Layout 4

Mitch and I were just marveling at how total strangers are figuring out how to work in a baking center for him. This is so awesome - thanks! I'm a little slow, we are back and forth between the new and old house and don't have internet access or computer access all the time. Here's the general layout of lisa's idea. The window by oven may need to be smaller and the fridge is a little too close to the corner...only 21" vs 24" but I figured those can be ironed out if we decide to pursue the outside banquette option. I also redid the interior banquette with the doorway a little further out and 90degree corners. Put a prep sink at end of peninsula and made island smaller. Still haven't decided about interior vs exterior banquette. But there are things I really like about Lisa's idea. The most significant being that I really like having the one wall with no cabinetry. It widens the kitchen and gives it "breathing space." It also gives me a wall where I can put our family planning calender and some other family things to post on the wall. I never would have thought of insetting the pantry cabinet. (by the way...I had too many feet in that hallway. It is a foot more narrow than the drawing. I need to redo that.) The sink stove and fridge all seem closer to each other. And I like that deeper island. And yes I am one of those people who appreciates that it can be centered on the cooktop. Not necessary, but I like it better. I can picture how pretty pendants over the island might frame the cooktop. I also like the fact that the table can be extended out more easily because there are no cabinets across from it. we just put a banquette into the playroom today and I see why you made the table longer than I had. The people on the ends get crowded in otherwise. In fact I'm wondering if we do keep the banquette on the inside if I should forgo the cabinets across from the banquette or make them less deep or just put a narrow furniture buffet there. I had an interesting question come up when I was thinking about adding seating to the island. We have island seating opposite the cooktop in our current kitchen, but I usually sit on the couch which is in line the cabinet run with the cooktop. I just assumed I sat there vs the island because the couch is more comfy than the chair. But it occurs to me that it might be because I am to the side of Mitch when he cooks vs facing his back if I'm at the island. I had initially conceived of the banquette as my couch equivalent. But if it's actually the orientation to the cook...that wouldn't be the place I hang out. Which did lead me to decide if the banquette is outside the kitchen I'd probably rather have a dining table. But the space is probably too small. Or maybe instead of cabinet banquette...a freestanding bench. I shortened the kitchen a little... I also realized that one of the reasons I liked the position of the inside banquette is because I can see the swimming pools from there. I may be able to see the pools from the exterior banquette, but would have to cut a couple trees down. Just wanted to update what we were thinking. I'm waiting to hear back from all the adults that will be in the house and see what their thoughts are on the inside/outside banquette and the flow of the two plans.

Sorry, it’s been a long day. A lot of people here today, the designer and a team from the contractor and my head is spinning. As it turns out, you were all right. The designer arrived with 10ft of floor space instead of 7ft, needed by the staircase, which I was pretty frustrated about. Rebunky, I forgot to ask about the fire code but there’s no concern there, because the stairway and entry will be completely walled off from the garage. I don’t want an open stairway in the garage to the apartment. The garage will have an opener with a remote, so there should be no problem walking into the garage to access their storage. At this point, Sena, I’m feeling a little lack of trust in the figures and I’m going to have to have him confirm every measurement I’m using. I haven’t sat down to think about the layout again today. We had a lot to go over today and that was just one of many. As soon as I can, I’ll look it over again and see what I am willing to do to accommodate that. I am not going to go for part of the stairway on a second wall. I’d still like to see if I could keep the stairway in the middle and out of the bedroom and living room. Which would probably mean starting the stairway back on the North wall all the way in the corner, but I need a 5ft landing on the garage level, then 10ft of stairway and a landing at the top. So if I add 4ft so a total of 33ft in length, maybe that would get the stairway in the middle? That’s it for me tonight. Thanks for checking in with me.

Much better! I think it's great that you're evaluating how often you will use more expensive items like wall ovens. My only suggestion now would be to think about where you will prep, what your workflow would be like. Personally, I would still bring the range down so that there is a good 3' of counter between the fridge and stove for prep. I like to work left to right. At the moment your appliances are in a tight triangle at the top, and then you have lots of counter space that isn't as usable. Bringing the stove down would balance that out a little. As for the desk vs second sink, it's worth paying attention--as you and your wife work in the kitchen--to how often you cross paths, bump elbows, etc, and what you're doing. We were coming from a tiny kitchen when we were reno-ing, so everything we considered seemed ridiculously luxurious. But once I started paying attention, I realized how often we had one person trying to do dishes or clean up while the other person needed to elbow him out of the way to rinse a vegetable or fill a pot. Having a clean-up space out of the cooking traffic is one of my favorite features in our new house. And wherever the prep sink is, that's where we actually prep. Just things to consider with your better half. :)