So, one of the plans has the range where the window is, and the other has 27" aisles? Yikes. My dishwasher extends 27" from the cabinet box front when open. The range, I'd think, would be similar, so I'm not sure where you're supposed to be when either of those are open...or even where your hand will be to pull them open. A kitchen planner drew these for you?

If the window is 36" from the floor, could it be counter height with the counter running into it as the window sill? Or how about a slightly lower counter across that end? Seem s like it could be a nice place to work. A lot of the counters in my kitchen are at 33 - 34 1/2" in height, because I prefer it as a work height for myself (at 5'4") and my family (ranging from 4' to 5'10").

A couple of attempts...I'm not sure of the exact placement of the end window, so was guessing about what could be done with the uppers on the end wall:

In my kitchen in a similarly old house both windows are below counter height. One has no cabinets in front of it, but one is behind the sink. The cabinet was installed in front of the window (they must have cut the sill back to do that) and the counter runs across the bottom of the window with a 4 inch laminate backsplash between the window and the sink. It is a dust trap!

When we remodel we will replace the windows (even though we have brick too) to bring them up higher and to improve energy efficiency (there are storms on the outside but that room is the coldest in the house!).

I guess your alternatives are to:
1) do what the remodelers did in our current kitchen.
2) Put in a lower cabinet and counter top to create a baking station type lower surface (I've also seen a cook-top installed at a lower counter height!)
3) Close up the window as you suggest - but be sure to insulate the heck out of it. And do consider how it looks on the outside. We also have an old window that was closed up (high in the wall behind an upper cabinet) and it is just covered with wood on the outside. It looks ugly, but we don't care because it is in between our house and the neighbour's close next door so we rarely see it. However it does contribute to the coldness and when we remodel we will brick it up properly.

rhome410: thanks so much for your suggestions. Yes, a KD did design these plans for us. As soon as we saw the placement of the pantry cabinets, we were a little suspicious, too. I'm struggling with both layouts, only because I really want both a small peninsula and a full size diswasher. Do you think it would be a mistake to put the dishwasher in the peninsula? Our other option would be to take a little space from the adjoining dinning room. We have about 12 inches we could take from that room.

I'm not opposed to placing a shorter counter under the window, but I am worried about how it will look directly to the right of the range. I not too aesthetically fond of varying counter heights in such a small space. I also wonder whether we will sacrifice storage/layout/aesthetic design by keeping the window. Do you think we'll regret it if we remove it?

donaldsg: If we drywall over the window, we will do just that. We'll leave the actual window in place and insulate between the drywall and window. A neighbor recently did the same thing, and the window simply looks black from the outside. I'd also love to extend the other window above the sink down about 6 inches. Based on your experiences, do you have any idea what kind of cost would be involved with something like this?

Thanks all for your help. You're definitely helping me figure out what's most important to me in my kitchen.

My cousin has a window in his kitchen that is covered by a cabinet with glass doors and shelves. (They built this deliberately to get both the natural light and the storage, and it is lovely. They store glassware in the cabinet.) This might be something you could consider if you need the storage and want to keep the natural light. You'd replace the window with one that doesn't open (and of course is well insulated/ weather proofed.) Your cabinet could be regular depth or shallow hutch.

I couldn't tell in your layout where the awkward window is, so this might not work.

Another option is to have open shelving in front of the window, which could also be lovely. Again, the window would be replaced with one that doesn't open.

I guess you can tell I'm loathe to remove any source of natural light, especially in a modestly sized kitchen.

I have 3 different counter heights in our kitchen and no one even knows unless I tell them. I don't think a change of counter by only about 2 inches, and only on one side of the range will be visually noticeable. You could put a butcherblock cutting board next to the range on the right, which would camouflage the change.

24" DW in peninsula: I don't have anything against the dw being 90 degrees to the sink, as that's how it was in my parents' house from my mid teens until they moved a couple years ago...So it worked great for them for 25 years. But in your case, looking at the last plan I drew, which keeps the aisle into the room at a decent width, you can see that when the dw is open, you will not be able to access the drawers beside the sink, the upper cabinets to the left, and even a lot of the counter will be blocked. It's probably something you can work around, but it has definite negatives and would be a compromise...of which there are always some, even in big kitchens.

