Haha - well, I liked A better to start, so at least I'm consistent? I would also like A without a full length pantry cab and moving the range over a bit to be more centered on that wall (with a bit more countertop to the L of it). This might not give you enough storage though. I'd be happy to cook in either A or C though!

Yes, as long as the hinge is past the wall you are good.

I like option C, with the larger window. Even though it doesn't follow IWSF, in a kitchen that size I don't think it matters so much, and having the fridge on the end of the right leg leaves the kitchen much more open. The layout is the same as mine, m/l, with almost the same distances between appliances and sink, and it works well. And I have a red KA, too. :)

mama goose, do you have any photos of your kitchen by chance?

One thing to keep in mind is that if you are concerned about resale then you might want to keep the pantry. A kitchen with a pantry is much more salable.

In case you haven't explored the idea of moving the kitchen altogether, I played around with that a bit. Dining room in the bay, kitchen and living room facing the back yard. It might be nice to walk up the stairs and face the living room rather than the kitchen. Of course, it's a bigger budget...

BB, I had that same initial thought with moving things around!!! That bay window seemed perfect at first glance for a dining room.

I also wanted to acknowledge your earlier galley layout. ;-)

I always try and look closely at any and all galley layouts, because I think they make so much sense on paper.

My problem, actually should say, unfortunate biased opinion is based on my horrible, less then one year experience with this "custom" galley layout....

Yes, just shoot me already with the fridge smashed tight to the sink and then the dw between it and the stove. Funky would have a coronary!

That triple hole gap across from the teeny tiny isle way which is a main corridor leading to other rooms, used to be a "custom" double convection oven. Range was a cooktop. How wonderful. Does that make the layout any better??? NoooOOoo!

Oh sorry, please. I must sincerely apologize Steve. I was having kitchen nightmare flashbacks! I digress....

Back to the subject at hand.

Here is what I would love to try. Sorry if it's hard to follow my ramblings.

Starting from glass slider, pantry (?size), fridge, small base cab, dw, 36" sink base (30" sink with trash pullout as I said earlier) corner base...

Turn corner, as big of drawer base as you can, range, as big of drawer base as you can, end with wall.

i would love to see that perimeter layout with an island that has good sized isle widths. I am not confident until I can see it, but that's the layout in my crazy head right now... :-))))

Steve Doni, I just realized that I don't have a shot showing the whole 'L' in the finished kitchen. (I use the term 'finished' loosely, because the flooring still hasn't been replaced.) Here's a pic of the kitchen in progress, from the fridge to the sink--the dark counters are the newer ones. The MW is in the box beside the fridge.

Your plan is flipped:

For more pics of my kitchen, start here and scroll forward. If you scroll backward, you can see the whole mess from the beginning, including my hand-drawn layout.

In the background of this pic (the other side of the kitchen), you can see a shallow pantry, sans doors, built between the studs. You might consider that for the stub wall beside the fridge, if there are no electric wires or utility chases in the wall.

More images of between studs storage.

Seems you are getting all sorts of alternative options but honestly I really like option A. I think you will love your big window to work in front of. I think you will have great prep space to the right of the sink and then be able to move right to the range to cook from there. I think having the fridge and pantry on the periphery makes it easy for the peeps to access the goods while staying out of the work zone. But they are also really accessible to the cook. I think with that design you will honestly do most of your prep on the counter between the sink and range but the island will be a great secondary spot for a helper to perch. It just think it hits all the marks. If the fridge is counter depth I don't think it will look weird or obtrusive at all. That design is functional and that big window will add so much light and openness. keep it!

Oh, Rebunky, lol,....but the knotty pine/alder was kinda cool. :)

I like BB's galley the best. It looks like the easiest one to work in while maintaining an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Although I didn't see the aisle width and that's important in all kitchens but I think it's especially important in a closed-end galley with only one entry/exit. I didn't see if the aisle width was posted but I would, personally, want at least 54". I know a lot of people would be fine with something closer to 48" but definitely not a smidgen of an inch narrower. I would make that back window HUGE!

A very close second is plan C. I agree with MG that it follows I-W-S-F close enough for a small kitchen. I would move the sink and DW a bit farther left in order to have more space between the different zones.

A and B don't appeal to me mainly because of the fridge being so prominent. Plus, there is a window that the fridge will block the light from. From other places in the room, you won't even notice the light and view from that great window. But they're really not bad plans.

