The Great Debate: Wall oven or under bench oven?
You’re currently in the design stage of your
kitchen renovation and there’s one thing that’s stopping you from starting the building and the installing: where do you put the oven? Should you put them underneath the benchtop, cooktop and rangehood to create a distinct cooking column? Or should you mount it against the wall in an oven tower at a taller height? If you’re trying to weigh up the pros and cons or if you’re struggling to figure out which option is the best fit for your lifestyle, look no further. In this instalment of QN Designs blogs, we’ll run you through the considerations and factors that you should think about when making this decision to help make your life easier and to help get moving along that renovation timeline!
Bench Space
One of the major advantages of placing your oven underneath your benchtop and adjacent to your base cabinets is that you get to improve the overall amount of bench space that you have. The frustration that occurs from having minimal bench space is one that people with smaller kitchens tend to recognise more often. In these cases, every square centimetre of bench space is of value and the benefit of having the oven situated underneath the bench top rather than in an oven tower is significant.
For more tips on how to improve bench top space, check out our previous blog
here where we explore five ways to maximise the amount of kitchen bench space.
Layout
While a top-mount sink sits jovially above the benchtop, an Another factor that can determine where to ultimately place your oven in your kitchen is about the layout and look that you are trying to achieve. For instance, if you have a galley kitchen and want to create a streamlined wall of floor-to-ceiling cabinetry, then it is easy to incorporate an oven tower or a wall-mounted oven into these cabinets.
Alternatively, if you aren’t much of an appliance user and instead want to showcase the sleek glossy look of your cabinet faces, it becomes apparent that having an under-bench oven can help to emphasise the uninterrupted profiles of the doors. Under-bench ovens also adapt well to most layouts of kitchens and is always good to fall back on if you’re unsure if having an oven tower or a wall oven is feasible. Under-bench ovens ensures that there are clean vertical lines which give a modular feel rather than a jigsaw-type look.
Lifestyle
Finally, the way you use your kitchen, what you normally cook and how you prefer to move around your space is also an important determinant in your decision on where to place your oven. For an example, if you’re an avid baker and consistently like to use your oven, then having a wall oven can allow for easier access than having to squat down or bend over perpendicularly each time you want to put your cakes in to cook. This ergonomic feature of having a wall oven can also come in handy if you’re experiencing back pains or of a maturing age.
Alternatively, if you love to constantly have guests around and would greatly benefit from having two or more ovens, then having stacked oven towers adjacent to each other can come in handy. It allows you to keep your prepared food warm while the rest of your food is being cooked. At the same time, you can show off your cooking skills by having your wall oven in plain sight for your guests to marvel at rather than being hidden away underneath the benchtop.
Having a wall oven tower can furthermore allow you to have multiple appliances stacked in one place. Most oven towers nowadays allow a space for a microwave to sit above the oven, so all your main practical appliances are in one place.
Contact Us Now
If you’re trying to find out other alternatives for the placement of your oven or if you have any further queries, we’re always happy to help. Every detail of your kitchen is of value to achieving your dream look and we here at QN Designs understand that.