Please help with our kitchen design

16 years ago

I think we're going to be able to start our long-awaited kitchen remodel soon - hooray! I've spoken with designers at the big box stores, done about a zillion plans on my own, and read a whole bunch here over the years, but I don't think I have the design right yet. I'm hoping you all can help.

Our kitchen is fairly small, 13x14, and not open to any other rooms. Our house is 90 years old. I'm hoping to create a simple kitchen with a vintage-y feel, with painted, stacked cabinets. The biggest problem I have with my kitchen design now is that the traffic pattern cuts diagonally through the room (and that won't change), with the sink on one side and the range on the other.

In order of importance, these are the things I'd like the remodel to accomplish:

1. Put the cooktop (or the range) near a sink.

2. Give us a small eating area with at least three seats.

3. Put the oven(s) on the wall, as I already have trouble using and cleaning the oven in the range, and that's only going to get worse with age.:)

We can't move doors or windows, but there are no other constraints on where things can go. We have an open basement, and moving things around is relatively easy.

I'm including three pictures. The first is an aerial view of the kitchen with measurements. (FYI, even if it looks as though there's more room for cabinets than I'm accounting for, there isn't. I just didn't draw so well.) The other two pictures are close-ups.

I know the area around the island is tight. I don't mind the 3' aisle for cooking at all - it's more than I have now, and I never feel crowded. And the chair in the cooking area would be mine, so no one would be sitting there while I'm cooking. The eating area is really only for family breakfasts and snacks, as we always eat dinner and entertain in the dining room.

I also know it will be a bit of a pain to walk around the island to get to the fridge, but I can't figure out how to get the fridge, a sink, and the stovetop or range all in the same half of the room.

Feel free to suggest something entirely different, if it occurs to you. I'm grateful for all suggestions!

An aerial view of the kitchen. The entrance at the

bottom right of the picture is from the main hallway. On the

top left, there's a door to the back yard and an entrance to

the laundry area and downstairs bathroom.

{{!gwi}}

To the left as you walk in from the hallway

{{!gwi}}

To the right as you walk in from the hallway.

I know the cabinets look a bit off. That's because

I couldn't get the heights, the spacers and the cover

panels to align correctly in the planning tool.

{{!gwi}}

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Comments (7)

tracyc
16 years ago
Hi,

This is my first time posting advice so.....

I'd move the wall oven to where the second sink is and get rid of the second sink. Then I'd move the cooktop to where the wall oven is and move the fridge further down towards the door so you'll have landing space on both sides of the cooktop and next to the fridge.

Hope that helps!
Tracy
rhome410
16 years ago
So there really isn't room for anything else to the right of the fridge?

The island and the way it blocks the fridge from your prep/cooking area really bothers me. If anyone is seated there (at any of the seats), it'll make it far worse.

A prep sink is a good idea except that you have no actual prep space left between the sink and stove. In order to chop, etc., it looks like you might have to move the food from the sink to the island or the other side of the stove, which would get frustrating, I think.

I think your 3 ft between island and cooktop is fine. That's what I have in a much larger kitchen and it isn't tight.

The island seating is keeping your island from being as wide as it could be and having the sink in it.

