I can't imagine having a kitchen that is too large! You need to be able to accomodate many people and have room to explore your passions. To me, the kitchen is the most important room in the house and where we spend most of out time. I would love to see your plans and final results. Have fun planning your dream kitchen!

I can't say if 40x19 is too large for you and your family, but in our 1940's house that's roughly the space taken by the kitchen, part of the den, one bedroom, a bathroom, about half of the DR/LR, and I think about half of another bedroom. [grin] My biggest concern would be if things are so spread out that you lose efficiency. In our redo I am stretching out our layout to accommodate more than one cook, but I have to admit that I will probably miss being able to do most tasks within one foot pivot or a step or two. Anyway, yes, please post your layout so the gurus here can have a look, and also check it yourself to make sure you will not have to hike too far or go round an island whenever you need to grab a little butter to add to the pan.

Good luck and have lots of fun with it! I was going to say I would love to build from scratch too, but since we are smack in the middle of the kitchen redo, the prospect is not as enticing as it would be normally. ha!

Yes, it's too large for the actual kitchen area for efficient cooking. You'd need rollerskates. Look up the NKBA guildelines and use those dimensions to help you plan.

No, it's not too large if that's the kitchen, eating area, family area and some entertaining space.

I think I would need to see the plan, to put it in context

But this is larger than the entire footprint of my house, and I can't imagine that I would like a workspace that took up my entire first floor...it doesn't seem very efficient regardless of how you entertain.

I don't think it's too large. I'm assuming that includes the eating area, and that you'd compartmentalize the cooking and prep areas and probably have a separate snacking / beverage area for the kids and for guests.

Our kitchen is 16 x 20 and I could have happily used up another 10 feet, and there's only 2 of us. So for a family of 7 and counting I think you'll make good use of the space.

I do think that a single 20 foot island sounds too long though. Can you post a layout?

I can't answer without seeing your house plan. We have 8 kids, who all work and play in the kitchen, and they often have friends over who join in. I also wanted to plan so that we could all work without conflicting traffic or space issues, and for future grandchildren.

Our kitchen is 19' by 16', plus an alcove that includes the freezer, our 2nd fridge, and our small walk-in pantry. It took a bit to get used to a room this large, because of things being more spread out than we'd ever had before. I do fear that with 40 ft, things may be spread too far, but I'm excited to see the idea in plan form.

I agree that a 20 foot island seems pretty long to navigate around, and you may want to split it for a more convenient traffic pattern. I almost designed a 10 ft long island for our kitchen, but am very glad we have a 5 ft island and table with walking space between... But that's in the middle of our kitchen, and the split allows us to get from one side of the room to the other.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Kitchen incl layout

Thank you all for your comments Here is a dollhouse view of our first floor plan. To the back right you will see the pantry which will include a secondary washer and dryer as well as a freezer. The twin fridges will flank the left of the kitchen, divided by windows, and the baking center and beverage station will be on the right concealed with pocket doors ... also divided by windows. Any input is very much appreciated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dollhouse view of first floor plan

Sorry, pasted the wrong url for the picture. Please use the new link below to view a picture of the kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dollhouse view of first floor plan - correct url

I can't imagine having a kitchen that is too large! You need to be able to accomodate many people and have room to explore your passions. To me, the kitchen is the most important room in the house and where we spend most of out time. I would love to see your plans and final results. Have fun planning your dream kitchen!

if all of that includes the family room it should be ok. I can't tell what the area with red rectangles actually is. It look like one huge room for kit/eating and family room.

is your only sink in the big island? with the stove straight back (up) from it?

I'm having a tough time with the dollhouse view. Is there only one sink in that entire kitchen? I can't figure out where the beverage center in your description is.

I'd like to see an overhead view vs the dollhouse to confirm, but to be honest, I'm not loving the houseplan. All of those inside/outside corner jut outs will mean a very complex and expensive house of 1000 gables roofline. It appears that symmetry is very important to you, but the garage appendage will destroy that symmetry from the curbside view.

There are some nice details (love the windows over the stove all), but, yes, it's waaaay too large. Your 40' width is driving your kitchen design, including a 20' counter (!). You don't want that. A new approach is needed. As an avid cook with a lot of experience with what works well for you, a useful approach to define your needs might be to forget the structure it's going into for a moment and design what you want in a kitchen.

Same for the living and dining areas and all other spaces. The structure driving design is resulting in an institution-style dining counter and table, elegant on paper but bad to live with, where people wouldn't be able to easily see and hear each other and chat at meals.

