Layout Brainstorming Starring Mr. T. & Traffic Cop

9 years ago

Hello all!

I'm hoping some of you layout experts would be willing to toss out some layout possibilities for a 1960s kitchen gut renovation.

- The only ideas I have had so far is a giant "T" island and a peninsula near an entryway to change the traffic pattern. I'm stumped.

Here's the Existing Layout:

Here's the Peninsula Acting As Traffic Cop:

Here's the Mr. T.:

Here's the house in which this kitchen sits as depicted in the 1960s builder brochure:

The possibly-relevant info, in no particular order:

- We have the opportunity to purchase this house but the current kitchen is a deal breaker for me.

- The budget is "modest".

- The drawings are very rough as we are only trying to come up with some kind of vision this early in the game, not an actual detailed blueprint.

- The current space is 11 x 10 with 3 heavy-use entryways and LOTS of traffic jams.

- The wall between the current kitchen and the sitting room is NOT load-bearing and can be removed easily.

- The "heavy-use" entrance cannot be moved, and since it is 6 steps down, the kitchen cannot be expanded into that space.

- The hallway entrance shown on the right cannot be moved without great expense. It runs past the basement stairway entrance.

- We are a family of 5 (me, DH, 2 teens and an elementary-aged kid), with big extended families and entertain informally.

- I'm comparing all possibilities to my current country kitchen where the workspace is only 10 x 10 (and a glorious dated golden oak!), but a very functional "G" shape. The only traffic coming into the work triangle are the cooks, not passers-by. :)

- Our current kitchen is truly the heart of the home. It's hard to think about a different kind of kitchen taking that place!

Any advice is most welcome! I am always amazed when I lurk on this board at all the possibilities people come up with that I personally would never have thought about!

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Comments (10)

rmtdoug
9 years ago
Given the way you have the island configured in Mr. T, I would have to say Traffic Cop is the better of the two layouts. A smaller island might work, but you don't have very much space, and islands take up a lot of space.
sheloveslayouts
9 years ago
With the T, you drive traffic through your kitchen work space.

With the peninsula idea, it looks like if you can squeeze one in you probably won't be able to sit at it.

I'm excited to see what the experts say. My thoughts involve moving plumbing: put the kitchen in the upper right corner, the dining in the lower right and the living room on the left to get the kitchen out of the main traffic patterns
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Jillius
9 years ago
Here is a suggestion:

You said the heavy traffic entrance couldn't be moved, but I couldn't tell if that was only because it's six steps down. If that is the only reason, I didn't actually want to move a wall or expand into that space. I want to move the steps/doorway so that traffic walks by the kitchen rather than in the kitchen. It leaves you with a comfortable, u-shaped kitchen.
bpath
9 years ago
It's kind of hard to tell from your pictures, because sizes and dimensions seem to vary. How wide a range are you talking about? Did you switch to a narrow dishwasher? I wouldn't do a French door fridge next to the door, you'll always be reaching around the right hand door, whet here it's open or closed.

Is moving the sink in your budget?

While I always opt for circulation, would you consider closing off the door from the kitchen to the back hall?
ControlfreakECS
9 years ago
Your home layout reminds me so much of Home4all6's. Though, admittedly bigger, her solution may help you. Below is a link to her Photobucket acct. Look at all the layout ideas she went through, then click on the Finished Kitchen album to see how it all turned out -- stunning!

Here is a link that might be useful: Home4All6 kitchen journey
crl_
9 years ago
I'd think the biggest move you could make to keep people out of the kitchen working space would be to move the refrigerator so it is easily accessible. Otherwise, aren't they all going to walk around whatever island or peninsula you put up anyway to get to the refrigerator?

And then is it possible to move the door to the utility/garage space so it opens into the dining room?
sheloveslayouts
9 years ago
I like the idea of moving the stairs to the garage, but if they're moved can you still fit a car in there and walk around it? I don't know what minimum garage dimensions are.
AquaLove
9 years ago
How about swapping the kitchen and dining areas? Close the doorway between foyer and current dining area so that you could do a long U shape kitchen, and the traffic to the garage would be outside the kitchen area.
sena01
9 years ago
An alternative keeping the "heavy-used" entry where it is now, but expanding a bit to dining/sitting room.
kdw72697
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks so much for all the advice so far!

I guess the issue isn't so much people getting in the way when they try to grab a drink from the fridge or sample something on the stove, but that they have to cross through the cooking area just to get inside the house!

Jillius, benjesbride, & CRL, I would LOVE to get that entrance out of there, but the only way to move it further down the kitchen wall is to run it through the already-small garage. I have to try to get in there and measure; IÃ¢ÂÂm doubtful there is room within the garage for the necessary staircase, but moving that entry would solve a host of problems.

bpathome, Please excuse my awful renderings, lol! Everything varies wildly, since it was my first venture with the merillat online layout tool, plus I am just roughing it out from memory at this point with no exact appliance dimensions.

The heavy use entry would be open with no door, but youÃ¢ÂÂre right, it still might not be a place to put the fridge. ItÃ¢ÂÂs currently an IN-SWING door bumped up against a WALL OVEN. If you try to enter the house while someone has the oven open, BAM!!! Judging by the gash in the door, it happens a lot.

I have toyed with the idea of closing off the hall entrance. I have think more on that!

Aqualove, I just noticed a house (same model) in the development that must have done that. The benefit would be an kitchen with far less traffic! The drawback would be that if you used the front door (like for company or larger parties), the work area would be in full view from the main front door and the windows facing the street. I have to maybe go ring the doorbell of the person with the flip-flopped kitchen and ask for a tourÃ¢ÂÂ¦

controlfreakecs, I LOVE that kitchen! thank so much for the link. Gorgeous.

Aqualove, I just noticed a house (same model) in the development that must have done that. The benefit would be an kitchen with far less traffic! The drawback would be that if you used the front door (like for company or larger parties), the work area would be in full view from the main front door and the windows facing the street. I have to maybe go ring the doorbell of the person with the flip-flopped kitchen and ask for a tourÃ¢ÂÂ¦

Sena01, Thank you for that image? How did you make it?

Layout Brainstorming Starring Mr. T. & Traffic Cop

Comments (10)

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Layout Brainstorming Starring Mr. T. & Traffic Cop

Comments (10)

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Original Author