I love the description! One of my real world inspiration kitchens has a similar layout, as will ours ;). We are also doing a galley shape with no uppers and an island as one side of the galley. We will have extra cabs and counters too, off to the side on a peninsula, but the daily work part is galley-like, just like yours.
When do you start work?

The layout looks perfectly functional, but short on storage. If it's enough for you, it's enough.

The one flow problem is also an aesthetic problem: The fridge structure sticking up makes the kitchen look unbalanced, and it's also all the way in through the working area. It would both look and function better, in my opinion, on the other side of the stove and drawers. This probably isn't the "topless" look you want, but my first reaction was that it needs something on the left to balance it. Second thought was that if you put it on the left it'll be balanced by the wall/window and will be much more convenient for sippers and snackers who would otherwise be disturbing the cook(s).

I agree with plllog that the kitchen appears a little unbalanced. My suggestion - I know you're trying to go tetris-free - would be to add the same floating shelves at the same height as you have at the end of the peninsula - to both sides of the stove vent. It would give some visual interest from the living room, give a little more weight to the back wall, give you a bit more storage, and , I don't know if this will make sense, but tie the kitchen together with a common style element.

First, I gotta say I love that you've embraced the topless vibe. We went topless and haven't looked back. And using sochi as an inspiration is . . . well, inspired! Our layout is very similar to yours, except our galley is a bit longer and we have pantries on either end of the range/fridge wall. Ours is also modern, so I know the look you're going for.

I'm just guessing at the dimensions, but are those two drawer stacks to the right of the DW 15" stacks? Or a 15" and an 18"? If so, did you consider doing a single 30-33" stack instead? You'll get a bit more storage space and will definitely have space for larger items (trays, crock pot, stock pots). You could still specify two drawers on the top, but the larger lower drawers will be 30-33".

I see what plllog is saying about the fridge column wanting a balance on the other side. Our back wall is actually identical to yours (30" base, range, 30" base, fridge with OTF cab above), but we have a pantry on either end that gives it all some balance. Do you have a plan for that space on the left? A freestanding piece of some kind, or a tall piece of art?

Finally, what are you doing about a backsplash? Are you going to do a feature wall all the way up behind the range hood? Have you figured out where on the left to stop the BS? Regarding BS, I would recommend putting a panel on the side of the fridge if you are doing a full-height BS. Because that eliminates the horrific decision of where to end the BS when you get to the fridge. (We actually built an entire wall and enclosed the fridge in an "alcove" just so I could avoid this issue -- the alcove might actually work well for you as it would set the fridge off a bit from the rest of the range wall).

Folks are probably sick of my kitchen and you may have seen it already, but here are a few shots to show you a finished version of something similar to what you are doing.

Not chiming in about the layout really (others here are much more qualified) but did want to let you know that you should look at the new 36" GE Monogram induction cooktop. It looks more like frosted glass and comes off more white than anything else.

Thanks everyone for the input. DH & I have been batting this thing around for way too long & the external ideas are wonderful.

Kitchen dimensions are roughly 11 feet long by 10.5 feet wide.

Thanks Pillog, on the storage front - I can't believe I forgot to mention this in the initial write-up, but storage has been a hot-button between me & my DH. The solution we have come up with is an 8footx8foot pantry closet which you can see in the first floor plan picture- just above the dining table. Plus we are going to have a set of 42-inch high by 11 foot wide (the kitchen is 11 feet long) cabinets running along the living room side of the kitchen. This will give us a bit of a hiding area from the living room (I love the flat sink counter look; however know that IRL I do not get to the dishes right away.) Hopefully that will augment the storage enough. Fingers crossed...

Great minds think alike byronroad - I've been lobbying for some floaters on either side of the range hood, however DH is not a fan of open shelving and it was compromise his part to get the floaters that are there. Perhaps something we can add later, if needed?

On the balance front - I totally agree that the fridge side is visually MUCH heavier that the stove side of things. However, we are hoping to keep the work areas as open as possible. We have a backup plan to add a pull-out pantry on the left side of the cook top or a nice, tall sideboard on

Might the backsplash help improve the balance?

Jakabedy, we're going for 3 horizontally oriented panes of tempered glass that will cover the wall from counter to ceiling. It will be back painted white. It should add a lot of sparkle and perhaps better define the range side of that back wall. DH has agreed to handle the extra cleaning the glass will need. :D Excellent idea on the panel for the fridge! This one is a must do!!!

