Just a tiny note about the wall at the ref - it needs to be kept behind the ref door hinges.

Maybe float some shelves between the two posts(dishwasher and stairs)?

{{!gwi}}

I like the shelf idea! That helps make those dumb columns seem like they have a purpose. I have a collection of mid-century glass birds that would be great there....

And, yes, I just drew that wall next to the fridge a little long! We'll keep it to counter depth, I think that's right. (?)

oooo, I like the shelf idea, too bmore!! If you can, try to incorporate some lighting from above to illuminate the shelves and your glass bird collections - this will make it a great highlight and seem very much on purpose!

the little cabinet door behind the MW in the island for seldom used items - would it be better suited to face the single stool side (a 12" cab) to hold platters or cookie sheets, etc??? just trying to think of ways to optimize storage.

Great idea on the platter storage! Yes! Probably a cheaper cabinet, too :)

Can you reverse the hinges on the door to the basement so that the door opens flat against the back side of the kitchen wall? Or maybe better, make it a pocket door so that you can have enough room for a 3' entry door as well as a wider opening to the basement? If you only have a width of 5' for the mudroom, it'll be tight no matter what you do here.

I'd put the pantry (12-15" deep cabinets) along the wall at the end of the front closet and the end of where you have the pantry. Then I'd put the desk where you have the pantry so you can put shelves or cabinets above it. The glare of light on the desk can make it difficult to see what you're doing, and sitting in front of an outside wall with a window in the winter can get cold! That location would also hide the mess that usually accumulates on most desks ;o)

Anne

Stacey,
I have been following your journey. It is getting better
and better. Keep up your hardwork. It is going to be
wonderful.

Have you looked at Outwater Plastics?
www.Outwater.com

I am on a tight budget for my own kitchen Reno.
This place has some neat items that are lower priced
than Lowes, Homedepot or your local Hardware store.
They have an 11 by 18 inch deep pull out trash can.
Maybe this could work?

They have a pot and pan divider kit for a 11 by 24
inch drawer that might help storage wise for your
pots and pans. Actual dividers for the tops.

I would also look at IKEA they have some
interesting storage solutions.

If I see anything else on my own organizing
kitch reno journey that fits your place
I will post.

Looking good, Stacey. I actually like the bigger island for the space. I think the expanse of the countertop will give an illusion of a bigger kitchen, and make for a substantial island with some style over a minimal, more mundane one. I guess I see the island as kind of setting a bold tone in, and anchoring, the space. But I also don't want to steer you wrong and crowd the fireplace area so that you don't have room for chairs and for for people to walk through... And maybe my vision for the area is different than yours. In a Craftsman home, I like beefy, square elements.

Thanks guys!

I will look into Outwater plastics. I am already a big Ikea fan and will use a few of their things (for instance, the tray dividers are waaaaay cheaper than rev-a-shelf and others!

rhome410, you know, I think you are right. I have been looking at it some more this morning and I think it needs the larger island. It would be about 5' by 46" or so including overhangs. Expecially now that the column elements will be very beefy (as they'll just be the sheetrocked existing masonry piers) I think bigger is better. I actually have more room between the island and the fireside seating than I had in the original plan - there's still 10 feet between the counter and the fireplace wall. I think that is enough space given the scale of the room, if I keep the stools low-profile and backless. What do you think?

Could you scoot the fridge down another foot and move the mudroom opening a little toward the east? This would make the stove run seem less crowded, make the desk/pantry area seem more a part of the kitchen, and open that area to the light of the windows a bit more. You could use the wall behind the fridge next to the stairs for additional hooks or a message chalkboard.

Making the stove run less crowded would also mean you could comfortably move your sink more to the left and into the opening to the left of the columns.

I think I'd like the dishes in drawers to the right of the DW. This would be easy to unload and closer to the table. I tend to like glasses right next to the fridge, but that puts them pretty far from your DW. Still, having them there would mean someone could come in to get a glass and fill it from the fridge without crossing your cooking and prep area. I'd like pots, pans, and cooking utensils in the island. I'd use the cab to the right of the stove and the susan next to it for spices and food items I don't want to hike to the pantry for.

I'd still like to see that desk area be a bit more functional. It seems like a lot of space not to be working harder for you. I know it would add cabinetry costs, but could you make it into more of a u-shaped butler's pantry-type area, with just a nook for a stool/desk function? (I'm picturing a mini version of willowdecor's butler's pantry.) Maybe some open shelves or a hutch on the right wall? Putting a sink in there would mean it could serve as a wet bar, and you could have your coffee maker, mugs, etc., over there, as well, leaving more storage available in the main kitchen area.

Oh, and even with a solid divider above my pull-out trash, I can't bring myself to store eating or cooking utensils in that drawer. I use it for miscellaneous kitchen gadgets (can openers, corkscrews, rubber jar opener thingie, chip clips, etc.).

Hi holligator-

the problem with moving the fridge a foot to the E is that the soffit and column can't move :( It's load-bearing. So if we moved the fridge, there would still be a 8 1/2" deep soffit above it. We have LOW ceilings (7'9") so the uppers are running all the way up. So you'd have this section of upper cabinetry, off-center on the fridge, with a soffit running into it. :(

Excellent thoughts on the cupbards & storage, thanks!!!

In the little desk/pantry nook, the one thing we can't change is the window placement (again, those darn brick walls!) so there's really no way to put any shelving along that S wall or it will block the window and look akward.
Perhaps I am misunderstanding the "U"?

and, yeah, I was wondering about how I'd feel putting utensils over the trash!! It can be plastic wraps and foil, perhaps?

jimandanne_mi, thanks too for your input. That window is pretty high, as it's above an existing kitchen counter right now. We actually did have a row of pantry cabinets facing the kitchen (I think that's what you're describing?) in an earlier iteration, but the cost of adding that much more cabinetry was not a happy thought. If we tuck it around the corner like this, and DH builds simple cherry sliders, it would save some money. We're already increasing our granite costs by about $800+ in this layout! Ack!

