That's funny...well the good news is...that not only does your kitchen look beautiful, but from what I hear, counter space like that in your neck of the woods is a buyers dream! So what a great selling feature if you ever decided to move! And, I'm sure it will help you get a hugh return on your investment! A nice win win situation!

lol! i'm used to about as much counter space as in the top pic. i don't usually even use the space to left of sink - it has coffee pot and usually dirty dishes on it... i use the space running along the front of the sink!(that little strip)
to the right of my sink (stove in pic) is the corner space - it has my hotplate and space behind that i can't reach. It does come out about a foot in front of where stove is in pic - but that has my little counter oven on it. There is about a 6" deep strip of counter at the front of my oven also.
end of counter space here.

when checking out how much counter space i'd have (really usable) in the new place, it comes up to about 2.5'. that bothered me a lot at first...then I remembered how little i've had for the past 11 yrs and thought 2.5' would be heaven!! lol! i do have the corner 2x2 area, about 1' to the left of it (and to right of stove), another 1' on the other side of stove and about 1' to the right of the sink.
end of counter space in new place (unless I get rid of the wall oven cabinet - then I'd add about another 2.5' of counter space for a total of 3.5' to the left of the stove. I'm really thinking I should do that).

but - still comes back to even 2.5 (to the left of my sink and over DW) will be sooooo much more than I am used to having. AND i'll have a DW! dirty dishes will go in there! It'll be a bit of heaven on earth for me.

The most used space in any kitchen is between the sink and the range (or cooktop). It doesn't matter about the size. That's why designers try to maximize the distance between to two to better serve multiple functions of clean up and prep. That's also why adding a properly placed prep sink can make a world of difference in a kitchen layout. It separates the prep and cleanup and doubles the usefullness of that sink-range space.

BTW, have you thought about having a custom cutting board fitted to your sink to increase the prep space when you need to?

I'm the same way, charlikin. I lived a long time where my only workspace was 19" to the left of the stove and I still find I tend to come into the house and plump the groceries on the stove before I put them away.

Live_wire_oak, I'm sure what you say is generally true, but for me, having got used to not having useable space between sink and range, that part of my current kitchen still stays pretty pristine, as I tend to work out on the edges of the kitchen. Habit is a funny thing. :)

HEY !!! was thinking of you yesterday and wondering how the kitchen/you were doing. Here you are . I love the way it all looks. So sophisticated. I hope all is going well in NYC. wish I could see the kitchen in person. Glad you are enjoying it. c

The little strip in front of the sink, desertsteph? You're worse than me!!!

I also have a tiny strip of space to the right of my stove - about 8". I thought it would be useful as a landing spot for spatulas and such while I'm cooking. Hasn't worked that well since I usually cook on the left burner, so it's too far away! I *still* end up putting the spatula in the sink...

Oh, and this is my first dishwasher too!!! It's wonderful! My favorite part of my new kitchen!!! (Mine's only 18", but it's still wonderful.)

LWO, I have great respect for your knowledge and experience in the area of kitchen design, but when you say the most used space in any kitchen is the space between sink and range, and it doesn't matter about the size - well, I have to disagree. The most used part of *my* kitchen is *not* the 2 inch strip between sink and stove. (I guess that in this case, uh, size matters. ;-))

I did get an over-the-sink cutting board with a little rubber colandar built in (not custom). More trouble than it's worth. Maybe if I had better storage for cutting boards and trays, but somehow, that didn't make it into my plan. I use the tiny white plastic board I bought at Ikea. Fits neatly on the counter in front of my coffee maker, and easy to store.

There's another thread about how many sq ft of countertop we have excluding the sink/cooktop & I'd be embarrassed to say I only have 13 SF + another 3 SF of freestanding butcher block next to the range. Luckily, I have a farm table as an island (it's also the kitchen table, dining table, & anything else I need to use it for) that's 3'x6'; it's good as a landing area but not so much when I need to prep. Historic buildings aren't known for their versatility when the original kitchens were seperate buildings, long since demolished & the dining room (now kitchen) has large windows, a fireplace, & several doors none of wich are conducitive to modern kitchen design. It's amazing the things we can pull off in a small area when we need to! Once I lived in a kitchen that had lots of weirdly placed counter space & mostly, the out-of-the-way counter collected dust!

OK, Charlikin, it's time for the 12 step program to wean you off of your small counter! I never worked at an island until we got our beach house a few years ago. For the first two years, I continued to use the small space between the range and sink. Then, last year, for some reason, I tried the island space across from the range. OMG...it was wonderful!!! If you force yourself to prep on your long counter, believe me, you won't only get used to it, you'll love it. BTW, glad to hear you're enjoying your kitchen after all the difficulties you had with the install. It looks great.

The original kitchen in our 50s house was set up like yours, Charlikin. Even better, the long counter across from the sink/cooktop/wall ovens did not have cabinets below. Inexplicable.

