Help my kitchen layout, please
I have gleaned much from these forums, but need more help for my upcoming remodel. I have an early 90's single story ranch, 2400sf, kitchen and breakfast area are one large room. The breakfast area is the main dining area because the formal dining room is used as a home office. We have no plans for resale in the next few years, at least.
The current kitchen has a large peninsula with seating, and a very small 2'x3' island with drawers. The breakfast area has a small, 5.5' wet bar on the wall that backs up to the garage. We do not use it as a wet bar; it's mostly used as storage.
The front door is seldom used; most activity is through the side door and garage. We are a casual family of 5 (two teens, one child) and there is lots of activity in the kitchen. I do most of the cooking, but there is often someone helping. The current layout always gives me the sensation of making circles around the island because there's essentially only main entrance into the kitchen.
My initial thoughts are to remove the peninsula, create a cooking wall with a large range where the current cooking area is located and build a longer island that allows two entrances into the kitchen area. I can make the corner sink base slightly smaller since I plan to go from a 33" double sink to a 30" single bowl (I think that means a 42" corner sink base). I'll also be getting a CD refrigerator, either FD or SxS, either 36" or 42". All cabinetry, appliances, counters, and fixtures are being replaced.
My constraints for rearranging are that the home is on a post tension slab, so I'm unable to make large changes to plumbing or electrical. The island has electricity now, and the cooking wall has a gas line already there. All plumbing is on the wall with the refrigerator.
Does anyone have any ideas for me? I've thought about it so much I'm exhausted!
Current layout:
Home floorplan, not to scale but gives room positions:
Comments (8)
desertsteph
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Can you help with my kitchen layout please.
Comments (17)Hi bmorepanic. Thank you for your input. Yes, the oven location bothers me to no end, hence one reason I am remodeling my kitchen. My floor plan is like no other, unfortunately. It is a strange set up so I am trying to make it as functional as possible. The dolphin stained glass window is staying. That actually will be my breaking point from kitchen to LR area. I have posted a picture for you to take a look. It will be more open with the removal of the peninsula and addition of an island. Oh and the square table you see next to the pillar will be gone. Both disigners wanted to put my dbl wall oven/mw and refrig on the opposite wall from the stained glass (I've included a pix of that too). I'm not crazy about that idea at all since I will have to walk around the island to get to an oven..hence non functional! At this point I think my best design would be 36" range with oven where my dbl wall oven is now, giving me tons of counter space to work on next to it. Leave the MW where it is basically but add a separate wall oven under it. So I still have the luxury of another oven. That leaves me about 5' for a pantry closet & broom closet. Refrigerator would then be on the same wall as the sink, closest to the dining area. Please tell me what you think....See MoreThose darn corners - Please help with my awkward kitchen layout!
Comments (8)Thanks, everyone, for your ideas so far! Stan Z - Nixing the upper corner cab is an interesting idea! I love the balance it would bring to that wall. I'm just not sure if I would be able to reach everything, and I'm paranoid about not having enough storage (especially if the W/D goes in the "pantry"). Do you think it would look better if I put another upper cabinet to the right of the stove (instead of open shelves) to balance that out? If I end up with the second design (corner Susan and larger 24" to the right of the stove) I was planning on putting an upper there. I've definitely gone back and forth on the peninsula thing... but we're pretty set on keeping a separate dining room. desertsteph - sorry about the measurements on the floorplan not showing up well! I didn't realize the image would post so small. I will simplify the drawing so it's easier to read once I get home. The curved line is a door (in my terrible drafting skills). Those are the stairs to the second floor, and the stairs to the basement are underneath it (enter through the dining room). I just included that to show that the flow of traffic is going in that direction. The kitchen originally had the opening on the other side, but I think it makes more sense to direct the traffic on that side. No bathroom on the first floor, unfortunately, but we have a street level walkout basement with another bathroom. There really