The drawer stacks beside the DW are each 20 inches wide, but I am very much warming to the idea of a wider single stack, the 2 drawer top and perhaps a nice tall slot for cutting boards and other tall & thin items...

Love your kitchen - it IS very similar in layout, but I think your space is much larger. What sort of wood did you use?

Hey dianalo,

Demolition starts on November 15th, but the kitchen won't be needed until early January. We have to get through the demolition & restructuring first. This new kitchen plan needs a few walls removed, 2 of which are bearing so we will be having some very large beams craned over the side of our building! The joys of renovating a 5th floor condo...

As drawn, I don't think the backsplash will balance the fridge, but if you do something eyecatching and take it to the ceiling, it might. You can also "disguise" the fridge by coloring it and the cabinet over it to match the wall. You could even leave the freezer white to go with the other appliances. If the hood is to be as drawn--rectangular box--in stainless steel, you could also do a stainless fridge and wrap that cabinet in stainless. If things don't balance, visually, you can sometimes make them work out by making them stick out even more. Then it becomes interestingly asymmetric rather than just tilt.

gursk -

Our cabinets are IKEA, Nexus yellow-brown. Our galley is definitely super-sized, with the island being 17-1/2 feet long. I like the idea of the clean, back-painted glass for your BS -- but will you have color on the wall to the left? I think some color there will help the white BS stand out.

We are going with white cabinets & white Electrolux appliances, so that may make the fridge blend in a bit more.

Hopefully the glass backsplash going to the ceiling and the fancy floating Futuro Futuro rangehood/light will do the trick.

{{!gwi}}

Since we are going with a red floor,perhaps an oversize canvas with lots of red on the wall to the left of the range area may also balance things a bit more ...

What do you think of the shelf behind the range? It's going to be made from the same quartz as our counter top and takes advantage of the fact we are going extra deep on lowers there - a full 31 inches.

We had originally planned to only go 6 inches high, but I'm playing with the idea of going to 15 inches high - to allow the coffeemaker, grinder & other tall items to fit underneath (really have no idea where ELSE the coffeemaker can live).

I'm trying to make this shelf look 'right' and be utilitarian, to stow things I use a lot & don't want to trek over to the pantry to get, such as oils, salt cellar etc.)

Sorry, I have just been using the term "range" as shorthand for cook top & wall oven. Might clarify the shelf question above.

Jakabedy,

I was sooo looking at those exact cabinets from Ikea. LOVE them. Unfortunately, with our wee kitchen, we decided to go custom so we could eke out every inch of space. How are you finding the all drawers approach?

I would also like to know what your lovely countertop is... I'm in a quandary about going with gray or white...

gursk -

I can understand going with custom when you need to eek out every inch. We actually have very little filler, though -- less than three inches on each run of cabinets. Our countertop is Zodiaq Papyrus. I looked at the truer whites, but our house is more of an organic MCM than a truly contemporary space, so we didn't want something that stark. The Papyrus does the trick -- sort of a light putty color and not brown at all.

The drawers have been amazing -- no misgivings at all. We used to have uppers on the range wall and removed them in the reno. But even with all those items rehomed elsewhere, we STILL have empty drawers. But we also have a freakishly long island and I don't have a lot of cookware/gadgets. Oh, and I LOVE the Futuro Futuro range hood -- that thing is fantastic. Sometimes I wish we'd gone with more of a statement hood, but that was one of our budget areas.

Regarding your shelf, I would love it if you could find a way to make that thing float. But that would probably entail routing out the undersides of the stone, fabricating custom brackets, and mounting the brackets to the studs behind the drywall. And then it would make the glass backsplash more difficult, as well.

I'm still trying to get something up on that wall. What about running the supports for the shelf a little higher (maybe 6"-8")and having the shelf sit down into the supports. It might give a little interest and ease the abruptness in the elevation change from the fridge down to the counter.

Sorry - do you mean "utilitarian" in looks or in usefulness. If its in usefulness maybe the supports instead of being straight up and down could be carved to follow the shape of something (maybe the range hood). So have them curved to mimic the rangehood. Even if you had them just support the shelf and not go through you could have them curved toward the wall at the same curvature of the range hood. I hope that makes sense and I wish I could draw what I mean. Anyway,just a thought.

Hi byronroad,

I'm going for usefulness - the support shape idea is a great one.

As for height, I'm hoping to make it 15 inches tall - that way I can fit the coffee maker & grinder under it, maybe stack some mugs or a sugar bowl on top ...

