Without seeing the floor plan and going by your description, it is too tight on the refrigerator side.

Also a person at the range and a person at the sink will be standing in almost the same spot.

I would try some layouts without the corner pantry and cabinetry all around the perimeter.

Moving the position of the island would also be helpful, but I don't know if that is possible without seeing a floorplan.

I think it's too tight in front of the fridge and I would eliminate the corner pantry. I really thought I would love a w/i pantry but in our last house I ended up hating the wasted space. I found a pull-out pantry far more functional.

BTW, we're doing our kitchen in almost the exact same layout. Once I have drawings I'll post them and you can compare.

For some reason I couldnt see the floorplan the first time, sorry--its definitely too narrow over by the fridge, and that fridge is drawn as essentially "counter depth".

Here are photos of the entire layout:

{{!gwi}}

As you can see, I don't really have room to move the island. (Right?) I could make it smaller, at least by a half foot, to create room near the fridge... ?

RE: sink and oven, there are only two of us in the house. No kids... no plans for kids... and neither of us are big into cooking. At this point, I don't see that being an issue, but it's a good point! Since the great room has a view of the kitchen, I wanted the sink and oven to line up visually.....

RE: pantry... I have a small walk-in pantry currently and love it. I've never had just cabinets, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it. I appreciate the feedback... :)

Finally, the door in the nook won't be there. There will be double sliding-glass french doors in the great room, instead.

Right now the sink and range are a "near miss" in terms of lining up so it may make sense to not have them line up at all and do a bilevel island to hide the sink all together if you are thinking that elevation is going to be a focal point. Bottles of hand soap and dish soap tend to be left out and do not a focal point make :)

You've got an awful lot of real estate eaten up by hall, laundry, master closet etc. Your laundry room is bigger than your dining room, your master bath is bigger than your kitchen. Even if you don't cook a lot the over all apportioning of space is something you might want to take a hard look at.

I agree with pal - the refrigerator aisle is too narrow. Even a counter depth fridge will be about 30" with the doors and handles, and you need an extra 1" of clearance behind the fridge so figure 31" minimum from the back wall to the front of the handles. With the doors open the depth is about 43" plus the inch for clearance at the back... and suddenly your open fridge door is practically touching the island. (That's for a French door style; single door or side x side you need even more room.) Look up the specs for your model to see the exact measurements.

Also some day you will need to pull the fridge out for service or replacement, and you would have to move your island or the wall next to the fridge in order to get it out. So overall, I think you need to sacrifice 12" or more from the length of your island. Sorry for the bad news.

What is the length of that short wall shown to the left of the fridge? That architectural column next to the fridge needs to be set back enough so that you can swing the fridge door open past 90 degrees, otherwise you won't be able to get the drawers out for cleaning. It looks like you need to shorten that wall just a bit.

Regarding the pantry, it doesn't seem like you're gaining much storage space over a regular corner cabinet, and you're adding a door that could create some awkwardness when open. I think you'd be better off with regular corner cabinets and having a counter there will make the corner feel more open. It would allow you to move the cook top a bit closer to the corner so it wouldn't be back to back with the sink.

That cabinet run on the cooktop wall looks like it could extend further, at least to be even with the end of the island.

What size table will you have in the nook, and how many people are in your family? That will help know how much space is needed there.

And this is just personal opinion, but... I notice that many of your lowers are cabinets rather than drawers. Many on the forum (including me) find drawers to be much handier. So for example you could have drawers for pots and pans next to your range.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread on drawers with great pics of organization ideas

"Right now the sink and range are a "near miss" in terms of lining up" --- They will line up when I meet with the kitchen guy... just an error in the floor plan I have. That's one of the things I meant when I said dimensions aren't quite right :)

I don't like bi-level islands, so single level it is. I will probably have a soap dispenser in the sink/counter to avoid the mess.

It looks like I have a serious problem with the fridge to address! Thanks for pointing out the amount of room I will need, everyone.

"You've got an awful lot of real estate eaten up by hall, laundry, master closet etc. " -- The floor plan wasn't that way originally. We added space to the entire master suite and laundry because that is where we wanted more... (The laundry is also the dog room. :)) The hall part definitely bothers me, but I haven't figured out a solution yet...

