Help critique my kitchen layout

11 years ago

Hi all, we're doing a major kitchen renovation- knocking down 3 rooms and a dormer wall and making one big open kitchen/dining area.

Below are pics of the kitchen design- the kitchen area is approx. 15'x12' (the dining area will be to the left of this). The island is over 8 ft long and little over 4 ft deep. We have a wine/beverage fridge and microwave drawer in the island. The range will be a double oven- we did not want a dbl wall oven. The columns are there to support where the dormer wall is coming down. We have the island meeting the columns because we want there to be some seperation between the kitchen and family room. However, this create a large amount of space between the island and fridge/stove area. Sink will be a 30'' overhung farm sink.

A couple of things we know already need to change:

- The right wall should only be around 12'

- the lip of the island should be flush with the columns, this will push the island in a little bit more and make the clearance between the island and fridge closer to 5' instead of 6'

- Thinking of moving the pantry to the other end of the kitchen and therefore getting rid of the angled corner base cabinet.

- taking out valance over sink and just continuing molding around

- moving the wine fridge to end of island

Let me know what you think- anything I'm missing? Any suggestions for helping close the over 5 ft gap b/w the island and fridge?

Thanks!

Featured Answer

lavender_lass

11 years ago

If it were my kitchen, I'd move the fridge to the end of the sink wall. Then you'd have more prep space around the range and have the sink closer, for washing produce, getting drinks, etc. The pantry would still be handy to the range and the fridge would be closer to the family room.

You also would have room for a larger range, this way...if you need it. Two ovens, in a 30" range won't give you a lot of space. Just an idea :)

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Comments (18)

bmorepanic
11 years ago
Can those pots be repositioned? I'm guessing they are to support a beam --- so same plane but different location?

The 7'+ distance to the island is kinda too wide to make the island useful for prep. Adding onto the island width, while it brings it closer, it turns into a cleaning issue (and you've already got that with the island at 5 feet deep). Plus if you select stone for a countertop - you end up with at least one seam.

So - you might think about multi-islands, but those bloody posts would need to move.
shivy
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes the columns can move anywhere along that plane. The distance b/w the island and fridge is actually 6' in this drawing and once we move the island lip in to meet the columns, it will be 5'5''. The island is only 4.5' deep right now- so if we made it 5' deep it would reduce our clearance to 5' which I think is doable. Is 5' too big though?
We're looking at the island as more of an entertaining space so we want extra space there, but not 6'.

Thanks!
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MamaofKennedyAva
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Ok, this is going to be hard to explain, maybe (I wish I could draw it). What about taking your island (looking at the last pic you posted) and rotate it clockwise just a bit and out to the bottom-left hand side of the pic. As people are seated at the island, they can look into the kitchen...for entertaining purposes, it will create a nice flow from dining to kitchen to livingroom, while separating each space.

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Rachiele Custom Sinks
11 years ago
Personally, I like the larger space in front of the refrigerator. What type of frig? Double or single door? Either way, I like the space. I have a large kitchen with 4 1/2 feet between the refrig and the island and I wish I had a little more space. When the doors are open, it can get crowded. Just a thought.
shivy
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks Mama- we did consider an L shaped island which was positioned as you described. But the dining area to the left has about 9 ft. for table and chairs and walk way. If we had chairs from the island on the dining room side it would get very tight, especially since that is the walkway between the front of the house and the back family room. But I do like the look- thanks for the suggestion!

For the other posters- the fridge is a double door and I wanted it on the bigger opening side because I know fridges get alot of traffic. I think it would be too tight on the sink side. I agree the space is nice to have but I just don't want it to look odd. If 5' is the smallest we can get it to, we'd be happy with that.
bmorepanic
11 years ago
I had a kitchen before with a five foot aisle and we liked it.

Just saying this so you can practice if you want, but using salad as an example, get lettuce from ref, walk 8 feet, rinse, tear up and put in a spinner, spin, dump water, carrying lettuce about 7 feet back to island center. Turn, step, step, tomato and go sink again (15 feet total). Turn, step, step, other veg, turn, step, step, (cutting board?, knives? salad bowl?), turn, 3 steps to pantry for crunchy things, turn 3 steps back. Do whatever for salad dressing. Get plates and silverware or carry salad bowl over to it (about 7 feet). If you used to be waitstaff, then carry all the tools and spinner over to the sink in the same trip otherwise take another 14 foot trip to gather that stuff up.

