Kitchen layout - Finally!! Looking for design advice.

11 years ago

I've been lurking here for months as we work on other portions of our remodel but the time has come to get serious about kitchen design.

We started the remodel three years ago and are probably setting the record for the slowest remodel ever. We both work full-time with long hours, so do carpentry work on the weekends. We also have "while we're at it" disease, so our project has grown and grown and grown.

On to the kitchen! We are Craig's list addicts and have already purchased many of our appliances and wood from there. We have a new dishwasher, microwave, apron sink, granite and a slightly used stove already purchased. We also have a big stack of mahogany that we're planning to turn into cabinets. Ambitious or foolish, we haven't decided yet.

I've attached a portion of the floor plan that shows the kitchen, plus an idea of how we're thinking of laying out the cabinets. Would love some input on design, particularly:

1. Should the 48" stove be centered in the wall? Or should we move the stove closer to the fridge and the sink/dishwasher further the other way so they are not across from each other?

2. We're planning on all drawers other than the trash pull-out. Each unit will appear to be 4 drawers, although a couple of them will actually have 2 of the drawers hooked together fronting a tall drawer for cookie sheets, etc. Will it look strange to have that many drawers in a kitchen this long and narrow?

3. There will be a pass-through bar between the kitchen and the sunroom, probably with a 15" overhang. We're also thinking of a taller cabinet in the living room side of the kitchen that will be a serving area when we have company and will hide the kitchen mess every day. These two gar areas would be the same height on different walls. Two much?

4. Any other areas that seem odd - please let me know.

Thank you in advance for your input. This site rocks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Floor plan

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Comments (11)

Cindy103d
Original Author
11 years ago
Having a difficult time with posting the files and getting them dark enough to see. Here is the draft kitchen layout.

How do some people get the picture to show up in their actual post?

Here is a link that might be useful: Draft kitchen layout
dilly_ny
11 years ago
I can't see your layout. The link just goes to google. The easiest way to add pictures is to upload to photobucket then copy the HTML code and paste to GW.
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We have considered opening up the wall in the living room to the side door. Our living room is laid so that there is not much problem to open it up but the main reason we are probably not going to open it up is because we want to keep the door on the basement steps. With both doors wouldn't it seem like it would cause a problem trying to get down the steps or out the side door from either the kitchen or living room? If the door was open, you would have to shut the door, walk past the door, and the re open the door to use the doorway. We considered removing the basement door (even though we really dont want to) so we could open the living room up. However we still envision the same problem with the side door. As far as our kitchen size, we currently have a separate cooktop and wall oven is why we wanted to keep them separate. There will be more room for the cooktop by having cabinets along an additional wall. As far as the refrigerator, where would it fit better? We were going to keep it where it was but figured by moving it out a little would give us a larger cabinet/counterspace between sink and fridge. Also it keeps a line lined up with our counter on the other side coming off of the closet wall. Also it gives us a point to build a shelf to which we felt would look better. As far as the dining room size, it doesn't seem like it would shrink it that much as we currently have a shelf where the refrigerator/shelf would come out to. I appreciate all of your opinions, and advice but without a better suggestion I wouldn't know where it would be best to put the refrigerator, and we already ordered the cooktop and wall ovens so they are going to have to go in the kitchen.
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I just think that if someone has small children, or is planning to have children, the main living areas need a space for them to play in and store toys. Small children almost always seem to prefer playing close to mom and dad so there will inevitably toys and playing going on in the main space so you might as well plan for it. When my kids were little and most of our friends also had small children, I just clearly remember there was a distinctive difference between homes that planned for the toys and play area for the kids near the living areas and those that didn't. Those that did tended to be more pleasant for adult visiting. The kids would be nearby and you could keep an eye on them and interact with them but still enjoy adult talk. Those that didn't have a good space tended to have the toys strewn all over and the kids playing on top of the adults making visiting very hard. Anyway, my random thoughts on the matter. :)
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Finally! Ready to beg for your esteemed advice on my kitchen layout.
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A few thoughts: - A 13" drawer stack is not very useful. I would much prefer the cookie sheet/utensil pullout you have in mind. I have a U-shaped kitchen, and looked at every corner contraption I could find, to maximize use of those spaces (my kitchen isn't very large). I had two pie-cut lazy susans - the kind where the door is attached to the turntables, and the whole thing rotates together. I hated those things with a passion - not sturdy enough for heavy things (like a crockpot); not convenient for light things (like Tupperware). In my new kitchen, I have a super susan, on a diagonal, so the turntables are full circles. I have a drawer above (again, small kitchen - I needed to maximize drawer space). Some folks don't like diagonal cabinets, but it works for me. I have a small MW in the same corner - the angled cabinet provides more counter space in front of the MW. My cabinets were custom built, so I had the cabinet maker space the shelves in the SS to my specifications - ensuring that I had enough height for the small appliances I put there (rice cooker, crock pot, blender, etc). The other corner was a challenge. It's between the sink and range, and there isn't a ton of space. Since this is my primary prep space, I wanted a lot of things to be located in that space: pots and pans, cooking utensils, canisters of sugar/flour/rice/pasta. Another Susan - or other contraption to access the corner space - would limit what I could store there, and I already had plenty of storage space in other parts of the kitchen for storing large, seldom-used items. I ended up closing off the corner completely, and putting drawer stack on each side. It has been the perfect solution for us! Anything else would have reduced my kitchen to 1 drawer stack - now I have 3 (and if you've spent any time here at all, you know how important drawers are). The corner solutions that will work best for you depend on what you will be doing in those corners. I inventoried essentially everything in the old kitchen, and assigned it a place in the new kitchen. Great consideration was given to "point of use" - potholders and cooking utensils near the stove, dishes near the DW, etc. Once I knew what was needed where, it became much easier to plan the cabinets to accomodate those needs. Good luck!
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Hello, Here is the final design for the cabinet layout. I will be ordering them on Thursday and before I would like some feedback from you guys:) Thanks!
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Buehl
11 years ago
Have you had a chance to read the "Read Me" thread? It has a "Posting Pictures" topic that explains step-by-step how to post pictures.

