explain if the freezer is in front of a window or just below-are those 3 windows permanent? ...what are their dimensions and style...is in and out that back door a frequent traffic pattern? do you have any vision for that area with the freezer and cart on the left? It's a fair amt of square footage and seems like a dead zone that maybe could/should come into the focus of any plan a little better....Is that corner of laundry room that is shown avail to cut an opening and steal some space for a better pantry,and use the under the stair spot at the top for a recessed frig or freezer? that would take one hulking appliance out of the way and you'd perhaps get a better pantry. Do you want any seating at all-even a counter with stools/desk/or overhang/ with a stool/chair? Seems like if mom is in grand central a spot to rest might be nice.

Is the aisle at the foot of the drawing by the back door at the foot of the stairs just 30" (2.5') wide? At the top of the drawing the scale ssems to off by the front door and pathway to DR - just 24" seems way too small to be correct. And the position of the stairs seems confusing. I am not complaining, but just wondering if your drawing is accurate. There's little point in struggling to fit something in only to discover the plan was wrong from the get-go. I'm assuming these stairs rise up from the bottom of the drawing towards the front entry since you're showing a pantry which presumably is under them. It's odd that stairs would rise towards the front door, usually it's the other way around, unless it's the back stairs. Perhaps your hohuse has had a front-to-back entry change about?

I am assuming there is no cellar stairway under these stairs? If so then maybe you can stuff the fridge, walloven and maybe a freezer under them, making your central free space within the kitchen bigger. Be wary of this if it just makes more space between the appliances and not enough to add an island or other useful thing, or creates the opportunity for a barrier island (ugh!) Another option is extra deep recessed cabs, with extra deep drawers on full extension sliders that could create a lot of storage under the stairs.

You might find you can move the freezer and in its place put a small built-in banquette and table for snacking. Under and around such a table you can have storage possibilities freeing other parts of the kitchen for more activity-related uses.

Would you consider getting a range instead of cooktop and wall oven?

Hope my questions are useful.
L.

It's a good idea to swith the DW/sink.

HTH

L.

I feel your pain. I lived with a small 1948 kitchen for a long time. Here's my thoughts (but keep in mind I have no knack for design)

I think loosing your wall oven and getting a range is a great idea.

Maybe you could think about moving your cabinets that are to the right of the fridge. If you moved the cabinets to the left so they are up against the fridge, you could put a pantry on the other side (so it would be tall pantry, upper and lower cabinetry with countertop, then tall pantry cabinet.

I would consider someday eliminating your existing pantry (which is say is inadequate as is) to open up your entrance way. You might want to look at Sara Susanka's book "Not So Big Remodeling" as she discusses the importance of spacious entryways in small homes and other great ideas for remodeling. Even if you don't do expand the entryway now, its something you could leave as is for now and plan for a future project.

I see why you want to swap the placement of the DW and sink, but I am concerned that if you did so and the DW was open, it would bring all traffic in your house to a hault.

Could you move your freezer to your laundry room, garage or basement and better utilize the nice space by your windows. It is a shame to make this space a utility area. Seems like this should be the focal pint of your kitchen with a nice banquette or bistro table.

Good Luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Not So Big House

I'm no layout expert, but I absolutely agree with herbflavor that the space at the bottom of the drawer by the freezer seems wasted. If this is an extra freezer, I would agree that moving it to a basement, laundry room, garage, or anywhere else would be better. Make this space a banquette or put some cozy chairs with a bistro table between.

Personally, I would swap the sink and dishwasher. I personally wouldn't want the sink right on the edge without some counter space on either side. And I think it would be nice to have the sink centered in the pass through.

Assuming you're removing the wall ovens, I am guessing this will put cabinetry and counter right next to the fridge. This would be great to provide landing space and also maybe somewhere for you to keep extra baking supplies like your stand mixer. That said, maybe you should play around with moving the fridge down further on the range to avoid clogging up the entrance to the kitchen from the entry/dining area.

Hi, Angelcowgirl. Do you have a basement? Is the pantry actually the landing at the top of stairs?

If there're no stairs down (please say no, because this is a good option), how about pushing your fridge and as much other storage and ancillary items as possible under the staircase up? Including pull-out pantry units, toaster, coffeemaker, etc.