One of the things about that desk nook area that DH also likes is that it gives us some wall space (under the desk) on which to relocate one of the cast iron baseboard units we're removing. We are losing a LOT of wall space in this plan and he's a little worried about finding places to put those heaters. They can't easily go on the firesplace wall because it's brick faced. So he was really happy to be able to put a 5-foot length under the desk there...

I was thinking that way about the desk because, since I have a home office, I seldom use my kitchen desk. It serves as a place to keep my grocery list, a cup of pens, and my dogs' cookie jar, but that's about it. I sit at the island when I have my laptop in the kitchen. The desk is pretty much wasted space. I figured that, since you're adding a home office space, it might become the same for you.

Yours looks like it could be such a useful area, though. Here's something like what I had in mind...

If you really want a desk there, then one part of the U could have no lower cabs, just counter, and a stool could be tucked under. There's certainly no requirement that any of it match your kitchen cabinets, either. I think I was so storage deprived for so long, that I can't look at potential storage spaces without wanting to make them useful.

Your DH's plans for the heater may make all that irrelevant, though. Would the wall between the front door and the pantry work for that?

Re what you said about the bigger island and low profile stools: That's what I'd do. Thumbs up!

Thanks guys! :)

OK, I am refining the desk/pantry area. I drew it again and holligator is right, there's too much wasted space there! No need for a 5 1/2' wide desk with nothing underneath!

Now I am thinking that only the right-hand 30" or so is a knee-hole for a stool and a counter-height desk area, with a drawer unit base to the left, and then, perpendicular to the desk wall, 18" of floor-to ceiling storage which houses, on the counter and behind appliance-garage-type-doors: microwave and coffeemaker, grinder, etc. Above those doors are two tall sliding panels, below then is just one sliding panel to access the left-hand space, (with a blind reach-in situation back 12-15" or so, and some wasted space behind that.)

Since we can't afford all that cabinetry to match our kitchen cabinets, DH says: we'll build shelves into the framed and drywalled space, and he'll build the sliding door panels from cherry to match our kitchen. Since they're on sliders the fit isn't as crucial: he has done this on boats he works on. WE'd get an Ikea base drawer cabinet and he'll make matching drawer fronts and side panel. Another option is make them from poplar and paint them to match the trim... we can wait and decide once the kitchen is in. (might make the space brighter... that's one concern I have about the cherry cabinets in the middle of the house.)

I worry because he has so much else to do on this kitchen (all the plumbing, electrical, and finish!) but he says he can work on it at work on lunch break and it'll be fun.

I quite like this idea, he can watch the sunrise while making coffee just like he does now, and I'm using more of the space, holligator!

I just don't know how those coffee stations work in practicality: doesn't the heat/moisture hurt the cabinets? Or do you have to slide it out onto the counter when in use?

Now I can see where having a small sink there would be helpful for filling the coffeepot and stuff, but (even though the plumbing is already there) I don't think I can justify the extra expense for a nice bar sink and faucet (since it's so visible!!! When it was a laundry room I had no problem leaving the existing.) PLUS I rally do like the idea of the desk nook there. It would be my bill-paying area. I was wondering where I was going to store that stuff at the island.... here I have drawers. I do like it.

stacy - your plans are really coming along....congratulations. Just something to think about. If you are planning your coffee maker in that pantry area, you're going to be carrying water across the kitchen and walkway to fill the pot. Then you're going to be walking with a hot coffee mug to the island, placing it there and filling with milk(assuming you use that). Then, you're going to be taking the coffee pot across the kitchen to clean. I'd either reconsider where you're putting the coffee maker, or, since the plumbing is already in that space, I'd put in a small sink. I think it would look perfectly fine in there. It's no more visible than the kitchen sink....

Yeah, I was thinking about whether it would be a pain to walk with the pot of water. It IS a very small space, though... that distance is about 20' or less.

I don't have space for a sink AND the desk, so I will have to decide.

I think the desk is more versatile and makes more sense in a kitchen this small, don't you? DH is laughing his head off that I am even mentioning adding a second sink in such a small kitchen!

I'd go with the sink, personally. You mentioned earlier that you hated filling the chicken water in the main sink, which is one reason I was so fond of the sink in the mudroom. If you have a second sink in the kitchen, at least you can fill the chicken water in one sink and use the other sink for human needs at the same time.

I thought you were going to use bedroom 3 as an office? I just think the desk in the kitchen won't get that much use.

Seems like you might be able to fit a smallish sink and a smallish desk area? Mine is 42"...and I use it a lot 'on the fly,' whereas an office desk might take more work to get to and things would have to pile somewhere.

A sink and faucet don't have to be that expensive.

I drew it out and I can have 41" inches or so of "desk" space next to a 30" base with the sink about 15" from the garage. That seems like it might be just enough space to pull out and use the coffee maker, but still be able to have a laptop on the desk far enough away from the sink. Dare I believe I might have my cake (or coffee?) and eat it to? I get a kitchen desk AND a coffee-nook/butlers pantry area? AND sunshine and sunrise view open to the kitchen?!?!?!!??

I am just bumping this -hope that is not rude- to keep it current because of the server problem.

I need to order my cabinets by Thursday so I'm hoping for any more feedback you might have! The pantry/coffee/desk zone won't be built from the cabinets I'm ordering, so I just need to finalize the layout in the main part of the kitchen. Thanks!