And all the island plans concern me because of narrow aisle widths. They seem like plans where the island is being forced into a space where there really isn't enough room for one. Just imho. Don't get me wrong. None of them are bad plans but they just don't appeal to me, personally, as much as the galley.

Steve Doni, in the end, I think you have four decent plans to choose from. if at all possible, could you use boxes or pieces of furniture to mock up aisle widths and do some pretend cooking sessions in them including prep and clean-up with helpers and the normal scenarios that might happen in your kitchen on a fairly regular basis. Also, with each plan, consider where you will be able to store things and during your pretend cooking sessions in your mock-up, get out that colander or that whisk or whatever and see if you have the storage where you need it. If you can do this with all the plans, it may help lead you to the correct answer for your home and how your family uses the kitchen.

Yeah, I know it seems silly and it can be time-consuming but doing that was the best exercise I did when planning my kitchen. It really helped me identify what should go where to be most efficient, have the least traffic bottle-necks, and if there were any problems I couldn't live with and that needed changing, and what were no-go's and required some changes.

I don't think there will be much difference in function between the two plans, but I'd use C. I remember someone here moved their fridge from the short wall like your C plan to the slider like the A plan, and she couldn't believe how much light she lost from the slider, even without an over-fridge cabinet. It was also too bulky in that position and crowded the island. Though hers was a full-depth fridge, in your drawings, the fridge looks rather shallow and flush to the cabinets, but in reality even a counter-depth fridge is 30" deep.

Thanks, sorry I definitely don't like the galley kitchen. It's interesting that you find the aisle widths narrow, when at Ikea there was one enormous kitchen with a 15'x6' island setup that had 48" aisles and it seemed borderline too much aisle. Most of the display kitchens were similar in size to our kitchen and had 39-42". I tested with my wife that if I was standing in front of the fridge with french doors, how much space we would need for her to walk behind me without having to turn her body and at 44" there was more than enough room. Why would that not be enough?

I'm not sure I subscribe to the I-W-S-F school of thought, personally all that matters to me is the W-S-F. Where the food comes from seems irrelevant to me. When I cook I gather my food, sometimes even from the basement, then get to work. Work is the W-S-F part, that's where I want efficiency and proximity. If I-W-S-F is the be all end all, then logically I would keep my fridge and pantry as close to my prep area as possible, but in my mind I would much rather they be out of the way so people can access them without getting in my way when I'm cooking :) I might spend all of 30 seconds getting food from the fridge and pantry to make a meal, but spend an hour prepping, cooking, cleaning. To me I'd rather have people out of my way for an hour if they need a drink or a snack, than shave 3 seconds off the time it takes me to get veggies out of the fridge before I make a salad.

I like plan A and C the most, because of the big window, and I can't see a downside to having a larger window. Or no one has mentioned one as of yet :) The issue with A is the fridge, like you said it becomes a focal point of the room, but it could make the area at the sink more cozy, sometimes it's nice to be boxed in a little. Plan C moves the fridge out of the way, but loses the pantry (which we can live without), but not sure if it's too open and airy on the sink side now, in an already very open living/dining/kitchen.

Though in the photo rebunky posted, having the fridge there doesn't seem bad at all, especially if it was framed with cabinets on top. Hard to decide! Someone else mentionned light, window/slider wall is NNW facing, and the fridge would be a 30Wx36D, that is how it is drawn in the photos as well.

My vote would be C with that hall closet made into a pantry and a wider island for more storage and/or beverage frig and 44 inch counter to counter aisle (actual cab to cab would depend on your counter overhang). And, between the counter and the door, extend that more towards the door.

The reason I would prefer the frig on the hall side is because that space could take a full size frig with the wall there. Consider extending that counter to 27 or 30" and the uppers to 16-18 so that the depth change isn't so drastic.

We are a multi cook family and 45" counter to counter is fine. More wouldn't make much of a difference.

nightowl, you think the room can accommodate an even bigger island? i was worried it might be too big, it could certainly be deeper than 39" but not sure if wider would work.

Ah. I didn't factor in the dining area piece. I doubt it can go wider then. But, space guru's here are the experts in that area.

