Can you draw the current floor plan on graph paper?

im on my phone and haven't looked at the details of your plan, but right off the bat that island is a no-no. It's what's called a barrier island. You shouldn't have to walk around an island or peninsula to get from one fixture (sink/fridge/range) to another.

also, for safety you don't want a walkway next to your cooktop as you have in your drawing.

Scrappy25's kitchen might be a good inspiration for you.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2817830/scrappy25-renovation-part-1-layout-evolution-and-cabinets?n=25

Many thoughts!

That little island is going to be enormously in the way. It blocks a direct path between the sink and fridge and between the range and sink. And it is constraining the aisles all around it. Without the island, there'd be so much room to move around inside the kitchen that it'd be almost impossible for someone to be in your way. With the island, you can't even really squeeze past a person in the aisle without getting to know them biblically.

If you absolutely cannot lose the island prep space, at least swap the depicted island for a rolling island so it can be moved out of the way.

That said, why not just swap out the floor-to-ceiling cabinet to the right of the microwave for a base cabinet and upper? You'll lose maybe one shelf of storage, but you'll gain the same amount of counter the island is providing, and then you can get rid of the island.

I am concerned that, with or without the island, the range is too far from the sink. Picture needing to dump hot water from pasta. With the island, not only is it a fair distance to carry that pot of hot boiling water, but there's a major obstacle in your way. And if anybody is standing in the aisle, you almost wouldn't be able to get to the sink at all.

For ease of dumping hot water and for minimizing the likelihood of crossing paths with other people in the kitchen, and because it works better for several reasons with prepping, most GWers prefer the sink and range to be on a continuous run of cabinets. Lots of people remodel specifically to get that.

It probably would be better to put the range where the microwave is.

You should post a floor plan of the whole floor this is on. Please post it on graph paper where 1 square = 1 sq. ft. You'll get the best help if we have context for the kitchen.

benjesbride & Jillius, thanks so much for your helpful feedback. Our original design had the range where the microwave is, but we would only be able to accommodate a 36" range in that space. Phase 2 of our renovation is to open up that doorway leading to the garage (which is going to be converted into living space) so we didn't want to rip out newly renovated space to do so. Do you think I should just stick with the 36" range and have more counter space/cabinets on the back wall? The current design on graph paper is:

and here is the original design with the smaller range where the microwave is in the first drawing:

As Jillius said, we'll need to see the whole floor layout. I'm curious how the garage ties into this.

• I agree with myself too! Please show us the whole floor layout. And include drawings/explanations of the plans for future work. You never know how work in one area with affect another, and it'll save you a lot of trouble to consider all changes at once and get your plans for everything solidified at once.

• I suggest you mock up your proposed layout with cardboard boxes or furniture (not just tape on the floor -- physical structures the approximate size and height of your planned cabinets). Physically act out what you would do to cook an entire meal. Make sure any people who are usually in there with you are also participating. You might even actual boil a large pot of water, bring it over to your mock up, and walk the 9-10 feet around the mock-up island to the mock-up sink with your pot and see how you feel about doing that.

• If your desire for a larger cooktop is to have an extra burner, do you need that extra burner every day, or is it just on special occasions like Thanksgiving? If it's the latter, you might reconsider the 36" range and additional get a plug-in single induction burner to use during special occasions.

• Do you really need the overhang with the dining table right there?

• Is there potential for the kitchen to go in the garage and for whatever living space you intended to be in the garage to go in this space? Right now, traffic would be routed through the kitchen to the garage living space. It's usually best if no one has reason to be in the kitchen unless they actually need to use the kitchen. Also you seem to be struggling with some of the constraints of this existing space -- can't fit your island, can't fit your range. It might be easier to get what you want in a space you are creating almost from nothing.

Thank you so much again! The garage conversion is not necessarily going to happen. It is just something we thought might be useful to have more of an open floor plan on this level. Like I said, the majority of the living space is one level up from the kitchen and dining area and then broken up on several smaller levels up top. I think for now, the addition of a screened in porch off the back of the dining room is more likely to happen.

Jillius--thanks for the great suggestions. To answer your questions:

1. A 48" range is really just a luxury item. I currently have a 30" and it meets my needs, but I would prefer to have an additional burner and oven. I guess I could use the 36" and then get a wall oven/built in microwave for the back wall next to the fridge. Do you think this would present the same safety issues having a wall oven in the walkway?

2. Yes, that really is the only dining space available in the house. ;( When we bought it, we though about doing an addition on the back of the house to create a much larger kitchen and dining space, but it turned about to be much more expensive than we anticipated and we were not sure if the original white washed brick could be matched and replicated. So yes, we are somewhat constrained by the original space. I am hoping though that removing the wall and creating the peninsula will be enough space.

So another layout option is below. This basically reverses the existing kitchen and dining space and gives me a much larger island and room for table space + we would leave the back wall with the door to the garage open to eventually open up more and do steps down to the new living area (converted garage space).

The issue with this design though is that we are walking downstairs right into the kitchen and moving the french doors so they are next to the patio area but not leading into the patio.

Thoughts?

Have you considered left of the sink having a magic corner cabinet, and then the drawers around the corner can be much wider. That is what we are doing.

Something like this?

I don't think you should configure the kitchen around a converted garage that may never happen. I like lavender's no peninsula plan.

Thanks Emilyam819 & lavender!

What do you all think about the alternate design I had posted where we reversed the existing kitchen and dining room to create an "L" kitchen with a much larger island?

I would not move the kitchen to the dining room. It's best to keep the kitchen tucked out of any major traffic pattern and I'm assuming you'd have to cross the corner of that space to access the backyard from all points inside the house.

I just opened up paint and I was going to take a look at this. Did you have a chance to look at scrappy's reveal posts? It really is an incredibly functional kitchen.

I have a few questions to get the lay of the land here...

Could you move the door to the garage anywhere along the red box? (No electrical panel or obstacles.)

Where do the blue doorway and the green door go? can they slide anywhere to the right or left?

What's on the other side of the dining room?

bejesbride,

Yes, the door to the garage can be relocated anywhere along the red box.

The blue box is an open doorway with a set of 5 steps leading upstairs to the foyer.

The green box is a door with steps leading to the basement. This is an unusual floor plan because the current kitchen and dining space are on a lower level of the house.

There is no other room on the other side of the dining room; There is currently a small door adjacent to the bar cabinet (shown) leading to the backyard patio.

I had a really difficult time making sense of a 48" range and an appropriately sized range in this space. It will dominate. I don't think you have room for counter seating. If you have a swinging door on that wall to the left, I would leave it to direct traffic around the edge of your dining space; I don't think a french door on the back wall will improve function.

eta: If by french door you mean where the left side is fixed and the right side will open with knob on right/ hinge on left that will work well.

I didn't draw it, but you could possibly build n a shallow pantry on the wall between the garage door and the basement door. Also, the counter on the sink run would need to be deeper than standard (the ikea planner is limited.)