I'd be sure to give you seating one way or the other, guco, since I know that's a priority for you.

Glad you like my idea!

Lisa_a, the more I look at the floor plans, the more I like the sink and DW on the island. Then, maybe I can put the range where the sink is now in Plan H. Wouldn't that make the kitchen triangle smaller and less walking?

The island in Plan H isn't deep enough for a sink and DW. Your latest plan - the one with counter seating, not a banquette - could be adapted to work, though. I think so, anyway, gotta draw it up and run the numbers to know for sure.

Are you okay with counter seating? I got the strong impression you're not keen on it (neither am I, btw).

I'll draw something up later.

Lisa_a, you get me totally. Not keen on counter seating but it's better than nothing. Thank you very much for your help so far!

Lisa, All my questions were directed towards the drawing below. Guko made the changes in green and asked " What do you think of these changes?"

None of my questions were about your plan H, with the banquette between the pantries, which I loved! :-)

Well except, I guess the one about the voided base cabinet applies. I just wondered why it couldn't be a super Susan as there is 15" to the right of the dw. Ikea has a 38" SS, wouldn't it just barely fit?

Or my other thought was opening the cabinet from the dining room side. I was thinking sort of like how you did that awesome shallow hutch in your house. The drawers are not really shallow, but go back into the space behind.

Rebunky,

we need some pantry cabinets and it was my call to enclose the kitchen in the top right corner. I am super sensitive to food smells. I am sitting here with airing my house because hubby made eggs on the stove vs microwave.

I understood you had made the call to enclose the kitchen due to the smells earlier. That was why I drew that sketch with ideas I had for possible appliance placements as you added the wall. Did you think I meant to open that wall back up? If so, sorry for the confusion.

I was just talking about possibly not having to go with the voided base cabinet in the top right corner. Either by using a Super Susan or doing something where you access if from dining room side. Here is Lisa's shallow hutch idea. I thought something like this. Don't worry, no smells can get through. :-)

I like your shallow pantry wall, but I thought instead of where you added the 3 additional 24" wide pantries, maybe some of that space could go to the master bathroom and the master closet instead. You would still have four 24" wide and two 15" wide pantry cabs, which is still plenty of pantry space on the wall, imho. Although, I would make those even on both sides if you did have the section in between go to bedroom. It would be a nice wall for artwork. But, I would put one of those 15" cabinets on other side so it is symmetrical.

Okay I'll let Lisa take it from here! Cannot wait to see the reveal!

I just wondered why it couldn't be a super Susan as there is 15" to the
right of the dw. Ikea has a 38" SS, wouldn't it just barely fit?

rebunky, it would work out on the range wall. It would be, L-R, 2" spacer, 24" cab, 30" range, 24" cab, 24" cab, 36" sink, 24" DW, 38" corner Susan.

The fridge wall would be, top to bottom, 38" corner Susan, 24" cab, 39" fridge cab, 60" opening, 18" for molding and 15" pantry cabs.

I opted for wider drawings on the fridge wall over the corner Susan. Corner Susans are great for storing large items but guco has lots of cab storage for large items and IMO, really needed drawer space, especially since one of her goals is to reduce upper storage.

Love that you posted my DR hutch. I impressed friends and neighbors with my cleverness when we held our house re-warming last weekend. Soooo happy to finally get my good dishes out of boxes in the attic and into my DR.

The pantry cabs were spaced so that the banquette is centered between exterior wall and fridge, not between exterior wall and DR wall. I wanted to keep aisles on each end roughly the same.

Sorry that I didn't get anything drawn up yet, guco. A friend dropped by unexpectedly and I spent the afternoon having a wonderful visit with her.

rebunky, it would work out on the range wall. It would be, L-R, 2" spacer, 24" cab, 30" range, 24" cab, 24" cab, 36" sink, 24" DW, 38" corner Susan.

The fridge wall would be, top to bottom, 38" corner Susan, 24" cab, 39" fridge cab, 60" opening, 18" for molding and 15" pantry

Yes, Lisa exactly! That is what I would do. Of course that is just me because I find my SS extremely useful. It is the only one I have in my kitchen and it would not fuction well at all without it.