It certainly looks like it can go more towards the stair side. Maybe make it less wide if you want more aisle space and deeper -- more square? Also, do you have to have seating for 3 at the island? Maybe just 2 and use the added space for another stack or drawers or a cabinets or beverage thing.

The NKBA recommends aisles for a single-worker kitchen to be a minimum of 42", and a minimum of 48" for multi-worker kitchens. Note the word minimum. The aisle width that works for people depends on many factors. It seems to be rare that anything narrower works for people but, quite often, the minimums are fine, and sometimes people need more.

I have a tall husband with long arms who talks with his hands a lot and moves quickly. I have found that, for us, I need wider aisles to have more of a safety zone between us. It also works because my prep and cook counter are together on one side of the aisle while my clean-up area is across the aisle. So having more space between very different zones is a good thing. And if one of us is prepping while the other cooks, and maybe my DD or someone else is cleaning-up, it will still provide us a generous space for someone to move up the middle of the aisle to someplace else without impacting the others.

That's us. Your needs might be different. And this is why I suggest a mock-up. Of course, you can go to Ikeas or other stores, like big boxes and cabinet shops, with displays set up and do similar mock cooking.

I rather agree with you that Ice is the least important in the I-W-S-F set up. My fridge is at the edge of the kitchen and my pantry is just past it. Like you, I tend to grab what I need in one or two trips and then spend the bulk of my time prepping, and then put everything back at the same time. I don't mind walking a few extra feet to do that. In conversations here at GW, some folks make more trips to fridge and pantry so, for them, this might not work as well.

One of the great things about presenting plans here at GW is that you get different ideas. Sometimes those ideas are just what you needed, sometimes not. But it's certainly better to have more choices, understand the pros and cons of each, and then make an informed decision instead of just grabbing the first plan and then finding it doesn't work for you. And that's the key phrase - work for you.

All your plans have the sink on the window side. Have you considered the range flanked by windows and the sink on the other side, or in the island? Just asking -- The space you have there is actually pretty big.

I have a layout with the range on the exterior wall as nightowl suggested. The sink is facing the wall, but you'd be prepping facing the window, and not towards the corner but towards the DR.

Island is 6'x4', 42" aisle in front of the fridge and 48" from the range counter. I'm thinking 30" drawers facing the DW and MW at the DR end of the island.

I think you should consider a banquet in the DR, whichever layout you go with.

Re DW and dish drawers. I hope this helps with your planning. Our island is 46" from the perimeter. (see photo). Our dish drawers are inset and 21 inches deep (see photo). It is no problem opening and closing the DW with the top and middle drawers fully extended. (see photo) For the bottom drawer, we can pull it out mostly, but not fully.(see photo). That is not a problem for us as it isn't necessary to pull it out fully to get things in there and, the bottom is our overflow drawer anyway, so not planned to be frequently used.

I went through these same decisions several years ago, and agonized over it. My space was similar to your plan C and I always felt trapped cooking in the corner between the range and sink. I took down two walls between the kitchen, DR and LR to create an open 24x24 space. I did just what nightowl suggested. My almost final plan moved the range to the outside wall and it was flanked by windows. I loved the look, but my good friends whom are realtors convinced me to reduce the number of windows and add uppers. I was putting in skylights and have huge LR windows so I bided their advice. I also moved the sink to the island and love the uninterrupted counter space it gives me. I have an 18" pullout pantry and it holds almost all my dry goods. When we built our island, we could have made the aisle between the range and island whatever we want. After moving the cabs around my DH and I chose 42". He is 6' and I'm 5'8". It is perfect for us. I unload the DW directly into the open drawers directly across. As was suggested, mock it up and do what feels right for you. I love my layout and wouldn't change a thing except maybe the windows I wanted.
My Ikea kitchen.

I would not put a 36 inch deep fridge on the outside wall; I think you will really block light and lose the sense of openness.

It would be a 36 wide, 30 deep fridge regardless of the wall it goes on. But still, I am concerned that it might block a lot of the window from the left side of the room

How big is your family? Is food storage the only remaining issue if you go with plan C? I have about the same number of cabinets as this plan. I have a 9" pull-out pantry next to my fridge, which you don't have room for. I use one wall cabinet for baking items and bottles. I use my smallest drawer stack for spices in the top drawer and bread products and snacks in the middle. I could keep cereal in the bottom drawer....hmmm... still rearranging after four years! It's really convenient keeping food in drawers or a pull-out.