When the DW is open, it looks like the door will block access to the back half of the kitchen. You mentioned that you want space for 2 people to pass each other, so you might want to consider swapping the DW with the drawers to the left of the sink.

Thanks chicagoans,

I was hoping that putting the dishwasher in the middle would allow one person to be at the sink while another loads the dishwasher?

Oops - poor explanation. I meant run them up another 6-8" to say a total of 22-23" high and carved in a curved form to mimic the range hood against the wall and then have the shelf sit down at the 15" level between the supports . The supports then would be below and above the shelf.

gursk that's a good point about someone else helping to load the DW. If you typically have 1 at the sink and another loading, then your current DW location is better.

Oh wow, that Futuro rangehood is fantastic! Love it! It is so dramatic I do think it will go some way to addressing the possible 'off-balance' issue. I was trying to think of what you could put on the left sign of the fridge/range run - perhaps something as simple of art or a tall vase could work. I like your idea of using the red from the floor in a dramatic way on the wall - maybe a vertical strip of red??

My last kitchen faced a similar predicament - I was trying to topless, but it was a smallish kitchen and I couldn't do it entirely. Our window helped with balance, but I think you can achieve the same effect with art/paint etc.

So happy to hear that my current kitchen served as inspiration! I can't wait to see your finished product, it looks great so far.

Thanks sochi! I too hope the range hood will be enough to balance it all out. I also want to avoid closing the cooking area in too much - far more social to keep it open.

I too am looking forward to the finished product. We start demolition on Monday & I can't wait!!!

I'm looking at the floor plan and the position of the table and chairs to the side of your galley kitchen. Maybe the scale is not clear, but with the chairs sticking out around the table it looks like there is not much space to pass between the end of the peninsula and the chair that has its back to the kitchen. What is that distance? Is that going to be tight? It may not matter if you are mostly working in the kitchen when people are seated there, but if you have to go back and forth to the pantry that tight spot (if it is one) will be an irritation.

Hi donaldsg,

The space is tight. No question. For this reno, we are knocking out the walls of an 8x8 dining room, 8x8 kitchen and 4x8 hallway making a single, open kitchen/dining area.

Unfortunately, this puts the table area in the traffic pattern. :( (The entrance to the apartment on the bottom of the plan)

The new floor plan has the dining space at 9 feet wide. The table is 45 and each chair is about 21.5 deep. That leaves 21 inches to walk by when the chairs are full of people. When the chairs are pushed under the table, it should have no problems functioning as a traffic zone.

{{!gwi}}

I had thought of squeaking the kitchen back 6 inches or so, but don't want to sacrifice my landing space on either side of the range or further reduce storage.

Do you think 21 will be enough, considering when the table is unoccupied it will be more like 42?

Can you post a floor plan that includes the front door? Even the hallway outside the front door, if it's that kind of condo. I'd like to comment on floor plan pinch points and sight lines.

The reason I'm asking for this is that it seems you want lots of help but you're mixing up details with the bigger questions. Layout is a big picture thing.

Another Need to Know thing, to be able to comment on the drain plumbing under various options, is "Do you have a basement? Is your floor a concrete slab floor?"

hth

Further up he/she said it is a 5th floor condo so no basement; can't answer concrete floor question.

Yes, 21 inches to pass between the corner and a chair WILL be a tight squeeze. And even with the chairs pushed in are you going to want to walk around that table everyday to go in and out of your front door? If you can't give up the kitchen space I would reconsider the dining area.

Options:
A. Widen the available space by changing the dining set. Maybe put a small rectangular table up against the wall and have two chairs on either side or just a bistro table for two. Have a table with leaves so it will be smaller for every day use. Or use a bench/banquette along the wall so the round table can be positioned closer to the wall.
But you know having that table in a direct line between your front door and the living space means you will use it as a drop spot for bags, keys, mail etc. So not only will it be an obstacle but it will collect clutter, too.

B. Nix the dining area there and put breakfast bar seating on the other side of your peninsula. Not my first choice but you see it a lot in modern designs. It would have the advantage of allowing you to extend the kitchen area further over.

C. Attach a table island to the end of your peninsula (table height or bar height) which would give you the advantage of having a straight passageway from the front door to the pantry closet without having to walk around the table all the time.

D. Put a dining table on the other side of the peninsula and take up part of the LR area. For this to work you may have to give up some depth in the peninsula but you could gain some length by extending it into the former dining space.

Can anyone else think of other options?

Hi davidro1,

Here is the future floor plan of the suite.