Can't the larger 36" drawers go in the island instead? You could have at least one or maybe two? Makes more sense the big drawers there because then they could be used as deep dish drawers which could be unloaded directly into from the dw. Whereas, the one next to the fridge doesn't really open fully if dw is down. I like the 36" ikea cab with the narrow top drawer and deeper bottom drawers. The top is perfect for silverware.

Hi Lisa and rebunky, so I have some bad news...the above plan won't work because we are purchasing a 36" blue star range. Our sink is also 36". I am trying the IKEA planner now to figure out the different cabinet configurations on the range wall.

Okidoki, well, back to the drawing board....:-) She had sink at 36" so only need to find 6" right? Maybe go back to the 18" left of range?

I was just showing my husband how I have only used the space between my sink and the right side of my stove. I only occasionally need a small landing of countertop to the left side of my stove as I cook. The rest of my countertop, that goes passed the stove on the left side, I never have used once. So for me 18" to the left of range would be perfectly fine for me.

I think the range wall could work with a 36" range. From L-R, 2" spacer, 24" cab, 36" range, 30" cab, 36" sink, 24" DW, 47" corner cab.

Then on the fridge wall, it'd be: 24" corner cab, 24" microwave tall cabinet, and 39" fridge cabinet, 60" opening, 18" mounding, and 15" pantry.

I am working on drawing this tonight for everyone's review.

rebunky, glad you are still here. Is it a "no-no" for the cabinets on the sides of range or sink to be different in terms of size?

Well, technically it is not a no-no, but I must admit my ocd tendencies likes them equal. Plus if you go with one of those fancy blue star ranges, you probably want it to be the focal point. So let's see how we can make it be the star!

Is it a "no-no" for the cabinets on the sides of range or sink to be different in terms of size?

I think that if you balance the upper cabs on each side of the hood and install a larger window by the sink, you won't notice that the base cabs aren't equal. But I will admit that I'm okay with asymmetry, especially if it means better function. My hood is not centered on on the range wall. Huh, I just realized that my base cab set-up isn't that far off from what I'm suggesting for guco. Do I have a pic of that....

Yes, I do! I have one base cab of drawers to the left of my cook top and 2 sets of drawers on the other side that just by chance, ended up roughly the same width. I also have more wall to the left of the hood than to the right. I thought it would bother DH (he's more hung up on symmetry than I am) but it didn't. I'm glad because I didn't want to move the cook top to the left nor go with a smaller window.

Can't the larger 36" drawers go in the island instead?

Not if guco sticks with Plan H. The island is only 18" deep with 15" deep cabs. I had spec'd using upper cabs with drawers to give the island more of a furniture look but there are also 15" base cabs that could be used instead. Yay, just checked and found a 36" base of drawers that is only 15" deep so that could work. It's not the same storage capacity as 36" wide, 24" deep cabs.

Does she still want to do the banquette plan H? Or is she now trying an island with seating? I'm confused as usual!

Lisa, are your cabinets all the same size though? my range wall would consist of 24", 36" range, 30", 36"sink, and then the 24" DW. Is that weird? My IKEA drawing is below. The two 36" cabinets on the pantry wall are the bench seats.

I seriously do not know how you guys are floorplan-holics, I am exhausted after staring at this for the last two hours.

rebunky, to be honest, I don't have a preference on seating anymore. I just want some seating!

Oh my, no wonder you are frustrated. Why aren't you using the ikea planner? It is so easy, even I can use it. ;-)

You would get the 3D images to actually walk through it.

edit to add, well now that I look closer, I think you are. Sorry....

Rebunky, I am using IKEA planner. The frustrating thing is the awkwardness of the island IMO.

Does IKEA have 30" cabs? I thought their cabs were limited to 12", 15", 18", 24" and 36". The only 30" cabs I see on their website are for a sink base and a cook top base.

Anyhoo, here's the way I'd suggest doing your cabs so that you have a good stretch of counter between sink and range.

