Five changes that actually gain space
Listed roughly in order of cost, cheapest first.
| Swap tall larders for drawer banks | £400 to £900 | Gains up to a metre of worktop |
|---|---|---|
| Move the fridge out to a utility or hall | £250 to £700 | Frees a full 600mm run |
| Replace a swing door with a sliding or pocket door | £700 to £1,600 | Recovers the door swing zone |
| Widen the opening to the dining room | £1,400 to £3,000 | Lintel and making good included |
| Remove the dividing wall for a peninsula | £2,200 to £4,500 | Needs structural calculations |
The galley that works
In a narrow galley, keep both runs unbroken and put every tall item at one end. Two clear 2,400mm runs beat a kitchen interrupted by a fridge in the middle, even if the storage volume is identical on paper.
Aim for 1,100mm between the two runs if you can. Below 900mm, two people cannot pass while an oven door is open, which is when a kitchen starts to feel small regardless of its size.
When knocking through is worth it
Removing the wall between a kitchen and a rarely used dining room typically adds two to three metres of worktop and turns two cramped rooms into one usable one. It costs less than an extension by a wide margin and needs no planning permission in most cases, though building control notification and a structural calculation are required where the wall is load bearing.
What not to bother with
Corner carousels rarely earn their cost compared with a good pull out. Extra wall cupboards above eye level often make a small room feel smaller. And a breakfast bar narrower than 300mm is somewhere to put post, not somewhere to eat.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to knock through a kitchen wall?
- Between £2,200 and £4,500 for a load bearing wall, covering the structural calculation, the lintel or steel, propping, making good and building control notification.
- Do I need planning permission to remove an internal wall?
- Not usually. Internal alterations are generally permitted development, but load bearing walls need building control approval and a structural engineer's calculation, both of which we arrange.
- What is the minimum gap between two kitchen runs?
- We would not go below 900mm, and 1,100mm is far more comfortable. Anything narrower makes the room unusable when an oven or dishwasher door is open.
- Are drawers really better than cupboards in a small kitchen?
- Yes. A drawer bank gives you access to everything at once instead of kneeling to reach the back of a cupboard, and it holds a similar volume in the same footprint.
- Can a small kitchen take an island?
- Rarely. You need around a metre of clearance on every used side. In most small rooms a peninsula off one wall gives the same benefit without blocking circulation.