Final (I hope) kitchen layout. Thoughts, please?

16 years ago

This drawing doesn't show the distance from the corner of the table to the corner of the island; it is 4'.

Note that my KD shows the chairs pushed completely out from the table, as people tend to do after eating and while just chatting or gathering.

I will have dish drawers in the island. My microwave, oven and warming drawer will be in the in the cab labeled ovens. I was able to fit in a 36" cooktop (yeah!!!!).

I do realize that the seating at the island will compete with the use of the ovens, but actually this is *more* space than I have now in front of my oven and we cope with it okay; maybe it is suboptimal but I know it will work.

The room to the left of the kitchen is my mudroom - lockers along one wall and a family desk/office on the other wall. A spare refrigerator is tucked in this area as well.

I have a large walk in pantry behind the wall where the pan/ref/cooktop are.

Thank you for any thoughts or input. Anita

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Comments (6)

rhome410
16 years ago
Seems a pretty decent use of the space, especially since you have a walk-in pantry...Because initially I missed that fact and was afraid you'd be short on storage.

One thing...My island is oriented as your is, with the end toward the rangetop. I really wish I had the long side facing the cooktop, because that's how I would most use the wider work space. It really does nothing for me facing the sink...But I can't change that and I don't think it would make sense for you to either. So, I'm thinking that in your kitchen, I would do a lot of the prep for cooking (and maybe keep and use my mixer for baking projects) on the counter to the right of the stove, which is just fine and plenty big...But the dishwasher opens right there...So if anyone is loading/unloading the DW while you cook (or you want to load things as you go), you can't access any of that generous counter space from the sink to the stove. Because of that, I'd want to move the DW to the other side of the sink. Hope this makes sense.

Best wishes with your project!
nomorebluekitchen
Original Author
16 years ago
Rhome410, you're dead right about the island orientation. I tried a number of ways of turning it and kept bumping up against the fact that my kitchen isn't wide enough for it to run the other way.

I have my dishwasher to the right of the sink currently, and the KD flipped the trash compactor and DW for the new design. She was thinking it was better use of cabinet space because this way I get a 2' cabinet next to the compactor vs a 1' one next to TC and a 1' one next to DW if I flip TC & DW.

I'm inclined to switch them back both because of the counter space issue you mention and also because having the DW closer to the table where all the dirties come from makes more sense flow wise.

Any thoughts on 1' wide lower cabinets? Will I find them useful or a waste of space?

