Please help me make a functional kitchen
Mags438
8 years ago
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Lipstick on a pig....or please help me make my kitchen pretty!!
Comments (18)I would go with a classic white subway tile. It will never go out of style and always look classy. As for the cabinets, although I do like white kitchens I'm starting to see lots of beautiful kitchens with medium stain cabinets like yours. Have you seen the kitchen by Minnesota designer Todd Hansen in the Jan/Feb 210 Better Homes and Gardens magazine "Kitchen and Bath Ideas"? It is my current dream kitchen. It has white/cream cabinets for uppers and a light/medium wood (similar to your oak) on the bottoms. A few ideas: 1.) leave the bottom cabinets as is but paint the upper cabinets a white/cream color 2.) don't paint any cabinets but put a few glass panel/glass doors on your uppers. Either solution will solve the problem that you don't like all the graining on the oak cabinets. Most people in your kitchen looking at the cabinets are going to notice the uppers more than the lower cabinets. If you change out the uppers you will create the look you want. No matter what, I agree with the other posters that you should wait and see how you feel when your island is painted and your new counters are installed. Be sure to show us the pictures. It is going to look great. You have a very nice space to work with....See MoreKitchen reno - need help maximizing space and function! (Help?!)
Comments (11)benjesbride - the house is a typical city "shotgun" layout - each room is the width of the house and leads to the next w/o and halls, etc. There is an enclosed porch = office, living room, dining room, then the kitchen is at the rear of the house. We can add some room to the kitchen from that end if we take space away from the DR, but cant actually change its location. mama goose_gw zn6OH - I haven't figured out appliances at all. I was planning to just buy the most affordable pieces that come recommended here : ) The hood and range is on an interior wall separating the kitchen and the dining room. I think we probably could reverse the swing on the basement door. What benefit would that add? blfenton - The window across from the range faces south, and the one over the sink faces south west. The two by the table face southeast, however they look out to the neighboring house, which is barely 6 feet away. sena01 - never thought to alter the space in front of that long hall! A pantry would be amazing. I didn't think I could get one in, but was hoping increasing the number of top cabinets would give me enough storage. Another idea I had was to take the exterior landing (upper right) and enclose that so I could add more footage to the kitchen and change the point of entry. Just not sure if I would be gaining enough space to warrant the cost of adding an extension. I was planning to increase the opening leading in from the dining room, but worry that would make it even harder to maximize space. The funny thing is that this kitchen is quite literally double the size of our last two, but somehow doesn't feel as though it can look or feel spacious due to the doors and window placements. Also, wondering what steps to take first? Architect, KD, GC? Will the architect understand kitchen function? If I go to the KD first, will that person have enough knowledge of structural concerns in order to take moving walls, existing gas lines, etc into consideration? Do I see a GC to price out the cost of changes with moving walls and adding an extension? Hmph - no idea!...See MoreNeed Help Making Tiny Kitchen More Functional
Comments (97)I think I like the idea of maintaining a 15 inch landing space to the left of the stove. For one thing, it gives me a convenient place to put my Instant Pot (yes I have WAY too many gadgets!) The other thing it does is keep the prep space mostly under the window. I'm coming around on the benefits of a 30-inch sink cab. It allows a larger sink, I can put a cutting board on it and use it as prep space if necessary....all good things. And I saw this cool hack where you can make one 15 inch door into a trash pullout, and the other side can be a regular door (or, I guess, another pullout.) I like that! I think I'm going to start another thread seeing if people might be able to share pictures of their off-center sinks. Seeing this will help me visualize it a bit better. Hi, Rebunky! I'd love to go to Hawaii some day. It is very hard to find an affordable 30-inch, counter-depth fridge, I'm finding! There's the Fisher Paykel, but I worry about reliability and it's at the tippy-top of my budget. There's 33-inch wide counter depth fridges, but at that point, why not just go to 36 inches, you know? I'm not sure if a contractor can build a recessed space for the fridge because that wall goes into a stairwell, but I won't be sure until I get someone in here to look at it. So, it's just another compromise for me to consider -- overly big counterdepth fridge, or correctly proportioned standard fridge that might jut into work space? Sorry that I'm using you all as my constant sounding boards! The limitations of a small space can be frustrating but I find this enjoyable to talk about....See MoreU shaped laundry room please help me make this more functional!
Comments (4)I think I will eliminate the upper on the right. I am pretty tall 5’ 10” so it’s not terrible but I don’t know if I would be able to reach around and over the w/d. My height is also why I wanted them up off the floor and didn’t want them stacked. I keep overthinking this and try to look at this picture of the farmhouse kitchen I used for years. It was cooked in for 50+ years by my in laws and know when I look back at it I think how was it? I think I’m losing my mind after all it’s just a laundry room.......See MoreMags438
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