So, it you really like this plan - life might be a bit easier with a sink on the island. Think about setting this up in the garage and do as good a trial as you can to make sure you're happy.

4.5 feet is just enough so you have to walk around to each side and clean it +/- a short handled mop for the center depending on your height and reach.
shivy
Original Author
11 years ago
bmorepanic- I'm dizzy now! Good points, but I'm actually 6' tall and my husband is 6'8'' so I can probably cut those steps in half and can easily reach across a 4 ft. island. BUT, we want to also think about resale down the line and don't want to make just a "tall person" kitchen. Or maybe that's how the house would be marketed- a tall families delight, haha!

But I have tried to map out the distance- it takes me and my husband one turn and step to make it across 5-6 ft.
bmorepanic
11 years ago
Apparently, "Your height x .413 equals your stride length" - so even for giants, its turn, step, step :)

I would use boxes and some tables to sit things on and walk through "making a meal". It's likely more walking than you'd think.
shivy
Original Author
11 years ago
Oh it will def be more walking expecially compared to what we have now which is a galley kitchen.

Any other comments on the layout?
desertsteph
11 years ago
is there the possibility of more windows? a much larger window?

more drawers?
desertsteph
11 years ago
is there the possibility of more windows? a much larger window?

more drawers?
Buehl
11 years ago
Sink on the island for prepping, perhaps

Deeper counters on the range run...make them 30" deep...it will add workspace and give you more storage:
(1) Base cabinets 28" deep
(2) Upper cabinets 15" deep (or 16" to 18" deep)

How long do you plan on staying in your home? If more than 3 to 5 years, then I would not worry about resale...design a kitchen that works for you, not some hypothetical future buyer.

Seating overhang - since you are both tall, I strongly recommend an overhang at least 15", 18" would be even better...I put 16.5" in the layout below, but you could easily take 3" from the 18" deep cabinets and add those 3" to the overhang.

Here's an idea:

The base cabinets can either be 28" or so deep or, if your cab company does not make them, pull the cabinets away from the wall by a few inches.

The island is 5' deep. I think most people can reach 30" or so to reach the center of the island for cleaning - you certainly should be able to! I'm 5'10" and I can reach across our 42" or so deep peninsula.
shivy
Original Author
11 years ago
buehl- thank you so much. This is a great layout.

So a prep sink seems like it would be necessary. I didn't think we needed it since the sink is close to the island, but if I had it I'm sure I would use it all the time. Let me see what this will cost us to do.

I'll have to see if our cabinets can be made deeper, that would def help close the gap between the island and stove.

Do you think the DW is ok where it is?

Great point on the overhang, I didn't think of that.
formerlyflorantha
11 years ago
We have a little over 6 feet between the two long sides of our G-shaped kitchen. Not a burden, but I wouldn't want it much farther across.

We have a little over 5 feet between the two sides of the opening of the G from the end of the peninsula to the refrig door. This prevents anyone from being trapped in the interior of G and allows door to be opened at any time.

Here is a link that might be useful: blueprint
_sophiewheeler
11 years ago
Even with Buell's great layout, the walking distance is too great, and the island is too deep. You've got to address the actual problem here, not the symptom of the problem.

Pay the little bit of extra money and get a steel support beam if necessary to get rid of those columns. They really are the white elephant in the room. You might even be able to do the support with a glue lam if you are OK with a header in the space---which you obviously are as it will have one with those posts in the way. A steel beam can be shallower, and it can span longer distances, making the support points in the adjacent walls instead of in the middle of the room. That will have the most impact in your kitchen renovation beyond fancy cabinets or granite countertops. I'd live with laminate counters for a couple of years in order to be able to get rid of those posts!
shivy
Original Author
11 years ago
I really don't see the posts as being an issue. I've seen a few kitchens with them and it looked great. This is a great room and the space will be very open.

That being said even if we did not like them we have to have them. We are already getting a steel header but the wall spans 24 ft so there is not a header big enough to accommodate that width. If there is it would hang very low and we did not want a separation of the space like that. The columns will look very nice and will be out of the way next to the island.
Dalchand Prajapati
4 years ago
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