BTW, I do love your porches and relation of garage to house, and lots of other stuff for that matter.

We have a pretty large kitchen (30' x 17'), fairly new (did a gut reno last year), and, from our experience, I would not want it any bigger. We have a 12-1/2 foot island that is 55 inches wide and sometimes seems like an aircraft carrier in our kitchen. It is a large structure to maneuver around on a daily basis.

We also have 5 kids, but they are all out of the house now. They do come home often (with spouses and friends) and at those times the kitchen is full and that's why we built it the way we did.

But, for everyday, my husband and I have somehow picked up the habit of sitting at opposite ends of the island because we have a TV on a wall that is parallel to the long side of the island and we can both see it from the ends. When we're doing that we have joked that we need a "Richie Rich" phone to talk to each other (an old movie where the family was so rich that their dining table was about 30-40' long and they used a telephone to talk to each other).

I also noticed that your refrigerator is maybe 20' or so from your stove. Too much. I wouldn't want to walk that far every time I needed and ingredient.

Just my 2 cents.

I too think it's a bit large. It'll be fun being able to seat all those people along the island, but I see a few possible issues:
- The cook will be tired doing trips across the 40ft spread of the kitchen. Even though you put multiple sinks and appliances, going back and forth 40ft is still a lot.
- All those people who sit at the island bar will not be able to converse with each other well. In a typical bar it works since you interact with bartender and may be 2-3 buddies at a time. Here, it being a bunch of family and friends, everyone would ideally want to talk with each other.
-Due to the other two smaller islands between the bar and the perimeter of the kitchen, even the folks who sit at the island may be too far away for the folks working in the kitchen to interact with.

As one poster noted, I think the current design is being driven by the rest of the house. I'd suggest take stock of your needs and decide whether it's more storage you want, or more people interaction. If it's storage, try dividing up the kitchen into large walk in pantry or skullery room etc. If you want more people interaction, I think you will need to put the couch and farmhouse style large dining table closer to the main cooking area for real meaningful interaction.

One possible rearrangement, since you are at design phase, is to arrange living, dining and kitchen in sort of "L" form.

Hope this helps!

I think you really have to consider what you are trying to achieve with the entire first floor plan.

Right what you have laid out is a large entertainment space that is more similar to an open-kitchen restaurant and lounge seating. I really is more along the lines of a commercial entertainment space. And a commercial entertainment space like this would be very noisy and offers no quiet corner or privacy of any sort.

I don't think you want your 5+ kids to feel like retreating to their bedrooms all the time, but in a giant open space like this you have allowed for one activity to go on at a time, and that's it. Cooking and exhaust fans will interfere with conversation, TV will be limited to one program (with 5 kids?), TV will interfere with computer use, with music listening with homework, etc. I think this is a recipe for the entire family to want to go into their respective bedrooms and slam the door.

I hate to be harsh but this does't really seem like a family-friendly layout at all.

Too large and too poorly laid out. The whole house, not just the kitchen. It has more to do with a theater set where the audience has to see everything at once than it has to do with even a production space like a commercial kitchen.

Please get an architect involved. With a home of this scale, it's a big mistake to not do that early on as too much DIY sketching leads you get too attached to bad ideas that don't work in the real world.

We all live differently, but this wouldn't work for our large family. I see at least 4 living spaces all within view (with messes spreading from one area to another without boundaries) and within earshot of each other. I would find that difficult. It's nice to have a quiet area, a cozy area in which to converse while the others are busy, a neat and organized area when all of life and the house gets busy and active. I like to confine messes to each area, as possible, and have limits within which to clean and organize. It gets overwhelming otherwise.

Where will you store books, games, movies, etc, etc? I don't see much storage, other than kitchen, or much wall space to add any. Will you have other spaces for the computer, school work, paper and other officey type supplies and activities?

As I'd feared, things are very spread out. The fridges are a long way from everything, it seems. I'm not sure your envisioned purpose for the smaller islands, and I, too, worry about seeing only 1 sink. Think about task paths for different activities. The beverage and baking areas will need things from the fridge, and access to water. Just prepping to cook usually means fridge to sink to prep to stove. That seems like a long circuit, and the longer the circuit, the more disrupted by other people and other activities. In my kitchen I worked to get every zone it's own work area with efficient access and traffic pattern to the most essential elements for each task.... My baking area has workspace, ovens, water, ingredients, and fridge close by.... My cooking area has workspace, water, cooktop, and fridge in close relationship.... The breakfast/snack center has the toaster oven, fridge, bread handy, and is close to the bfast table. Just examples. They work as a cluster of work 'triangles' or even rectangles, without cross traffic to interrupt a good flow.

