Is this layout good, bad, or just ugly?

10 years ago

I need to get my appliances and sinks placed soon for permit applications so...this is an odd space and the best I can come up with is the following.

The island is 8'6.5" x 2'6", one level, no seating. Without an island, the space I'm trying to fill won't work well. If I kill the island, I'll have to shrink wall B so that A and C aren't too far apart, but then I'll have no place for the stuff I want on wall B...maybe? I dunno. I am not fond of islands. I might want this one on wheels.

Leg A is a single level peninsula (no seating) with the family room on the other side. No upper cabinets here. It's 16'3" from the wall and 2'8" wide. Planning for a 33" sink, 24" trash, 24" DW (drawers). The sink should maybe be moved closer to the range than I have it drawn here.

Leg B is a windowless wall, 15'6" outside length. 30 or 36" range, 36" hood, 18" prep sink. Upper cabinets that wrap onto leg C.

Leg C is 9' (outside length) with a 24" oven cabinet (for a speed oven and microwave shelf) and 42" fridge (built in because of island clearances). The coffee pot goes there.

The kitchen table is south of the kitchen. Just below leg C is a short hall to the laundry room (also passage to garage) and "formal" dining room. Below that is a chimney wrapped in cabinetry yet to be determined). You can also get to the dining room from beyond that.

We will be doing drawers just about everywhere we can, but will have that one corner cabinet. I can't seem to get rid of that. (The other corner cabinet at the AB intersection can be accessed from the family room.)

Any suggestions? We are sort of stuck with this footprint, or something very similar. Thanks!

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Comments (14)

lavender_lass
10 years ago
Maybe something like this? Just an idea :)
{{!gwi}}From Kitchen plans
robo (z6a)
10 years ago
Table island?

{{!gwi}}
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lascatx
10 years ago
I really dislike the short end of an island, especially a narrow island, opposite the range.

Just got tolld we are leaving, so I'll try to come back later.....
ineffablespace
10 years ago
Where do you put your dishes when you take them from the DW?

How comfortable are you going to be prepping at that little sink stuck in the corner?

I would want something on the island with some function other than storage underneath or it would probably annoy me. Hard to explain but the top seems like space filler that you won't use for anything even if you need the storage underneath.

Does the kitchen really need to be this big? In some ways it almost seems too big but things don't quite seem to be in the most efficient places.

I can't see you using that long run of counter between the DW and range--or the island top--for much of anything but then you are stuck in a corner under upper cabinets and next to a bunch of tall cabinets at the secondary sink.

I would probably find myself lugging everything over to the left of the range and prepping at the main sink, and letting stuff accumulate on the island.

I am not trying to be harsh but it doesn't seem like I would like working in it as set up, and I am used to some pretty small kitchens.
User
10 years ago
I have a U that has 92" legs and 160" on wall B. I can assure you you don't want an island as a barrier in an efficient U. Your U will only be 26" wider than mine--that's two steps. A small rolling island would come in handy for putting groceries away in the fridge. I have to put mine on the peninsula and leave the fridge doors open while I go back and forth. It's only for a few seconds, but I've been trained not to leave the fridge door open. ;)

My peninsula is 39" wide, including the countertop. Widening the peninsula will give you a deep prep area, shorten the U slightly, and provide better splash protection behind the sink. My splash zone is 19" and splashes have gone almost to the edge. (My sink is short, only 17" deep.) My wide peninsula functions as an island, though not as ideal as one across from a range. It's great for rolling crusts and anything else where I need to spread out.

What will you do on the family room side of the peninsula? You have a very long cabinet run for it to be solid cabinetry. With my wider peninsula, I added 12" of cabinets behind the 24" deep sink cab, DW, and trash cabinet. The two end cabinets have doors and hold bar glasses and fine china. I also didn't want just one cabinet at the end as it seems dated to me.

When we first set up the kitchen, we had a coffee center in the corner where you plan yours. Though we have no prep sink, it became a pain to carry the mugs there when we unloaded the DW. We now have it to the right of the sink and it works fine without getting in the way of cooking and washing dishes, even though my corners are tighter than yours. We can make coffee from the DR side of the peninsula if someone is making brunch at the sink and stove, as happened on Christmas. Your corner prep sink eliminates one drawer from your kitchen, forcing you into the island for storage. It's an expensive solution for making a cup of coffee.

