The pantry looks like great storage but I also feel it's too big and makes the room seem off balance. I'm wondering about making it slightly smaller and adding one extra set of drawers to the area near the range?

How about running the cabinets straight to the wall, with a 36" counter-depth pantry cabinet floor to ceiling at the end? You will get more floor space, more counter space, and only lose a bit of storage. Drawers can be used as "pantry" for many things.

lazygardens, I was talking to my DH and DD about that very idea this morning. It seems it would create more balance in the kitchen. I will do a search for both here and hopefully get some ideas and if anyone has pics they'd like to share that would be WONDERFUL!!! :)
Thanks so much,
Sunny

I currently have a kitchen with a similar elbow across from the refrigerator. I hate it. Perhaps it will be different in your case. But for me, it makes accessing the fridge awkward. And because traffic flows in and out of our kitchen through that path, it makes it very difficult for anyone to squeeze by while someone else is accessing the fridge. Just something you might want to take into consideration with your design.

You have a 4 ft opening at the bottom end of the kitchen, but less where the fridge will open. I could deal with less by the pantry, but would want a wider path in front of the fridge.

Another option would be to possibly get rid of the L by the fridge, and consider making both counter runs deeper...A double plus with More workspace while creating a narrower aisle to go back and forth.

Here is an alternate idea for a step-in pantry that will look less looming and give you more workspace to each side of the stove. --And I prefer a 90 degree corner cabinet so you have a longer run of usable counter in each direction and more open floor space.

{{gwi:1781491}}

Plus I like what I can see of your interesting house.

pricklypearcactus - and others I agree with the spacing from the elbow to the fridge. My last ktichen had only a door and no one could pass until the fridge door was closed and it was aweful!

rhome - your layout is much better. THANK YOU! I found your pantry and Shar's and love how they work. And so much less waisted space. I will research deeper counters, too. I know I've read something here about others doing that and it seems like a fantastic solution. I will also cut the end of the elbow off. (CHOP CHOP) The original kitchen was 2 larger 'L' shapes facing each other but I didn't have room for that so this is a great solution. Can you give me some ideas as how deep would work and still be workable?

bmorepanic - thank you for your support on our house. It's been a long road. We thought about adding the pantry to the wall behind the bath but I really need some type of office space. That area will host both a desk and small closet for office supplies, some craft supplies, etc. But.. thank you for your encouragement.

Thank you again for your input.
Sunny in Texas

I talked to DH tonight and we both agree that rhome's step in pantry ideas is better than the vast hole of a walk in pantry.. so I'm calling my builder tomorrow. Any other ideas or suggestions?
Sunny

My builder likes the idea of making a step in pantry BUT then I wondered this: I'm just adding to my own confusion here but I'm seeing in my head a more open concept with a long/narrow "U" shaped layout along the back wall where the range is with elbows on each end and an island in front. The island would be similar to what the sink run is now only shorter. I could put the sink of the elbow nearest the dining area and enjoy the views from all area of the front of the house.
HELP???
Sunny

Do you mean you'd take down the wall that shows now behind the sink, something like this?

Not sure of the kitchen's exact measurements, so not sure how much room is left for the island...so can't say how big of an island would fit.

This isn't built? Try an "L" design plus island. These are other stray thoughts- take or leave as you will.

Not trying to be critical of the desk exactly, more saying that I don't know how much time you want to spend sitting in a hallway. My guess is that space will become a total dumping ground.

What about including a standing desk somewhere. Use a small, tall work surface with pencil, file and junk drawers? Or a small furniture piece in the mbr or living room? Have enclosed storage so you can just flip the lid up to close. Or something like that anyway.

Having a dumping ground isn't a bad thing and I wonder if the LAUNDRY ROOM and perhaps the shared bath behind the kitchen could be re-arranged to move the powder room into the same general area as the shared bath with an entrance near where the desk is shown and the laundry become a laundry-Mudroom-dumping ground - so the dumping ground is behind a door and the powder room is accessible from the main living areas without going into the laundry.

Alternately, it may be possible to relocate the laundry closer to the bedrooms. The current laundry becomes powder room, closet and office?

Last, maybe think about solar tubes for spaces like the hallways and the laundry? Maybe even the kitchen... No view, but natural light. My understanding is they aren't very expensive.