Anita
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Thanks so much for the responses; here is my reply: 1) Doh!! I will definitely swap the trash and the DW -- so the DW is where the trash is now, and vice versa. Caligirl, do you think that would be enough? 2) As to the clearance, I have outlined the island on my floor with painter's tape and the 36" seems OK but I will investigate again -- maybe when the time comes I can leave the island cabs not bolted down for a while (or put legs on them and let them be freestanding -- I love Ikea!!). That would give me a chance to live with it for a while before committing to any particular clearance. Feedback? 3) I would LOVE to put an overhang with seating on the island, and had originally planned to do so, but I just don't see how I have the clearance on that side of the island -- right now, there is 51' from the island to the low, red cabs, an overhang would add at least another 12", then I need room for people sitting AND others walking behind them. Also, I figure I need extra clearance there to minimize the amount of traffic invading my work zone. Am I overestimating that? Again maybe I will just throw a piece of plywood over the island for a while, live with those dimensions before committing to a countertop. Thanks again --
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The giant island is a barrier island and doesn't offer room enough for seating...and just too wide to clean. It would look HUGE. My opinion. (Think of containers of things left too long in the fridge, assuming we're not the only ones that happens to... You need to get them to the cleanup sink...I'd rather walk in a straight line to the sink instead of carrying an armload of these things clear around the 'continent' or placing the items on the island, then walking around to retrieve them --quite a reach with 6 1/2 ft of counter width/depth-- and finally transfer them to the sink.) The T is better, but still impedes traffic from getting back and forth across the room. I like the table separated for that reason, and because I think it would be more pleasant for family meals...Again, one woman's opinion, since I'm biased and just not into counter meals. If you are deciding between the table T'd into the island or separate, it should be easy to build the kitchen, then decide exact table location later...and move it around as it suits you. This option keeps you from being stuck with something you won't like.
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Just some little things... The narrow pullout bases can be very pricey - check with the cabinet maker. Remember that with framed cabinets, the pullout itself will be at least 3" less wide than the cabinet. With frameless, it will be 1.25 to 1.5" less wide. So if you want to stretch dollar bills, simply do larger cabinets. As an example, the 9" cabinet by the range can be married to the 22" drawer cabinet and produce a 30" cabinet with a 1.5" filler. It sounds ridiculous, but that alone can save a couple of hundred dollars. Having a filler is important when both sides of a cabinet run are up against a wall. Walls are rarely completely level, or square and the filler "takes up" those small differences. You need to allow some air space on both sides and the back of the ref - generally, its an inch or two. Corner pantries right beside a ref are difficult (not impossible) to do correctly. Unless you are getting a fancy ref, the doors of the ref need to be in front of the side wall of the pantry. If they aren't in front, the doors won't open at all. Also, if you need to pull the doors open past 90 degrees to clean, you need to insure the entire door depth can fit in front of the pantry and its door trim. Another small issue with corner pantries and ref huts - The counter should die into the side panel. The counter will be roughly 1.5" deeper than the base cabinets. But the over the ref cabinet needs to be mounted flush with the front of the side panel (or so the cabinet doors are flush to the front of the side panel). I'm not saying "don't do it". I'm saying be very careful and thoughtful about it because its very easy to get wrong - even when done by professionals. As drawn, you wouldn't be able to open the ref door all the way and the ref door and the pantry door have high probabilities of running into each other. There is no possibility of having the side panel turn out in the correct place or be the correct depth for the counter. Personally, I would make the cabinets the same heights - either 42" or 48". The every-other-one pattern looks cluttered. I'm a little bit wondering where you're going to keep the ladder.
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If what you like is a one-wall kitchen with an island, that is possible. You'd have a super long island that is 3' deep and way roomier walkways (4') around the island. If you did that, I'd just make the nook a straight windowseat. Like this: The island has legs on one end for seating like this: The bay window provides extra space needed to walk comfortably behind the island seating. I'd add another doorway into the dining room, since that is now your primary eating area. You want non-cooking traffic to be able to get back and forth without entering your kitchen work zones. And I think you'll generally like the greater visibility and circular flow between rooms. If you orient the island drawer stack closest to the dining room so it opens toward the dining room, you'll be able to unload the dishwasher directly into that. And glasses can go in the pantry, which is just a step or two further. The pantry is floor-to-ceiling cabinets and around 12" deep. That's great pantry storage - stores a ton, and it's easy to see everything with nothing lost in the back. Note that the downsides are: - You lost a hallway closet and deepened the other hallway closet in order to elongate the one-wall part of the kitchen. You wouldn't have to do this if you lose the wall ovens, but I assume you don't want that. - It's going to be complicated to vent the range hood. - You'll need to get a fridge with one door and drawer freezer so they don't bang the open dishwasher. Or make peace with not opening the fridge and dishwasher at the same time.
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holligator
16 years ago
I have found my 12" cabinet to be the least useful in my kitchen, so I agree with your KD on that one. Plus, I tend to scrape my dirty dishes into the trash, pile them in the sink, and then put them in the DW from there. I'd hate to have the DW between the table and the sink because it would completely disrupt that flow. If the other way is working for you currently, though, it probably wouldn't bother you to switch them.
rhome410
16 years ago
I'd avoid 12" base cabinets if I could, but not at the expense of having that much valuable counterspace blocked by the open dishwasher. If there is no way to rearrange to get more efficient use of the cabinets on that wall, I'd just make sure they're used well...Baking trays, step stool, drawers for essentials...Something. They are far from useless at 12"...Just come up with a special purpose for each and you can love them! ;-)
rosie
16 years ago
Nice kitchen. You're going to love it. I do agree, though, that the corner may very likely end up your main prep area (it would be mine, nice as the island will be for spreading out for big meals) and that the layout really needs to fit it for that possibility. If that's the case, a dysfunction there would be a constant irritation.
alku05
16 years ago
I agree that you should move the DW out of the corner, but if it were me....I'd move the sink off center to avoid the 12" cabinets. Centered under a window is nice, but not when it's going to divide up your base cabinets. Especially with a large window, having the sink off center isn't a big deal and not that noticible if you don't have an apron front sink.

We chose to have our sink 6" off center in front of a 5' window and don't regret it at all.

Final (I hope) kitchen layout. Thoughts, please?

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rhome410

nomorebluekitchen
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Final (I hope) kitchen layout. Thoughts, please?

Comments (6)

rhome410

nomorebluekitchenOriginal Author

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rhome410

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nomorebluekitchen
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