Kitchen layout thoughts please I think we're close

15 years ago

We knew our current kitchen wasn't going to be around much longer when we moved in two years ago, but that is how long it has taken to figure out how we want this house to work for us. It's that flow-on problem - change something in the kitchen, and somehow, it impacts nearly everything else in the house! Anyway, I've toyed with three completely different layouts, and I think we are getting pretty close with this one. I'd love to get your thoughts on it.

Our current kitchen:

{{!gwi}}

Here's what we are trying to achieve:

Ditch the eat in kitchen

The dining room is right next to the kitchen, so it is convenient enough that we don't need to have an eat-in kitchen. Therefore, rather than having two dining tables, I want a bar area in the kitchen, and the dining table in the dining room.

Open up the dining room to the kitchen more

Right now we have a 30" doorway between the kitchen and dining room. I want to eliminate the feeling that there is a doorway there, so I've opened it up completely and run cabinets around into the dining room, to help give the feeling they are connected (and to give more storage). Still trying to figure out the cabinet specifics there.

Eliminate our "barrier" island

Our kitchen is 19 feet long and 13 feet wide. If I were going to have an island, I would want to have 48" aisles to handle multiple cooks + "helpers". Thirteen feet just isn't enough to give me a 3-4 foot wide island and 48 inch aisles. Therefore, I've gone for a u-shape (which we converted to in our last kitchen remodel, and I loved it) that is wide open.

Move the ovens away from the doorway to dining room

I've always hated having the oven right next to the doorway to the dining room. I've moved the oven stack so it is next to the frig - hoping that having 18-24 inches between it and the entrance will help make it safer, especially for little bodies running around the corner when I've got the oven open.

Rough layout for new kitchen:

{{!gwi}}

And some renderings:

{{!gwi}}

Anyway, would love to know what your thoughts are/what issues you see. I spent a good part of my waking hours on this forum a few years ago when we redid the kitchen in our last house. I feel that starting again! =)

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Comments (2)

scootermom
15 years ago
For the most part, I really like it. Let me qualify -- I'm no layout guru and indecision is one of my greatest downfalls. But this layout makes sense to me and is one that I would like working in. I like the windows, the separation of zones, all the counterspace and best of all -- you can dance in this kitchen!

A few things I'm not wild about: trash is far from the cleanup zone, there's no landing space next to the fridge, glass storage is a hike away from the dishwasher, and the seating area behind the counter on the end of the "U" looks a like it might be cramped (is that 2 feet?). I realize that some of these are personal preference issues and are part of having a big kitchen -- everything can't be near everything else.

Also I'm not sure about the double sink for a prep sink, but what the heck, you've got plenty of room...it would be great to soak dirty prep tools on one side and leave the other clean for washing veggies. I'm used to popping dirty things into the DW right away, but you could always do that in one fell swoop later -- or add a single DW-drawer next to the prep sink for that stuff.

Chris
jraz_wa
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, Chris! Some excellent points that made me realize I left some stuff out and need to consider some stuff I hadn't thought of much...

Sinks - my software only gives me a double sink choice. I am leaning toward single bowls for both, or maybe a 1+1/2 for cleanup. Undecided. I tend to pop stuff in the dw immediately, too. Hate to have stuff taking up counter/sink space that doesn't need to be out anymore.

Trash - I guess I could add a can under the cleanup sink. That is about our only option right now for the trash, and no one can get to it if someone is at the sink. So maybe we just have a couple of bins - one for prep, one for cleanup. We can put our kitchen scraps in our yard waste bin for the trash company to take for composting, so we actually have trash, recycle and scraps that we collect. I am still undecided on how to locate & handle all those. Right now we have our recycle bin in the mud room and it hasn't bothered me much.

Frig landing space - I don't have this shown in the renderings, but I am thinking about putting in a type of flipper door appliance garage in the gap that would normally be between the base cabs and upper cabs in the stretch to the left of the frig. We'll keep the toaster, mixer and maybe coffee machine there. The doors can be left open to act as a landing for the frig, and then when we are entertaining and want it to look neat, we can close it all up. It won't be 24" deep, only 16-17. But I'm hoping that will be enough. I should have a couple feet next to the frig to use for that.

Glass storage - It is a bit of a hike. I need to think about that. I think I am going to have filtered cold and hot water at the prep sink, so I've been planning to have the glasses on that side, but near the frig. I will have to do some testing in my current kitchen to see how the distance there feels.

Seating area at bar - I do have it at about 2 feet right now. I have my dining table placed exactly where the counter/bar would be to see what it feels like. I had it at three, and it seemed like a waste of space because only one person can fit in that little "nook" where there is only two feet between bar and wall (so going behind that person isn't an issue). I do need to make sure that it doesn't get too close to the furniture we have in the family room, or make it feel like the kitchen is half way in the family room. Perhaps I will take some real pictures of the setup and see what people think.

I love that you think we could dance in this kitchen. That is what I want! Roooooom! But that temptation to squeeze in ever more storage is strong, so it has been hard to balance the storage need with my desire for room and lots of windows as I've been considering layouts.

Thanks!
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Kitchen layout thoughts please I think we're close

Comments (2)

scootermom

jraz_wa
Original Author

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Kitchen layout thoughts please I think we're close

Comments (2)

scootermom

jraz_waOriginal Author

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jraz_wa
Original Author