I agree taking the pantry out of its current location makes sense.

Could you put the microwave in a microwave cabinet or get a new one to put over the range (ie get it off the counter) and then have room for a 15 inch pantry with pull out shelves between the dishwasher and the wall? Though it might be awkward/tight with the door... Can the door be switched to swing out instead of in?

Can you post other pics so we can see more of the base cabinets - have you maximized the use of drawers instead of shelves in those?

I think white cabs with dark counters can work great in a space like yours. Especially if you're drawn to it, you will be happy there. The white cabs will do a world of good to brighten up the space.

A couple of questions. Do you have kids? Do you ever find that people get in your way while you're cooking? I'm thinking that if you flip the peninsula so that it comes off the other wall, that it'll offer protection to the cook from passer-thrus. Also, if the frig was at the end of the sink run by the DR and slider, it'd be more convenient to snackers and last minute table condiments.

What ever that door leads to, is it possible to make it swing out of the room? Can you pull it out and replace it with a pocket door?

If you get rid of the pantry, what will you use?

Current placement theory says to move the ref to the dining room side of the kitchen. If you explore that notion, you might try the ref where the peninsula is and let it expand the length of that side a tiny bit towards the table. It can keep duffers out of the work zone, but it can also make you feel closed off at the sink.

I'd be more than tempted to do 30" deep counters on both sides instead of - or in combo with a bulge out of the counter - where the peninsula is. It makes more counter by allowing room in front of "stuff" like toasters and coffee pots. In your case, it would also decrease the distance from the range and sink by a foot.

Generally, this is done by padding out behind the base cabinets, BUT ordering wall cabinets that are deeper (by 2" to 4"). This increases storage, but might be pricey depending on cabinet line.

I would have counter depth built in refrigerator and have a 24 inche deep cupboard above for those not so often used items we still want in our kitchen. I also agree you should get an above the range micro/convection combo.

Thank you for all your feedback everyone! I don't have time before work this morning, but I'll play with moving the refrigerator as suggested. I did snag a couple more views of the cabinet runs though. I put a microwave above the range, but it doesn't fit yet as I've not measured real products. I'll do that tonight and make it a bit prettier.

As for the pantry items, I've been looking at a number of cabinet lines and Schrock's "super cabinet" struck me as a cool idea (for the right side of the range). Because I bake a lot I have relatively large containers of flours so I don't know how practical it'd be. I also don't have a lot stored in the peninsula right now (tupperware mostly), so I've been thinking of ways to use that space as a pantry and find a drawer for my plastic stuff.

I'd not thought about doing 30" counters, that would certainly help increase the working area in front of the stuff on the counters. Thanks for the idea.

Here are some new pictures. Thanks for all your help!
Bri

North wall:
{{!gwi}}

South wall:
{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Supercabinet- 36

Oh, I forgot to mention. We don't have kids, it's just me, the dh, the dog and the cat. I don't tend to have a lot of people traipsing through the kitchen when I'm cooking, but I can see how moving the refrigerator or flipping the peninsula would cut down on traffic in the workspace.

And I'm very much open to flipping the door to swing into the garage rather than the kitchen.

Thanks!
Bri

Regarding your original question, I think white cabinets and dark countertops would be great. I did this in the last place we lived - the kitchen was a different shape but also quite small. I have photos of it somewhere - I think on 3.5 disks - I will see if I can find the external drive and post them. Personally I love the look of white cabinets and black counter tops (since you don't have kids you can even go with painted).

I agree with bmorepanic about the pocket door - we are putting some in and it will really make the space seem less cramped. And with michellemarie about putting a 24" depth cabinet above the fridge. You could store cooling racks, cookie sheets, etc. above the fridge. Or you can put a pull-out tray in there and just pull it out so you can access the whole space.

Your garage is off your kitchen - are you able to use it for storage? My mom lives in CA and uses an extra fridge and tall cabinet (Ikea I think) for extra food storage (Costco etc.) and it works great.

Can you remove the soffit above the upper cabinets to gain some additional upper cabinet space?

Depending on how much space you need under your sink (will depend on how deep your sink will be, do you have a garbage disposal) you can do an inverted sink base. This is where you have a drawer on the bottom and all cabinet on the top (no pull out shelf).

Hi Bri- Your kitchen layout is almost exactly like mine-right down to the location of the MW. If you search my screen name, you can find my posts for help to get more ideas, although I am trying to open up my kitchen to the FR. Anyway, I think if you get your MW off the counter and raise the peninsula to standard level, you'll find it's a good amount of counter space.
Oh- and it was also recommended to me (in one of my "keep the wall up" options to move the ref to the end.

Good luck!

Dang this forum moves quickly! It took me a minute to find this thread.

I'm not really thrilled with the idea of having a pocket door to my garage as I'd be losing a lot of thermal efficiency. I do use my garage for a fair amount of storage. I can a bunch, so I store all my canned goods out there (which helps the pantry situation out a lot). I also have a secondary freezer in the garage, so the freezer inside is used mostly for the things I need access to fairly regularly, things like ice and ice cream. :)

I totally agree about the 24" cabinet above the fridge, I actually thought I'd put one in the plan until I looked at the renderings. Oops. I'll put one in this evening when I'm playing with refrigerator location.

Thanks again!
Bri

Ok, I started playing with moving the refrigerator to the sink wall as suggested, but I'm a bit concerned that I don't have very much space between the fridge and the sink now. I do like the huge expanse of counter on the stove side though! :) I'm kind of at a loss as to how to set up the cabinets on the stove side as far as drawers/doors etc, but this is a first shot. I also need to put end panels on the fridge, but figured this would get the point across. Thoughts?

Thanks!
Bri

Layout:
{{!gwi}}

Overall:
{{!gwi}}

Sink wall:
{{!gwi}}

Stove wall:
{{!gwi}}

You can let it mooch over about 4-6 inches towards the ?slider? and do a 24" cabinet beside the sink. The over-the-ref cabinets normally REQUIRE at least one side wall - they need three surfaces of support (ceiling, wall, side).

I don't know if I would do it, even tho it sorta makes sense, because of that feeling of big lump between me and everyone else. So this shows a couple of other things.

I'm not a big fan of super cabinet. In real life, I think it would be hard to see what you had and you'd be kneeling on the floor a lot. So this adds a 18" pantry that serves as the side wall for the ref cabinet and schedules that entire wall as 30" deep to recess the ref a bit. I'm also thinkin that using the smallest sink base you possibly can is better. Lotta people have "crammed" a nice, big, single bowl sink in a 30" cabinet.

You'll also see a gap with a filler on both sides at the garage wall. I ain't got no layout program so I'm just making it explicit...

{{!gwi}}

Bri- how about something like this? I think my kitchen is wider than yours, but it may work for you.
{{!gwi}}