For a year, we used the 24" space between the sink & range for prep--while a good 8' length of countertop across the way went unused.

Flash forward to the new kitchen: there is about 6' between sink & range, and it seems too cluttered. All this while the 6' on the other side of the sink, and the 48" square island do not get used for prep. Habit.

"The little strip in front of the sink, desertsteph? You're worse than me!!! "

yeah - that's pretty bad isn't it? lol! it's a juggling act for sure. if the oven isn't in use, i do use the few inches in front of it to set things (ingredients) or something from the fridge.
my DW will be 18" one also! but I figure after all these yrs w/o one and it being just me, it'll be fine - and such a luxury (at first anyway).

your kitchen looks super tho - that big counter space! sprout your wings and go for it! USE that space! lol! give me some hope that when i get into my new place I won't contain myself to that little strip in front of the sink! The thought of 2.5' of counter space to work on sounds just incredible to my own ears!

If you used that little strip between your sink and stove, that be just like me using the strip in front of the sink! doesn't look any bigger. i think it'd even be more difficult w/ the side of the stove there and being sideways...

force yourself - gotta break the old habit!

Just wanted to say hi! Your kitchen looks great. I'm still constantly rearranging my daily-use appliances, which tells me that I'm still not 100% satisfied a year later -- I may post and see what the layout pros here have to say.

Blue

Hi bluekit! I know what you mean about rearranging... I still need to rearrange the contents of some of my cabinets. Things aren't quite fitting right, and given that I have about twice as much cabinet space as before, they *ought* to fit!

Like - the coffee maker's next to the sink now, but the mugs are still in the cabinet opposite the sink (where I had planned to put the coffee maker, as in the photo above). Can't move the mugs to the new location because the water glasses are there.

Why is this all so difficult?! LOL!

Still love your kitchen, blue! Don't paint it! ;-)

Sorry, but I have to agree w/Live_Wire_Oak...the most used space is b/w the sink and range...assuming you have enough room to do anything. Yes, there are exceptions but often it's b/c of things like Charlikin's no space (2"...really????). Charlikin, I suspect that if you had 12" - 18" or more b/w the two that it would be the most used space. Right now it's not used b/c it's much too narrow for much of anything, not even emergency landing space. Writersblock, well you just might be the exception b/c of habit...

I've found that what LWO says is true in my kitchen (old & new) and everyone elses that I visit. Whenever I visit I now watch how people use their kitchens as well as examine their layout and mentally think about what works/doesn't work...kind of distracts me, at least initially, from socializing! Definitely TKO!!!

That's a really valuable observation Charlikin, and it's one I hope GardenWebbers take to heart.

I came to the same realization in my old kitchen, which was a highly efficient (in most respects) 10 x 12. I used the 24" to the left of the sink, and the 18" to the right of the cooktop all the time. I used another 12 linear feet occasionally; and further 5 linear feet almost never got used. So while I had about 21 linear feet of countertops, I could have easily lived with much, much less -- provided it was well located.

And LWO's observations about the most used countertop space are right on target. In my current kitchen, my prep sink is in the center of a 5' wide prep island, so food 'lands' on the right, gets washed, then chopped on the left side. I then have another 30" of countertop between the prep island and cooking island where I do 'non-chopping prep', then another step left to the cooktop. It's such a high-use area!

Hi,
a different response but
what cabinets do you have? That is exactly the design I am looking for
Thanks

LOL! Charlikin (always love to see your kitchen) I do the same thing. In my case though it's a whole 24" from the sink to the stove edge, but with the microwave out of that corner there's another foot or so to spread out in (something smaller is back in the corner now, otherwise it would be another 24", woo hoo!). Anyway, it sure SEEMS like a ton more space to me. :)

But I'm not cooking for large family, like some on here. On the countertop sq. ft. thread mentioned above I was astonished to read someone say they had "61 feet but only really USED 42 feet of it". My jaw was hanging open! I just can't visualize using 42 feet of counter space. Unless I was making Thanksgiving dinner. Me thinks there's some real 'iron chefs' on here! ;)

Hi muspic - they're Kraftmaid. It's a "wide shaker" door in maple; the finish used to be called Ginger Glaze, but it has a slightly different name now (with the word "Ginger" in it).

I dunno, biochem - I can imagine using 42' of counter space. What if you have to slice a lot of carrots - length-wise? LOL!

Well, I have a small 12" of counter to the left of the stove, then an expanse of about 4 feet to the right of the stove between it and the sink. Spot to the left is strictly a landing spot. Spot to the right holds the olive oil and my spoon rest. The big, wide expanse to the right of the sink, opposite the stove is the space that I use for prep. Guess I'd be right at home in your kitchen then, charlikin.

Though I think that in my case it's because the counter opposite the stove is not only the largest expanse of counter that I have, but is open to the current family room. What I use might just change if/when we ever get to our great room addition.