Is that the pantry in the corner? If so, I agree that it's too big given the size of the room. I have a pantry with just one shelving unit and just 32 inches wide or so and as long as you keep it organized and use the space wisely, it's plenty of room (we keep the microwave in there too because I hated having it on the counter).

Sorry I've been MIA but it's been a crazy past few weeks and I forgot to check the place to notify me of responses so didn't realize there were any. I'm SO sorry! I really appreciate the advice more than you will ever know. I posted the plan on the building forum and received some great advice there as well! I'll post the whole plans here to share. We are making several changes to the plans which aren't reflected here, yet.
~ We are going to rework the guest bath and scrunch it down to add another foot to the office cubby depth and give a bit to the kitchen.
~ push the kitchen back about 6 inches by using wasted space in both bath areas.
~ reduce the size of the Master bedroom slightly for a few extra inches walkway in the laundry room and move the sinks down a bit in the master bath to reduce wasted space. Using that space better somewhere else.

As bmoresporadic mentioned I worry about the desk area becoming the dumping place but I run a pretty tight ship and keep things fairly neat so I HOPE it won't be too much of a problem. My family tells me I have OCD, OCD, OCD, OCD. DH and I talked about placing the 1/2 bath in that hallway instead but put it in the laundry area for 2 reasons. First, we have horses and I'm a dirty gardener and we hope to have a pool in the next few years so this will keep dirty and wet people from having to go all the way into the house. Also, we will use the utility sink and keep costs down by not adding an additional sink. I do some work from home and need some space for computer/office supplies, too. That's what the closet will be used for.

One thing I forgot to mention we are enclosing a small portion of the back porch area past the laundry room - taking in the porch for a tiny 'mud' room.

Rhome - I think I gave up on an island. I feel I had to choose between an island and those precious uppers... although I really wanted an island!

Also, we LOVE solar tubes. My sister has several and they make a huge difference. My kitchen will be half open with an extra window in the dining area (which isn't on the plan) along that blank wall so I should have enough light and view that I won't need one there but we will have them in the long hallway and guest bath.

A few of the small changes we are making:
Taking out some space in the Master Bath which I knew had too much wasted space so re-work the M bath to add space to the master closet.

Scruch the kids bath down. Push the kitchen wall back.

SO.. on to the kitchen. My final plans go to the builder this week so I have to get this 'right'. I found a layout that has an angled kitchen and I'm wondering if this would look better and mimic the front windows?? The sink run will be partially a full wall (both uppers and lowers) and partially open to the dining/living area with only lowers near the sink with seating at the counter.
The length is 14 feet which sure sounded like a lot until we stepped it off, (now wish we had 20!!! LOL) and the width at present is 11 feet but I can steal another 1 or maybe 1 1/2 by stealing from the living area and baths.
My thoughts (and I'm sorry I don't have this drawn but will try to draw something tomorrow) is for the sink run to have a trash pullout (possibly double sided to access it from both the dining area and sink area), DW, a set of drawers and no uppers. Then past the DW would be another set of drawers (is there room for 2 sets?) with uppers above. At the end of this sink run I was thinking a narrow 'hutch' type built-in with one drawer, rail style baskets below and 3 open shelves for displaying above. Is there room for all of this??
The range/fridge wall will have a 30" NXR gas range with a set of drawers on either side, step in pantry, and fridge (which will be set back a few inches into the wall so it won't stick out as much. I would love to get a few extra inches here for prep space. Would it be worth it to do a smaller pantry? I love to bake and cook but I also don't have a huge abundance of bakeware and food. The microwave will be built-in next to the fridge on a shelf which will be slightly lower than regular upper cabinet length. We talked about a MW drawer but I don't think I can get it into the budget.
Should I try to draw this?? I tried using IKEA and just didn't get the right look. Should I stay with the straight sink run or would it look better and is there enough room to do something at least slightly angled? (which I'm posting below for you to see as a reference)
Thanks to all the helpful adive I know we need 4 feet between the fridge and counter and 3 1/2 feet between the pantry and other side of that sink run.

OHHH, BOY HELP!!!

OUR PLANS:

The front bay window will have my lovely grand piano there and will be in the trees. It will hoepfully feel like we're in a tree house. :)

Here is the 'sample kitchen' with the angled kitchen.