This gives you 42" of counter, which, coincidentally is what I have. Somewhere some years ago I read a study about kitchen use and the magic number for a usable stretch of counter was 42". Made DH quite happy (if you're a fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you'll understand the significance of that number).

There are a few ways to go about this but the above gives you 24" cabs on each side of your range. I wouldn't worry about the rest of the run since there's really no way to get the drawers/cab doors to match up. I thought you wrote that symmetry wasn't that big a deal to you so I'm not sure why it's become a concern now.

Another way to run the cabs is, from L-R, 2" spacer, 18" cab, 36" range, 24" cab, 24" cab, 36" sink cab, 24" DW, 38" corner Susan.

If you'd be willing to go down to a slightly smaller sink base, you could go with the following, L-R: 2" spacer, 24" cab 36" range, 24" cab, 24" cab, 30" sink, 24" sink, 38" corner Susan.

As I wrote above, it's going to be pretty tough to have all the bases be the same width without going w/ semi- or custom cabs. IKEA is a good price point but it does have limitations. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it but I generally put function over form, not the other way around.

Lisa, are your cabinets all the same size though?

Do you mean on my cook top wall? No, they are not. Here's my lay-out. We used a local custom cab shop.

If you want to see more of my kitchen's cabs, go to my reveal thread, 50 Shades of Gray, TKO version

One of the biggest lessons I learned through the planning and remodeling process - one shared with me by a good friend who is a CMKBD in the Bay Area - is that it's very easy to get hyper-focused on the details and lose sight of the big picture. So true! I had to pull myself back more than a few times from the crazy ass edge I'd find myself walking along. =)

It seems that your focus right now is on getting the cab widths to be "just right" but it's also important to not lose sight that the kitchen, first and foremost, must function well. See the big picture. It really does help one keep one's sanity. (hahahohohehe!)

I seriously do not know how you guys are floorplan-holics

I like the mental gymnastics.

I've always been good with spatial challenges. I can pack a U-Haul like no one's business. When we moved our oldest son to the Bay Area last year, DH told everyone, "just bring out the boxes and let Lisa pack. She's going to rearrange things you pack anyway." They'd stand back and say "no way will that fit" and then be amazed when it did. Oh, ye, of little faith, lol.

So I just found out that IKEA cabs come in widths of 12", 15", 18", 21", 24", 30" and 36" (not from IKEA's website, that confuses the heck out of me).

Anyhoo, this configuration is possible.

As you can see by my floor plan, 21" cabs are what I have on each side of my cook top. That size works out well for me but only because I have 36" drawers below my cook top for cookware. Hopefully, I'll find a way to get larger drawers near the range for your cookware.

I voided the base corner because that was the best way I could see to giving you matched drawer bases near the range without wasting space.

Lisa, I downloaded the 3D ikea planner recently for designing my cabin. I found it is super easy to play with (even for me! HA!). You can play with all the cabinet sizes. I assume the available sizes in the planner are what ikea has in stock, but I am not sure. I have never even been to an ikea store.

I see they have the 21" base cab, but it is just a single drawer on top with the regular door cabinet with shelf below. We don't think that is all that wonderful right?

I like the changes to plan H!

But only thing, I just do not like the range/sink isle width at 38+. Also that the island width is only 18". I totally missed that the island was so skinny before. It may look fine, but I would need to see a visual. I will have to find a picture of that to see what it looks like.

Here is what I played with. I am sure my dimensions are wrong, so please ignore me if I am way off base. I didn't finish the upper cabs on the right side as I am not sure on microwave situation near fridge. nor what to do in that upper corner?

Maybe there should be a prep sink somewhere on the fridge side perimeter???

My thoughts or goal were, to make that blue star range the focal point, getting the corner banquette, and at least a 24" plus normal overhang width on the island.

I didn't think about the storage aspect in each cabinet. I just tried to center the range for aesthetic reasons only, not so much function. I am not sure but maybe you could put in a prep sink somewhere on perimeter to get really into it as far as function goes. I think I am just compromising on things because as someone said, "something has to give"

Guco, I knew that you really loved the table in the bottom left corner idea. I show chairs there, but really that would be a more of a banquette like Lisa suggested way earlier. I forget whose kitchen that it was in at the moment.

