My cabinet plans - what do you think?

12 years ago

Overall I'm happy. I have a few minor concerns, but I *think* this is going to be a wonderful kitchen. I hope. I am very happy with the overall layout; I don't want to make any changes to appliance or sink locations and the window and doors can't be moved.

Here is the view from above. There is 45" between the main sink cabinets and island cabinets and 45" between the oven wall cabinets and island cabinets. The distance between the fridge wall and island counter is around 65", but we are still working out the counter depth there. The island ended up being about 5.5'x6.5' with seating on 2 sides (18in overhang).

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Here is the view looking into the kitchen. We tried working in a lot of symmetry. There will be very tall crown molding on the cabinets and 5" crown molding along the ceiling.

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Sink wall. Window will be set 4in above the counter with a transom above. I'm not sure about the solid panel door on the upper right, but the KD suggested it for symmetry. I wish I could just do wider upper cabinets, but we can't move the window to make it symmetrical.

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Oven/rangetop wall. I love having the ovens and rangetop on the same wall, but it definitely made it harder to get wide cabinets and symmetry. I'm not sold on the ROTS under the rangetop, but I can't do drawers there because they won't line up with the drawers flanking the rangetop. I really need those drawers flanking the rangetop. Plus, I do like the look of cabinet doors to break up the small drawer panels. I just don't like the idea of opening both doors and pulling out shelves to get my pots and pans. The rangehood is made from regular cabinets and crown molding, and the two outer ones will actually be functional.

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Fridge/MW wall. This one was a bit tricky. I didn't want the MW directly next to the fridge because I'm concerned that my elbow will bump the fridge every time I try to put food in or take food out of the MW. I'm not sure I like the 2 upper 15in cabinets though. I like the look, but I think a single 30in cabinet would be more functional. My builder suggested putting an OTR MW here since it won't be as deep. He said we could use 18in deep cabinets and put trim around it to make it look built in. I was concerned about losing counter workspace because of the cabinets sticking out so far, so he suggested making the countertops deeper here. I think I'll take him up on the idea and make the countertops an extra 2in deep. The base cabinet all the way on the left is a pull out trash. :)

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Island views. I'm 99% sure that I would much rather forgo symmetry on the one side of the island (last pic) and get a 36in drawer stack instead of the 18in drawers and 18in cabinet. The other 18" cabinet is a must because it has the pull out trash/recycle. How cool is it too that there is a "hidden" 30x18 cabinet under the island?!? (First pic.)

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I picked a super susan for the base cabinet corner and an easy reach for the upper corner. I wasn't going to get a pull out tray divider, but we needed a 12in cabinet next to the oven.

I'm very pleased overall. There are actually several cabinets that I have no idea what I'll put in them- I actually have more cabinets than I need right now. (Don't tell my DH that though! LOL!) My only wish is that I could get more BIG cabinets instead of so many little ones.

So, if you made it all the way through, what do you think? Did I do okay? Is there anything horrible that I missed?

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Comments (7)

weimom
12 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I really like this! Surprisingly, your kitchen is very similar to mine with the exception being that my only sink is where your prep sink is in the island. The placement of my frig and ovens are just like yours. Before the remodel they were reversed and I really wanted the ovens next to the range. I will also have ROTS under my cooktop which I think will be fine. Can't wait to see how it all turns out!
lavender_lass
12 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow! It looks really good :)

I'm only going to ask about a few things...first, the sink area. Are you going to have one big pane of glass, for the window over the sink? If so, then the glass uppers will look very nice. If not...make sure your grids don't clash. I really have seen some that do. And, that solid upper at the end...can you possibly make that whole area glass? Maybe slide the sink over just a bit and have a bigger window? Or make the glass uppers a little wider on each side of the window? I'd rather have all glass, even if it meant a little less symmetry on the bottom and with the 90 degree upper cabinet, in the corner.

Second, do you have any other options for the hood/vent, over the cooktop? It's such a dominant feature on that wall, it might be nice to give it a look, other than more upper cabinets.

Last...I can see you like symmetry, but on the lower cabinets especially...I'd trade symmetry for bigger storage drawers. I think you'll be happier with larger cabinets/drawers, than so many small cabinets.

It looks beautiful and I really like your layout. The appliances all look good and the prep sink works so well in that space. Great call that you can access it from the fridge, without a stool in the way!
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remodelfla - Good question about the dining chairs! I think it will be OK since the island should end right about where the dining room wall is right now and it's not tight. I may have moved the wall a bit though to squeeze the refrigerator in. The drawing shows it to be a wee bit over 5 ft from the island to the table, but the drawings may not be that accurate. Is there a minimum that you would suggest? The space on either side of the cooktop is 24". Hard to tell that from the drawing. Right now I have 18" on each side and that works fine as long as I'm not trying to do major prep there. I do wish the drawers on either side were a little larger though. I would consider moving the cooktop if I thought there was another place for it. But this house has the same issue my main house had - a square kitchen where there was too much space between walls, so it would be too many steps to use opposite walls. And the adjoining walls have doors/windows that limit their functionality. But if anyone has a good idea for a different layout, I'd love to hear it!
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taggie
12 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Love the layout, it looks great! A kitchen I'd be happy to spend a lot of time in. I would do just some minor tweaks to change some of the doors to drawers on the bottom.