{{!gwi}}

It's just over 1000 square feet and is on the 5th floor of a wood-framed condominum building. We have very limited ability to change the plumbing as there is another suite directly below us, therefore we cannot relocate the drain, which is currently located 3 feet up from the center of the skylight.

As for my flurry of questions, I've been very happy to let the thread take us where it will, and to have the collective wisdom of the fabulous folks on this forum nudge me along in all sorts of directions!

Hello Donaldsg,

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions! Changing the dining set is absolutely an option, in fact, we have 3 tables, 2 square, 1 round, which we are going to try out in the finished space. As for the entry drop spot, we are hoping to have a landing strip in the front foyer using the closet and small entry table.

Unfortunately, we are committed to having a discrete dining table and the options of breakfast bar or built in table at the peninsula won't address our need to entertain up to 6 people monthly and a larger group at least a few times a year.

It seems to best accommodate our need for a dining table, we will need to shave a few inches off the length of the kitchen.

One more need to know thing is your total storage. All your options. Seeing the zoom out picture enables this too. Thank you for posting it!

Good plan. Very tight use of space.

The deepest corner in the back of the utility room is where I would put a chest freezer, passive cooling, manual defrost. The flat surface it provides could be used as a landing pad next to the utility sink. This ensures it does not get used as a heavy object shelf or a long term storage kind of shelf. //Right now that corner is not efficient. Shallow shelves. You can still have lots of storage, too, in addition.

With a big freezer, you now can be fully functional with less stress. Personally I wouldn't want to cook for large groups if I had only one fridge/freezer. I say that now because my life has changed now that I have TWO separate appliances for refrigeration/freezing. Also consider the peace of mind you get when you have two modern highly functional appliances. One can be serviced while the other keeps operating. One can take the overflow of the other. ETc. Although it is not a perfect match when one is a freezer and one is a fridge/freezer, still you get the picture.
----Otherwise you will have a mammoth in the kitchen.

If you need more convincing, I'm sure people here can add a lot more points.

--

Within a few days I can comment on your layout in the open area. Kitchen, DR, LR.

--

About the rectangles: are they all skylights? Only one is labeled as a skylight.

--

About "....the drain, which is currently located 3 feet up from the center of the skylight....."
Please confirm what this means.
If it's exactly X feet from the center, does this mean it is under the floorboards of the aisle? Inside the floor?

Secondly, please confirm where the vent is.
The DWV vent.
The vent stack.
The vent which the kitchen plumbing needs.
How venting has been planned for.
Where it is routed.

--
.

Hi gursk,

If you only need to seat 6 or more once a month or so, I would solve the problem by shaving off a few inches from the peninsula AND using a small table with leaves so that for every day use it can be small and you have easy passage past and around the table and chairs. I've even seen tables that fold down to look like a console table but with large leaves that fold up to seat 6 or 8. One of those would save you lots of space. You could maybe have one in the LR for your larger dinner parties and stick with a small bistro table for two in the DR. I used to live in a small apartment and we would rearrange the furniture to seat 6 or 8 at the table for dinner parties about once a month or so. It wasn't too much trouble (we had to clean anyway:-) and allowed us to have the space be more functional the rest of the time when it was just the two of us.

Sears has an induction cooktop in white.

Like you, am wishing there were more white induction products. [Do you hear that, Industry lurkers? We want white!]

florantha,

Thanks! I think... now I so regret having already purchased our appliance package!! We went with the Electrolux induction cooktop as it was the only one we could find that wasn't a pure, shiny black. It has a mottled surface that might not be so stark (plus I'm hoping it's easier to clean!).

In fact, this Kenmore cooktop looks A LOT like the Electrolux model...

Here is a link that might be useful: White Kenmore Induction Cooktop

An option for a table is to go with an oval design. The oval shape is a very efficient one and if you were to put a bench against the wall, a 36" wide table and then a chair you may not have to shave off any inches from your kitchen. If you were to get an oval table with leaves that would make it adaptable between every day use and entertaining use.
Square or rectangular tables look large in a small space as well and to get the same amount of seating between oval and round you need a "bigger round"than you do "wide oval". Make sense? Measure it all out. There are certain rules that you are supposed to follow for traffic areas around tables and chairs. We didn't follow them (I don;t know how many people do ) and we're fine.

gursk, et. al: just found another white induction cooktop:
GE Monogram ZHU30R 30 inches

Thanks florantha - are you sure this one is white? I think it may be mirror finish - like the Thermador model...

Here is a link that might be useful: Thermador Induction Cooktop - Mirror Finish