"What size table will you have in the nook, and how many people are in your family?" We will probably have a couple of chairs with a little end table there. There are only two of us. We don't expect to sit there normally.

"And this is just personal opinion, but... I notice that many of your lowers are cabinets rather than drawers." :) I was thinking about that. I can change that when I meet with cabinet guy next..... I am not sure if that matters to me; however, if I remove the pantry, I'll be able to add lots of drawers.

I would consider pushing the kitchen footprint into the nook area since it is only going to be an additional seating area.

You didn't ask, but I would also consider squaring off the angle on the dining room. It doesn't add much to the plan and will restrict chair and table placement. A stepped ceiling calls for a centered table, and a centered table will put the chair in the 10-11 o'clock position in a weird place.

palimpsest: I still appreciate the advice, regardless of which room. The dining room is a big open room. There are columns, as indicated. Otherwise, there aren't any walls there. It looks like this:

{{!gwi}}

Those dimensions are the same and would look fairly similar.... ours would be all wood floors, though.

Hi Lolauren- I was looking at your layout and something caught my attention that I had to respond to, and then I saw palimpsest just said the same thing.
Please carefully consider the two pillars in the dining room. We built a 3200' ranch during the last 18 months and had the same dining room layout. When I started to search for new furniture, I was devastated to find that I had built a decent size house but didn't have room for a huge dining room table. Needless to say two pillars became one which required modifying the tray celing and weaving in brazilian walnut flooring. It ended up costing around 3k.
If you are like me, we may not be able to convince you to modify your plan, but I wish someone would have tried to talk me out of the two pillars.
About your kitchen, I agree the path near the refrigerator is too tight, but I also would do everything I could to save that pantry. I love mine as well. Good luck!

I am not overly concerned with the dining room. From what I can tell, my 6 chair table will fit in that space just fine.... I am not looking for anything bigger than that. Ann2010, how big of a table were you looking for? We rarely entertain and have never needed more than 6 chairs in the last 5 years. Haha. That sounds sad, doesn't it?

How would you square off that space, anyway? Just have one pillar in the corner (which would define a rectangle-shape space?) I guess that makes more sense, since I do have a rectangle-shaped table...

Seeing it IRL convinces me that you should pull the corner of the dining room out to create a rectangle. The angle doesn't contribute anything to the entryway and takes away useable space in the DR. It will be as open, the opening facing us in the above picture will be larger.

palimpsest, also... I've thought about using the nook space for the kitchen.... but, I can't come up with a floor plan that works and still has a large island. I also can't put cabinets in that entire area because of cost! :) Do you or does anyone else have a suggestion on how to rearrange things to best use that entire space?

Hi Lolauren- Here's a picture of my current dining room...empty again for some touch up painting : ) I originally had two pillars. If you look up at the ceiling the pillars were where the inside corners of the drywall points are. We did just what pamlimpsest suggested, squared it off and ended up using one pillar. My table is only 48x72 and expands to just over 100" w/ the leaves. The two pillars made it a tight squeeze to walk all the way around the table when the chairs were pulled out. By the way, at least you have used your table in the last five years! But, if I ever do want to feed a group in that room, I can now walk all the way around the table! Sorry again, didn't try to make an issue out of something that may or may not be.

ann2010 ---- Thanks for the advice AND the photo :) I know it wasn't what I asked, but I think the two of you have a good point. It isn't something I would have thought about, but I definitely advocate maximizing spaces!!

I'd really keep the corner pantry as a closet -- Much more usable shelf space, and a significant cost savings over a cabinetry version. (Doesn't hurt to ask your builder though, since if your cabinets are site-built, that might not be true.) If possible, have adjustable-height shelves on ALL of the available wall space, even though some would be narrow. In a pantry, even 6" deep shelves are VERY useful. For your pantry doors, I'd go with two narrow 'French doors' rather than the larger single. It's more gracious, more interesting, and IMO, a bit more practical since it won't block aisles.

The fridge aisle has been covered -- necessary change. Either shring the aisle or scoot the island into the nook. And don't worry too much about lining up your sink and range. The only time the offset would show is when you were standing dead-on straight to the range and obsessing about it. And setting your faucet to one side would effectively camoflauge any offset anyway.

