Kitchen reno layout ideas - Kaboodle kitchen

[clancy504]

Hi, I’ve been reading lots of posts on here and everyone seems to be so helpful so thought I’d ask.  I’m after any help / feedback anyone wants to give please - I’m not very good at visualising things or making decisions 😀  

I’m looking at getting a Kaboodle kitchen and had them out for a consult- I like what they did, but am overthinking it all now as I have to make a final decision before ordering it. I’ve sort of decided on white gloss doors and a “Cinnamon” stone bench top. 

The space isn’t very big (3645 x 2685) and there’s not a whole lot of changes that can be made to the layout. I’ll attach a couple of pics so you can see what the existing kitchen is. 

The design they came up with is oven tower next to fridge, then a blind pantry next to it. Cooktop will move slightly to left so it’s centred on the bench. The little corner bench at the left hand end will go and bench will be a straight line with a couple of drawer units in instead of base cupboards. 

I’m undecided about the oven tower - the microwave part is at the top - I think it would sit about 153-183 cm high and I’m only 163cm tall and not sure if it might be hard to use. Has anyone used one that high?  But if I don’t use one I don’t know where I’d put the microwave (and I use it a lot) and I’d have to rethink everything. 

Also they suggested a range hood cabinet similar to what’s there already - Is there any reason they are higher than the other cabinets ? I think it would look better if the bottom of the range hood lined up with the bottom of the other cabinets but not sure if that’s possible. 

Sorry this is so long - thanks if you’ve read this far - & any feedback will be much appreciated. 

[Jason]

Hi @clancy504,

Welcome to Workshop. Our community loves a good renovation project so I'm sure there will be members who are happy to share their opinions with you. We are certainly looking forward to seeing how your new kitchen comes together - it's always an exciting time. 

Please let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the site, or have any feedback about how we can make Workshop even more useful for you.

Jason

[redracer01]

Hello!

The oven tower can be modified. Let me be clear about this "modified" not custom built. Ask yout designer if it would be possible to do the following combination for your tower. :

Starting a the bottom.

Use a single drawer cab at the bottom. Followed by the oven spacer and then the oven cabinet and then another oven spacer followed by the microwave cabinet and for the top use a 600mm wall cabinet or you may choose to use 2 slimline 600 cabinets one on top of the other. Notice that I did not say to use a 600 base cabinet becasue the ventilation for the oven is located at the back of those cabinets and must be free and clear. Since you are a heavy microwave user the height of it is now at 1 meter and should now easier to use at that location. It is below shoulder height so you will not have to balance or lift anything past your shoulders. Please see picture attached.

As per council regulations on fire safety, your rangehood can't be lower than 600 mm but please feel free to check on this fact as it has only been passed on to me by other designers. For gas cooktops it is even higher placed at 700 mm from the top of your cooktop to the bottom of the rangehood. It is always prudent to have the rangehood higher than the other cabinets. When bending over the pots you do not hit your head on the rangehood. There is less chance of heavy condensation or grease trapping at that height and allows your rangehood to function properly. Email your installer, it is always best to check the facts than to guess and not be happy with the end results. Your designer and installer are there to answer your questions! No matter how far fetch you may think they are. Trust me when I say that there are no "silly" questions when it comes to renovating your kitchen. Good luck! Oh and if I have time I will send you my 2 cents worth of ideas.

---

These are typical sizes and not absolute. Please refer to the Kaboodle catalogue.

[clancy504]

Thanks so much - I did ask him about having the microwave lower but it seemed pretty complicated - I’ll definitely check again. Makes sense about hitting your head on the range hood too - that didn’t cross my mind. I didn’t realise this would all be so hard to decide 😀

[redracer01]

Why not show him the picture I sent. It should be fairly straight forward to do this design for the tower, that is of course if you are happy with that layout. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to decide. Speak to friends and neighbors, get a second and third opinion. Just remeber that the final decision is yours, this is your kitchen any decisions you make should be based on your happiness level. 

[redracer01]

[clancy504]

Thanks for going to so much trouble - that looks great! The only problem is I forgot to mention the right side wall is shorter than the left - only 2690 so wouldn’t be able to fit everything - maybe if I took the pantry out ?  I’m so sorry - I didn’t realise you’d go to so much effort. I wish it was just a little bit longer as I could fit everything in just like you’ve done and it looks great.  The plan I’ve got has a blind corner pantry then oven tower then fridge but I’m not sold on it yet. 

Maybe I could leave the pantry out and live without one as I don’t need huge amounts of storage ( have just downsized and got rid of lots) but I would really like one. Or maybe could put oven under cooktop and microwave a little bit higher and have a larger cupboard below it and use both those for “pantry”. The other problem is I’m hoping to stick with Bunnings off the shelf sizes to save $$ so not sure how it could be done. So hard deciding all this h you can probably tell I’m not a handy person )

[redracer01]

Give me a moment...

[redracer01 · Accepted solution]

Now just consider for a moment. Would it be possible to build an extra 955mm extra wall space? That is all you need to make this design work. You just need to build a fake non load bearing wall, an extension if you will of just under a meter. This is on the assumption that it won't hit anything in front of it or it will impede you from walking in and out of your room. You could always ask the builder how much would it cost and would it be possible to build without hitting anything. Otherwise Have a look at my next drawing.

[clancy504]

Great idea about the wall but not possible as it would impact on walkway/ loungeroom - I’m in a villa so it’s not a huge space.  I didn’t see any other picture?