isn't space for one on the first floor, and probably less than half the houses in the neighborhood have added one, so I'm not too worried about it. mgmum - Switching the DW and sink is a definite possibility. I thought if I kept the bar seating there I thought it would be better to have the dishwasher next to it instead of the sink (since we probably wouldn't be loading the dishwasher while someone is there, but we might be working at the sink). Maybe that's just not true, though. That is an exterior wall by the bar - it's a garden window looking out at the patio (the shape in the mockup is correct but I couldn't figure out how to make the panes see through). buehl - I'm open to the sink going somewhere other than by the window... it just seems like the most obvious place that people think is "correct". I've never had a dishwasher so I keep thinking in terms of my old paradigm. It's going to be an adjustment (the good kind!). Honestly the window doesn't have a great view - it looks at the brick wall of the house across the street. I'm more concerned about the dishwasher door or sink being too close to the breakfast bar if someone is sitting there and snacking or chatting with the cook. At first I was being stubborn about the blind corner, but once I realized it might not fit into the design, I began to think that a corner Susan would be better anyway. I'm kind of the same size as a small child, but that sounds like a royal pain to deal with. I think I just got dazzled by the fancy pullout at Ikea! Maybe it's better to void the corner to fix the issue of the stove and sink being too close. I'll take another look at what that would look like. mama goose_gw zn6OH - Yes, that window is pre-existing. It's actually not a pass through and doesn't even open except a little vent at the top! It's not the highest quality window but I don't mind it and would probably prefer to change it out later down the road to save some money. It does seem like one of those "while you're at it" things, though... it's probably more cost effective to do everything at once if I can scrape up some more. I do like your U shape design a lot, but I was reeeeeally hoping to put some seating in the kitchen since the dining room is separate. Good point about the fridge - for some reason I was thinking it would stick out enough (though it definitely doesn't the way I drew it) or we would put a filler piece there to allow it to open. I'll have to double check on that. lavender_lass - You just said the magic word! I blew my bathroom budget by a mile because I went on a tiling spree... but I'll probably wait to tile the kitchen and DIY it later on, so that might make it feasible. I do love those feature tile walls in a kitchen! Is the breakfast bar what's screwing me up here? Do I need to give up that dream?? Would people think I made a giant mistake if the sink is still under the window but not centered? I could tell that idea gave my contractor a twitch when I brought it up!...See MorePlease help - kitchen layout emergency! Gurus needed, my mind gone.
Comments (17)I would sacrifice a bit of symmetry for better function. If the plumbing can't be changed, I'd at least move it over to the right, and place the DW on the side nearer the DR, which I assume is off to the right. Then I'd put a dish hutch on the perimeter counter, to balance the ovens on the other end. With the DW and dish storage on that side, a helper can unload the DW or gather dishes to set the table, without interfering with prep and cooking. I moved the pantry door forward, to give you more space in the pantry, and to incorporate the door into the fridge wall. If you need elbow room on both sides when removing something from the wall ovens, you can open the pantry door. Cooktop and hood are centered between the ovens and dish hutch. The fridge is beside the pantry door, bringing it closer to the prep area, and providing a counter beside it for landing. The MW is on a shelf beside the fridge, with a cubby beside it, for cookbooks, cutting boards, or coffee cups, with space below for the coffee maker. Someone can re-heat left-overs, make a sandwich, pour a glass of juice, etc, without needing to turn to the island. The MW could instead be a drawer model, beside the fridge, but I wouldn't recommend an under-counter MW. Dog bowls could go in a low drawer, or toekick drawer under the dish hutch, or in the side of the island nearer the DR, to keep them out of the main prep/cooking areas. Trash pull-out is on the end of the island, convenient to the prep zone, cooking zone, and also the fridge/snack area. The single bowl sink is off center, but if you use one with a left back drain, you can put the faucet more toward the center of the island. Images--dog bowls in drawer...See MoreHelp me critique my small kitchen layout please!