I'm sorry to sound negative, but as a fellow mom of many, I just want you to have a house and kitchen that works great for you.

This looks like a restaurant. Are you going to have waiters too?

You have a family of seven and probably will have a few more children...correct? I'm assuming you want a light and airy space, but still cozy? Some place for the family to cook, dine, and sit...together?

Now, to be blunt...and then try to suggest some ideas. This looks and feels like a banquet room. There's no way that island would be anything but a barrier to the rest of the space...and the table is worse. The seating areas have their backs to each other, while the rest of the space emphasizes everyone being together.

So, have you considered a smaller island (or two) with the seating on those. The table would be much better as two smaller tables, or maybe a banquette/table area for the kids or visiting with the cook...and a bigger family dining table (maybe for 8-10) that can be used everyday, or for adults, when entertaining.

The seating area should face the kitchen or maybe each other (or even a fireplace/TV) but not have the sofas back to back. I would recommend a big sectional and some comfy chairs and ottomans. You can stretch out and put your feet up, or the ottomans can be used for extra seating.

You have a family of 7, but your room is designed for about 20-25 people. The kitchen work space is a whole other thing...but just the dining/conversation area is my biggest concern. Remember, you want this to be a family space, right? Not a banquet hall. I really hope this helps...and think flexible spaces that can live smaller day to day, and stretch out when needed.

Thanks everyone. Your comments have been really helpful. I think we will probably go in a bit of a different direction. It's funny . . . I've shown the plan to two different designers. One loved it, one hated it. My suspicion is that the first one just saw dollar signs glimmering in his future. :>) The second person recommended eliminating the two secondary islands and just having one long galley style kitchen where the long island is 42-48 inches from the range wall. We will also shave some square footage off of either side of the whole area. I will probably post the modifications when they are done and ask for input again. Once again, thanks everyone!
PS Rhome 410 . . . I love what you did with your kitchen. And we mill our own grain too! :>)

Looking forward to seeing your thoughts. It's always a process, but such an interesting one.

I'll be looking forward to seeing your thoughts. It's always a process, but such an interesting and fun one to watch.

One more thing I want to point out...when you see Ina Garten's kitchen it looks very nice, with the stools on lined up at the island. This is what Marcolo refers to as 'stadium seating' because you can't have much interaction with anyone at the island, except the cook, and the people next to you.

A better idea might be to have three or four stools on one side of the island and a stool or two, on each end. Even better, maybe have two islands, with a path between (like your kitchen above) but put the stools at these islands. This would give you a great kitchen, without lining everyone up in a row. That would be orderly, but not very friendly...

We have a big family, too, (7 kiddos, currently). Even with a big family, I've found Sara Susanka's "Not So Big House" books very, very helpful. They're readily available in libraries. She hits on a lot of the principles that people are stating above. Her books could really help you in planning out your spaces. Best wishes!

Very relieved to read that you are rethinking. This floor plan looks like it was designed by Albert Speer. I was picturing the torchlit banner procession to the dinner table.

I think the space can serve you much better. Plan lots of storage. I have less than I wanted, due to keeping our square footage down, but I should have fit in more...
Can't wait to see what you eventually come up with. Best wishes!!

Another great kitchen to look for is Worldmom's. She has 12 children and is currently building a wonderful kitchen for her crowd to share. These are just old renderings of her plans. The kitchen will be even better! But you can see her clean up and dishes zone, her prep/cooking/baking zones, and her kids' snack zone.

Well, your planned kitchen is not only longer than my house, but it would encroach on my neigherbor's house too.

I can't imagine a 40 foot long kitchen. I think that your kitchen might be bigger or at least not appreciably smaller than the main kitchen in the White House.

I'm not much of a cook, but when I pretend, I can't imagine running to my neighbor's house and back when cooking something.

In the end, it was what you choose a priority on. I wouldn't spend the space on a kitchen. I would make it smaller. I would add more family space, like maybe an office or den. I would make some more closed in spaces. As much as an open concept is nice, families -- especially big families -- need spaces to escape the rest of the family as well.

Again, it is your space and you know how it suits your family.