In my B and C corner, I made a dead zone in the base so I could have full drawers on both sides. I read someone's analysis of the actual storage space in a Susan vs. two drawers, and the drawers had more usable storage.
Fori
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks all. I don't like it much.

I don't care too much where the prep sink goes, but I'd rather have it near the range on the range run for vegetable drip containment.

May, I really appreciate the details of your kitchen. My spouse really likes it and made me save it (which I was going to do anyway). We were planning on some sort of shelving on the family room side so seeing it done so tastefully in encouraging. What's important is that yours also looks FUNCTIONAL! :)

This is just a very gawky space. But this footprint just isn't going to work.
Thanks all!
lyfia
10 years ago
How about having the clean-up area where you have the fridge and prep sink area. Then move the stove to the other wall and then have a prep sink on the island and fridge on the same run as stove. This ggives you multiple prep areas, but makes the island more functional and not having people that are cleaning up in the prep space.
lascatx
10 years ago
The more I look at the layout, the less I like it. The island really becomes an obstacle.

Is the deeper sink run an essential item? Id go back to standard depth and give yourself more room for an island -- or possibly make both sides deeper and nix the island.

What is going on where the angled wall is? Is it possible to move the doorway that goes to the LR and DR to the other end of that run? It might not be a bad thing to loose a corner cabinet, but I don't know what is going on beyond your drawing.
Fori
Original Author
10 years ago
Interesting, Lyfia. I'll map it out and see.

My current scheme involves killing the island altogether, turning wall C into a long walk-in pantry to shrink the kitchen into a sensible U, much like Mayflowers'.

We do want to be able to accommodate multiple workers.

Lascatx, I do need a deeper sink run so that everything on the other side doesn't get wet. We ARE that messy. If I put the sink against a wall I'll be able to shrink that back down.

The weird angled thing is...well...this is an addition that is going in the angle left between an attached garage and house, so there is a lot of weird angled things.
robo (z6a)
10 years ago
If you don't even like islands, shrinking the kitchen and having a roomy U seems ideal! We'll have a roomy U and I checked out my parents' U (similar dimensions) and it is VERY comfortable for multiple people to pop in and out of and work in the kitchen.
lavender_lass
10 years ago
Fori- I think this plan does have some possibilities....especially with Robo's idea of a table/island.

The prep sink by the range is great, but I would move it over just a bit. While I like May's peninsula a lot, yours seems to be a lot longer. Maybe a combination?

The nice shelves on the other side of the sink (big opening) but taller cabinets/shelves on the back of the upper cabinet areas. You'd have a back splash in these areas (full wall) so it would be like a really big cut out.

With the island able to move around a little (maybe a butcher block top?) this kitchen would have a lot of potential :) {{!gwi}}From Kitchen plans
User
10 years ago
You'll be able to prep on both sides of the main sink. It's a large sink so there shouldn't be much conflict sharing. Maybe even make it larger...Kohler Stages? The island and prep sink would just be in my way. Like I said, this lay out is only two steps wider than mine, which I consider a one person kitchen for most tasks. We get jammed up in the bottom of the U because mine isn't wide enough. Your U looks ideal, though that long peninsula will need some design to look nice on the family room side. Can it be shortened?
sena01
10 years ago
Maybe you can move the range closer to the left corner (say a 21" cab b/w corner and range). Then you can have more b/w the prep sink and the range.

Excuse my ignorance, but wouldn't a built in fridge be flush with the counter? I think it would be better to start that wall with the oven so island can be used as landing instead of a cab near the prep sink.

If you move DW to the other side of the sink and have a shorter island moved more to the south, you may have a direct path from the main sink to the fridge and so multiple cooks can have access to a water source. Also, since the island would be a narrow one, having it a little shorter may look more balanced imo and it would be easier to move if you decide to have one on wheels.
sena01
10 years ago
OK, you said you weren't fond of islands, but when moving things around I came up with something not with one but two islands lol!

I always prefer to have the sink and the range on the same wall but maybe this could work better in your kitchen. Just an idea.

The big island has 18 trash, 33 sink and 2x24 drawers next to the DW. Small one is 65 in length and I guess can be 48 deep.

Is this layout good, bad, or just ugly?

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lavender_lass

robo (z6a)

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Is this layout good, bad, or just ugly?

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