I think I must have missed your earlier post, but how old are your children? Ovens that open into a doorway would be a problem at my house, because children(mine and the 30 kids who think they live here) tend to zoom around corners. Socks + hard surface flooring + possible running children + open oven door = disaster waiting to happen. Maybe your kids are older than mine?

Your baking center is very far from your ovens, although mine is planned a bit of a distance also. I felt that walking to the oven with cool pans and sheets wasn't a big deal as long as there was ample landing space around my range for hot trays.

I can't believe I'm suggesting this because I love walk in pantries, but if you eliminated the walk in and extended the counter top towards the corner, you could place your oven stack over in that corner over there. You could place some floor to ceiling pantry cupboards on the cooktop wall where the ovens were for cans and dry storage. There would be plenty of room in your expanded baking center to store flours, sugars, and all baking related pantry items.

I dunno... this is a tough one as like laxsupermom; I love walk in pantrys. However; I agree that the additional counterspace and placement of the ovens in that corner would be prudent. I don't know if this idea would work but... if you were to hinge the door into the garage from the other end and had it swing in; could you then build some narrow depth shelving for additional storage on the frig run? Also, I notice stairs. Do you have a basement? Perhaps you can dedicate some space either in the garage or basement for storage of large items you infrequently use or bulk items like paper towel.

I too was wondering about that garage door/pantry door area. Too many conflicting doors over there. If you do decide to keep the pantry, can the door swing inward(I have no idea if this is pantry etiquette, as I don't have one). If you do decide to eliminate the pantry, can you move the garage door further north so you could do some shallow cabinets next to the frig run as remodelfla suggested? I personally wouldn't want to be walking in from the garage carrying a bunch of stuff and have to maneuver around the cabinets there. If you can't change the swing on the garage door or move it, I would make all the cabinets up until the frig cab a narrow depth. Would be a great message center/mail/key drop off area. Do you have your micro over there right now? We'd have to find a spot for that, which shouldn't be too difficult.

More conversation starters.
Different entrance and banquettes:
{{!gwi}}
Pantry gone and done in a different way with the bank of cabinets at the garage door - a variation after laxsuper's suggestion
{{!gwi}}

I'm the odd man here. I like your plan as is. I wouldn't want to give up the walk-in pantry and I like your baking/prep center with uninterrupted countertop space near the sink. I wouldn't try to crowd in a second prep sink in this size kitchen. There is plenty of landing space beside the oven. You might consider using double doors on your pantry (swinging in instead of out) to minimize the interference with your garage door. I did this in my house for the walk-in pantry as well as the laundry room in order to minimize door swing and maximize wall space around doorways. My fridge is located like yours so that it's convenient to the family room and I like that as well.

Thanks for the suggestions, please keep them coming. Lots to think about.

LaxSupermom
The kids are 15+ so they no longer come zipping around corners. Mostly they walk in to the kitchen from the living room and head straight to the frig a zillion times a day.

I thought that by adding a pantry (I"ve always wanted one) it would help break up the "bowling alley" feel of the kitchen. But I'll think about the suggestion. Maybe it will have to be one of my trade-offs in "you just can't have everything" category.

RemodelFLA
I just included the opening into the garage door as it currently exists. I know there are some fire code regulations that I will look into. I don't think the door can open into the garage because there is only a small landing on the opposite side of the garage door and 4 steps down to the floor of the garage.

THe garage door can't be moved from its current location.

Yes, the cabinets are 24" and the microwave is there also. I tried the MW on top of the wall oven (where it is curently shown) but thought it too far from workspace where it will be used--the frig.

Bmorepanic
In your first drawing, how do you envision the newly defined room behind the frig; do you see it as a kind of butler's pantry?

Did you leave the wall in the same place as I had it for the pantry and just extend it across the room? I like this plan and will spend some time, thinking about my daily routine with it. I like the plan, but wonder if there is enough counter space in the work area...

How essential do you think the prep sink to keep this space functional? I'm worried that there is not enough aisle space between the table and the stove. What if I move the range 2 feet toward the garage, remove the prep sink and leave a small penninsula, (like what you have without the sink)?

I'm going to mull over your ideas on a bike ride before it gets too hot, and then it will be back to the drawing board.

