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mpednault_gw

Help with design!

mpednault
12 years ago

I am currently designing our house to be built this fall and I'd like some help with the kitchen design.

It's me, my wife and 1 year old son, maybe 1 more child but we'll see what the future holds. I like to cook and grill and my wife likes to bake and make vegetable salads. We make our own pizza from scratch often (premade dough from the local pizza house), cook pasta dishes and regularly have vegetable salads. We make our own oriental food (stir-fry in a wok, pan fried dumplings, etc.) and bread and bake homemade chicken strips. We grill all year long, even in the cold Maine winters. It would be nice to be able to "grill" inside occasionally. Due to the house layout I foresee us using the kitchen primarily to cook and guests can remain seated at the bar area or in the adjacent living room. We don't like a crowded kitchen or tripping over each other while we're at work cooking/prepping/cleaning. My family has a phrase "if you're not cooking, get out of my kitchen" that has been around since my grandfather was a cook for the local VFW. Anyhow!

I've been reading up on zoning and tried to create zones based on how we'd use the space. In the layout I have designed someone can throw something away in the trash closet next to the fridge without interrupting anyone in the kitchen. They could also easily grab a drink from the fridge while the glasses are stored in the adjacent wall cabinet, all while staying out of the other zones. When we entertain it is very informal. Since this house is still in design mode we are fairly flexible with the configuration and layout. We do like the position of the sink centered in the space and under the window. It's sort of the focal point of the space. It's a 33" SS Apron Front undermount sink. We want all our appliances to be SS consisting of a oven/MW combo, french door with bottom drawer freezer/fridge, gas cooktop with griddle (can be the portable type) and matching SS hood, and an island with a prep sink and storage for cutting boards/cookie sheets and the DW to the right of the sink. She'd like to use the thin horizontal glass tiles as the BS (at least along the exterior wall). The rest of the house would be considered transitional taking from craftsmen, colonial and modern styles. There is mostly dark cherry HW flooring throughout and we're toying with the idea of either carrying the HW into the kitchen or transitioning to tile. We like darker, wood grained cabinet finishes and my wife has fallen in love with dark gray soapstone with cream/white veining. We probably can't afford the soapstone right now, so we're looking for visually comparable alternatives. We'd like to use as many drawers in the bases as possible. She'd like to have a pot rack hanging over the island. The ceiling is 9' high. The cabinet shown next to the wall oven is one of those tall, pull out shelving units. We'd like under cabinet lighting and some wall cabinets with glass inserts. I'd like to incorporate some sort of nifty knife storage near the prep area. We are sort of limited on budget but haven't sat down with our builder (my father) yet to estimate our kitchen budget. To give you a rough idea, the house is a two story (not including the unfinished basement) and is 28'x48' with 3 BR's, 3 Bath Rooms and an Office and will be under $200K to build. So think, a notch or two above contractor grade. We're technically considering this an Owner/Builder project since we'll be doing a bunch of the work with my father and can purchase things from various sources to save $. Thanks in advance for the help! I LOVE THIS FORUM!

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