Comments (16)Another idea... First, though, please realize that with a small space compromises are often needed. However, I think this layout has few, the primary being the sink is not under a window -- it's b/w the two windows. This does have the advantage that the Prep Zone workspace is in front of the window, many people prefer this setup. The other, minor, compromise is that the refrigerator does not have landing space directly next to it. It does, however, have landing space within the NKBA guidelines of no more than 48" away (the perimeter counters are 43" away). To make it even easier to get food to/from the Refrigerator (and Pantry cabs), I suggest a small rolling cart (there's an example at the end of this post). What does the layout have? Separation of the primary work zones...Prep, Cooking, Cleanup Follows the Kitchen workflow of Refrigerator --> Sink --> Prep Workspace --> Range Plenty of prep workspace A secondary Prep Zone using the Cleanup Zone Real vent hood over the range 18" pullout pantry 24" tall cabinet with...tray storage on top, additional food/dish storage below the trays, an alcove for a countertop MW at counter-height, and more additional food/dish storage below the alcove (in drawers). The upper cabinet above the sink and b/w the two windows is only 9" deep so there's more "face room" while working at the sink. If you don't need the storage, you could eliminate it altogether. Pots & pans in the corner susan Note that I extended the wall on the right side to hide most of the refrigerator from the other rooms "below". This isn't necessary from a functional standpoint, but it is for aesthetic reasons if you're someone who doesn't like to see things sticking out. The wall, however, can be no deeper than the refrigerator box b/c the doors must stick out past all adjacent items. (The Refrigerator is surrounded by finished end panels, so it wouldn't be stainless steel sticking out.) . [Select/click on an image to a larger version] Layout: . Zone Map: . . Rolling Cart example (found on Home Depot site) https://www.homedepot.com/p/StyleWell-Glenville-White-Single-Kitchen-Cart-SK17787Cr2-BBW/304083100...See Moreseb225
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
laughablemoments
9 years agoI'm sorry about the prep sink, seb, I realized that that wasn't going to work in your situation after I got off the computer last night. : (
As far as the window goes, it looks like you've got the space to put in a larger window where I drew in the sink, so you could have a few options, if you want to change the window configuration. You could extend the window to include the sink. You could get rid of the corner window configuration if you wanted to gain more cabinets. Or, you could shrink the window on the left so that it's at least a cabinet depth away from the corner. Slide the window on the top wall down so that it lines up with your sink, and then put some cabinets in to the left of the sink, something like this:
If you don't want to mess with the windows, then I'd look for pictures to get ideas of how to make the sink work with wall in front of it. I don't know your style, but I've seen some really nice dish racks or cupboards that go over the sink that could work nicely in your situation.
seb225 thanked laughablemomentsseb225
9 years ago
Lavender Lass
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoI'm not a fan of refrigerator ice and water...so if you're okay with not having that...this might work for you :)
Move the new electric cooktop to the right of the sink. I think a LOT of your frustration is the distance (and barrier island) between sink and cooktop. The dishwasher can be moved to the other side of the sink without any plumbing issues...and it's a better location, away from your prep area.
The fridge can go over by the pantry (leave a small gap to allow the doors to open fully) and the undercounter oven can be under the peninsula.
I replaced the island (never a good idea IMHO to have a stationary island that can pose a barrier) with a rolling cart, with butcherblock top. So much easier to pull it to the area where you need it...then move it back.
Also added a plate rack to the space above the peninsula. It's decorative, functional...and close to the dining room! I'd also replace the bar area with either a nice hutch or built-in storage. Have fun with the planning!
And an idea for a plate rack...
This is actually a great space for a prep sink...between the fridge and under counter oven. Either in the corner or just past it, overlooking the breakfast nook. Since your plumbing issues are a problem, you don't have to have it....but if your situation changes, you might want to add it in the future. Hope this helps :)
P.S. If you need a microwave, it could easily be next to the fridge, either over or under the counter. This would make a great space for snacks, baking, hosting parties, etc.
seb225 thanked Lavender Lassseb225
9 years ago
laughablemoments