I don't have an island in my U kitchen, just a peninsula with storage on the dining room side instead of seating. I don't see that you'd need the island drawers for dishes, pots and pans, small appliances, etc. so you might explore how you can make the island work as a pantry.

We have a smaller kitchen space (limited because it is enclosed, not open like yours, but similar in size). In our similar spaced adjacent dining area we are doing a 24" pantry cabinet and a built-in L-shaped banquette bench for seating. It was the only way we could incorporate a pantry cabinet without losing a ton of counter space and I don't personally like having food in random upper/lower cabinets.

mayflowers, two kids, the only issue with C for us is lack of pantry. we would just put the food in the 36" drawers and 30" in wall cabinet between the fridge and stove. baking stuff, oils, spices, grater, chopper, cutting boards, etc.. could easily fit in the wall cabinet and 18" drawer stack in the prep corner. don't need 20 cans of corn or tuna in my kitchen at all times, would just keep a couple of everything, and keep bulk/cases in the basement. the 23" base cabinet left of the stove is an ikea corner pull out, 47" total storage counting the deep corner for small appliances. that would leave 78" of drawers on the island and 30" drawer and wall cabinet left of the dishwasher for everything else.

Sorry I missed your comments.

cpartist, so you prefer the smaller window? I would have thought bigger = better :)

Thought about moving the sink to the island, but reading threads on here it definitely seems hit and miss for people. We're a little slow to clean up sometimes so having a pile of dirty dishes on the island might get annoying. But I like the idea of prepping on the island lookout out at the room, and I think I'd be most likely to prep where the sink and garbage are. On paper it seems the 4' counter between the sink and stove is the perfect work area, except our back is facing the room the whole time. Though during daylight hours at least we'd have a view of the backyard, kids playing, etc..

Reading through everything, I take back my previous comments because I agree the fridge on the wall might block the light like others have said. I would put the stove on the window wall and add windows on either side. This is what I'm planning on doing. Then you can choose to put your sink/DW/Trash on the island or on the wall where the oven was. The fridge would be to the right on the "new" sink wall.

As for seeing dirty dishes on the island, how is that really any different than seeing them against the back wall? If you have an open kitchen and you leave dirty dishes on the counter, you will see them whether they are on the perimeter or the island.

If I were sitting at an island looking at dirty dishes a foot from my face would bother me more than glancing at them next to a sink on the other side of the kitchen. Just sayin' .

Tcufrog,

I don't know why the two tier configuration has fallen out of fashion. I've been in several homes that had this, seemed like a good compromise for the space. Particularly for setting out a buffet (or bar).

I always put the ease of food preparation first. Unless you've had a deep counter to work on, you don't know what you're missing. Just to give an example, if I'm making a large pizza, I have room on my 36" deep peninsula counter for my pastry cloth, the 16" pizza pan, and all the ingredients. My kitchen is small, like this one, and I'd have to clear a lot off the 24" counter to roll out a dough or carve a turkey.

This kitchen has no other deep counter space besides the island. With no sink on the island, the entire counter can be used for buffet.

re: raised island bar. OMG I couldn't WAIT to take a sledge hammer to one we had a few years ago. I have seen some large islands that are multi level, so one area of the island had a raised bar to hide things in the island sink from the living/dining area, but the other side had a large flat area. That would be an OK compromise for me, but never again would I have an island with half of it raised.

Our last 3 houses have had island sinks. We didn't build them, but we didn't hate them. They were all interior kitchens and the island looked out to the backyards, so the sinks made sense. I wouldn't want an island cooktop, but the sinks were okay for us.

I think turning the island 90 degrees is worth considering. It'll add more counter workspace to the side of the kitchen that's lacking, the range/fridge side. Dishes could be stored in the 36' base cabinet #11 which is convenient to both the dishwasher and the fridge.

The window in this drawing is 72" wide and 30" from the corner to mirror the width and location of the slider.

Are you centering your chandelier on the slider and then the table on the slider? If so, the distance between a 42" dining table and the island overhang in this configuration is approximately 60" which I believe is the recommended minimum aisle width there.

