Kitchen Layout Diagrams in hand...comments please??

11 years ago

After much time, many adjustments, and tons of GW reviewing, we finally have layouts of our kitchen(yay!!). Please give us your feedback so we can make sure we have thought through as much as we can before giving a green light. So excited to have the advice of experts like you to help!! Here is our information (may be WAY too much info, but every bit helps, right?) and then the layout images:

� What are your goals? To increase usable/ functional space, replace dying appliances and create an aesthetically pleasing and inviting place for family and friends to hang out.

� What is your family composition? Two adults and two children (8 and 11).

� How many kitchen workers are there? We all help with various parts at various times. Usually only one main cook while others help with minor prep and/or cleanup.

� How do you see your kitchen used? We use our kitchen for cooking, homework, and as a connection (walk through) from formal areas (LR, DR, BRs) to informal areas (FR and garage). FR is actually what is located at the bottom of the kitchen in the bird's eye view layout. Basically it goes from kitchen into eating are into L shaped FR.

� Do you entertain a lot? We do entertain quite often (much extended family within one hour of us). We are the ones with the "family house"...large house, large yard, toys, games, books, etc. Our entertaining is definitely informal. No one would ever say we are formal:)

� Do you want your kitchen to be a "hang out" place? We do hang out here and would like to continue to do so. Although it is connected to our FR so we "spread hang out".

� Do you have a separate DR? Sort of. We use the formal DR as an entry foyer with four chairs around a table in a circle...very inviting and everyone loves it when they come to the house. But we can move the chairs out and use it if we ever needed to. Never have though.

� Would you like to open up the kitchen to adjacent areas? Our kitchen currently opens into the FR and we are removing a half wall to open up that connection even more.

� Where are you flexible? We are trying to keep costs down so prefer to not do too much structural changes other than close existing doorways and change to an opening where it is in the current layout...our new entry will be between the MW drawer and the fridge cabinet. A good 45" or so in order to maximize openess and match well with what other parts of house look like on the other side of the kitchen.

� What appliances do you plan on having? We will have the following:

o 36" induction cooktop

o Single 30" oven

o MW drawer

o Standard DW

o CD 36" fridge

o 36" hood

� Pantry: We will use drawers and some cabs for daily pantry items. We have a full pantry wall in the laundry room which is just through the diagonal doorway at the bottom of the kitchen (see bird's eye view)

� Cabinets & Table: Will be installing DeWils' frameless mahogany cabinets in a cacao stain (dark brown..but not REAL dark brown). We will eventually get an island after we have lived with the space a bit. The bottom half of the kitchen (see bird's eye view) is our table area. Our table is 30" X 53" and can seat 6 on a regular basis. It swivels and opens up to be 53" X 60" and can seat 8-10 for get-togethers.

Specific Questions:

1) Are there too many upper cabs around the hood? 8 doors!!! All that dark wood! Should we remove some, change them, use glass/panels in all or only some?

2) Does the fridge/ oven wall protrude too much into the space thereby affecting the symmetrical feel of the cooktop wall?

3) Are we missing anything? What do you think?

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Comments (8)

palimpsest
11 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Its a classic work triangle and seems to work well in that regard.
cpartist
11 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I'll answer question 3 first:

The first thing I see is that the ovens and the fridge are on a wall by themselves and you have nowhere to put things you take out of the oven or the fridge. The closest counter is almost 5' away on the wall where the cooktop is. The sink counter is 9' away. Without a counter, you will be making lots of needless trips back and forth to put stuff down. Also think about having to carry a large turkey, etc across the room in a hot pan, or carrying basting utensils, etc for the oven.

Is there any way you can move the wall oven down and put a 24" base cabinet between the wall oven and fridge? That will give you a spot to put grocery bags, or take out items from the fridge or even just put pot holders down when cooking in the oven.

Or if that's not doable, how about doing what I did with my kitchen and put the wall oven under the cooktop and add a counter where the oven is now?

Specific Questions:
1) Are there too many upper cabs around the hood? 8 doors!!! All that dark wood! Should we remove some, change them, use glass/panels in all or only some?

I was worried about the same thing in mine so put glass panels in my end cabinets. You do have the window and the range hood to break up the space, so I don't think you need them. I think you'll be fine the way the cooktop wall is.
2) Does the fridge/ oven wall protrude too much into the space thereby affecting the symmetrical feel of the cooktop wall?

