Go with what you love, and yes I think it will work. Something so simple and utilitarian will always work. I think grandiose gestures are the ones that can fall flat if not done right.

I like to look at rental villas in europe for kitchen ideas. They often use pot racks, in all size kitchens.

Fewer upper cabinets is usually better, to my eyes. It is a lighter, more spacious look. Many of the inspiration kitchens I see in this forum have few uppers. And lots of windows. But not as many of our actual kitchens are this way, because most of us never have enough storage. If you are lucky enough to be able to do away with an upper, then I say by all means do.

You can always add uppers later, anyway.

As for wall pot racks, or exposed and hanging pots in general, some people love them and others find the look cluttery and oldish. I am among the former, I have a wall pot rack now, and am planning a bigger one in the remodel. However, if your pots are to be displayed, they need to be worthy of display. Which doesn't mean expensive, necessarily, but does mean very clean, reasonably shiny, not crusty or scorched.

So, the gleaming copper displays well, the shiny stainless is nice as well. The crusty cast iron - not so much. The dented aluminium stockpots are not picturesque. The old Calphalon pots with the anodizing wearing off - they need to get stashed. The oily woks and the blackened paellas . . . turns out, at least half of my cookware is not attractive at all. If you're in the same boat, be sure to have some tucked-away storage in addition to the beautiful wall racks.

That is certainly an inspiring photo.

I wonder, if you are working with a narrower wall and hood overall, whether the look would adapt better to a wall without even the high uppers.

Or perhaps those high uppers could be more of the same color tone as the subways? You could certainly do wood cabinets on the other walls, and painted uppers on that wall.

The pot racks and the symmetry of doing them on both sides of the range sound great.

It's always somewhere!

You will need some type of attachment surface on the sides of the hood. Also notice how the wall cabinets on either side have a healthy chunk of filler or blind cabinets on the end for the pot rack attachment.

Pot racks are heavy and need some support. Not only for the weight of the pots, but for all the yanking pot off, dropping pot on actions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Previous thread

I'm a big fan of pot racks & that's a beautiful inspirational kitchen but my racks have to hold a lot more than 6 pans. If you really loaded the racks in the photo, would they bang into the cabinet doors on either side? When you crowd pans against a wall you won't have as much room as if they're free hanging & will they look as aesthetically pleasing if they're cluttered? How many pans do you plan on hanging? Johnliu is absolutely correct about the pans needing to look perfect while on display especially if they're a focal point.

I'm also a big believer in form follows function & I suspect the inspirational kitchen is just the opposite; it's gorgeous but that's a huge amount of real estate given to a few staged pans. I have a rack because I like hanging racks but I have no other place to keep pans & it was also a design consideration. My bars (actually iron pipe) are about 38" long & one is mounted to the window trim & the other is suspended from the ceiling.

mtndredux- Thanks for urging me to go with what I love. Tonight I'll search for European villas for additional inspiration. The scale may be smaller, too.

antiquesilver- Thanks for posting your kitchen photo. What a clever location!

johnliu- You're right. You can't hang just any old pans up there. I've already starting looking for new pans!

bmorepanic- We wonÂt store lots of pots/pans on the wall. ThereÂs just the two of us and we have about 5 "go to" pans that we use frequently (several times a week). We have 2-3 larger pans that we use for larger weekend meals, but they should fit on the wall rack. IÂll measure before deciding on the length of the rack. The larger pots (e.g., stock pots, roasters) are used when we have large parties and during the holidays. They will not be on display. WeÂll store those pots in the pantry we decided not to enclose. (The layout is little deceptive- the wall on the upper left on the side of the hallway is not solid. The door leads to a good sized walk-in pantry). We will also keep our small appliances in this pantry. So IÂm comfortable with the idea that this wonÂt be my only pot/pan storage solution but just for my usual ones.

So IÂve taken the plunge and spent most of the morning revising the layout to see if this will work.

If I center the range on the wall, there are 42" on either side of it. The question is does this leave enough room for a prep sink. DH loves the having a sink close to the range (I do, too), but based on lots of reading about space between the prep sink and the range, I donÂt know if we have the counter space anymore and maintain the symmetry on the bottom cabs. IÂd like a 15" prep sink. WeÂre going with custom cabinetry so I have flexibility about the size of the cabs but IÂm stuck at how to have a prep sink and keep the symmetry.

Just a recap from the previous thread: This is a 105 year old Italianate that also has a butlerÂs pantry, mudroom and formal dining room. ThereÂs plenty of storage and the number one goal for this remodel is improving the kitchenÂs overall functionality.

Any suggestions on the revised layout and the wall rack are appreciated.

Fromthesouth, I just re-read my post from yesterday & it sounds awfully abrupt. It wasn't meant to be offensive & I apologize if it came across like that. I'm sure your pot racks are going to be wonderful - & I know how hard it is to make sure the end result is going to be as fabulous as the vision.

I'm in favor of the prep sink close to the range but switching the trash cabinet & the prep sink cabinet would keep the overall symmetry & give you necessary working space between the prep sink & the range. IMO, it's more necessary than extra countertop because if a water supply isn't on the same counter run as the range, there're always drips & bits being dropped on the floor - or maybe, I'm just messy, LOL! Visually, it wouldn't bother me but YMMV, or you could also switch the drawer banks on the other side of the range to correspond with the sizes on the sink side.

Like you, I have a 100+ year old house & the 9' of countertop in the photo is all I have but the 18" next to the range is ample for landing space since most of the time, things land on the range top or the table/island.

I look forward to seeing photos when it all comes together.

Roughly, I think the section of counter beyond the range towards the window will be largely unused. It might be a good place for a fill and dump sink with the pot rack over that section. Ask your spouse to think about one of those sinks with an inbuilt cutting board and/or make the rest of that counter drain into the sink.

I think the food will flow from the ref to the big sink to either be chopped there or on the upper run near the pantry. It's just too tempting to set the food down on the island right next to a sink with a lot of elbow room.

You might consider exchanging the cleanup sink and dw and just go without a prep sink altogether. In that case, I'd go ahead and make that end cabinet 12" and make the aisle 40".

antiquesilver: No worries. I didn't think your post was abrupt at all. It's helpful advice and greatly appreciated.

bmorepanic: I like your idea of putting the prep sink beyond the range and near the wall. Thinking about that space, I think you're right that it would go largely unused if there is nothing there. Fill and dump is largely what we use our kitchen sink for today(Today the sink is conveniently located next to the range, but inconveniently only 6" from the range). I'm surprised how often I'm moving between the two areas. I agree it will be tempting to use the cleanup sink for prep, but in addition to the fill and dump function, we'd have the prep sink if both of us need to prep at the same time or if one needs to prep while the other cleans. I think the benefits are worth it, especially in space that may go largely unused.

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted on progress. Now I have to find the perfect wall pot racks!

Just wanted to add my vote on how handy a pot rack is. We have an old Enclume in the center over the work table. I could not imagine not having it in our remodel. It is one of the best things in the kitchen.