Then, you could turn your shallow L into a shallow U turned on its side like a C. The U for cooks and its arms channeling all that through traffic along the stair/storage wall. The sink and stove could stay nicely essentially where they are.

Sink would have the DW on the outside for convenience so that the right end of the top of the U would be cleanup.

The left side of the sink would be part of the main prep area between it and the stove.

Second main prep area left of stove and on inside of peninsula.

Third and fourth prep areas on outside of peninsula.

If someone's good at dodging elbows, he or she could go on the inside of the peninsula too. (#6)

On the end by the windows, a nice cushy sofa for brfeaks, chatting, browsing recipes, etc. Every kitchen should have one. :)

If traffic is truly a nightmare, you might be better off with narrow but free-flowing aisles rather than ample and congested ones. This would mean adding a narrow island or perhaps a peninsula, and moving the fridge to a different wall.

Also agree that you need to make use of that space down south somehow.

Wow, so many replies so quickly! Thank you. I will try to answer all the questions but I might miss something...

* In our part of Texas, there are NO basements because the water table is simply too high.
* We also do not have a garage.
* The laundry room is too small to steal any space from (the washer and dryer back right up to the kitchen's adjoining wall) nor is there any room in there for the freezer.
* Totally agree about the wasted space 'down south'. My ultimate dream would be to bump out the wall and build a 'great room' there with tons of windows to catch our spectacular sunsets.
* With 4 kids always in and out for drinks, balls, or potty breaks, or for hubby to get to his grill or the shed, the back door really is used very regularly. And yes, it really is only a 30" aisle.
* The entry/front door measurements are a bit off since I started too near the top of the paper and ran out of room, lol. The entry itself is 53" (of which the open front door cuts into by 36"), but there is a framed walkway into the kitchen/DR which only measure 46" W , if that makes sense.

It really is a bizarre layout.

I apologize for the crude sketch - I know I need to do it properly in some online software or something but I still need to learn how. :)

If there are no stairs under the stairs, I would strongly recommend looking at pull out drawers - tall and deep that embedded under the stairs in the section without head height. They don't have to be cabinets, it can be done with framed sides that have drawer glides attached. Buy or make "shelves that slide" with side mount glides and attach extra drawer fronts to them. Use the drawers for pantry items. See if both the ref and freezer could recess into the taller section.

Possibly then a "U" shaped main kitchen? With perhaps an extra work table in front of the window for projects like cookies where you need some cooling space and a single everyday chair.

Work table instead of couch? Really? :)

Angelcowgirl, regardless of the shape the rest takes, I think I'd use every inch I could under the stairs for the kitchen. You wanted deep storage, after all. If you check the web, drawer slides come in many depths. You literally could have the front 20-24" of a drawer for pots and pans you use all the time, and the back portion for less used items for canning, holidays, wine making, Little League uniforms...whatever. Same for all the other drawers. A pull-out with shelves can be just inches wide and could be cut down from a standard unit to fit.

Unless I had a great other place for it, I would use whatever size(s) of refrigeration units that would fit. Not the cheapest and easiest route initially, but there might be a great deal to gain.

Given your traffic and size constraints, I'm not able to imagine an island layout that would work for you, but maybe someone will come up with a compelling diagram.

Is the range going where the cooktop is listed? That would be a better work triangle and give you counter space on the side of the refrigerator. The area next to the old wall oven that states cabinets - you could do a pantry (utility) cabinet which would give you a lot of storage.

Any option to put the sink somewhere else? You have no room on the one side if the sink which could be awkward.

If you haven't already, I would pick up some cabinet books. You might get some ideas on cabinets that might help you in this. Also talking to a designer at Home depot or Lowes might help you too.

A couple other thoughts:
Could you put the sink in the corner? This would still be close to the current plumbing.

Where the refrig and wall oven are now - center the range with base/wallcabinets on each side and pantry cabinet still on the other end.

Put the refrig by the hall wall next to where the range is now.

All very good ideas, thank you!!!

This may seem silly, but I do have a concern regarding opening up the space under the stairs. (An idea which never would have occurred to me, by the way... you all are amazing!) I really like the idea but I am worried because that space currently serves as our tornado shelter. We don't get them frequently but as we don't have a basement, I'm not sure where else we would go? Open to ideas on this also!!!