I remember this layout from a little while ago, and this looks much better! My only comment is that I wouldn't want my cooktop directly across from the sink. Having said that, it looks like there is plenty of space between the two counters, so you shouldn't have a problem. What is the measurement between the two?

Also, how is the cooktop going to be vented since it is on an internal wall? It looks like it is going to be a great space for you!

ONe question the same as auchmedden... how wide is the aisle between the sink run and cooking run? Also, how big is the counterspace on either side of the cooktop?

I think it's a very intelligent layout. The only thing I wonder about is the width of the entry to the kitchen from the foyer. It looks narrow.

Think about the sightline from the foyer. I think that if you were to make the pantry flush with the wall there, and lose the hutch, you'll find your foyer will feel much larger, actually, the impression of the whole houe will be larger. If you find you need more storage - you can always put a couple of pieces of furniture there later on, but you have a lot of space with the cabinetry following the wall around into the breakfast room, so I think you'd be okay there.

Just a thought...

The distance from the island to the cooktop area is 54". On either side of the cooktop there is 30". I'm thinking about a spice pull out and a set of drawers on both sides of the cooktop.

Re the foyer opening: we're going to wait on ordering the hutch cabinetry until everything is framed and see the impact that the hutch might have. I have a ton of pottery serving dishes that I'd love to display - but we'll see if that makes sense.
Thank you for helping us with the confidence to feel that this is ready to go. Any other thoughts welcome at this point! (B4 it's too late!!)

You're going to be one happy camper when its done. You've sweated this layout!

The dw placement is 6 of one, half dozen of the other to me. I would move the ref a bit towards the breakfast room so I could land stuff beside the sink easier. Just for sxs refs, the best landing space is behind you when you're in front of it because the doors cover the adjacent counters. Also - I think the ref doors might be backwards? Every one I've seen, the large door is on the right and the smaller door on the left.

Looking pretty good. But, I think I might actually cut the pantry back to even with the front of the hutch and that framed in spot, so that traffic has a straight path through to the family room and there is a wider aisle past the island.

Is the granite going to follow the rounded shape on the island? If so, are those narrow cabinets facing the family room?

I'm sure this probably doesn't matter yet, but I would consider installing the pantry shelves in an L shape, rather than a U. The corner is not an efficient use of space in my pantry, so I'm glad to only have it on one side. You'd get almost as much usable shelf space out of running one side straight over to the wall. That also leaves one side wall available for hanging a broom, step stool, shallow rack of cleaning supplies, a white-board for shopping list, etc.

Wow! Can I come live with you? This looks really great! I love the layout.

Do you have kids? If so, have you considered a drawer microwave on your island? We just got one and it's great! I like that the kids can use it and we don't have to worry about them dropping something hot when they are lifting something out over their heads (like our original plan). Between that and the water on the fridge, they have newfound independence (and I'm not running around helping them as much)!

Good luck! This looks like a huge project!

Several of you have been here for the various iterations (and were the impetus to make a major change in the first place) - so thank you so much. I'll definitely take these suggestions into account with the cabinet plan (eg, moving fridge).

Jbrodie: I had been thinking about a microwave drawer over in the Breakfast room by the bar fridge- you've helped with that decision!

And Rhome, I think I understand your pantry suggestion....no shelves on the wall closest to the hutch? Also - I have been repeatedly asking about the jut out of the pantry, but it has something to do with a steel beam. I think I'll ask one more time for good measure.
Thanks ----

I did mean no shelves on one side... whichever side suits you. --Just across the back and on one side.

Well, if there's a beam requiring you to have more pantry space, who are we to argue? ;-)

BK - you really have sweat equity in! Good job on making sure you get things right before breaking ground - this will pay big dividends
I know you were concerned w/the visual in the powder room - the door grew from 24" to 30" and now the toilet is oriented on the back vs the right side wall on prior plan - it seems this way is more visual & what is the little tiny closet that has now morphed to a mere 18" I'm not sure that is functional- I would definitely steal that 18" of space & put the toilet there - so the visual will be minimized - if not I'm wondering why the config changed in there? I would also consider some soundproofing materials for bath - PVC & sheetrock are a recipe for sound conduction - not like the old cast iron pipes - these new materials will create unwanted noise in kitchen/foyer/music & dinning area . Given this will likely be the most used bathroom in the house I would take the extra space & go the extra mile to get it right.

