New Kitchen Layout Feedback for a Philly Renovation
Looking for some kitchen layout advice! Here's a quick intro to the home--skip below these bullets to the kitchen details.
- Renovating a 32' wide x 50' deep Philadelphia "row home" in South Philly. It's double the width of all other row homes on the block, and typical Philly Row Homes.
- There is no outdoor space or setback in the middle/back to allow light into the middle part of the house, so we are building a central atrium / stairwell to let the light in. There is no basement.
- First floor: garage, entry foyer, storage space, studio (future bedroom) with bathroom, guest bedroom with bathroom.
- Second Floor: the living floor: living room, dining room, kitchen, powder room, media room, office with bathroom
- New Third Floor addition: master bedroom, master bathroom, walk-in closet, outdoor deck
Thanks in advance!!
Help wanted for kitchen layout.
- A new support beam was put in the non-optimal spot. Moving it is no longer an option. It's resulted in re-thinking the layout.
- The location of the kitchen feels good, as dining and living rooms are in the front of the house and atrium/stairwell light will pour into the central area.
- There are 2 main options (had a 3rd based on this kitchen in SF, but it felt too cramped for us, so we nixed it)
Floorplan
- The 2 green columns are support beams and cannot move
- The wall between the kitchen and sitting room (actually media/tv room) cannot move.
Kitchen Option 1
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- What's on the plans. A basic "L" with an island that will have counter seating.
- Feels like the central column kills the flow around the island. This is the column that was planned to be 3 feet over towards the front of the house.
- Leaves a very large dining room and open kitchen counter for entertaining.
- Feels like the kitchen isn't sized large enough for the house
- Cant figure out how to end kitchen backsplash with dining room wall
Kitchen Option 2
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- Really like the additional storage space and workspace.
- Dining Room feels smaller but it isn't used very often--it's still roughly 14' x 14'. Everyone congregates around the kitchen when they come over.
- The counter that's empty will have cabinets - I just didnt get around to putting them in.
- If the dining table is aligned with the 2 islands then it compresses the space in the living room.
Kitchen Option 3 - no longer an option
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- Really responded to 'hiding' the wall oven and refrigerator in an open pantry-like area.
- This allowed a wet-bar, a nice-to-have, not need-to-have
- This allowed a walk-in-pantry, but the size was not adequate for actually walking in and having space/ Walk-in pantry is a strong like-to-have but hesitant to close up the space with a large closet, so we are using ikea tall pantry cabinets to provide the storage.
Kitchen Option 1
Kitchen Option 2
Kitchen Option 3
Renderings of Option 1 to give perspective on space
Comments (6)
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We’d love feedback on our ideas for a new kitchen layout
Comments (19)artistsharonva, Sofits: I’m hoping to get rid of at least some of our soffits. I suspect we will find that some will need to stay, but maybe we can make them blend in more. French Doors: The glass doors is the only access to the back deck. We actually only use on of those French doors and the other is usually locked in place. We’ve always had a table in front of those doors. We’ll probably get a new skinnier but longer table with the new layout with it being the one and only table. Having a tight space there is something we are thinking about, but honestly, we deal with that now anyway. Sliders rather than French doors has been considered; however, we love the French doors and they match another set between our living room and sunroom. Fridge placement: The fridge clearance is good for us to think about right now the pantry closet is about 2 feet deep and the fridge sticks out past. It does get me wondering if a better spot in the new layout for our fridge would be more centered on that wall, similar to its current positioning with the u-shaped counter. The con with that is that it’s just a bit further from the dining and living areas, but maybe that’s a small price to pay for the clearance. We would do our best to recess or set it next to deep cabinets. Structural wall: The current wall between the kitchen and dining room is the one we are considering opening up and we believe that it is probably structural. So we may be leaving a header and partial wall that would be near the fridge. I think I’ve seen a picture in here that would be similar to that possibility. I may try to find it again. Thank you for all of your feedback!...See MoreNear gut renovation kitchen layout feedback