I really do not get at all why you want minimal or zero upper cabs. Yes, when there is a fabulous view, I definitely can see that. But isn't that top range/sink wall looking out to the neighbors with a bad view? Why did you not like the idea of windows flanking the range with uppers everywhere else? I would still put in some windows for the light at the very least, doing frosted glass or whatever.

Please free to laugh hysterically if I am way off base with this idea...I am known to get confused easily. I am sure I will regret posting this tomorrow when I wake up! I am doing this after a long day, wine, and it is almost midnight my time, sooo.... there ya go.....

Rebunky, we are going to do open shelves on the range wall. But yes, we probably will do two windows on the range wall with frosted glass to let light in.

Lisa, like Rebunky, husband and I love the range and fridge wall. However, we don't like the 15" depth island. It also seems too discombobulated with the seating against the pantry wall right across the island.

So, we are back to something like this. We are sacrificing the number of seating, the size of the french doors (71" vs 59"), and lastly, aisle space.

From the dishwasher, it'd go like this: dw, 36" sink, 38" susan, 24" cab, 30" cab, 36" range, 30" cab, 38" susan, 24" microwave tall shelf, and Fridge. What do you think of the below?

guco-is there room for a single level square island with 2 sided seating or you are not wanting counter height seating? Sorry I actually have been following along the way but haven't re-read so excuse me if you've already nailed that down.

autumn.4, I don't believe there is room for a square island. Although I am not keen on counter height seating, I will take it if that's all I can get.

Last Sunday morning attempt on IKEA planner. I know it only offers two seats but then everything feels so much roomier. All suggestions are welcomed!

I have been so enjoying this process as a mere spectator.

The thing that I liked about the banquette on the wall between cabinets, is I could totally see the kiddie(s) cozily parked there coloring, reading, or doing homework while you worked in the kitchen. That would be a big selling point to me (if I were in that phase of life).

I am in awe of Lisa_a's ability to imagine so many options!

Guco45, please be sure that you post your final plan for the house, and do a reveal when it is all done

Raee_gw, I too, love the banquette on the wall. I just don't love the skinny island but don't know how to overcome my space constraints.

Well, I warned you that I would probably get my numbers wrong and of course as usual I did! I certainly am consistent anyways. Haha!

I really loved this one Lisa did here, J-1. It would be perfect if you could just fix those couple issues.

Could you skip the banquette bench against the wall and just butt the table to that wall instead? What if you made the pantrys 24" deep and do short one seater benches on the sides of table where you lean back against the pantry?

Maybe that could give you a few precious extra inches to add to the isle between sink and island and also make the island with 24" cabs? Sort of like this?

I had a wild idea that I just drew up. It hits nearly all your stated wishes, at least as I interpreted them:

• seating area, preferably table seating

• wall & pocket doors between kitchen and DR for food smell control

• large exterior doors

• island

• 36" sink

• 36" Bluestar range

• limited or no uppers uppers

• wall of pantry cabs

• large walk-in closet

• walk-in shower

The only wish I couldn't quite manage is keeping the fridge, sink, and DW near each other. One way to do that would be to flip the range wall run, putting the fridge at the DR end. The reason I didn't do that is that I assumed that you will be eating more meals in the kitchen than at the DR table so it would be better to keep the fridge on the end closest to the banquette.

And lookie, I gave you back your corner banquette!

And island seating! And a kitchen lay-out that comes very close to your inspiration kitchen posted above.

I was able to manage it by splitting the dual pocket doors up with a wall against the island - which really becomes more like a peninsula - between the doors. You can control traffic through the kitchen by keeping the top pocket door closed while the bottom one is open. You can also hide kitchen messes without blocking views to the backyard.

There is a lot of balance to this lay-out, mostly because that's how the numbers worked out. What I like best is that you have no corner cabs and wide drawer bases.

