Tips on Kitchen & Bathroom designs

[Harley & Dakotas Mum]

Hi All

I'm not (financially) ready to start my renovations just yet, but I am in the 'planning' stages - designing what will go where.

I will be having a new kitchen & new bathroom - both of which will be in a different space in the house to where they are now.

I think I have decided where in the house they will go - originally I was going to swap them - put the kitchen where the bathroom currently is, and the bathroom where the kitchen currently is - but I have a new idea now, which will be to put the bathroom in the current spare room (which is small-ish). The benefit of doing this will be that I wont be without a kitchen or a bathroom while the work takes place.

So I do the bathroom first, and am still able to use the current bathroom while the new one is being built, and once the new bathroom is in, I can then build a new kitchen in the 'old' bathroom.

So, I need your hints & tips on what works well in your kitchen & bathroom layout. I know there is a tip for your kitchen layout - the 'triangle' thing - where you have your oven, sink & fridge in a triangle configuration to make things close & handy. (I think this is the 'triangle' thing?? - I could have it wrong!)

In my bathroom I want to have: Bath, Shower, Vanity, Toilet

In my kitchen I want to have: LARGE pantry, wall oven, bench top hotplate, range hood over the hotplates, fridge, and a dishwasher.

I am going to have a pretty tight budget, but I want your ideas & suggestions on what you would LOVE to have if you were going to get a new kitchen & bathroom. I may not be able to afford all the wizz-bang wonderful things, but maybe I could find similar with my champaign taste, on a beer budget!

[iheartbisou]

No real advice here but I can't wait to see what you did when you get it done. I really enjoyed the photos of before/after of your front room and the floors. I do think it's a great idea for the spare room to be your bathroom- because like you said- you'll still be able to use the other one..and it's always great to have room in the bathroom- which I'm sure the spare room is big enough for a great sized bathroom. good luck!!

[MaryH]

Jacqui, do you have Ikea stores in Australia? A friend of mine here in the U.S. just renovated her kitchen on a very short budget, had Ikea help with the design/layout, it came out awesome and she didn't need a second mortgage to do it! For some people the downside to Ikea is that they do not do the installation and the cabinets come unassembled. Most people have to hire someone to do the install but if you are handy with basic tools, are willing to spend the time and maybe have the help of a "daddy fix it" you could do most of it without hiring someone. Someday if I ever do my kitchen over the only "must haves" on my list are a large pantry cabinet with pull out shelves for food storage, a couple of cabinets with pull out shelves for storing pots, pans and small kitchen appliances, a cabinets with upright dividers for storing large flats like cookie sheets, cutting boards, etc., and a corner cabinet with a lazy susan so I don't have to get on my hands and knees and dig.

[elly]

I just remodeled 2 of my 3 bathrooms, my Masterbath starts Monday. Here are the before and after pics.

[michellerobison]

Here's a few of bathroom and kitchen after shots,sorry I don't have any before shots. We did ours ourselves thanks to Lowes, Home Depot, Menards type home improvement places like that.
I think Home Depot and Lowes have semenars for do it yourselfers.

[Deborah]

What I have done in my house is to put a pocket door to close the toilet and shower off from the sinks. That way people that just need a sink does not need to wait while someone else uses the shower and toilet.

[StevieB]

In the kitchen I would suggest more big drawers, fewer cabinets, for your lower cabinetry. Or some kind of pullout in most of the cabinets. Also, painted cabinets are hot right now vs stained wood (at least where I live), kitchen islands that look like a piece of furniture, maybe it's a different finish than the cabinets. Also, many people are doing away with upper cabinets or replacing with open shelving which gives a more open look, but that seems like you'd have to have tons of storage somewhere else or a gigantic pantry. And your shelves would have to be organized :-) Have fun!!

[Michie]

My mother just finished her bathroom remodel! She isn't a very organized person but I AM and we came up with a good plan

Most important bathroom features are:
VENTILATION VENTILATION VENTILATION
Storage
Lighting
Space

She chose where she wanted the new bathroom (which was QUITE spendy moving it...all that underground moving of plumbing is where they get you! lol)

We laid out a floor plan! How much space would each item take up and where is the best places to put them. What I learned is how important ventilation is and that if I'm ever building a bathroom I will put RECESSED shelving into the walls. BEST way to save money and space. Plus..in bathrooms it kind of works.

When she puts baskets into those recessed little shelves it looks amazing! Plus it isn't as bulky as shelving or cabinets. I made sure she put enough of them in for BIG baskets toward the bottom (for hair dryers and what not)

She had them recessed in enough to have doors but she hasn't added them onto the shelves yet because she wants to put some kind of chalkboard thingy on the back of the doors. ALL FLUSH with the walls. SO FANCY! I love all the space she has.

[gopotsgo]

We remodeled the kitchen a few years back. I don't cook but I love the way the big 6 burner/griddle/double oven Jen-Air looks with the big hood above it. Probably my favorite thing, however, is the copper ceiling. We put in granite countertops which I regret. They are so common. If I were to redo I would put in soapstone or better yet, copper countertops.