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Kitchen Layout Feedback and Cabinet Refacing

12 years ago

Hi,

I've been reading tons of posts on this forum and they have helped immensely! We are doing a partial kitchen remodel, and I'm hoping some of you could provide input on our layout and cabinet refacing ideas.

We plan to knock down the wall between our kitchen and dining room to open it up and add an island. We rarely use our formal dining room, and we don't have much space for even a small kitchen table in our current layout. We've got kids and we all love to cook, so a casual space with eating area and more counterspace/storage is great for us.

We just put in granite and a backsplash a year ago that we love (long story why we didn't consider the wall tear down then), so we'd like to keep as much of our existing kitchen as possible, and also keep costs down since it is not a total redo. We'll replace the fridge with a counter-depth one, but we're keeping the rest of our appliances.

I've included two pictures of our current kitchen. The wall with the fridge is the one that is coming down. The corner/sides of the kitchen that include the breakfast bar, stovetop, and sink will stay as-is. I've also included a design plan that was drawn up for us and the overhead-view drawing they provided. The new fridge will go on the wall with the oven, either right next to it or with a pantry/microwave in between, and we'll be adding an island in the middle of the room.

All feedback on the new layout is welcome! We are just in the initial stages of planning this, and I'm sure there are tons of things we haven't thought about or factored in. Also, you might not be able to answer this just from seeing plans, but any ideas on a reasonable cost for this?

Depending on costs, we are also hoping to reface our cabinets. I've read that refacing can be expensive and itÃ¯Â¿Â½s almost worth getting new cabinets in some cases, but since we want to keep our granite/backsplash it seems like refacing would still be the best option for us and that it would save us money. Does that sound right?

We welcome any input or ideas you have for us! Thank you in advance for your help! I'm sure I'll be posting again once we get into picking colors, etc.

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Comments (3)

User
12 years ago
It's going to be awfully tight for an island. And it's a barrier island between the refrigerator and sink. Plus, there's no source of water on it, so I'm afraid you will still prep in that tiny little spot between the sink and the range.

I would rather see you put the fridge on the end with the cabinet and counter in between it and the oven. That will get it nearer those who trek into the kitchen for snacks. Then shorten up the island so that it isn't in front of the fridge. Even a counter depth one is 30" deep, and you will be creating a pinch point in front of it. With the island shortened and the fridge moved down, adding a prep sink would be optional. You will still be twisting back and forth between the island and sink a lot, which isn't the greatest for your back, and you would have to have the cleanup and prep zones sharing the sink. At least the DW is on the correct side of the sink for that!

As far as refacing goes, well, what you have is pretty nice looking actually. How easy it can be to reface depends on the age of what you have and what condition it's in, as well as how much DIY you plan here. If you can't DIY a good deal of this, then getting new cabinets will probably be cheaper. You can always paint what's there for sure. That's well withing most people's skill level if they just take it slow and follow the right steps. Cream cabinets and dark counters is currently quite popular.

What look would you like to have for the kitchen?
lavender_lass
12 years ago
Can you move the fridge to the other side of the sink? Then shift the oven to the old fridge location (so you now have a counterspace by it) and put a pantry, where the oven used to be.

