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Layout Help: No Idea How to Make This Functional

10 years ago

Browsing the site I am amazed by the ideas and the helpfulness of GW members. I am so out of my element with this kitchen, any help would be appreciated. We have no idea how to redo this kitchen to make it functional.

We are a family of four (2 adults and 2 teens). I am the primary cook, although daughters occasionally help out.
My main goals in the kitchen are to improve work flow, put storage near where it is used, get rid of the clutter collector/desk, and get ventilation over the stove. I am not wild with the sink and stove in the island.
We cannot move doorways, but we can move appliances. We rarely entertain, but when we do it is informal. We are a casual/comfortable family.

On the scale drawing each square is 3".

And a very rough sketch of the rooms surrounding the kitchen:

I do have a kitchen designer coming by the house, but I would like some ideas before he comes.

Thanks

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Comments (3)

tracie.erin
10 years ago
These are just rough ideas but perhaps they will help spark better things. :)

The two things that jump out at me are that the range (or cooktop) should be on the fridge wall and the island should be made a normal rectangle, not L shaped, and be all one level. This gives you a deeper surface for prepping, which is more useful than having the surface interrupted by a change in height to the bar level.

From there, I would probably choose to put the fridge at the top of its current wall (with a 9 to 12" pull-out pantry between it and wall to allow for the doors to fully open), OR on the bottom wall with the pantry and ovens. Most likely, it would be better in the former location so that it is easily accessible to the family room.

I would also probably change to a range instead of cooktop and wall ovens. However, that's your preference.

Alternatively, I would look at leaving the fridge where it is, making the rest of the wall pantry space (can be shallow depth), then put the range, sink and DW (left to right) on the back wall, taking up all of it. An island with a prep sink on the left end floats in front of the back wall. There are two issues with this - 1) I can't tell if you really have room for this because your drawings are too small, please repost a bigger/clearer size and add measurements, 2) I would much rather have the fridge on that back wall as well and make the left wall all shallow pantry so the island can be longer, but with the two windows on that back wall I'm not sure you can fit both fridge and range - again, an issue with the drawing.

I hope this helps, and I'll check back in for updates.
gsleader
Original Author
10 years ago
Tracie.Erin

Thanks for the ideas. I think this might be a better quality scale drawing. If you are looking at the squares, they are each 6", not 3" like I said in the first post.

Probably can't move the stove to the fridge wall. That is an interior wall, and since the house is two stories, probably no way to ventilate. The other wall with the windows is a possibility. We would probably have to narrow the windows.
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florantha - yes, I would want to protect the range from traffic more than in that last layout. The suggestions of opening up the long wall on the left are interesting, I don't think they are right for our family. We do want to keep a table in the kitchen and upon reflection, I don't really want the kitchen completely open to the family room since a little separation is nice when friends are over and the kids are watching a movie in there. I do think that the thoughts are ideas that could inspire other readers in their own planning. I am leaning toward option C (last) in the original post, but I am a little hesitant about the fridge location. I like it along the back wall because it leaves the sides of the room more open, giving more of a feeling of connection to the family room and to the outside through the window on the right wall. The room is long and my idea was to place the bulky fridge to shorten the room, not narrow it. Placing the fridge on the back wall in the corner also allows room for a bigger (deeper) fridge without interfering with traffic in the room - I'd like to maximize my fridge space without going to the expense of a large built in. But I also know that it's preferable to have the fridge on the perimeter of the kitchen. The proposed location would not drive traffice through the prep and cooking area, but perhaps it's still a bad plan? Feedback would be appreciated. For Layout C, the shallow pantry on the left side of the room is 12" cupboards, the space from there to the island is 41", the island is 41" wide, and the space from the island to the cleanup sink is 48". I've pulled the counters on the back wall so that the counters would be 30". Sorry not to have added these dimensions to the drawings.
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Ok, wasn't gone that long. In the meantime, could you put your sofa on angle toward the tv? Just line it up with the rug. Take your leather chair and place it along the short side of the rug next to the window. If your small table will fit in the corner of the sofa and chair that would be a good place for it. Oh, and if what I think I'm seeing next to the tv(stacked suitcases) you could put those in that corner instead. The decorative key might look good above the cut out to the kitchen...hung long ways. Take down the art print on the wall next to the cutout and arrange a collection of your photos. Try not to go hang any higher than the the print currently is and have the bottom of your last frame hit below the height of the bottom of the cutout. I know this isn't what you were asking for, but while you're planning room layout and the more permanent direction you want to go in...there is no reason you can't try something different with what you have right now.
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rosie
10 years ago
Well, unfortunately no flashes of brilliance here for a comprehensive rearrangement. I think maybe just moving cleanup to the neglected back fridge counter and reconfiguring the L counter for prepping at a nice spacious counter between the stove and a new prep sink would make a very nice workplace. I'd probably change the cut-off corner to a standard right angle to create more counter edge to work at.

You say you're not crazy about the stove on the side though. What don't you like about it? How about that raised counter that provides some privacy for the work area? Would you like to keep it?

The windowed wall is on the other side of a traffic corridor. If it were mine and I wanted the stove there, I think I'd connect that "horizontal" counter with a vertical counter where the stove is now and create a new opening from the breakfast area farther up, perhaps where the sink is, or...?

This'd make that corridor from the dining direction detour through the kitchen, though. What is that door in the corner of the breakfast area to? The one you couldn't walk straight through to any more. :)

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