You many nothave enough room in the dining room for a sideboard. To slide by a seated diner you need 36", and to walk by you need 44" minimum.

that looks lovely! I would try to make the island with at least cabinets on the back side and just a 10-12 inch overhang as it will be used more as a perch rather than a dedicated eating area. If the dining table could have just a bench on the wall side, it might open things up a bit if the additional seating isn't needed daily.

But of course that last one is still crossing paths and not following Marcolo. ;)

Benjesbride's plan reminded me that I worked up a similar plan that I forgot to post. Here's my idea:

As BB pointed out, your plan doesn't seem to have sufficient aisles around the table to add a sideboard. I show better aisle clearances around your table and island so that people can move about freely.

A 42" aisle between sink run and island is sufficient, IMO, since there aren't any cabs opening across from the sink run.

I increased the aisle between range and island so that you can open drawers across from each other without them banging into each other. Also, that 45" aisle will shrink to 42" or so between island and fridge door (not handles). Unless you're purchasing a built-in fridge - and I'm betting not - a CD fridge extends beyond the counter edge about 3" to 3 1/2". It's a good idea to take that into account when you're figuring aisle widths.Now if I've made a false assumption and you're planning on a standard depth fridge (SD), then you'll end up losing even more aisle width. SD fridges can be up to 35" to handles, 33" to door front.

I widened the island with 24" d cabs on the range side and a 15" d cab on the table side (IKEA offers 15" deep base cabs). I curved the seating overhang to give you a little more clearance between island and LR area.

The counter height cabs in the DR can serve as a shallow buffet (16 1/2" with counter, oops, your aisle here is actually 42 1/2", not 44"). You can use the drawers to store kid stuff, a charging station, etc. IOW, Command Center stuff. The tall cabs at each end can store pantry goods, small appliances, seasonal items, etc.

Anyhoo, that's my idea for you.

I also like Sena's suggestion with the banquette seating for the DR. You get storage and improve the aisle between table and island.

You don't say how old your kids are - or if you did, I missed it - but kids have a tendency to take up a lot of room, despite their small size. I suggest that you give yourself decent aisles for them to move about when people are seated at the table so that you don't end up with a log jam in the only path on this level between the public living areas and the backyard.

I like Lisa's plan and the option of a banquette.

The banquette option could include adding a pantry cabinet on either side of the bench; you would simply have a full wall of cabinetry: pantry cabinet--banquette bench--pantry cabinet. Lisa's plan could also have pantry cabs added to each side. I am doing a 36" wide x 15" deep floor to ceiling cabinet--60" x 12 inch deep upper and lower cabinets with granite counter--36" wide x 15" deep floor to ceiling cabinet on one wall in my table area. I plan to store everything I cannot fit in my current kitchen in the narrow depth cabinets...no rollout so cheaper than a rollout pantry cabinet. IKEA makes 15 inch deep cabs which would work.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I thought about banquet seating but I had that in an apartment once and found it annoying. It's not my thing, I like a freestanding table and chairs, not a fan of fixed benches. Plus I'd like to put a buffet up against the dining table wall, and possibly one day we'll put some cabinets on that wall but not now.

I tried flipping the island vertically, and while it creates more space to the right of the dining table, it just doesn't look right in the 3D view. I toyed with a square island, in the vein as what lisa_a is suggesting. It would be more surface area 3900 sq inches vs 3000, would seat 4 comfortably instead of 3, and would leave more space all around. Wider aisles in the kitchen, and a foot more clearance between the island and dining table. So on paper it makes the most sense, but I don't know, it just looks funny. It would actually be larger than the dining table. Also my sister in law had a deep island once and said she didn't like it, she didn't like that she couldn't reach across the island to hand her kids a plate or pick up a plate, she had to walk around. But maybe she's the odd man out.

Thoughts?

Hey, I was looking at backsplashes...(yes again. I need professional help)

Is this kitchen layout close to what you are proposing? You'd have a bigger window.

I was also just wondering why you don't use more of the space towards the slider. Is there some reason you are ending the sink run so short? You look to have a couple more feet.

prefer the island running across[from dining area to fridge].. that alignment looks right for your space, and nice how you get an aisle between back wall and island. Lots of good ways though, maybe just hone in on what you like and tweak at it to get the proportions and sizing correct.

Why aren't you placing the island even with the fridge/ where the wall used to be? You have a lot of room at the top of the stairs.

