Congratulations Melissa on both your new home and upcoming wedding!

You have a nice almost square room with lots of wall space. Can you open the wall that is adjacent to the living room or move the archway at all?

Oops...sorry Marissa! I don't have my contacts in...but, truly, that's no excuse. I sincerely apologize.

Marissa- Welcome to the forum!

Just a few questions...do you want to keep the sink in it's present location, or would you be willing to move it under the window? When the laundry room gets added on back, could the back door swing that way, to give you a little more usable space in the kitchen? Also, why do you not want to take down the wall between kitchen and living room? Too expensive or too open?

I think a banquette (maybe in the corner) sounds like a great idea. You can definitely fit some extra people around the table...and it gives you more storage.

Initially, I was thinking of reversing the swing on your back dooor and putting the fridge in that corner, next to your sink under the window. Then I would move the arch over about six feet, giving you room for an L-shaped layout, with the stove on the wall to the living room (where the arch used to be).

This would give you a nice corner (that you would see from the living room through the new arch) for your banquette. I'd make the banquette big enough to put a rectangular table with maybe three extra chairs, which should easily seat at least six people, when you have company...maybe more.

You'd also have room for a small buffet or pantry storage, to the left of the arch, between the wall and the banquette. To brighten up the space, I'd be tempted to use either white or yellow on the cabinets...or at least install a lot of light (and maybe some mirror behind at least one of the banquettes) if you want to use wood cabinets.

What style are you thinking of in your kitchen? Any inspiration pictures?

Here are a couple of quick ideas. (I'd put some nice window treatments over the window to hide that house! If you need the light, consider leaving only the top half open)

Oops! Forgot to label the sinks! Layout #1 has a 36" corner sink base w/a 21" sink. You might be ale to fit a 24" sink, but I'm not sure. Layout #2 has a 27" sink base w/a 24" sink. Both, obviously, are single bowl b/c of the smaller size. (I don't recommend double-bowl sinks unless you have room for at least a 33" sink base, preferably 36".)

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I really like #1, the dw can be open while one is at the sink. This looks like such a cosy space!

Wow, thank you for the replies! Sorry if it takes a while for me to get back, I basically only have lunch and very late at night to be on the computer.

dar5: Thank you for your welcome and congratulations, and don't worry about my name! I know my name is not that common. I've had people repeat my name back to me when we meet, only to call me "Melissa" a few moments later. :)

lavender_lass: The kitchen is being completely gutted, so the new sink can go anywhere I wish. The back door will be removed from the kitchen and added to the back of the new laundry room. And we don't want to tear down the wall to the LR because my fiance really, really hates open floor plans, though I have no strong feelings either way.

I was also thinking white painted or very light wood cabinets, with a light aquaish-blue paint on the wall, like Valspar's Tropical Spray. My thinking was to use light, cool colors with brushed nickel hardware and fixtures in the two rooms that get the least natural light, the kitchen and bathroom. The rest of the house gets plenty of light from the windows so I'm thinking warmer, darker colors in them. As far as actual style is concerned, a lot of that will depend on cost and me spending a lot of time looking at things until something clicks. :)

If I'm visualizing lavender_lass' layout suggestion, it's basically the same as buehl's, only with the dining/cooking corners reversed. I'll have to sketch it up in the morning to be sure.

buehl: Thank you so much for the helpful suggestions and pictures! Like cluelessincolorado, I like the first layout best, for the same reason, and also because I like corner sinks. Before today, I had not thought of moving the archway so far over, I was basically only thinking of moving it over just enough to line up with the back door. But I like it more to the left quite a bit, as it actually creates better flow for the house. The BA and two BRs are on that side of the house so it would minimize my walking to get to the laundry. And also, the front door is about lined up with the new archway in your plan, which means my LR would be off in its own little area out of traffic. This actually gives me more flexibility in arranging the LR furniture, and in adding another table setup for large holiday gatherings.

I meant to sketch up a whole house plan, but I left my notebook with all the dimensions at the house. oops!

Marissa- Yes, Buehl's is very similar, except I put the banquette across from the archway...so that's what you see when you enter the kitchen. I hate seeing my 'kitchen mess' but then, I'm a messy cook :)

If you put the sink under the window, it seems to make more sense having the window in the center of that wall...and will give you a little more light...hopefully bouncing what light you have off those white cabinets (at least that's my vote!)