I pulled the range run counter out to 30" to make your SD fridge appear like a CD fridge. I added a shelf ala histokitch's kitchen behind the range and between the windows.

I also added dimensions to the bathroom.

I haven't played with any possibilities for enlarging the bathroom/closet into the kitchen, nor have I reviewed your latest plans. There's a lot to like - for one, I'm glad to see that you may be willing to give up having an island - but beyond that I haven't reviewed them more fully. I'll do that later.

Lisa_a, Thank you but I think two entrances into the kitchen is just getting too complicated. What do you think of my IKEA kitchens? Are they not efficient enough? That is my suspicion as I re-look at my IKEA drawings. Here's another way with the banquette in between the pantry cabinets.

Then how about Lisa's 2-door plan but only have the one door and wall up the work zone side? I'd do a glass door and then an interior window wall so you still have a view of the whole house but can keep those odors contained in the kitchen.

Seriously, Lisa's plan is genius. I'm sorry but your plan just isn't. Here's what I wouldn't like about your plan: Small table is blocking both the walkway and almost all of the pantries giving you limited access. This will probably drive you crazy and I bet the table gets ditched. It looks like an after-thought, not a plan. Peninsula seating with backs to the view. And, BTW, you can't seat three people at the peninsula because two sets of legs are not going to fit at the end of the peninsula. I'm a bit obsessed with wanting someone to be able to prep while someone else is cleaning up. In Lisa's plan, if you have a big enough sink that it can be shared. It's not spacious and there would be some crowding but someone can load the DW while someone else is prepping. Can't really happen in your plan as the open DW door will block access to the fridge.

I've been following this thread but didn't really have anything to say as the plans presented by Lisa, Rebunky, et.al. (if I missed anybody), have all been great. But I really need to pipe in to hope that you will seriously consider Lisa's latest plan with just the door closure/window wall tweaks I mentioned as I think this plan is inspired, brilliant, and will make people gasp when they see how cool it is AND, most importantly, be a comfortable, efficient and functional space to work in. Your latest plan, not so much.

Well, just wall up that second pocket door and call it a day! Lisa your "wild idea" is the best so far! Go wild anytime girl!

Guco, You basically said "Thanks Lisa, but two entries is too complicated." No other feedback. Not liking the extra doorway is a perfectly understandable objection. However, I must be honest with you and say, it would be nice if you gave a little more feedback.

Please, I am sure you are very busy, as we all are, but just take a moment or two to go through each of the bullet points Lisa listed and respond to each one briefly as to why or why not they work for you. That might give us some where to go from here.

funkycamper and rebunky, you are absolutely right. I need to give more details on why Lisa_a's plan "I" won't work for me. I appreciate you reminding me to provide more information.

Lisa_a,

1. I'd like to maintain one entrance to the kitchen but have that entrance be fairly large for double pocket doors preferably at 60".

2. we'd like to have a window on the back wall next to the french doors on the range side. Lisa has a fridge there so it'd be hard to get a decent size window there. Maybe I can put the fridge on the pantry wall? then that area just be base cabinets so I can do the window?

3. Microwave cabinet somewhere?

I do LOVE corner banquette and the pantry wall though. Thank you again for your help so far! I never would have thought of so many options by myself.

Of course, I don't live in your house nor do I live your life so my responses may be off-base but here are my thoughts on your reasons.

1. What difference does it make how wide the door is as long as it's wide enough for comfortable passage? To get the openness, put in an interior window wall. You can even have these be able to open/close so you can have the openness when you want it or close it off to contain odors when you don't want it open. I think that would be an astounding feature.

2. I love windows. I live for windows. Carrie B's back window wall is one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a kitchen here. Lisa's plan gives you a window over the banquette and double window doors. Just add a narrow window on the short stub wall. As a lover of windows, I really don't think you'll gain all that much by moving the fridge to a bad location just to add another window there. Are you gaining a view of a particular portion of your yard if you could have a window there? Is there something specific you desire to be able to see from all points in your kitchen?