I have scrolled back btwn last layout & this - I keep seeing a 6'0 for powder but it looks as though it is 4'0" based on the rest of the dimensions surrounding

Also, agree about the hutch & site lines - good call on seeing things framed - then deciding

Which way is the house oriented, where is most of the light coming from? I ask because if it is the front (south, swest facing) the main kitchen only has the foyer are to rely on for the natural light source - will the new roof be impeding in allowing natural light in there

I have forgotten exact use of "music room" but I think a solid door may be better suited there rather than a 15 light door - based on the amount of traffic in that area

are there still stools at the island & what if anything will be going on the beginning of the family room (dotted line)? a sofa was designated in last rendering - what is the clearance fr. sofa to back of stool?

Are you staying in the house during demo/renovation?
It will be very difficult & also - if you have little ones and the house was built before 1979 there will be lead dust everywhere

Looks good - best of luck

This is looking really nice and functional--great work!

I do agree with others about losing the hutch and making the pantry shallower to allow a more open feeling entering the main living areas of the house. Could you make some of the uppers over in the breakfast room into a hutch to display your pottery? Even open shelving or regular cabs with glass fronts would look nice over there and serve your purpose well.

Check out wonbyherwits's kitchen in the FKB for some beautiful hutch-style cabinets. If you already have the hutch itself, what about putting it on the far side of the French door to your porch, between that door and the windows (or are those doors, too?) in the family room.

Sleepless! Will this get easier?

Jejvtr: You've asked a bunch of great questions that I'll try to answer. Long post as a result but thank you for bringing them up.

I really wanted a front hall closet. The mudroom closet will be filled with family stuff and I need a place for guest coats. I didn't realize that it went from a 1'8" door on prev plan to 1'6" on latest. Good catch...that is tiny. But I don't see how we'd get space from the bathroom to make it bigger?? We've reconfigured the dining room wall opening to minimize the feeling of 'walking out of the bathroom into the dinner party'. Sadly, that lost the majority if not all of the hutch but I'll take the ideas about more glass in the breakfast room area to display some of my pottery serving dishes (gotta find a new place for the booze!)

Re the size of the powder room - I believe it's 5'11" by 5'4". I've picked out a really pretty furniture-looking vanity so I'm okay if the visual from an open door shows that. I'm not good at picturing what you'd actually see by looking at the drawing -- and I'm hoping it's not the toilet.

Most of the light currently comes into the house from the backyard into the family room. I forsee more natural light coming in with addn of the the breakfast room.

The music room (used to be a dining room) is not used a lot - kids playing the piano and mom reading mainly. It has a 15 light door in its current opening so I was used to that, but I'm wondering if a pocket door to the mudroom would make sense there. Close it off for piano lessons to avoid distractions but leave it open most of the time?

There will be stools at the island, and when I've marked them out with the couch placement it looks fine. One thing I just noticed on the drawing is that I've taken 6" off the length of the island to make the aisles around it a bit wider but it still says 3'6" clearance. That should be 3'9".

And, yes -- we are moving out. Had a great oppty to go into a small furnished condo down the street for 4 months. Moving this weekend!

Thanks for looking at the details. This is hugely helpful.

looks good to go.

good luck with it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nina At Home

Dunno if this helps - pocket door?
{{!gwi}}

bk
Hutch style cabinetry w/glass would be lovely in breakfast room & would offer greater visual for the pieces. A built in corner cab would also offer the same

- The measurements in the hall closet show 1'6" which is a mere 18" - the mudroom closet is showing 4'8" I believe which is the back of the powder room wall - that's where I'm questioning dimensions - that means the width of the powder room is 4'8"
* I would want to make sure ALL measurements are correct - if there are some wrong here, there may be others that are wrong as well.
- The way the powder room is config above - you will see the toilet not the vanity when the door is open/opening
Picture grabbing the door knob & swinging the door

- I imagine you are replacing/adding windows - what helped me was to take pics of the exterior of the house day & night - I chose windows that matched the architecture of the existing house - made sure they lined up with existing

- A huge undertaking - one that I'm sure you will enjoy for a long time

good luck!

Bmorepanic - I really like your suggested configurations but I wish the tradeoff wasn't losing mud room closet space. Two growing boys with A LOT of stuff. However, with the larger front hall closet the tradeoff might be worth it. I especially like the one on the right. Definitely going to think about that this morning!