The aqua paint on the walls and brushed nickel hardware would look good together. You also might try moving a little more to the green than the blue, just to warm things up a bit. The cushions on your banquette, maybe some throw pillow and perhaps a valance over the window, will all add color and make the kitchen even more warm and inviting.

Remember, even if you don't have a view, you can put glass shelves in the window and grow some herbs or other plants...or if there's room outside, put a trellis up by the window and maybe plant a nice climbing rose or some sweet pea/morning glory vines next spring. Sweet peas can be very fragrant, if you get the right variety...and this is the Gardenweb, you know :)

With a small kitchen like this (small b/c it has to house the kitchen + table), you have to be more aware of where things can go and what to maximize/minimize. For one thing, the view out the window is a brick wall, so it's not something you want to maximize.

In addition, putting the sink in front of the window makes it even more difficult to place the range & refrigerator so you have decent aisles as well as acceptable landing and work space.

Workspace is at a premium as is storage so you don't want to do anything to reduce either of them.

Aisle width is important since the back door is in the "south" wall plus you will have both dining as well as kitchen work traffic in the kitchen.

The refrigerator should be where it can be easily accessed from not only the kitchen, but snackers from the LR...without getting in the way of someone working in the kitchen. In this case, if you put the refrigerator on the "South" wall or a southern corner, snackers will have to traverse the entire length of the kitchen...getting in the way of those working and/or sitting at the table.

You don't want a range in front of a doorway...door or no door. The Cooking Zone & range should be protected as much as possible.

I tried various ways b/f coming up with these two layouts and they were the best at balancing work space,storage, aisle width, safety, and usability.

Buehl makes a good point, that it might be difficult to put the sink directly under the window. I would place the fridge by the back door, then the dishwasher, then the sink, and there should still be room for a lazy susan and then the range. A bank of drawers to the right of the range,would keep the range from being too close to the doorway. You might even have room for a pull out spice rack, between the lazy susan and the range.

Since it is a small space, it's difficult to fit in a dishwasher and still have adequate landing space by the appliances. Six to nine inches by the fridge wouldn't work for me, so I would rather have the dishwasher there (for more counterspace) and have a little less space between the sink and the range...there's still the area between the range and the archway.

I would also move the archway over a little more (and maybe make it 42") to give you more space on the range wall, for prep and storage.

It is a small kitchen, so a pantry or buffet (or maybe a combination piece) between the archway and the banquette will give you much needed additional storage.

I still prefer a corner banquette, so no one is trying to pull out a chair, too close to the wall. It also gives you room to squeeze in an additional person, during parties :)

Congratulations Marissa, and best wishes for many, many happy meals in your new home!

I really like Buehl's 1st floor plan. It makes good use of every inch of space.

The only thing I might consider is making the tall pantry into a regular set of upper and lower cabinets (although I would make the lower cabs drawers for sure.) It would make things a little more snug around the dining area, but the extra 3' of counter space could be useful. It would be out of the regular cooking flow, but could be a good space to stash the coffee pot and toaster, or baking stuff, etc, depending on how you use the kitchen.

It looks like a great house - good luck!

A corner banquette would work. What it will do is push the table out all the time from the short wall and possibly reducing the aisle...but it's definitely doable. The only thing to keep in mind is that anyone sitting on the "inside" of the long bench will have to either slide down the entire length or slide in on the short end and "turn the corner". Both are fine occasionally but if it's needed on a regular basis it could become tiresome (unless it's a child doing it!)

buehl, I showed your first layout to my fiance, and he promptly asked how much I paid to have it done. He couldn't believe someone would do this out of the generosity of their heart. Many thanks from us both! With some changes that is most likely what we'll do. We'll decrease the width of the archway to the LR to 42" to match the archway that leads to the BRs. But I think tonight I will have to restrain him from cutting out the new archway into the LR until we measure a few more times and get things planned and drawn up. :)

cawila, I'll think about the idea of modifying the pantry into upper and lower cabs. I would make the banquette with storage in the seat anyway so some things can go in there. Otoh perhaps a pantry would visually balance out the fridge and cab on the opposite corner of the room.