Thanks for your ideas, keep them coming.

I think bmorepanic's first layout is intriguing. It solves the door issue, makes the pantry space huge and only sacrifices a sliver of counter space, although I don't see a mw in it. I don't think the prep sink is really necessary, but then I've never had one. Without kids underfoot, I'm not as concerned about the oven placement.

I like Bmore's 2nd layout, since the cooktop isn't in a traffic pattern and right across from the stove. What happened to the former plan with pantry storage by the table?

Two things stand out to me... you said you wanted to get away from the galley like "bowling alley" feel and you've always wanted a pantry. Then you should absolutely work toward perfecting a layout that gives you those two wishes. All these ideas work and are great. Choose the one and give it minor tweaks that ultimately gives you what you desire. You can combine some of the ideas in bmore's first layout with the first one you posted. Gives you the walk in pantry, albiet a bit smaller and a great banquette!

OK, I looked way too fast the first time. (Still would like a look at that past idea).

I'm preferring Bmore's 1st layout now, instead of her 2nd, because of fridge location and pantry.

Your plan: What is beside the fridge? Microwave? How often and for what things do you use it?
I'm concerned about the mixer in one spot and the ovens and better counter space for doing the actual baking work (rolling anything out, filling pans, etc.) a LONG way across the kitchen.

At this point, I'm liking the sink/pantry end of Bmore's 1st layout, but your stove wall layout...It gets the cooktop so it's not so close to the table and leaves more room for baking projects by the oven. And I don't think you'd be so far from the sink to be a problem. Your section by the garage door was awkward (carrying something large in from the garage wouldn't be fun) and Bmore's plan solves that and improves your pantry space to boot. --Also a straighter path from the living room to the fridge door for the kids. ;-D

I sure don't see Bmore's pantry as a Butler's pantry, as those usually connect a kitchen and dining room and are a place to store dishes, etc. But this makes you a wonderful big pantry, even though it's a walk-through. In one of our houses, our pantry was situated like this...Between the garage and the house. (Only ours wasn't so nice as yours would be since it was actually a walled off section of the garage and also included the laundry equipment.) Not fancy but hugely useful!

First, let me clarify, I don't have a cook-top, only a 36"" range. I probably mispoke, sorry if I caused any confusion. And in my plan the MW is situated adjacent to the Frig.

In B'mores' 2nd plan, what is the square that is near the refigerator?

I agree the baking area is too far from the oven in the corner--it is the sacrafice to make the plan work. Where ever the mixer is sitting--that is where I will be doing the baking. Originally I had it near the range, but then moved it closer to the sink as I thought about how I bake ( crack eggs--into the sink-measure water for adding to the cake/bread, throw the dirty dishes into the sink after the mixing bowl has been used, etc.). I thought I could live with carrying the dough across the kitchen to the range as long as there was landing space for afterward.

I'm going to tweek Bmore's plan 1 with mine and see what I come up with. Stay tuned. Thanks again for putting your time and effort into this. I appreciate it so much.

FYI- the earlier plan, which I loved, closed off the entry from the garage, and DH didn't go for it.

And the even earlier plan opened the kitchen to the living room, which I like the idea of, but just cant make it work.

Ohhh, duh. I remembered your old post with the pantry across from the banquette, and, of course, remember the one in which Bmorepanic did the great plan opening it to your living room, but didn't connect that they were the same kitchen! :-)

What didn't work about the open to the living room idea and Bmore's layout? Just didn't hit home with you?

The small box by the ref in number 2 is any form of a tall cabinet. It's difficult to place a side by side right up against a wall that extends past the refrigerator door hinges because the doors won't open far enough.

So, a 12" utility cabinet, 15" storage or even 9" pull out cab. The other hint about stuff in a corner like that is if your door way to the entry has trim, you might need an inch or inch and a half filler so that the doors or drawers open properly and don't hit the moldings. The same filler serves as a baseboard interface point.

I don't know if a prep sink is necessary. In some variations, it seems like the clean up sink is a long way.

The pantry wall is exactly where you had it. This is one last variant exchanging the eating area for the cleanup and retaining the pantry. The hook is that it moves the east window more easterly.

{{!gwi}}