Jejvtr - thanks also for hanging in there with the small stuff that could turn into big stuff (like measurements!). I believe, but will confirm, that the 4'8" shown on the mudroom closet is the doors and with the frame around would make it closer to 6" (the measurement shown by the bench/hook area in the garage).

I love the idea of a corner cabinet and wonder if that could be nestled into the pantry corner instead of the hutch. The little shaded box is apparently some annoying bathroom pipes or something but if they can work that out it would be great! THANKS.

I have some questions re door/window look that I would like to get a drawing scanned and post separately.

I'm so appreciative of the scrutiny of the hall closet size and powder room. Thank you! To avoid losing the mudroom closet I did some cutting and pasting to come up with this option. It involves going into the music room a bit (maybe 6"?) but would make Powder room wall about 6 1/2 feet.

Would also help keep the Dining Room opening a bit wider since door to powder room wouldn't open so directly into it.

My version of cut and paste...
{{!gwi}}

Bk

I assume you are working w/an architect - Agree that you are on the right path with nailing down this last part of the design - I live in an old colonial and have only a powder room downstairs it is the worlds tiniest! That said, I also know it is the most used in the house
I understand kids/stuff issue - My solution (because we also have a tiny mud area) - was to have a cubby for each child in the basement - regardless of the size of mud area/cubby it will be filled - typically with things that may be out of season - so the 2nd area (basement) has been helpful in the kid/organization - Just a thought -
Also each time you remove a wall you are increasing budget I'd see if another solution can be found

4 mos for a project of this scope seems to be quite aggressive to me. We were 6 mos out of our house & the scope was not as large - I had GC, subs, KD and was on top of everything - still took 6 mos.
Are cabinets ordered? appliances, windows, fixtures? granite ideas etc....
I don't mean to add more stress and not that this is not possible - but if things aren't ordered/chosen - I would add 25% more time - oh, and add 25% more to the budget - soon you will be hearing "Guess what we found" when you ck your worksite - that ALWAYS means more $$$$ -
In a project your size I think code may require hardwired smoke detectors & a carbon monoxide as well again more $$$ - if your house is plaster HOLD on to as much of it as possible - your house will be noisier when the replace the plaster with 1/2" sheetrock - In areas where you do use sheetrock require 5/8" rock - which will be some improvement & is fire rated - Not to mention the lead dust issue - no demo is more messy than plaster -

Ok - I just go back to my own reno - & wish that I had been prepped somewhat for what I was about to embark on -
Best to you

I actually like the original plan for the powder room and closet the best. My mom had a closet about that size and it worked perfectly for what it was intended--a couple of guests' coats. Now, we do live in Florida, so our coats aren't that bulky, but it always had plenty of space.

Also, if your other measurements are of door widths, wouldn't that 1'6" be also? I suppose that would make the closet itself about 2' wide, which I think is plenty for its purpose.

I imagine you'll use the powder room FAR more than you'll use that guest coat closet, so put the space where it will be used. I would also recommend moving the powder room door opening back a bit and making it into a pocket door to (a) help with the cramped feeling issue and (b) allow your pretty new sink to be the first thing people see when they open the door. Moving the door back would enhance the feeling separation of the powder room from the dining room and hall, too.

The saga continues...
Apparently my cut and paste doesn't work in the real world. Here are the architect's renditions if I want a bigger front hall closet. Apparently the music room would have to lose 12" not 6"... and because of where the mudroom foyer door opening is, the music room wall wouldn't be flush, the bathroom would kind of jut out into it. That could be a problem with furniture placement since there is so little wall space as it is, with windows and door openings.

(oh yeah, and I'm bummed that the inexpensive but beatiful wooden vanity I fell in love with wouldn't fit...it's 2ft around. I'd have to go to a small pedestal sink.)

So I guess the options are one of these...or back to yesterday's version with a tiny front hall closet?

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}
Bath gets pocket door.

okay - wow. Thank you. Any reason why the bench/hooks wouldn't stay as is? I wonder what the 12" deep rectangle btwn mudroom and music room could be...more closet and some shelves in the mudroom? Really interesting option. I've been thinking about your screen name today and thinking that I could be "bkevenmorepanic"