Comments (36)Some ideas to consider: - your last sketch has a lot of traffic going on in a single passageway - from fridge to stove to sink plus entry to Dining Room - you're not using all the space the room affords - I don't see storage for dishes near the DR - agree with comments above about prep sink. - I love my drawers that replace lower cabinets, just as someone above mentioned - they are much more efficient and easy to access. - I recommend, since you are a cook, running through one of your most frequently used recipes virtually and see if this sketched kitchen layout works well for you - where will you put things as you take them out of the fridge, where will the pans be stored, spices, how will you clean up afterwards, how will you remove plates from dining to DW, etc. - same for coffee making, toasting, mixing, baking, etc. - I would want the distance between fridge and sink to be efficient as I am always taking out produce that needs to be washed or emptying old containers at sink or cleaning the fridge. My triangle has the sink (at windows) opposite the stove (45" apart) at island with the fridge about 6 ft to the side of both of them - very efficient. - landing space near fridge and microwave is required - an exit to the outdoors is always nice but not efficient if there is no place to put things at that entry point - a closet or place to hang a jacket or put things down - doesn't seem like this plan takes that into account - for me I agree with someone above who suggested flipping the DR and kitchen and open the space to the FR - openness is great to FR, not so much to DR or LR. And they made an excellent point about crowds always gathering in the kitchen. But openness to FR may not be to your taste. - I would not want an opening from LR into kitchen unless the doorway could be closed with some kind of doors - maybe pocket doors? Kitchen's can get pretty messy... - you can put cabinets under your island on all sides to get maximum storage there - even on the side people are sitting on, for rarely used items. Standard cabinets are 24 inches so you can put them back to back in a 48-50" island. - when I planned my kitchen I listed everything in the existing kitchen and mapped it to new storage in the new kitchen to make sure I'd thought of where it all would go and how efficient it would be to reach it. - you may want to consider a drawer microwave in the island. We have 2 microwaves one above the ovens and one in the island - very efficient....See MoreNeed advice and feedback for new kitchen layout
Comments (11)@jolly_lin in our last house we had a sink on the perimeter with no window above it. I hated it and would not ever choose that option. I'd either want to look up and out into the open space or out a window while at the sink. In our renovation we moved the sink to the island. In our current house it is on the perimeter under a window and we have a large island with nothing but countertop. I do love having a big island for prep (and LOVE my sink under the window) but honestly I only use half of the island for prep so having a sink in it on one side wouldn't be an issue. It actually would be easier prepping next to a sink to just push all the scraps over into the sink (disposal) or garbage that would inevitably be next to the sink....See Morekitchen designers, feedback please. new build kitchen layout
Comments (38)Mama goose, I like many of the ideas for the upper cabinets. Thank you. I have gone back and forth on one island or two, but having the eat in bar separate from the work-island is a huge plus for how involved the kids are with cooking and prep. Not a huge fan of having the dining table out in the middle. I don’t think the distance from dining area to clean up station will be a problem. As for bedrooms, the plan doesn’t reflect all details. We do plan for the secondary bedrooms to be shared for two kids each. We have future expansion in mind with the stairs to upstairs for additional two bedrooms. Currently, the kids are younger and prefer for them to be downstairs. Thx everyone for feedback and ideas. Enjoy the holiday weekend....See More
demoll
8 years agodemoll
8 years agoFunkycamper - thanks again.
We reworked Option 1: L shaped; Made the island a little deeper with hidden 15" deep cabinets under the seating for additional storage.
Here is our latest design which has more detail for dining room, dog-leg staircase up/down with atrium in front of the staircase that will bring in light from the skylights above.
Please share any feedback!
funkycamper
8 years agoI like it. I think you're going to have good storage and a nice work flow. Definitely use boxes or furniture or something to simulate the island and do some play cooking to determine how wide you like your aisles to be. Some of us like a bit wider than the recommended 48", some less. I thought I was going for 54" but I recently decided to widen mine to 62". Some people might consider that too wide but I really like it.
When facing the range, how long are the counters on the left and right sides? I ask because you may have room for a prep sink to the right of the range. That would make your kitchen even more efficient with all clean-up on island and all prep/cook on perimeter. Of course, the island could also be used for secondary prep, if needed.
What is #6? It looks like an appliance of some kind?
I would put the DW in #14 with the most used dishes and utensils in #21. This is especially important if you don't go with a prep sink on the perimeter. This way someone can prep on the closest path from refrigerator to stove without crossing over the clean-up person. And this also leaves your dishes closest to the dining area to make setting the table easier and the person doing that needn't enter the prep/cook zone.
Make sure you do a deep enough overhang for seating. Here are the recommendations. Some folks here like the overhang a bit deeper than these so you might also want to mock up something to see what works best for you. Definitely don't go shallower. And the items stored under really do need to be items not needed often like, maybe, seasonal dishes and serving pieces because you would get tired of crawling under there to get things very often. I would use pull-out shelves so you can at least bring things closer to grab.
The Thirty-One Kitchen Design Rules, Illustrated | Homeowner Guide | Design/Buil · More Infodemoll thanked funkycamper
Carrie B