Tracy's idea seems it would work IF there is actually room to move the fridge down. If not, maybe put the cooktop where the ovens are and make the wall where the cooktop is now into a wall unit with pantry, ovens, and fridge...With the fridge closest to the sink. It's still a bit blocked by the island (which would also move toward the new stove location), but not as bad.
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Originally, we were thinking about using painted cabinets, but after looking at our current white/gray painted cabinets we noticed there are a lot of chips and we have only been in this house less than a year. You are right that painted cabinets have a shorter lifespan than stained cabinets; stained cabinets are also cheaper. However, you need to be happy with what you choose, so keep in mind that cabinets can always be re-painted. We have browse through thousands of pictures and everything is starting to look the same and we feel like we are in a design comma. Walk away for a while. Sounds like you need a break. It may not be completely you: we do see the same kitchens over and over and over ... and this picture is pretty much it. Our choices for wood from this particular builder is red oak (cheapest), clean alder (more expensive than red oak), rift sawn oak (most expensive). Cost is important, but which do you prefer for looks? How dark /how light? What we are looking for is a timeless look that's modern so we are thinking either shaker or flat panel for the cabinets. These two options are so trendy that they're pretty much all that's offered anymore. As for counter top the builder does offer a wide range of quartz and granite, but we are leaning towards quartz since it is pretty maintenance free. Granite is pretty maintenance free too. Depending upon what you choose, you may need to seal it once a year. Choose what you like -- don't let a 1-hour per year chore make your choice for you. This is the floor that we are thinking about using. It's a nice basic that'll look fine with today's trendy gray or beige /will blend with lots of style choices. It is moderately "patterned" though, so if you do go with this, keep in mind it'll stand out more strongly than a more neutral option. Specifically, if you go with this AND one of the oak cabinet options, I'd be concerned with two strongly patterned woods. If you go with painted cabinets OR the alder, I think you're fine. I'm guessing you are using a tract home builder and are mostly able to just choose the finishes available from the builder. I was thinking the same thing. As such, you have a limited number of choices. Can your designer show you around some of the other homes that're being built /let you see these choice combinations in real life? If you really want timeless, choose something that suits the vintage and style of your house and choose materials and finishes that are not currently super popular. That's great advice if you have a house with a specific vintage and style, but modern suburban tract house's style is "Trend 2018". Looks like a very workable layout. Yes! L + island is -- in general -- probably the best /most versatile layout.
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nicoletouk
16 years ago
Okay, here are my initial thoughts...

Center the island. 4' clearances all the way around are more comfortable, and doesn't encourage people walking through to walk in front of your sink. This is important because it leads to #2...

Flip the cooktop over to the oven/fridge wall, put the fridge to the right of where the cooktop is now, then a fabulous pull-out pantry in the middle (IKEA, right?) then your stack of oven and microwave. You will lose your second sink, is it that necessary?

Nicole
User
16 years ago
Turn your kitchen into a modified U. Keep the window wall with sink, turn the corner and have the cooktop on that wall (where fridge and oven are currently locate). Turn another corner (third leg of U) for a peninsula with seating on the back side. Maybe put a prep sink towards the end of the peninsula. Take the wall where the cooktop currently is shown for your oven and fridge wall. If there's room, put in a base cabinet and a MW cabinet for an upper, giving you a snack zone more or less out of your prep zone. That gives you a nice "cockpit" simple U for most of your cooking and cleaning. Your fridge and oven aren't that close, but with the adjacent peninsula, I think it will work.
joann23456
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks *so* much for the input. I've drawn up another draft with all of your thoughts in mind, and I'd love to hear what you think. And yes, there's really no room to the left of where I had the fridge - in the new drawing, I indicate the interior wall that blocks the space. (It's the entrance to the basement, but I couldn't find a way to draw that with the Ikea software.)

Nicole, I've used your idea, except I substituted drawers and upper cabinets for the pull-out pantry. I don't want you to walk in the back door and be immediately blocked by a high cabinet. Plus, I need somewhere for my stand mixer and toaster oven to live.

I've put a bar table in the drawing. Again, I know it's tight, but I'm going to try to make it work. One thing I have going for me is that everyone's kitchens are tight where I live, and people are used to squeezing past.:)

So, what do you think now?

{{!gwi}}
tracyc
16 years ago
Better! How about this

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

It might be a bit cramped but as long as you get stools that can go under why not?!

Tracy
nicoletouk
16 years ago
I think it is a big improvement. I don't like the bar table where it is as it seems like a safety hazard in the oven area. Why did you ditch the island? I think you would find the island (centered in the room) very convenient for prepping and using the cooktop.

I notice on the left of the DW you have a shallow cab turned sideways. Do you have plans for that cab? I think a narrow cab with drawers facing forward might be better - it is the perfect place for dishtowels, hot pads and plastic wraps. Think of it like this... Your fridge wall is the storage zone (yes, even with the oven there), to the left of the sink is the clean-up zone where you would want to store those towels and food storage things. To the right of the sink (and behind it as well - if you bring in an island) is the prep zone and the range is the hot zone.

Also, in a perfect world I would like to see the cooktop move down a bit to the right in order to give you more space between the sink and cooktop, which is prime food-prep real estate. However, I see that would mean you have to get two smaller cabinets instead of one nice wide one and you might not want to do that. Although, it might not matter. Where do you plan on storing your pots and pans? The wide drawers are great for that. Then again, how about a pot rack over the island that I keep trying to bring back?

Nicole

Please help with our kitchen design

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