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Help with kitchen layout

12 years ago

We're renovating an old house and making a first attempt at a revised kitchen layout. Our options are limited by doors, passage ways to other areas of the first floor and windows too close to the floor to allow for a counter to be placed underneath them. A rough plan of our own is shown above. Does anyone have any critique or suggestions for what you see here? Does this look like a workable layout?

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Comments (4)

felixnot
12 years ago
You can make anything work if you really have to. But, it would be a worthwhile exercise to see what you can demolish, or move, or close. Think about closing some of your passages, shortening a window, moving the door,demo the bathroom, etc. After you've done the extremely radical plan, then evaluate what you really want.

Right now you've got a collection of appliances that have some storage or counter around it. Perhaps you should take a look at the many plans and layouts that others have shown on the site, to get an idea of what you may do with the challenging plan you have.
lisa_a
12 years ago
You asked, "Does this look like a workable layout?"

Uh, no, sorry. It's sadly lacking in counter space near work areas. Your plan can be improved upon. I'm assuming from your post that doors and windows must stay as is, however, you can put counters in front of low windows. Another GWer has done just that. I can't find you a link to pics but I can find you two inspiration pics from houzz.com

[traditional kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by seattle architect Bosworth Hoedemaker

[traditional dining room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2107) by seattle architect Bosworth Hoedemaker

Please give us dimensions. Putting a ruler up against my computer monitor isn't very handy and possibly not accurate. Also, tell us a little more about the space. Like what is that funny little bump in the wall behind the fridge? Where do the doors lead to? Is this a one-cook or two-cook kitchen? Would you like some type of seating in the space? What type of cooking/baking do you do? What are your storage needs? If you read the "New to Kitchens?" thread, you'll see the type of information we need to help you.
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I like where you're going with this. A couple ideas: you will probably need to move the door anyway to fit the cabinets, fridge, etc. One benefit will be you can open the door on a right-hinged fridge into the doorway. Check out the Liebherr fridges. We have had three in different properties, including two 24-inch ones. Love them. Some people here are fixated on drawers, but they do waste a certain amount of space, particularly in a shallow cabinet. To me, a shallow cabinet, as you are proposing under the windows, works well with shelves, because there is not a lot of stuff behind other stuff. On the window wall, you might consider a wine rack, if you would use that: depth is perfect. On the other wall, I would go with one bank of wider drawers - they will hold more. I would do, from left, a 24" dishwasher, 30" single sink, drawers, 30" range, tray cabinet, 24" fridge. You can get by with a 30" hood. Above, a 24" cabinet, nothing above sink, upper cabinet, hood (with 3" gap on each side), maybe a narrow spice cabinet, then a 24" cabinet over the fridge. You can do a garbage pullout under the sink, or a tip out on the window walk.
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While you are removing the soffit, remove the popcorn ceiling and replace with smooth. And remove the bulky dated fan/light, and install ceiling cans. The ceiling cans should be installed along the perimeter of the cabinets, which would be about 24" from the wall, or about 12-18" from the upper cabinets. To see how many cans you need, you have to know the size of the kitchen, the height of the ceiling, and the size of your cans (4" or 5"). A rough rule of thumb is to divide the height of your ceiling by two. This is how far apart your can lights should be. For example, an eight-foot ceiling would require lights every four feet. Does your current hood exhaust to the outside? If not, I would install an exhaust duct to the outside, while your walls are open and you are doing the other work.
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lisa_a
12 years ago
Here's one idea to get you started to think about the possibilities for your kitchen.

I moved the sink under the low window ala the above inspiration pics. I moved the range to the funny bump-out wall, building a wall behind it to back the range. Behind the right side, I added a cab to the counter to fill in the void. You could use this as an appliance garage. Counter wraps this area, giving you more room to work around your range.

I replaced your existing low and shallow cabinets with a walk-in pantry and moved the fridge to this wall. If you don't want to do this, keep the existing cabs but you should still be able to put the fridge next to them. It looks like the fridge is only 27" wide but I'm guessing.

As I wrote, this is merely an idea, trying to get you thinking about the possibilities your space offers.
ideagirl2
12 years ago
I agree, that first proposed layout is really not workable. You would hate it in real life.

Can you post a floorplan so we can see where the passageways go? And also, how low are the windows and what are the dimensions of the room?

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