3. I see several places where a microwave drawer could go. Or if you prefer a regular microwave, how about on a shelf in that corner across from the DW? Or move the fridge to the right a bit and then put the MW on a shelf in that corner?

Funkycamper, call me nuts but we're trying to do everything stock sized to save on cost. The next size down for double pocket doors would be 48" (24+24) and that's just a bit too small for us. We are tall and slightly plump!

In regards to windows, the back fridge corner would have the best view of the house! It's odd but that's the area where our view of the mountains is. That's also where the light would come into the kitchen. It's a hard because we don't want windows on the range wall to see the neighbors, but we want it on the back wall to see the mountains.

MW on a shelf in a corner is a great idea! I would probably put it on the other side though, across from the DW.

Made some slight tweaks to Plan I for Plan K that may or may not resolve your concerns.

I added a MW drawer at the end of the island, facing the back doors, with a 15" w cab next to it.

The total opening for the double pocket doors is 56", clear opening between seating overhang and opposite wall is 44" with 47" between seating overhang and pantry cabs.

I tried to find a photo that showed roughly what the seating overhang/doorway area would look like. This one is close but not quite (but I'll keep looking)

Swanson · More Info

A number of above plans did not offer a 60" doorway and you didn't voice that concern earlier so I'm not quite clear whether your desire is so that the kitchen feels more open to the rest of the house when the doors are open or if you really want to have 60" wide doorway.

I completely understand wanting a wider doorway. We had a 29" doorway between hallway and kitchen but because it was a swing door that opened against a wall, it was really a 27" opening. Drove me batty (admittedly a short trip). I wanted as wide an opening as I could get. My nearly final plan called for a 48" opening but for a number of reasons, it was reduced to 44". It feels huge! Admittedly, I was going from a narrow doorway so it wouldn't take much to improve it but I still can't believe what a difference it makes and frankly, I'm not missing the extra 4" of opening, not one bit.

We went from this (entry to right, already looks much wider because the walls on each side of the doorway are gone. 27" W pocket door to DR removed in this pic, too)

I'm not trying to talk you out of your wish for a 60" opening but I am saying that, based on my experience, you could perhaps be overcompensating and in reality, a slightly smaller entry would work just fine, provided the plan has other features that make the kitchen feel open. Anyhoo, it's something to think over carefully.

I didn't say so in my previous post but Plans I & K assume that you will be storing glassware in drawers since you stated you don't want any upper cabs. Here's how that would work.

Quarter-Sawn · More Info

Sparkling Glass · More Info

I'll review your latest plans in my next posts.

funky and rebunky (hah, your screen names rhyme!), thank you for your praise and votes of confidence! What a great way to start my week.

Here's critique on your peninsula plan (warning, bluntness ahead).

I moved the fridge north because, as you had it, it seriously crowded the seat at the top of the table. It looked like there was only 24" between fridge side and table, which is really, really tight. And rather claustrophobic, IMO.

I don't see adequate drawing storage in the main kitchen area. Where will you store glassware, dishes, silverware prep utensils, pots & pans, etc? I added uppers on the sink wall to aid with storage but I think you'll still end up walking across your kitchen to get items from your pantry cabs. As another poster recently said, that kind of set-up would make her FitBit happy but it's inefficient. =)

It looks like your peninsula is only 24" wide, which means that either you have *no* seating overhang or your peninsula is open below, which means no storage.

As funky pointed out, you can't add a 3rd seat at the peninsula; it lacks enough leg room.

I think you may have already abandoned this plan but just in case, here's critique of that plan.

As with your peninsula plan, this one lacks adequate drawer storage in the working area of your kitchen. I also think it lacks a wide enough counter between sink and range for prep work (most work is done between sink and range). There are a number of well-designed kitchens with only 30" or even less but they are small kitchens, which your kitchen is not.

15" deep banquette seats are *not* deep enough to be comfortable for any length of time. Even if you go with straight backs,not slightly angled, it's inadequate butt room, IMO. I design banquettes with 24" depth for deep seats and padded, slanted backs. You could shave a few inches off and simply have a hardwood slanted back but any less than that sacrifices comfort, big time. Measure your kitchen chairs and you'll find that they generally have an 18" seat and the seat backs are angled slightly.