Sorry, I don't have any skill when it comes to layout advice but I can tell you about replacing windows. We ended up raising three window openings so we could put counters underneath and lowering and moving another window opening.

We removed the windows ourselves and we did our own trim work interior and exterior to match the rest of our 1915 house. We also repaired the exterior stucco ourselves. We hired out someone to install the new windows and to do the framing (there were some header issues and as it turns out some other support problems). The cost of labor was $2,000 for the four window openings (three window openings of about 70" wide by 45" high, one 35"w x 45"h).

It was already a total gut job and we insulated while we were at it and got new drywall so I do not consider any of that additional costs.

It was a big decision to make whether to move the windows or not but we are SO HAPPY we did. We also have a small kitchen and moving the windows made the layout process easier. I would get bids on the cost to move the window - the brick work might not be as expensive as you think. Also if you are getting new windows I think there are still tax incentives that apply.

If you do decide to just drywall over it, my neighbor did that and just put blackout material over the window so it always looks like a curtain is drawn. It is not very noticeable but the window is under a carport and the window sill is above eye level. Personally I think with a small kitchen you are best to keep both window openings - it keeps it from becoming cave-like.

Oh boy.. I must be missing something. What is the area on the right? Is that a doorway? Is that space unusable?

Ashley, we haven't started our remodel yet (it's two months away and still in the planning stage) so I can't tell you much about the costs, but our contractor did tell us that if he had to hire a mason it would be expensive. He will do a little brick work himself where it doesn't matter a whole lot how it looks, but we'd have to hire a mason for any bigger areas. So for that reason we've decided to cover our kitchen addition with cedar shakes to match the upper half of the house instead of matching the brick on the lower. One of our back windows was obviously replaced with a bigger unit some time ago and the brick work around it is dreadful - clearly an amateur job. I'm glad that will be coming out when we remodel!

Monkeymo: There are doorways on both sides (the one on the left will just be a passageway once we knock down the wall between the dinning room and the kitchen for the peninsula). The one of the left goes to the dinning room, and the one on the right goes to the garage/basement.

Does that make it more clear?

Thanks, Skyedog & Donaldsg for your input and advice. I have a window guy coming out on Thursday for an estimate. We'll see how it goes. :)

Ok, I think I am oriented now. I was a little turned around for a second.

I'm not sure what cabinet line your are thinking of going with, but can you build out around the window? For example can you put a lower counter in under the window and then on either side of the window put in some smaller pull out pantry style wall cabinets (9-12") and a cabinet above the window so it looks sort of like a mini buffet? This way it could become a feature.

Or perhaps you could put a counter below and a cabinet above then on either side shelving for cookbooks, herb plants, etc, and replace the window with a garden window.

Ashley, I've been following your posts both here and on the "old house" side of the forums. What kind of floor is currently in your kitchen? As Casey mentioned on the "old house" side, if you have layers of flooring to remove that window might not be too low above the finished floor in the end as it is now.

I still like the idea of a lower counter for baking/prep and wish I'd found a way to incorporate that into my kitchen. However, I understand that your work surface areas are small, so perhaps it wouldn't work the best in your kitchen either.

BTW, I love your old wall mounted sink! You can most likely sell it to someone who is going "vintage" with their kitchen.

I'd still try and keep the window. Light is good; original features of an old home are good; and maybe it's just me, but windows to nowhere give be the heebie-jeebies! Still, I know a functional kitchen is what's really important. Keep working on the layout - posters here can really help you with that.

We currently have a linoleum floor, but we're hoping we might uncover original wood floors underneath. Sadly, we haven't checked yet. There is about a 3/4 inch difference in height between our dinning room wood floor, but I've already accounted for that in my measurement. The window actually measures 35 inches from the floor with current flooring.

I have a friend who has put a bridging butcherblock countertop in front of each of her long Georgian windows and simply allows the light to enter above and below them. One window area is a stool nook--her chopping station. I think the other has open shelves front and back so light travels in through the shelves. You at least can have cupboardry below the window. Making a funky light channel of some sort might be the making of the room. There are good ideas on this thread.