Hola,
I think this looks fantastic.
Just wondering where the microwave and trash(s) will be.
Are you a coffee/tea/soda family? If yes, would that be next to the fridge?
Amanda

Thanks for the response, huango. Hola back attcha.

Microwave - still up in the air about that. One builder we're considering just does a convection/microwave for the 2nd oven of the double oven. We're not big users of the microwave, so I even considered putting it into a base cabinet & have been reading threads on the pros & cons.

Trash - ummmmmm .... well, I wanted one of those pullout thingies in the base cabinet for trash and recycle, so I guess that would go in the rightmost base of the penisula.

Please, keep the comments coming. This is a great forum.

Your core fridge - cook's sink - cooktop triangle looks good to me. I really like the way your prep zone is open to the living areas and your cooktop is protected. The Fridge and pantry are accessible to snackers without disturbing the cook. And there is a clear demarcation between "cook's space" and "visitor space".

Nitpicky stuff -- Your dish sink looks kind of puny in the drawing -- a large single-bowl would be fabulous there. Ditto the baking island -- seems small. Could pull-out or swing-up cutting boards expand the space when needed? You might also want to consider having your seating overhang on the peninsula raised to screen the prep sink mess and have a convenient designated buffet space for casual entertaining.

One other suggestion -- Make your breakfast area a space you'll LOVE since that's where you'll be eating most of your meals. Don't be 'too practical' with that space -- give it some romance and drama so your meals can be really special.

huango - forgot to answer the drinks question. DH is the primary coffee maker/drinker, so the coffee pot will go on the counter by the refrigerator and be close to his area. I'd probably put my electric tea kettle there, as well.

sweeby - thank you for the comments. It looks like I may have achieved much of what I was going for.

I know that I don't have all the dimensioning on this plan so it is hard to tell how big things are. The dish sink is 2'. That is ~50% bigger than one side of a typical double sink, so I thought that was adequate. The baking center is 4'x 2'6". Right now I have an island with my cooktop (yes, which is why the cooktop in this plan is over by the wall & protected.) that is 4'x2' and it feels sufficient to roll out a pie crust or knead bread.

Raising the peninsula overhang??? I dunno. I have that now & not only do we not use it, I don't think we ever would. DD & I are short so the 6" difference in the seat height of a bar stool vs a counter stool makes a difference.

Thank you for bringing up the idea of the breakfast area being special. It really made me think. DH & I both love toile patterns so we are going to do "romantic" textiles for the banquette seating and window treatments. But, I went back and looked at photos from a designer's site & realized that it would be super-cute to do an octagonal tray ceiling above the banquette.

Thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it.

Jo Ann

You've clearly thought things through, and it shows. Sounds like you're making the right decision on the island, since you have a similar space now and it works for you. There's no better way to judge.

On the peninsula overhang - That's very personal and people seem to have very strong opinions on whether raised or one-level overhangs are better. Again, you have a good feeling of what works for you.

On the sink, I do think 24" will probably feel too small. I'm basing this on my own kitchen with a prep and clean-up sink. I'm not the kind of person to actually care about a kitchen sink -- but I LOVE my super-sized single sink. It's amazing how I can have a large stock-pot in there to soak, plus a few dinner plates and glasses and NONE of it shows on the countertops. In other words, because the sink is so large, there's never a dirty dish on the countertop, which really helps the kitchen feel clean. So while a 24" sink may be 'adequate' (and your reasoning makes sense to me) -- I think you would be surprised at how much you'd enjoy a larger sink. It totally surprised me.

Your basic kitchen layout looks remarkably like one I posted here recently for a friend. You may want to take a look at the discussion in that thread to see if there are any issues pointed out that apply in your kitchen. To your (or your designer's) credit, your layout looks much more like my friend's "after" layout.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about my friend's kitchen

I'm a little concerned about the ovens opening into the mudroom doorway. I suspect the mudroom will be used fairly heavily given the fact that I see a dog washing station as well as the mail drop, etc. If the ovens cannot be moved, could you at least make the wall b/w the mudroom & kitchen longer on that side so the oven doors are protected by a wall? Yes, that would make the wall on the other side of the doorway shorter, but I think it will be fine. The island will still direct traffic away from the cooking zone.

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Regarding the Banquette area...do you really want it built to just fit a banquette + table + 2 chairs? If I were you, I would plan for no banquette and normal table & chairs...it will be much more versatile. I also question how practical bench seating like this is as you age. I think it becomes more difficult for most people to get in & out of banquettes as they get older...especially if you have to scoot to the back. Yes, it will probably just be DH & you on a day-to-day basis and you can use the chairs, but when you have friends over for lunch or to visit you may need to accommodate more then 2 people at the table.

If you do decide to change it, then if at all possible, try to make it bigger...wider and deeper by at least a couple of feet in each direction (3 or 4 feet would be even better!)

Just something to think about.

Wow, you did a really good job thinking things out and describing why you chose various features. I think it looks lovely. I like that cook's view from the prep zone into the dining nook and keeping room. And how nice to have a screened porch!

