Kitchen planning renovation: Question about windows and electrical appliances

With the fixed glazing in front of the sink, you then have no way to ventilate in the kitchen nook at all? Whether that makes sense in a kitchen?

A bit further on is the large terrace door. And supposedly with controlled residential ventilation you don't have to ventilate anymore ;)

that already looks quite "wild"


2 x HS on the left front, next to them an OS, then it becomes "flat", then the cabinets rise a little again (dishwasher) until they are high again on the far right. That looks restless.

We took the PUXU instead of the PURU, but apart from the induction hob, they hardly differ.

The PUXU costs another €1000. In your opinion, is that extra feature induction hob worth it? By the way, your kitchen really looks fantastic :cool: And the view will only get better once the excavator and scaffolding are gone.

This planning wouldn’t be my choice. ...

That already looks quite "wild" ...

Thanks for your honest feedback. I have to admit that the kitchen on our end was - until now - planned more according to functional rather than design criteria. In the original plan, the row had a continuous height with many upper cabinets. As a result, the panoramic window became very narrow (only 50 cm high) and we had storage space for two families. By removing the upper cabinets (and raising the dishwasher), this wild look has now emerged... The side-by-side fridge is probably not a sight for sore eyes, but it is well accessible from both the kitchen and the dining table. As a built-in version, it would also have to be smaller. An island with a stove surface instead of a sink is fixed for us, among other reasons because otherwise all the pots/pans etc. would be standing around there waiting to be washed up. In addition, from a construction perspective, wastewater is more complicated for us to handle in the island. We are also not completely happy with the window seat yet. We would like to have one, preferably in the east or southeast, even though the kitchen is there, too. Possibly we could enlarge the window depth inward (wood frame) to offer more backrest.

A window above the sink usually requires a transom window (otherwise the sash would hit the faucet), so you end up not only with the middle post, but also with a cross profile.

Exactly. I can only get tilt windows up to about 1 m height. That means if it should be higher, it can only be fixed glazing or with a transom including a disturbing crossbeam. And a side opening is only possible with 2 sashes at this width, including the also disturbing middle post. But tilting would probably be enough for us. Besides ventilation, one might also want to hear the "nature" outside sometimes. Therefore, I’m not fully reconciled with fixed glazing. But you can’t have it all.

I looked at the plans again and would probably really remove the bench seat and make the island longer instead. Considering how much you swear by the window at the row, you have little workspace or storage space there. And it also faces the wall because it is practically next to the sink. The reading corners always look great in photos. But I've never heard anyone say that it's a shame to have only a reading chair or a sofa seat instead of a window seat. You really have enough windows, so you don't necessarily have to cozy up physically to the window. :) Unless you want to. It helps to ask yourself what you actually expect from the reading window seat? Maybe the aura of coziness without actually having to use the bench? That would be a legitimate wish. In any case, you seem to have already thought about wanting an SBS fridge and such things. So not much can go wrong anymore. The kitchen is supposed to bring joy. I just thought of something else: if you fear that the dirty pots would be "in front" if there was a sink there: if the pots are not there, something else will be. You don’t have that much space for a coffee machine or kitchen machine. Depending on the household, the stuff is even called a "device park" because it can be quite extensive. But that’s not the case everywhere.

A full-surface induction makes sense to me on a continuous 90cm cooktop, but not on a cooktop with a central extractor. The PURU has 4 zones, 2 at the bottom for larger pots, 2 at the top for smaller pots. You hardly ever manage to place and handle 4 large pots or pans properly anyway (the cooktop is 500mm deep, a "large" pan has a diameter of 280mm... Adam Riese...)... and you only rarely need that. Usually, you fry in 1-2 large pans (fish/meat, fried potatoes/bacon beans or similar) and have the side dishes or sauces in 2 smaller pots/saucepans. I would much more painfully miss the middle zone on a 90cm cooktop... The only advantage might be if you ever need a roaster...

What makes me a bit suspicious, now that I’m looking at it more closely... you’re blowing 23k EUR on a kitchen... and you have one oven. Invest the 1,000 EUR rather in a second (steam) oven and/or a warming drawer. Or if that’s not financially possible... as is currently the case with me... then at least plan the cabinets for that.

I’m looking forward to the day when I have baked potatoes in the oven at 200°C, the vegetables gently steaming in the steam oven, the warming drawer warming the plates, and after searing, the steak goes in to rest or slow-cook at 80°C. With a porterhouse or tomahawk, that can take an hour... absolutely impossible to do that with a single oven... That is functional...

Unfortunately, your kitchen is not. The dishwasher is propped up but at least 2 meters away from every cabinet where the dishes need to go. The shelf all the way to the right is just for decoration, you can’t really reach it properly because of the window seat. I’m a fan of having the dishwasher next to or under the draining area of the sink because you can easily sweep crumbs in there. That only works moderately well with a raised dishwasher.

I think the counter space is okay. Have you ever thought about differentiating the "bar counter" for the bar stools with a "sloped countertop"? The normal countertop height of 92-96cm is only somewhat suited for a "bar." A sloped countertop with a height of 10cm has many advantages. The bar comes up higher. You don’t see all the clutter on the cooktop from the living room. And the counter can set a color accent. And such a sloped countertop can protrude on one or both sides of the island... I’m not allowed to insert a link, just google sloped countertop Nobilia... first hit... that looks worlds better than an extended countertop on "stilts"...

The PUXU costs 1000€ more again. In your opinion, is that extra feature induction cooking worth it? By the way, your kitchen really looks fantastic :cool: And the view will get even better once the digger and scaffolding are gone.

Thanks for the compliments. =) I'd say it's nice to have. Whether it's 1000 nice to have, I don't know. The kitchen is my husband's hobbyhorse. He cooks almost all the time, and he had been eyeing that appliance. Since he had significantly fewer demands on the whole house than I did (he cares less about visual frills than I do), we agreed that he should have the devices he wants in the kitchen. I find it a bit more visually appealing than the PURU. And with the induction surface with bridging function, you can use it a bit more flexibly. You can put more than 4 pots on the PUXU. Or a long roaster. The question is how often you do that and whether the extra cost is really worth it for you.