On your range wall, can't you put the drawers so that the bottom one lines up with the ones to each side, with a narrow drawer above it? Then you'd keep the line of the bottom drawer being unbroken across, which would actually be more symmetrical looking than the cabinets IMO.

Really though I wouldn't worry much about symmetry on the range wall bases ... no one will ever see it from the angle you're showing above; the island will be in the way and it just won't be a view that gets seen -- so for that reason I would ditch the door beside the ovens and make the pot drawers between oven and range wider so that they'll be more useful. Same thing on the fridge wall, I'd definitely lose the door for a drawer stack there too.

Last thing is that there are a lot of deep drawers in your kitchen. I think 8 pot-sized drawers, maybe more if you change the ROTS to drawers under the range. There are only so many big pots to store in those big drawers and after that point there's just a lot of wasted air. So you may want to consider changing some of your 3-drawer stacks to 4-drawer stacks. Are the cabs frameless? If so, do that for sure.

Lovely space!
herbflavor
12 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I think I rather like the bottom of window lined up where it is. I might even skip the transom...I was thinking to raise up the lower line of each glass cabinet to the left and right of window might make it more interesting.I think some staggered effect like that could really be nice. Or keep the same size of glass cabs and raise them up.You have change of depth and height on range wall...some tweak of those glass cabs to vary things is worth a second thought. the 3 panel application above the range,altho big,seems plain...does your designer have some other millwork or trim for that area-or a fancy backsplash insert for that? don't skimp around there...it's a big area and can take more detail I think. Great effort thus far.
prairiemom61
12 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Drawers are more user-friendly than doors, especially if you use large bowls or platters. Wider doors are better, like lavender's suggestions for the glass doors.
You might also consider a pullout trash can/cans to the left of your sink, instead of, or in addition to the one across the kitchen. Try to visualize yourself moving around in the space, preparing a simple meal and a larger one. Where do you open cans to drain? Do you really want to traipse across the kitchen with rinsed, dripping cans, or meat wrappers? Having it near your sink is best. Good luck, and remember, it is ultimately your kitchen, not your KD's. Do what feels comfortable, pleasing to the eye and most of all, usable!
wannaknow1
12 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I was wondering: what is the size of your kitchen? Maybe you had prior posts that I didn't know about.
Mom23Es
Original Author
12 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks everyone!

I'm glad to hear that others agree about worrying less about some of the symmetry and getting wider (more functional) cabinets/drawers instead. :)

wannaknow- My kitchen is about 13'x18'. It opens to a dinnette that's about 9'x15'. I will also have a wetbar and dropzone nearby- that's why neither of those zones are shown above in the cabinet layout. I'll attach my kitchen area floor plan from the builder below. Just in case you're interested. :)

prariemom- I actually have a pull-out trash/recycle in the island across from where you suggested it by the sink. That way I can easily access it for my prep trash and clean up trash. That was rhome's brilliant suggestion. :)

herbflavor- I was already writing WAY TOO MUCH in my original post. LOL. My mother makes stained glass, and she has offered to make me a panel for the top transom. I just need to sketch something out and figure out colors, and I'm sure it will be beautiful. That window faces due south, so I'm sure the colors from the stained glass will be beautiful in the kitchen. This is why I requested a transom for the kitchen. :) I haven't met with the finish carpenter, but my builder assures me he will do something nice with the hood. I'm a bit nervous about it too. My builder's description sounded much nicer than the rendering looks. Eeek. :-/

taggie- thanks so much! I hope we spend a lot of time in our kitchen. After talking more this morning, DH and I have already figured out several places where we want to switch from 3 to 4 drawers. I had worried about it at the design meeting and then forgotten until you mentioned it again. Unfortunately all the cabinet options our builder gave us are framed. Oh well.

lavender_lass- I'm so glad to hear you like it! The KD pointed out the issues with the glass too. The house windows will have grids so we are going to use solid panels in the cabinets. I'm still hoping to paint some beadboard for the background of the glass cabinets, but I'm going to wait a while for that. We're getting "glass-ready" cabinets and then heading to a stained glass store to pick out the glass. I have no idea what I might fall in love with there. As I mentioned above, I am a bit nervous about the range hood as well. My builder promised it would look nice. Taking a deep breath about that one.

wiemom- I'll have to search for some pics of your kitchen! I'm really hoping the layout works for us. Glad to hear you like the way yours is set up. :)

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My cabinet plans - what do you think?

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weimom

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My cabinet plans - what do you think?

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