I'd agree with the idea to expand your kitchen into the nook, because the existing kitchen space just seems too small for the rest of the house. Maybe a nice hutch-style piece with dish storage and serving pieces on top, linens and ugly stuff down below? Then a really cute but comfortable 'bistro' table and two chairs in front. Someting cozy and intimate. Keep your decorating style the same in both rooms and make it a gracious eat-in kitchen instead of a separate breakfast room.

For your dining room, I totally agree about ditching the angle and squaring it off. It'll be so much more furniture friendly, and it's not a large room to begin with...

Here is an attempt at using the nook space, moving fridge, getting rid of that awful master bedroom hallway, etc.

{{!gwi}}

Feedback?

ps. I added an overhang on the fridge side of the island. This adds a seat or two extra... (what we are missing from not having the nook space.) I would just put small stools that sit under the island entirely there.

If you go with the revised layout your posted at 23:02, I would suggest that you reverse the door swing for the MBR - you want the door to swing in to the MBR hall, not out into the kitchen. It should be hinged on the right and swing in. Bathroom door should also be hinged on right and swing in to bath, not out into hallway.

Your builder will also need to line up the columns for the arched opening into the kitchen with the laundry/kitchen wall. The way you have it drawn, the laundry wall juts out too far into kitchen, disturbing visual uniformity of the arch. That means dropping back laundry wall 6 " or so, so the walls are lined up correctly.

I think the point made earlier about the "near miss" of the range and sink was meant to say that you DON'T want them to line up, because you can't have people working at the sink and range without bumping into each other. I like your last layout with the long el; how about putting the ref. at the bottom of the long end (by the MB door, which as nanny said should swing the other way), and move the range closer to the upper corner. That way: you don't have sink and range users bumping rears, and if you want to fetch a drink from the ref it's closer to the dining area. (Just check your aisle width with your model refrigerator's depth.)

I also switched the swing of the bathroom door so that it swings into the bathroom. I think this is pretty standard.

I incorporated the garage hall into the laundry room to give you more room in the laundry, because some room was taken up with the extra door. Not sure how you feel about eliminating the door from the laundry into the MB closet, but if you remove it you get more wall space in both rooms. (I can see the appeal of going straight from closet to laundry, but I'm not sure I'd like such easy access from the garage to the bedroom.)

{{!gwi}}

The swing of the doors isn't set. I will go thru the layout and tell the builder that info, door by door, when the time comes.

The door from master closet to laundry was ADDED in by me. I looooooooooooooooooove that feature, and I want to be able to leave my closet in the morning by going thru the laundry room to garage :) It works for our lifestyle. We have different work schedules and are sleeping at different times. That, and we don't have anyone in the house other than us.

RE: removing hallway next to laundry room.... I discussed this with the builder and will also have the option to do this if I decide..... as they are building. I like the idea of using that space instead of it being wasted. On the flip side, I like the idea of locking in the mess in that room too. :)

Thanks for the comments!!

chicagoans: I think that ref. placement could work that you mentioned... and yes, the oven could be moved.

Does anyone have their oven and sink lined up currently? Any feedback there from experience? I don't see that being an issue for us........ we rarely cook, are a family of two and dishes don't stack up in the sink. I will have to sketch it out on the ground and see what it feels like, I guess. I do appreciate the feedback and suggestions..... also, it's good to know what a potential buyer is thinking :) (we plan on being in this house for a long time, but you never know...)

Here's an idea (assuming the door in the Nook can be closed up)...

I'm out the door, so no time to go into details...but at least this gives you something to think about.

Quickly: Separation of Prep & Cooking Zones from Cleanup Zone
Plenty of workspace in all zones
Several good Prep Zones
Refrigerator & MW on periphery
Dish storage can be convenient to both Cleanup Zone & table area

I know you don't cook much and you have no children...but what if something changes? I think a well-laid out kitchen is a good thing, no matter what...especially if you're going to be sinking money into it. Besides, if you ever want/have to sell, the Kitchen will not work against you, rather it will help!

buehl --- THANKS! You definitely have a great eye and it helps me to (Clearly) see another idea. I am also running out the door, so I'll have to look when I get home :) nonetheless, thank you for taking the time...