if you ever wanted to put in a large farmhouse table instead of island
e2: are islands really comfortable for eating breakfast ... propped on a stool .. sufficient room for laptop ??
 
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@roccles I agree, that does probably work better. I might run it by the wife, although she's keen on the symmetry. Otherwise i wonder if i could rework the surfaces so that the hob is closer to the oven, then move the sink further over to the left so that it's spread out more.


@jpaul Islands aren't ideal for eating i don't think. It's more just for company i always found. Sometimes if i made tea in our last house, my wife would sit on the stool and we'd chat. It's fine for breakfast or a quick snack too, but whilst there's space for a laptop i'd never want to sit there with one properly.
 
Jimbeam3678 said:
How’s this coming along?
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Depressingly slow!

Mid July the developer spoke to the planning department and was told it was virtually done and just needed a final sign off by the secretary, we knew that nothing happens in August and so hoped this'd be done by the end of July, alas that came and went. August was then a shutdown month pretty much everywhere. However last week we got a call to say the town hall now are waiting for an Agricultural survey from Valencia before it can be signed off. The estimated date for this is now mid October.

The annoying thing now is it's started to be questionable whether we'll be in by next summer which i was really hoping for. Luckily we're pretty happy in our current rental and we've got it for an unspecified amount of time so no pressures of having to move again in the future etc. We've bought sofas/beds/outdoor stuff etc and so are comfortable surrounded by our own stuff.

The current place also has loads of oleanda (sp?) hedges and olive trees, so now is the time to try and take some cuttings and then we'll try and plant on our land in the hope they get ~12 months growth ahead of us moving in.
 
dod said:
Careful with the Oleanders, I only found out that they're poisonous last time I was out

www.gardenersworld.com

How to grow oleander

All you need to know about growing and caring for oleander.
www.gardenersworld.com
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Haha i didn't either until a few weeks back, i was climbing through them trying to attach some cables to a wall behind them in the garden, after about 20 minutes my wife shouted over "Oh, be careful you can get skin issues from those similar to hogweed" :mad:
 
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So, tomorrow (12th Sept) is officially the last date for Valencia to deny the application, since the local town hall have heard nothing they will just approve it sometime in the next 2 weeks, or at least that's what we've now been told.

The developer has been chatting to an interior designer, who sent over some possible ideas for final design. I'm caveating this by saying we've had no interaction with them, so this is purely them coming up with something. It's an interesting one as they've clad the outside walls in stone etc which is something we wanted but wasn't in the budget. There's also some other things included which we didn't spec but like, so would be interesting to see the final cost.

Back of the house (we wouldn't have the grass)
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Front of house - We won't have that front wall closing it all off, also the garage isn't that close to the house
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Cupboard in the hallway. I really like this. Just depends on space as i'm trying to source an old double wooden door which might not give the space for any cupboards on the wall.
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Lounge Area
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Kitchen
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Martynt74 said:
Was €81000 so worked out at €2/m2. It was relatively cheap for the area, but also have to consider there's no drinking water/mains electric so it's always hard to value.
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Brilliant. Definitely, and hopefully with the water & electrics the price will shoot up
 
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