Would the island not look so odd to you if you put a base cabinet at the end?

rebunky yes that photo is pretty much the layout, but with a smaller window. i know there's room towards the slider but i just didn't want the kitchen to encroach into the dining space more than it needed to, especially since it's counter space we won't really use for anything. it'll likely be where junk gets deposited, and where phones will get charged.

benjesbride, shifting the island to face the stove makes sense as it leaves more room for the dining table and uses up room that is largely near the staircase which wasn't serving any purpose.. we can even move the dining table an extra foot away from the wall and still have over 5' between it and the island.. and it allows us to have the higher clearance aisle on the fridge side where it's probably more needed than the dishwasher/sink side, since the fridge is deeper. But when i walk around in 3D program it just doesn't feel as good? i can't put my finger on it, maybe it's because while sitting at the island we'd be facing a wall instead of the window?

You said that the island won't be used for prep because you prep near the sink, you don't really need much food storage, you want the island to face the window, and you have two kids who will use the island for homework. So it seems to me you should downsize the island and turn it toward the window.

Since my island is oriented parallel to the range and fridge, your last plan looks OK to me. I have a third wall with cabinets, though, so that makes it more balanced, and not possible to have it turned 90°. Functionally, I like the island in that orientation, too--I can line up several cooky sheets, ready for the oven (or place them there to cool), or lay out 4 batches of noodles to dry, then turn easily from the island to drop them at the range. If you'll be serving from the range to someone seated at the island, that's easier, too.

How much time will someone spend seated at the island? Will it just be kids who aren't paying much attention to the view, or do you plan to sit there more often, with a cup of tea, enjoying the sunshine?

If a seat facing the window is important to you, you could put an overhang on the stair end of the island (if it's parallel with the range/fridge) so there are two seats facing the range and one seat facing the window. This would be a cozy conversational area for two adults and might be easier for two students to spread out work.

i think the island will mostly be for kids and hanging around when we have company.

You know, I agree with you that the island perpendicular to the window wall doesn't feel as right as the island parallel to the window wall. Interesting.

I stopped and thought about why that would be. My first thought was that, with the island perpendicular to the window wall, the end of the island closest to the living room now feels as if it's intruding into the walkway between the kitchen and living room. Even though the island ends in line with the side of the fridge closest to the living room, the island still feels as if it's intruding.

However, when I look at the island parallel to the window, I also think the end of the island closest to the dining room feels as if it is intruding into the dining room. Even though the island ends in line with the side of the perimeter cabinet closest to the dining room, the island still feels as if it's intruding.

So when you're standing in the living room, you like the perpendicular-to-the-window-wall island orientation less (because the island feels as if it's intruding towards you). And when you're standing in the dining room, you'll like the parallel-to-the-window-wall island orientation less (because the island feels as if it's intruding towards you).

Given all that, I actually think this shape island (posted earlier upthread) feels the best from both perspectives:

That is because the island is completely and clearly inside the invisible borders of the kitchen as delineated by the side of the fridge closest to the living room and the side of the perimeter cabinet closest to the dining room. A square (ish) island doesn't even touch the borders -- it's well inside them by a foot or two, making it impossible for the island to feel as if it's intruding into another room.

This home layout is so open that it lacks some of the normal cues (walls/doorways/floor changes) marking where the kitchen ends and another room begins. So in this island's case, a setback from the technical kitchen border helps to clarify things. The island's definitely in the kitchen and only in the kitchen.

Here is an edited version that stops the island a foot or two short of the borders in both directions:

That's what I was thinking for an island, Jillius, and also the issue of chairs back to back. We eliminated seating at our peninsula because it was so close to our dining room chairs.

An advantage to having the island oriented parallel to the window wall (aside from the view), is that there is plenty of room in front of the fridge. But stopping it a foot or two from the left border of the kitchen proper means that there won't be room for three seats--if the range aisle is 48".

Excellent analysis, Jillius. I learn so much from you.

Mayflowers, we just came to the same conclusion last weekend regarding our peninsula next to the dining table. While there is enough physical clearance, it felt too visually cluttered to me.

ETA: And I think the visual clutter is perfectly explained by Jillius's analysis. The chairs are outside the kitchen and in the dining space which feels like an encroachment on the dining space and doesn't give both spaces the delineation needed between the two. We'll be doing display cabinets instead to gain extra storage for items used in the dining area (good china and serving pieces).