No, you won't even notice it. However to follow your symmetry I think I'd prefer to see the small cabinet next to the mw switched with the mw. This way the two small panels are on the ends.
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Hahaha you guys are amazing. Thank you SO very much for all of your ideas. You have helped us so greatly. We have a small coat closet by the front door before the kitchen we plan to open up for a "mud room" for keys, a bench, book bag hooks, etc. you are right in thinking about all of it now albeit it is early, I'm on it! We also have a dresser turned buffet on the opposite side of where the appliances are (the structural wall) and that's where we put the mail and empty our pockets. I have a little bowl formDH to put everything in. We do use the front door as our main entry. The room next to our living/dining room is the former garage converted, not by us, obviously... It was a one car and the transformation left a lot to be desired. There is a big step down as well into the room. After that, is the actual garage, which is more steps down. Bringing in groceries through that way is a huge pain, forget about if I have the kids with me (when do I not have the kids with me?????). I love the idea of the seating at the end of the room, it makes so much sense to have it in line with the island, And I had never thought of it. I have to see when we remove the peninsula with the sink and dw in it currently how it feels. I would love to have the table as part of the island so we could spill over into it when we do holidays and things, or put food on it to carry out when we are doing bbqs and things outdoors. I'm not convinced the space is too small for it but I certainly will opt for a table if need be. The natural end I think for the island would be in line with the cooktop wall, by the patio doors, but from there to the windows there's a good 7' at least. I feel like if we continue the island a bit, say just for seating for 4 as in the pic mama goose found, I could also stick a pantry or something in the far corner to the left of the sliding doors without it feeling alienated. Once the space is cleared out more I will use tape and check it out. on a side note, what do you guys do while you renovate for food? Do you just order out or pick up? DH wants to get a little electric griddle...lol As long as the table part of the island, if we go that way, doesn't impede traffic flow from the patio doors or from the work triangle to the pantry, we are good, right? Right now we have literally all of our food in our pantry but I think with a bigger island and after the reorganization, we are going to have another spot for regularly used stuff. This will help free room in there for things less frequently used, which is what it should be for, I think. As for a buffet, or setting things out with guests, etc. I would probably use our dining room table just because it's huge and in the living room. Maybe I should move the dining room table into the kitchen to get a feel for how a big island would be once we take everything out, lol DH is going to love that idea! Haha I'm so excited to know (sort of) what works. Thank you again,
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contemporganic
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
cpartist - Thank you for your comments/ suggestions. FYI, we plan to have an island (will be reusing our existing one for a while) and that will be the landing pad for the fridge and the oven. Similar to what we have been doing the past 7 years so seems normal to us. We thought about putting oven under cooktop but when we saw a sample of 30in oven under 36in cooktop it looked a bit odd to us...will think through your other suggestions.
cpartist
11 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
IF you're planning on an island that will of course solve the problem of having a landing pad. :) While I personally prefer mine to be next to the fridge/oven, we each have to do what works for us and since you are comfortable doing it by turning around, I think then that the layout in that area will work fine.

I agree it probably would be strange. I forgot that you have the 36" cooktop. Mine is a 30" so it looks fine. Oh and my kitchen is smaller and the light comes from the dining room window which is across the dr, which is why I added a few glass cabinets. I think yours is fine the way it is without the glass shelves.
contemporganic
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Tag on question regarding the wall of uppers...would it look better to have the large two-door cabs in the upper corners and then one single door cab (maybe 18") = remove the 27" double door cabs around the hood? Or would that be too much space between the hood and the cabs (11 inches either side, I believe). Just still concerned that there is so much cabinetry up there on that wall. Eight doors!
desertsteph
11 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
are you tall people? the oven looks high to me
cpartist
11 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Eight doors is not too much in that room. You have alot of open space. It's funny but on paper it tends to look so much more condensed then when you see it up in the kitchen. Don't sweat it. :)
contemporganic
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
desertsteph - No, we are definitely NOT tall people:) We have rethought that cab and are now leaning toward having bottom 12" drawer with oven on top and then large cab door abov (actually two doors tacked together). Will provide some pantry-like space above the oven which will be more of the "normal" height. Thanks for pointing that out.

cpartist - Thank you for chiming in again to help calm me down. It does look like too many doors on paper!! I will try to get past the paper and recognize that it will look not so crowded/ dark when it is all in the actual space.

Regarding landing space for oven...random thought: What if we were to put the oven "under counter" in the existing oven cab spot?? Thinking something like sochi's with the oven under the counter so there is a nice landing pad for both oven and fridge. But it would not be part of a long counter expanse. Is that too out there??

Kitchen Layout Diagrams in hand...comments please??

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palimpsest

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Kitchen Layout Diagrams in hand...comments please??

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