Well, I hope I haven't completely confused everyone. I'm open to suggestions and opinions.
Thank you once again... this is an amazing place.
Sunny

Sorry I've been MIA but it's been a crazy past few weeks and I forgot to check the place to notify me of responses so didn't realize there were any. I'm SO sorry! I really appreciate the advice more than you will ever know. I posted the plan on the building forum and received some great advice there as well! I'll post the whole plans here to share. We are making several changes to the plans which aren't reflected here, yet.
~ We are going to rework the guest bath and scrunch it down to add another foot to the office cubby depth and give a bit to the kitchen.
~ push the kitchen back about 6 inches by using wasted space in both bath areas.
~ reduce the size of the Master bedroom slightly for a few extra inches walkway in the laundry room and move the sinks down a bit in the master bath to reduce wasted space. Using that space better somewhere else.

As bmoresporadic mentioned I worry about the desk area becoming the dumping place but I run a pretty tight ship and keep things fairly neat so I HOPE it won't be too much of a problem. My family tells me I have OCD, OCD, OCD, OCD. DH and I talked about placing the 1/2 bath in that hallway instead but put it in the laundry area for 2 reasons. First, we have horses and I'm a dirty gardener and we hope to have a pool in the next few years so this will keep dirty and wet people from having to go all the way into the house. Also, we will use the utility sink and keep costs down by not adding an additional sink. I do some work from home and need some space for computer/office supplies, too. That's what the closet will be used for.

One thing I forgot to mention we are enclosing a small portion of the back porch area past the laundry room - taking in the porch for a tiny 'mud' room.

Rhome - I think I gave up on an island. I feel I had to choose between an island and those precious uppers... although I really wanted an island!

Also, we LOVE solar tubes. My sister has several and they make a huge difference. My kitchen will be half open with an extra window in the dining area (which isn't on the plan) along that blank wall so I should have enough light and view that I won't need one there but we will have them in the long hallway and guest bath.

A few of the small changes we are making:
Taking out some space in the Master Bath which I knew had too much wasted space so re-work the M bath to add space to the master closet.

Scruch the kids bath down. Push the kitchen wall back.

SO.. on to the kitchen. My final plans go to the builder this week so I have to get this 'right'. I found a layout that has an angled kitchen and I'm wondering if this would look better and mimic the front windows?? The sink run will be partially a full wall (both uppers and lowers) and partially open to the dining/living area with only lowers near the sink with seating at the counter.
The length is 14 feet which sure sounded like a lot until we stepped it off, (now wish we had 20!!! LOL) and the width at present is 11 feet but I can steal another 1 or maybe 1 1/2 by stealing from the living area and baths.
My thoughts (and I'm sorry I don't have this drawn but will try to draw something tomorrow) is for the sink run to have a trash pullout (possibly double sided to access it from both the dining area and sink area), DW, a set of drawers and no uppers. Then past the DW would be another set of drawers (is there room for 2 sets?) with uppers above. At the end of this sink run I was thinking a narrow 'hutch' type built-in with one drawer, rail style baskets below and 3 open shelves for displaying above. Is there room for all of this??
The range/fridge wall will have a 30" NXR gas range with a set of drawers on either side, step in pantry, and fridge (which will be set back a few inches into the wall so it won't stick out as much. I would love to get a few extra inches here for prep space. Would it be worth it to do a smaller pantry? I love to bake and cook but I also don't have a huge abundance of bakeware and food. The microwave will be built-in next to the fridge on a shelf which will be slightly lower than regular upper cabinet length. We talked about a MW drawer but I don't think I can get it into the budget.
Should I try to draw this?? I tried using IKEA and just didn't get the right look. Should I stay with the straight sink run or would it look better and is there enough room to do something at least slightly angled? (which I'm posting below for you to see as a reference)
Thanks to all the helpful adive I know we need 4 feet between the fridge and counter and 3 1/2 feet between the pantry and other side of that sink run.

OHHH, BOY HELP!!!

OUR PLANS:

The front bay window will have my lovely grand piano there and will be in the trees. It will hoepfully feel like we're in a tree house. :)

Here is the 'sample kitchen' with the angled kitchen.

Well, I hope I haven't completely confused everyone. I'm open to suggestions and opinions.
Thank you once again... this is an amazing place.
Sunny

The problem I see with both kitchens is that you have most of your counter space where you need it least. There's no room to prep next to the range so it's a 6 or 7 foot trek from the prep counter to the cooking space. That wouldn't work for me. I would swap the range and sink. In the angled kitchen, if the range were centered on the long wall, there's plenty of room for a prep sink and you would have a wonderful workspace. The sink would be centered on the opposite wall with enough counter space of either side for clean up. The down side is you lose your pantry.