The appliances are purchased already, there were some great deals on Black Friday and we got stove, hood/MW, fridge and DW for $1600 total. None of them are my dream appliances, of course, but they are reliable, energy-efficient, and won't price us out of the neighborhood.

Have a great day, everyone!

I'm glad he liked it! One caution about reducing the opening of the archway to the LR...to eliminate the need for filler b/w the refrigerator and wall, the doors have to stick out into the doorway so they will be able to open fully.

What size refrigerator did you buy? I put in a 30" wide, standard-depth refrigerator b/c in spaces like this a narrower but deeper refrigerator usually works best. Normally, I recommend sizing for a 36" refrigerator, but you have limited space so you need to make the most of what you have!

Note that I also recessed the refrigerator into the wall behind it a few inches...you may or may not be able to do that (it depends on what is in that wall and whether it can be moved). This recessing helps to minimize the impact of the refrigerator sticking out into the room as well as makes it look closer to counter-depth and built-in.

BTW...I don't know if you noticed, but there's a 3/4" finished end panel on the non-wall side of the refrigerator...this is to make it look more "built-in" and to provide support for the full-depth cabinet over the refrigerator (full-depth is 24"). If it turns out you have yet another 3/4", I recommend putting a finished end panel on both sides of the refrigerator.

Also note there is an end panel b/w the 9" filler pullouts and range. This end panel is so there's something to attach the filler pullouts to. Filler pullouts generally are a better use of space than cabinets of the same width b/c filler pullouts do not have walls or face frames. They attach to the sides of the cabinets on either side of the pullout. This can net you anywhere from an inch to 3" or more of additional space (depending on the width of your cabinet's walls and whether you have a face frame and whether they're inset.)

If you are using frameless cabinets with 1/2" walls, then you would probably not gain much in this case b/c of the need to "add" a wall on the range side. But, if you have framed cabinets, I would stick w/a filler pullout.

Here's an older thread that talks about filler pullouts:

Thread: Rev-A-Shelf Spice Racks for Fillers -- Have you seen these!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Rev-A-Shelf Filler Pull-Outs - Base

Sounds like you are moving right along, that's great:) I had to restrain DH who was ready to attack the DR wall - not load bearing- with a sawzall right before he left for two weeks. My DS just broke his arm and that's all the demo I can handle right now. 2 cents here, I would keep the arch as big as possible. Because you are creating path that wends through the kitchen, a larger opening will facilitate the passage and make it feel less like you are picking your way through, esp. w/a pile of laundry in your arms. In our first home we had a 5' arch that really kept the rooms separate, but allowed for nice light transmittal which was very important to me. We also had a smaller arch that passed out into laundry room.

Congratulations! How exciting for you! My daughter's name is Marissa too!

I played around some, but it was hard to count the squares on the grey part. I think my table is too narrow in the pic, but there should be room for 42". You can add a leaf when you have company and seat about 7 maybe.

You could make the sink counters 30" deep and then your frig won't stick out so far. And you can add a tall pullout to frame the frig on the sink side.

Have fun and don't forget to eat on your wedding day!

It's been a while, but I haven't forgotten the help I've gotten in this thread! The help I've had for the kitchen layout has kickstarted the amateur designer gears in my brain and let me get to the real work of finding fixtures, paint colors, etc. :)

We have slowed down our remodel efforts due to illness, the holidays, and plain burn-out. Not to mention our wedding on the 15th! This whole project will take even more time, because we've also decided to eliminate a small closet, which contained the water heater, to increase the size of the bathroom from 5ft x 8ft to 5ft x 10.5ft, since my soon-to-be husband absolutely insisted on a large whirlpool tub.

We're pretty much going with buehl's layout suggestions. We can't recess the fridge, but I think it'll be ok. I've found pretty cheap finish-it-yourself oak cabinets at Lowes that we'll be using and painting white. They're not quite the Shaker style I wanted but they're close enough for government work. I'm going back and forth between using black or stainless steel hardware on the cabinets. I want a dark countertop, something like Formica's 180fx in Black Fossilstone. We'll add organizers as time and budget allows. Our appliances will be delivered this weekend, way before we're ready, but oh well...

I will definitely post pictures when things are further along.