Your thoughts on the kitchen design

9 years ago

We, hopefully, will soon start a kitchen renovation. The wall dividing the kitchen and DR will be removed to give us more light and space in the DR. The slider to the porch will remain. The window over the sink will be replaced and moved to the right.

I like the plan, but I think I want the DW to the right of the sink and the trash to the left. Also, we have a standard depth refrig and it will protrude more than the design shows.

The island housing the range was planned for a down draft vent, but we have decided to have an island hood.

We plan to eat breakfast, lunch and snacks at the island and dinner in the DR. Currently, we never use the DR due to crowding, little natural light and no view of the back yard. The current table in the kitchen is going away.

The design is from a local cabinet maker. We also paid a KD for a plan and realized we and she were not a good "fit". The CM had incorporate some of her ideas in this plan.

I would appreciate your thoughts and ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: previous post

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Comments (6)

OOTM_Mom
9 years ago
Having the DW against corner seems inconvenient to me, tough to reach over the open DW door to get to the cabinets. However, having the trash further from the corner also makes sense to me...we generate a lot of trash and having all the kids traipsing through my area to get to trash would bug me. Could it go in the island? Maybe lose one seat on the island and put trash and beverage fridge back to back?(I'd put trash where bev fridge is and bev fridge on other side.) And move DW to right of sink? It means added cost of another lower cab, and not sure how many seats you need at island. If your family is less trashy or it doesnt bother you, then I'd say yes, just switch them for sure.

The island with range seems narrow to me. 9" on either side is not much space for prep stuff, thinking - egg wash bowl, bread crumb bowl, then into fry pan. No room for that. 9" isnt even really room enough to set a plate down to transfer food to. How wide are your isles? Can you get to 15" on a side?

You spoke of budget in the other thread...is the venting for an island hood setup cost similar to that of an exterior wall vent hood cost?

Not a professional, just a user!

Good luck with your remodel, if you have never lived through a remodel, it will most likely be more painful than you expect...but worth it in the end. I heard someone describe it like childbirth, painful during, but you forget it all when you see your beautiful baby.
annkh_nd
9 years ago
I've seen this before - I suspect I'll make the same comment I did last time.

I agree with OOTM - there is not nearly enough space around the range. At 9", I would be worried about a fry pan handle getting bumped as someone was walking by - and people will be walking by to get to the fridge. I would do everything I could to get the range on the perimeter.

What's on the wall to the right of the fridge/pantry? Can you shorten that wall, so the fridge could move to the end? Is it a counter-depth fridge (that's what's shown).

With the range on the wall, you can vent to the outside, and provide good space on each side. You can move the DW to the right of the sink, and put the trash on the island. Then you can have either a super susan in the corner, or close it off and put drawers on both sides.

I much prefer an easy reach upper corner cabinet to the angled one you show. I had two of those in my old kitchen, and hated them. Lots of space, true, but difficult to use it, unless you put in lazy susans.

I'm not sure of the guidelines, but 4 stools at your island looks really tight - the three on the end will be sharing the same knee space.
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The refrigerator is fine where it is, and better than putting it behind the island where someone who is looking for a snack would be in the way of someone trying to prepare a meal or clean up. In addition, the current location is better for the Dining Room. However, there are few things I strongly recommend changing: DW -- move it to the other side of the sink so it's out of the meal prep work flow: Refrigerator/Pantry --> Prep Zone w/sink & prep workspace --> Cooking Zone w/range --> Cleanup Zone w/DW & sink Sink - do not center it on the island. Centering it reduces the available workspace for your Prep Zone. The Prep Zone is on the opposite side of the sink from the DW. So, move the DW and sink to the right to free up space. Range -- I would probably move it a bit closer to the refrigerator so there's no conflict with the DW and someone standing at the sink. Aisle -- I would think about another 3" of aisle width since all three primary work zones are on that aisle. Other Comments: Your corner pantry is going to be small. My corner pantry is 41" x 51" and it's small - it's around the same size as yours. It may not matter, but I wanted you to be aware that it won't be very big. (The small size of mine is the result of (many) KD mistakes. I also have another pantry in the basement.) It's too bad you don't have another wall or a longer back Kitchen wall so you aren't force to have the cleanup sink in the island. Please be aware that a raised counter doesn't do much to hide dirty dishes. They will still be very visible to anyone taller than 42"! It will, at least, hide them while you're sitting down. Unfortunately, I don't think it will do much to hide the dirty dishes from the Dining Room since the DR is off to the side. With a raised counter, you lose the wonderful expanse of workspace that islands (and peninsulas) provide. With two levels, you're cutting up the space - especially if the island isn't extra deep. I would prefer the island be deeper and all one level. Since raised counters don't do that much to hide dirty dishes, I'd rather have one level of workspace than chopped up workspace. You also lose space in the low area b/c of the raised counter's overhang on the "inside" side. This means that you will have to be careful what faucet you get - you need to be sure the handle(s) and faucet can move freely w/o bumping into the raised counter's overhang. If you must have a raised counter, I suggest a deeper low area - maybe 9" to 12" deeper? It will give you a bit of extra workspace and eliminate the impact of the raised counter's overhang. If you plan to eat any meals at the island, the raised surface should be at least 18" deep so you don't find yourself accidentally knocking glasses, etc., off the raised surface. With the DR and Great Room so close, do you really need seating at the island? I know islands with seating are all the rage, but with the Cleanup Zone in the island, I'm not sure how pleasant it will be to sit there. Personally, I would not want to sit at a counter with dirty dishes "in my face" - but maybe it doesn't bother you and your family. Will there be a pony wall for the raised counter?
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User
9 years ago
It's an incredibly unsafe design that violates NKBA standards.
User
9 years ago
Much safer like this, with more and better counter space. The island actually becomes an interactive social prep space.
sjhockeyfan325
9 years ago
Even in LWO's - much better - design, the people sitting at the island will not have nearly enough knee space. The people on the right and left will bump with the person in the middle, and the person on the left will also bump into the wine fridge.
debrak2008
9 years ago
Take LWO's plan but move the wine cooler to the left of the range. All the way to the wall.

Is the wine cooler a must have?

You island as drawn reminded me of mine. Here is a link of how GW helped me with my island and getting seating for four.

Here is a link that might be useful: help with island seating/layout

Your thoughts on the kitchen design

Comments (6)

OOTM_Mom

annkh_nd

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