A swap would also work with Rhome's step in pantry layout. You could then have a corner prep sink, a la Buehl's kitchen. There'd be plenty of space to spread out for prep and the clean up area doesn't clutter the cooking space.

Last night I spent over an hour and it said ERROR when it sent so I resent this morning and it there 2x's! Sorry about that.

Good morning Cheril. Thank you for taking a look at this and for your thoughts. My concern is then I'd be cooking in front of the counter where people sit and I'd be facing the wall when I wash dishes which neither feel right for me. I'm frustrated and not sure what to do.

What about placing the range on the sink run? I can consider a pull out pantry, too. I feel I won't like that as well but I NEED some prep space. In my last kitchen we had the range acrosee from the sink (about 7 feet) and athough not ideal we got used to it. It's more the space on either side of the range that seems to bother me most. What if I put the pantry at the end of the sink run leaving more counter on the range side??

I'm heading to work but can check back in at lunch. Wish I had time to 'play' with it today and draw some options. Maybe tonight.
THANKS so much!
S~

I need to really give this some thought.

Seems like I'm always pulling up this plan, but when I see your whole houseplan, it reminds me of Twogirlsbigtrouble's final kitchen layout. She also had a bfast room/dining area toward the top of the plan and a great room to the left. She expanded the kitchen a bit to manage all of this:

rhome this seems like it might be a great solution. I found what I think was her last thread where her kitchen was partially complete. I will try to email her and see if she has completed pics. Without the wall ovens it will allow me to shorten that run to my 14 feet. We hadn't budgeted for a prep sink but I'll sell my last kidney and beg DH because! I wanted one anyway and this is the perfect place for it. I like that I can place a seat only type stool under the island and sit to prep if needed. Do you feel there is enough walking space?? At first it seemed choppy but once I think about workable space and how each area would be used it seems to flow nicely. For me that closet would be a pantry for small appliances and overflow groceries, ect.
I'm feeling better already!
You all ROCK! Blessings to you rhome :)
Sunny

First, that last plan from Rhome is perfect. Seriously, I love it. and I can see why she has to pull it out again and again, it's so functional and just plain makes me smile.

Second, a prep sink need not cost a kidney. Here's a combo for about $110.
D bowl from MR Direct $70
SS PPf Marielle Faucet $40
Done and done without any black market body selling. Granted these are just options, but a prep sink does not have to be a budget issue, because I bet you could down-grade two light fixtures (or something) and find a spare $100 in any house budget

I think that closet was her pantry, too. We all agreed that when we worked on the plan, the aisles were a little closer than recommended, but definitely workable. Different people deal with aisle size differently. I think I could manage as long as there is 36" clear, and she has that in both aisles of this plan. I have 36" between my rangetop and island and it's far roomier than I'd expected. I think she got an amazing amount of storage, workspace, and function for the size of the space...and room for her girls to join her in the kitchen because of the different zones, too.

If you get in contact with her, maybe you can convince her to post her finished photos...We'd all love to see!

Great layout, Rhome. Sunnny, not sure I'd give a kidney but I'd give a lot for a prep sink and a separate clean up area. If I would have been able to fit one in my kitchen, it would have taken priority over everything else.

I think we have a winner! Both DH and DD like this new layout. We want to see if we can make the hutch narrower and keep the step in pantry in the kitchen but other than that it seems wonderful. I played with the plan on graph paper and with stealing some space on both sides of the kitchen it should work perfect.
Is there anything else that needs to be addressed?? We close on Thursday and start clearing Friday. It's hard to believe it's really coming together after such a struggle.
Ya'll are amazing.
Sunny

You've mentioned a few changes to the layout, which is, of course, necessary to make it yours and make it fit your space...But it'd be good to let us have a look, if you'd like, so that we can make sure the changes didn't create any problems you might have missed. Not trying to make it seem that you're not aware of your own needs, but I know how hard it is to keep track of everything as you make changes...Since as soon as you make one change or adjustment, it seems to affect EVERYthing else, and not always for the better. So when you ask if there is anything else to be addressed, we can't really tell without seeing your 'final' layout.