Another idea...instead of a permanent island, a really nice work table would look great there, too. It would be easier to move around when you need more space (like during holidays) and you could even have locking wheels, if you like. Maybe a butcherblock or marble countertop?
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Your island shape is not conducive to use for prep because most of it is too far away. And yet the 3' you will have in front of the fridge is the worst spot to have a traffic jam. I use the end of my peninsula which is across from my fridge as my drop zone. I am 4'10" tall and the 46 inches of space is definitely not too far to use as a set down, and at the same time, I can walk past if one of the kids in "lingering" with the doors open or using the water dispenser. I would try a standard rectangular island that is located 4' from the perimeter counters. That will make it a much more convenient prep zone for your range. On top of that, I would look into putting a small prep sink (I think minimum 16", but some people are ok with 14") toward the fridge end to give you a very functional layout.
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Hi - we started measuring out the latest design in our kitchen, and I think in order to leave enough room for people sitting at the peninsula and walking through to the hallway, we have to remove the 9" spice pullout (on the right of the stove in the pic), and this only leaves 12" on either side of the stove. My wife says this makes the area feel too cramped, and someone standing at the stove might interfere with someone standing at the sink. She really wants an extra seating area for guests, so we're trying to make that work but having a hard time finding space for it. It seems the peninsula has to be on the opposite wall (like in the original design at the top), since there is a bit more space there before we hit the doorway. We could swap the fridge with the 36" drawers to get it to the periphery, but that limits space around the stove and makes the wall cabinets more difficult.
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kksmama - I am really liking this layout also. I never thought I'd be able to have an island centered on a large range in this kitchen and am thrilled that it might work. I think I agree about the prep sink being on the island. One good thing about my clean up sink now is I can face people at the peninsula when I'm washing and prepping food, and I'd still be able to do that if the prep sink is here. I'm willing to sacrifice some storage space under the island to allow an 18" overhang on 2 sides so I can fit 4 seats there. Prep space and seating are my main priorities for the island. I'll draw it tonight when I have access to my computer. Sena - I love, love the drawing. Thank you! I will definitely consider a narrow oval table for the banquette. I usually prefer rectangle or round tables, but the oval will probably work better here - more table space than round and doesn't have sharp corners to bang into. Great idea! I'm wondering, if I put the prep sink in the island, 1) where do you think the fridge should go on the DR wall - near the doorway or closer to the range, and 2) which direction should the prep sink face - the fridge/pantry or range wall (I'd like 3 stools facing the range if possible so I'm thinking this may affect placement of sink)?
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Hi all, thank you all so much, and my apologies for this delayed response. We are our own GCs (by financial necessity; gut-rehabbing the entire house and currently carrying two mortgages, soooo...) and are now neck-deep finishing demo, with the plumber set to start on Monday. We just purchased all of our kitchen appliances this evening, so things are moving fast! I took into account several of your suggestions--THANK YOU--and will post revised layout once designer sends it back. A few of the things we did were to enlarge the window (yay), swap the European hood (my husband's default) with a standard hood (I'm sure there's a term I don't know for that) that can be hidden to allow for a much more cohesive overall cabinet look, and pare back the bulky cabinets on either side of the hood. To address a few of the suggestions we won't be taking--although I certainly understand the logic behind them: I like the cleaner look of no sink in the island, so will be sticking with the counter sink. As far as both the lack of prep space and the location of the dishwasher, I guess neither bothers me because 1) we don't see any problem with prepping at the island, with so much space there and the pull-out garbage right there. We have two sets of friends who are avid cooks and do all their prep at their islands--no prep sink--and are not bothered by any lack of functionality (perhaps just learned habits?), so talking with them helped us embrace that idea. 2) We tend to unload the dishwasher first thing in the am, so it doesn't get much use except during clean-up, so I don't see it being a hindrance during meal prep (we have a tiny kitchen at our current house, and strangely, that's never been one of our maaaany issues with the cramped space). 3) We both really like the built-in microwave/oven combo, and my husband is also a big fan of a separate cooktop, so those are staying. As for not posting a 2D pic, sorry, I was doing a cumbersome process of taking pics of the pdf files and uploading them as images, so I didn't get around to that one. I'm sure my husband and I will be reminded of the words of our carpenter friend, who said as we were starting all of this, "I always tell people to build two houses: the first, and then the second one in which you get to fix all of the mistakes you made in the first." Anyway, thanks again. I appreciate the thought and effort you all put into responding!!
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chris_cwod
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you so much for the input!

I love the idea of a prep sink in the island! If we did that, plus got a side-by-side door fridge instead of a full-size door, do you think that would help with the tightness factor around the island and the accessibility for prepping/cooking? We wouldn't mind shortening the island a little bit, but we'd really like to have as much counterspace and storage as possible.

We did go back and forth about whether to put the fridge right next to the stove or have a pantry in between, so I think we'd be happy with either. Are there any other concerns/considerations around this in addition to sink accessibility? (like is it ok to have the cold fridge right next to a hot oven?)

I never thought about a work table - I'll definitely check those out as well!

As far as cabinet refacing...we do like our cabinets, and they are in good condition, but they are very orange-y compared to all of our other furniture decor, so we're worried how they'll coordinate once the kitchen/dining room become one. I think that decision might be determined by the cost for the rest of the project.

For the overall look/feel...we want something casual and transitional. Possibly even a bit rustic. We like the look of cabinets in a medium brown with a subtle glaze.

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