IKEA kitchen in small awkward space

The Bug

I'm hoping to get an inexpensive kitchen in IKEA and have a builder friend help me install it. The problem is it's going into an old cottage and the space is quite small, there's also 3 doors and a window in that small space, and I have to work around the existing extraction fan and plumbing so i won't be moving the sink or oven. I'm having difficulty trying to design it using their online planner, it's very glitchy. The kitchen is approx 500cm x 250cm.
Budget it small so I can't go with a custom made kitchen. Anyone have any experience designing an IKEA kitchen in this kind of space? How did it work out for you, and how much did it end up costing? I know I'll need to talk to their kitchen planners but I'm not in Dublin so I'll have to make the trek up in the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime I'm trying to figure if its even doable.

GeorgeOrwell

There's a pretty good online kitchen planning tool on the Ikea website.

If you measure the kitchen, you can enter the location of all the doors, windows and awkward spaces and view it on a scale model.

It might help you decide how to lay it out.

The kitchen planner is fairly slow and buggy but keep going with it.

budhabob

We're a good bit through an ikea kitchen install. The tool is handy, use it on internet explorer, less buggy that way. You're not completely tied by extractor fan location, recirculation is an option not requiring venting.

The Bug

Yeah I've been using the planner but it's very buggy, it would try anyone's patience! it's more difficult than I thought to try to fill in the kitchen. I'm left with awkward gaps and cabinets encroaching on the window and stuff. I'm trying to put in a breakfast bar for example and its just not working for me. I'll keep going with it and see.

The Bug

I'd appreciate any opinions on this too: is it totally unacceptable to have the door of bathroom directly in the kitchen? I was planning to put in a small "hall" off the kitchen, which would just mean you'd go through two doors to get to the bathroom rather than having the bathroom door directly in the kitchen. However this is taking up too much space and I'm already tight on space.

GeorgeOrwell

The Bug wrote: »

is it totally unacceptable to have the door of bathroom directly in the kitchen?.

I think it's acceptable. In many cases, it will be the most logical and obvious layout.

There's no point in losing space in the kitchen or bathroom by making a pointless hallway.

budhabob

The Bug wrote: »

I'd appreciate any opinions on this too: is it totally unacceptable to have the door of bathroom directly in the kitchen? I was planning to put in a small "hall" off the kitchen, which would just mean you'd go through two doors to get to the bathroom rather than having the bathroom door directly in the kitchen. However this is taking up too much space and I'm already tight on space.

Regulations used to require a "landing" i.e. 2 doors between kitchen and bathroom, but this is no longer the case.