I'll work on your kitchen later but likely not today. I've slept horribly for several nights (4-5 hrs per night max) so I'm dragging today (call me Mia S. B. Dragon; any Car Talk fans on here?).

Can you do this? The red lines are walls that make a 6" pocket. Then the two black lines are two pocket doors that slide into that same side. We were going to do this in our cabin bedroom.

The point of doing that is so then that interior window above the peninsula and over towards top wall could be lower instead of just high celestial. This would allow some much needed light into the dining room and middle of house. Just a thought. I am loving this plan so much!

Lisa_a, to be honest, I am not sure what the opening would be. All I know is on Lowes.com, they sell the pocket door kit for 24" and 30" doors. I need a double so I am assuming that the opening is 60"? I really don't know though.

I think your plan could work though. I would just ask them to push the bookshelf in the family room over a bit.

we also would prefer only one entrance so I enclosed that corner. I am showing this to hubby for final approval :)

Oops, didn't see your comment that you're trying to do stock doors or your reasons for a 60" doorway until just now.

Given your size, you definitely don't want crowded, undersized seating whether it's a banquette or counter seating. And I think you'll want generous aisles. I think a U-kitchen with a nice sized banquette centered on the master bath/closet wall would work best.

Oops, missed seeing your last post again. Yay, glad that K may just work for you.

PS Envy your mountain views!

One more comment on K.

I'd extend the banquette benches more than I drew them so that it's easier to get on and off the bench. I'd either sacrifice one of the pantry cabs or book-end 4 24" pantry cabs with 2 15' pantry cabs and lengthen the bench.

rebunky, how does " Then the two black lines are two pocket doors that slide into that same side. " work? Are you talking about pocket doors that slide together? or just a giant single pocket door?

Lisa_a, also I like rebunky's idea of sliding the fridge down a bit to allow a window on that wall. So I might leave the french doors shifted down towards the corner banquette.

This is what rebunky is talking about.

Harlem Residence Children's Room · More Info

Lisa_a, also I like rebunky's idea of sliding the fridge down a bit to
allow a window on that wall. So I might leave the french doors shifted
down towards the corner banquette.

If you do that, you can either swap out the 15" pantry cab for a 24" pantry cab or you can swap out the 15" pantry cab for a 24" base and upper, putting a small MW on the shelf above the counter. As long as you have window right next to this area, it won't feel like a dark hole. You may even be able to swap it out for a 30" base & upper. Play with the cabs sizes on your range wall, focusing on what will be stored where. Keep your commonly used items in the main kitchen area with food items and less often used items in the pantry cabs on the banquette wall.

Lisa_A, just scrolling back through your plans. Your plan E is the opposite of K. :) I may just price out the costs of folding internal doors and counter depth fridge. If in the budget, maybe E is a better plan for us.

I just asked DH how he was going to custom build those double pocket doors. (He is a GC btw) He had bought a special track that the two doors would hang on. As one is pulled shut it somehow hooks the second door and pulls it along if that makes sense.

However, when I told him how you wanted it to keep out cooking smells as you are highly sensitive, then he said he would not recommend a pocket door in that case. It is because it has such big air gaps. A regular door can seal off smells much better.

So maybe just a nice big French door with or without extra side lights would be better? Doors could open in towards the dining room. Doors when completely open are either against the sidelights or the wall. That one dining room chair on the end may have to tuck in tighter to table as the door swings open all the way open is all.

Here are a few examples. It certainly would look beautiful and I think could work with either of those plans Lisa did that you are considering at this point.

This one is without the side lights.

With sidelights

And this last one I thought would be sort of like if you did the lastest plan with the peninsula. French doors to kitchen (except I would have doors swinging other way if have seating at bar.) And to the right would be the interior window above the peninsula towards dining room side.

Reminded me of 2littlefishies kitchen:

2 Little Fishies Doors

Fishies Doors Open

View INTO kitchen