My only minor thought -- I wonder where you plan to keep your dishes. If you keep them near the DW for easy unloading, it's kind of a hike to go set the table. That might not be an issue -- with just two of you, you could simply dish up in the cook/prep zone and slide plates across the penin and then carry them to the table.

Just thought I'd mention it, but it looks really nice to me!

Just a general comment about the location of the kitchen--With 2 wooded acres, I would personally want the kitchen to relate more directly to the outdoors. Saying this because I love watching the garden, the deer & turkeys that pass thru, the dogs at play, birds on the feeder...

Can someone tell me what a "keeping room" is? Thanks

sweeby - I asked DH what size sink he wanted, couldn't get a straight answer so I went with 2' to see how it worked in the plan. I'll just have to drag him to Lowes or HD so he can put eyeballs on sinks & figure it out. He has told me that he doesn't want a farm/apron sink. What size do you have?

holligator - thank you for pointing me to that thread. I really like the way you eliminated the Barrier Island & Destination Fridge. We've been walking through model homes to get ideas & its just bumfuzzling how many have kitchens with exactly those issues. Go figger. BTW - should my pantry door open in? DH & I are the designers. Don't get me started on the architect who, even with 14 Powerpoint pages outlining what we liked and how we wanted the house to function came back with a kitchen where I face toward the doglock to cook & the prep sink has me bumping butts w/ DH at the cleanup sink. grrrrrr ....

buehl - when we were in Greenville (we live in Houston) we walked through the houses of some builders are interested in and took pictures. The kitchen/nook/keeping room in the posted plan is our own modification of one we saw that we liked. Above is a picture of the oven wall in the partially completed house. One of the things we did was to push that wall so that it is in the same plane as the short piece of wall the arrow is pointing to. This gives us a longer run for the cleanup sink and counterspace.

To my eyes, it doesn't bother me that the ovens are close to the door. I dunno. I could shove the ovens 6" to the east, balance the sink between 2' cabinets. Would that be enough and would it make a significant difference? To do more would require the "doglock" to be reduced which may not be a big deal since there is plenty of space in there

DH really, really wants a cozy feeling banquette. We deliberately made it smaller than the usual bump out breakfast nook to get that feeling. And, we did mock it up using chairs and pieces of cardboard in our own kitchen. Our plan is to sit in the chairs so that we can look out to the woods while we eat. Also, I've mocked up putting a leaf in the table to extend & there is still plenty of room to get by.

Something that is important to me is that the banquette serves as my mini-retreat, as well. I don't want to be too far from DH when he is watching TV in the keeping room, but I sometimes need a little bit of space so I can read with less distraction. I also picture myself sitting there propped with pillows, my feet up, a cup of tea in my hand just watching the rain or snowflakes or squirrels or birds and thinking deep thoughts. ;^)

scootermom - yes, where to put the dishes is one of the things that concerned me. But, you nailed us empty-nesters on the head. We do just dish up from the cooking zone and carry our plates to the table. I doubt we are going to change our ways now that we've forgotten what serving bowls are for. LOL!

ci lantro - above is a picture of the builders house from the prep sink. Our keeping room will have another bank of windows on the wall that has the fireplace. The outdoors seem pretty close, to me. Also, I stood in my current kitchen at a distance that approximates that & the view to the outside wall windows looks fine. Even if we moved the kitchen to an outside wall, we have a sloping lot. The back of the house will be one story above ground level at that point. We'd rather have the banquette and keeping room on outside walls for the views.

cook1 - a keeping room is where we plan to do most of our TV watching and just livin'. In other times & places it might be called a den or family room vs the more formal great room or living room. Some plans also call it a hearth room & most of them have a fireplace. We opted to shift the fireplace out to the screened porch & have an extra wall of windows in the keeping room. After 18 years of being cooped up in AC for most of the year because of the Houston heat & humidity, I plan to be out on that screened porch in December with my down parka and that fireplace blazing . In any event, we have fireplaces in the great room and master bedroom, so 3 is enough.

Again, thank you for the comments. We've never built a new house, before & this is our "forever" home so its a pretty big deal.

Jo Ann

Jo Ann - love, love, love the thought of you out in the screened porch with the fire blazing away. How fun! I think that's a great choice -- that extra wall of windows will benefit you every day; the fireplace, only a handful of nights a year (other than just looking nice).

Chris

My sink is huge - 33", undermount Silgranit in Anthracite. At first, it seemed shockingly big. But I love it! DH loves it! And now I'd never want to go back to anything smaller... While we were kitchenless mid-renovation, we used the laundry sink, which is a 24" sinlg. And it was 'OK' -- But really, you only had room to *either* wash dishes or soak a dish -- not to have something in the sink and wash something else. If you've got the room, I think you'd really come to appreciate a large sink. The HDs here in Houston have a Pegasus brand large single that's similar.

And as a fellow Houstonian, I share your fantasy of a screened porch with a blazing fire. Not to mention a sloping lot!