There's also a "Layout Help" topic that describes the information we need to help you get the best design.

See the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: New To Kitchens? Posting Pics? Read Me!
nancymark111
11 years ago
Hijack: Does any one have a good program to do the floor plan and layout? I have to redo my kitchen soon.Thank you.
seattlecraftsman
11 years ago
You didn't have a lot of overall dimensions, so I threw something together full of my guesses to help visualize it:

You lost me on the later half of your third point.

Overall, seems like it would work nicely. Views from sink, lots of workspace. As for having drawers exclusively, I like heavily drawer'd kitchens. Some like to have a cabinet or two, like for a mixer, but with a pantry - which you did indicate having - you can skip them.

*edited - links to Fickr broke, fixing*

This post was edited by seattleCraftsman on Thu, Apr 18, 13 at 17:38
Cindy103d
Original Author
11 years ago
The layouts are in autocad, so don't fit with the how to post pictures thread. I couldn't find anything on how to post drawings and I couldn't figure out how to get drawings to post to online photo programs. .

Buehl - than k you for the reminder about the elements to include in the question. I read that months ago and then totally forgot about it in my excitement of actually posting something!

Seattlecraftsman- your drawing is amazingly close to what we have in mind. Hopefully others can use that as a starting point.
Cindy103d
Original Author
11 years ago
We are a couple of empty nesters with kids far away. We frequently entertain with small groups of less than ten. Family is small, so even holidays do not bring a big crowd.

Working in the kitchen - one of us is the prep cook, moving between fridge and sink area, then to countertop next to sink for chopping. The other is the cook, moving between the chopped food and the stove. We could most days of the week and every weekend. Our friends do not work in the kitchen, but like to hang out close by. We expect them to hang out in the new sunroom adjacent and open to the kitchen.

Layout - water and gas can be moved fairly easily. Moving the sewer could be done, but would be a major headache. We cannot move the walls, windows or doors. Tiny walk-in pantry at far end.

Appliances - 48" stove and hood, French door fridge set into alcove to appear as counter depth, standard DW, 30" apron sink, MW behind cabinet door.

Goal - we've lived with chaos so long, simply having a real kitchen again is my goal. Definitely going with function as the main driver. Want to minimize the clutter left on the countertops.

Other - would like to hide the coffee pot, but can't figure out a space that is close to the fridge and the sink to do so. (Heavy coffee drinker wants a spot of cream in his coffee.)
debrak_2008
11 years ago
In Buehl's "new to kitchens" thread it tells you how to post photos and layouts.
buildinva
11 years ago
Seattlecraftsman--That is amazing!!! What software did you use? I'd love to have images of my kitchen like that!
kateskouros
11 years ago
i would leave the range centered, with countertop space on both sides. and just by a very limited first glance, you may want to rethink your microwave placement, to be positioned closer to the range and fridge. think about how it needs to work for you. i need it to reheat things coming out of fridge and oftentimes to thaw something headed for the range top.

if you really want to hide your coffee pot, you can simply house it up inside your cabinet (between fridge and range) or extend the cabinet down to include an appliance garage. you might also be able keep your microwave in there depending on the dimensions. but the micro could also be stored inside upper cabs, to retain the crucial counter space next to the fridge.

This post was edited by kateskouros on Thu, Apr 18, 13 at 8:45
seattlecraftsman
11 years ago
buildinva - those are just quick mock-ups from Chief Architect. PM me and I'd be happy to put some together for your kitchen. Good practice for me. :-)

Kitchen layout - Finally!! Looking for design advice.

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Cindy103d
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Kitchen layout - Finally!! Looking for design advice.

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