kitchen/pantry plan

12 years ago

The building forum suggested I post my floor plan here because they have concerns about my kitchen layout. I will not have the seating area on the bar. My concerns are cooking flow and pantry size and accessibility. Also, it bugs me that the stove is not centered on the back wall. Any input will be greatly appreciated!

Oh and about us: It will serve me, DH and young DS. Possibly another child someday. I work long hours and cooking usually consist of crock pot meals and heating canned veggies in the microwave. I'm the opposite of tidy ;) and usually awake to dirty dishes I never did the night before. Point being- the more convenient the better! Thanks!

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Comments (2)

Laura Clardy
Original Author
12 years ago
Here is a pic of the kitchen from the website where I found the plan. They totally eliminated the pantry but I would rather not do that. We will need the storage. I'm worried the pantry is too small as is.
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bmorepanic
12 years ago
Couple of things. As a warning, this is more like thinking out loud than a cohesive set of suggestions.

The range is crowded against the corner pantry.

The island positioning and shape makes a pretty sizable barrier reef between the sink and ref. Barrier islands are known for making klutzy kitchens because you have to keep walking around them to get anything done. Barriers can generally be helped by adding a prep sink. You don't have to walk around it nearly as much.

In the photo, they also eliminated the funny little bit of cabinets or ?lockers? facing into the garage entry. That ends up making the kitchen space feel a lot larger. It would be VERY tempting to me to kill off the garage entry completely by opening a door into the garage from the "proper" foyer and doing a walk-in closet on that side. That would let the island orientation change by lengthening the kitchen proper.

I realize its supposed to be some kind of mudroom, but because it's so small, I'd bet people will walk through to the kitchen and dump all their "stuff" on the island first. That would drive me deeply insane - I'd rather put some fancy tile in the house entry.

Something like the screen porch will block a good portion of the natural light - adding skylights to the porch near the main house framing can help offset the light loses. So would windows on the other exterior wall.

Personally, I'd think through perhaps eliminating the separate door to the porch but convert one of the windows in the dining room to a door. That would allow for a longer cleanup run. I could also be talked into an "L" plus island where the legs of the "L" were on the windowless wall and the garage wall and the island faced a long bank of windows into the porch area (like the entire porch wall!) with some island seating.

I'd likely kill the corner pantry and do one with flat walls that extended some into the garage space. Drawing is an example of one way of doing that. Sometimes, if the pantry ends up large enough, people open a door directly into the pantry for putting away groceries.

Whatever gardenweb did for images, it doesn't understand small pictures so I'm sorry for plan explosion but its not my fault!
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That drawing looks really nice. I suspect filling that window nook with additional cabinetry and counter would more than make up for cutting the shallow shelves short. That would also keep the deep portion from becoming too deep. The uncovered wall facing the kitchen could hold a planning board, or computer screen. It's impossible to really see things through another's eyes, but to my own, and I think I'm pretty darned refrigerator sensitive, you're overworrying it. Things people expect to see don't look funny, even if they are, like those big clunky chunky things that used to stand in the middle of every kitchen. We hated (not!) them so much we blew them up like balloons. Some now tower over their cooks and are greatly admired--by those who've priced them at least. :) People will expect to see a refrigerator in your kitchen. As long as you can keep the rest of the kitchen centered and hopefully finish enough of the fridge area in a uniform manner that doesn't pull the gaze away from the center, I suspect it'll all look absolutely fantastic. It already does.
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Think zones, access and flow. Sink & dishwasher need to be connected to the dish & silverware storage. Food prep area and cooking appliances should be connected. An open appliance (oven) should not block your only means of access to a frequently used area like the pantry. If it were my plan, I would move the cooktop to the long leg of the island and put a prep sink in the shorter leg. That would give a left-ward flow of work from fridge to prep sink to prep area to cooktop while the chef chats with the diners. Though I strongly prefer a right-hand flow, it wouldn't be practical for your layout, and a left-hand flow is better than trekking all around the kitchen with dripping ingredients to make dinner. A suspended hood over the cooktop would help to screen the view into the bedroom/bath across the pathway, too. If a suspended hood isn't practical, a downdraft hood is better than nothing, though many here might disagree that opinion! (hee, hee.) Next, move the ovens to the back wall where the cooktop is currently drawn. That would allow for some baking or nuking prep area around the ovens and access to the pantry won't be blocked every time you open the oven or microwave doors. The great thing about your cabinet layout is that it encourages so much interaction between the cook(s) and diner(s) lounging at the counter. In my experience, most of the time spent working in the kitchen goes into the stovetop cooking prep, followed by cleanup. You just don't spend that many minutes facing the oven. By locating the cooktop and prep area on the island, the cook spends most of his/her worktime facing or side-on to the diners. The next-most time is spent, side-on, doing cleanup. The least time is spent with the cook's back to the diner(s.) I suggest you and DW "Play House" with the plan before finalizing it. Make a mockup of the kitchen/pantry plan in your yard with boxes, lawn chairs, a grill, whatever you have. Lay your props out in the exact configuration and distance of your kitchen plan and playact cooking meals, down to miming where you get your pots and utensils out, etc. This works even better if you playact out specific recipes with a meal plan, because it forces you to work out trips to the fridge, pantry, cleanup sink, etc. Have fun! This is a happy, if sometimes frazzling, time in life!
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kitchen/pantry plan

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Laura Clardy
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bmorepanic

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kitchen/pantry plan

Comments (2)

Laura ClardyOriginal Author

bmorepanic

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CONNECT WITH US

Laura Clardy
Original Author