Hi! I saw this post on Thursday, but then it disappeared, so I went looking for it today. I don't know why you didn't get any posts - just got lost in the shuffle, I guess. I think your layout looks pretty good, with a couple of suggested changes. I don't think the lazy susan corner cab on the top left gets you anything, since they're pretty inefficient storage. I would do just a regular drawer base there instead (drawers are recommended over cabinets for ease of use and efficiency). The aisle in front of your refrigerator is way too narrow. 42" would be the minimum recommended. From my calculations, it looks like you have room to do 2 30" drawer bases in the peninsula (wider drawers are more efficient than small drawers). With a 1.5" counter overhang on the end, this would give you a 43.5" aisle (see below).

I'm not sure of the exact clearances around the doorway on the left, so I'm guessing that this also gives you about a 48" work aisle, which is a good size.

Regarding your concern about the pantry next to the fridge, lots of people do this and it isn't usually a problem. You could also consider a pantry pull-out (or 2 for a wider pantry), though you still couldn't open both the pantry and fridge at the same time.

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Have you considered moving your sink to the peninsula? This would give you a larger prep area next to the range and would move the dishwasher out of your prep area (it is currently located in your primary prep space between sink and stove, and that prep area is only 24"). It may not be possible, but is definitely worth considering.

Hope that helps! Now that you're bumped back up to the first page, hopefully you'll get more input from the other more knowledgeable folks here as well!

I'm not one of the layout talent here, so I'm also bumping hoping those who are will see this.

Personally, I would want more than 2 ' between sink and range. That would be a priority to me over having 3' allotted for a sink. Could your fridge be moved down and the sink placed on that wall?

atmoscat's changes are good....with a 24 inch dishwasher, I would place a single bowl sink and do a corner sink there. Reduce to 15 in the counter to the right of range and you will therefore grow the space between sink and range. Because this is a condo and usually single people or couples abide there, the sink can shift to corner. ...you're almost in the corner anyway. FYI-people do find the 18 in dishwasher more than adequate...if you went down 6 inches, you would gain even more for a stack of drawers or other below counter storage.

Thanks very much everyone for the feedback! Sorry for picture difficulties, I couldn't get the pictures to load otherwise for some reason!

I had 3 contractors and a kitchen/cabinet designer over yesterday. Fortunately, it seems like my budget range overlaps with ballpark figures the contractors were willing to throw out, so that's a relief! The KD agreed with the general layout and said I should have minimum of 36" from the pantry to the peninsula, but I will see about trying to make the clearance there as much as possible, like up to the ~42". I can put down some tape and stack some boxes and see what clearance would work best for me. Its already a small kitchen, so anything I can do to make it feel a little more spacious would be valuable.

Also in agreement on the lazy susan - it adds nothing and drawers would be nice, and I could put in a cookie sheet insert or something, just generally get more out of the cabinet. I will definitely do that! The KD also mentioned that instead of a kidney-shape pullout in the blind corner, I should just give up on that space and go with normal drawers as it would be a good way to get more fixed-size drawers in the kitchen (right now, the only fixed-size drawers I'd have would be those next to the oven, probably 15" wide, and ones at the top of the peninsula). So eating that dead space would add 3 or 4 drawers.

The KD also recommended a single bowl sink. I don't know, it seems so convenient to have 2 bowls, though maybe 36" cabinet isn't big enough to have a 2 bowl sink with at least one bowl big enough for pots and pans? The KD also said that reducing the sink size doesn't really give me much benefit, only a wider cabinet at the other end of the counter that will be up against a wall anyway. I will have to research if a huge one bowl sink or maybe a 70/30 two bowl sink might work.

Out of curiousity, would more than 24" between sink and oven be for more prep space? I can't fit anything bigger than about 24" in my oven, so I figured if I was doing a pizza or turkey, I could pull it out and put it right on the counter.

Unfortunately I am pretty restricted on the sink because I can't move the drain enough to put it on the other wall with my state's plumbing codes. I can easily run water line down for fridge, but the drain is the greater issue. I actually mapped out a plan with my sister very much like yours mama goose, but the building engineer said people tried in the past and it wouldn't pass inspection. I don't like the corner sink, just a personal thing, and I like having my drying rack in the corner there.

Any recommendations on where the trash can pullout should go? I'd like it to go in one of the bases.. If I were to drop down to 60" of cabinets on the peninsula, could I switch to a 30" cabinet, 12" cabinet and 18" cabinet for trash? Or maybe they'll have a 15" trash can pullout, though I doubt it. I still get a drawer above the trash cans, but would the top drawer get smelly and gross with trash underneath?

KD also recommended microwave in a center cutout of the pantry, which I'm inclined to do as it would take away a small eyesore and I personally very rarely use a microwave (though I know future owner may want a place for one).

As an aside, two of the three contractors told me they'd only work with me if I used their cabinet lines, as its where they make most of their money. One of them only used Bellmont cabinets, which I read about and was not impressed. The other had a little more selection: Marsh, Wolf, and J&K Cabinetry (Chinese made). The Marsh seem ok.. but reviews are mixed and contractor estimated $6-7k for my small kitchen. The last contractor said they are fine with whatever cabinets I choose, and, despite having carpenters that can install them, would understand if I wanted to have cabients installed by someone else. If Woodharbor comes back in my price range, I'll almost certainly go with their cabinets and the contractor that offered flexibility.

Would it be against code to run the new drain through the toekick area to the existing drain? A member who goes by mathteacher did this--I found a pic, but can't find one of her threads. Hers was around to the opposite wall, IIRC, but you'd need to run it only 6-8'? I don't recall if the cabinets were custom, but they must have been built to set down on--and overhang--the frames:

At any rate, I vote for a single bowl sink. I love mine!

ETA, I found the thread--it's spelled mathteachr. (Good thing she's not a spelling teacher ;P). Mathteachr's update.

Oh that is an interesting solution! I'll have to show that to the contractors and ask if something similar would be possible in my state. The only possible problem is that the piping would run along a common condo wall (main hallway) and another unit, so if a problem arose I'd have to know how it could get fixed. It could be an interesting way to get the sink over on the other wall.

And the more I look at it, a single bowl sink doesn't look so bad. This one, for instance, is HUGE ("30" on the insides). My 24" griddle would no longer stick up! I think the bigger sink would also allow me to hide a little more inside since I want to do a counter-height seating arrangement on the opposite side of the peninsula. I'm 50-50 on counter or bar height - went through a lot of comments and thoughts in the recent poll on this forum, but still trying to decide. KD says bar height is probably better for resale and better for entertaining, but I want more counter space (which I feel is facilitated by counter height) and don't really entertain. Probably an area where I will accept possibility it might be a turn off to some buyers down the road, but hopefully nice cabinets and countertops will draw others in :)

My island is 34"--work table height for me, and we use it for seating, more often than the dining table.

I've posted many times that I fell in love with my single bowl sink when I realized the oven shelves would lay flat in it.

In rereading mathteachr's thread, it seems she used Ikea boxes without the adjustable legs. Have you considered Ikea cabinets? There are many threads on GW, and pics of many nice Ikea kitchens (cabs and counter tops) if you need to do more research.

Everyone with the counter height seems to love it, glad to hear yours works well too. I imagine it will become my default work space if I do that too. My only concern is how I'm going to do outlets for my space. I like counter height more though.

I had considered Ikea for a little while, but when I saw them in person when a friend installed them, I decided I wanted to do something a little sturdier. Nothing against the melamine, but if I can get all wood for not a crazy amount more, I'd rather stick with wood.

Ikea cabinets have a 25 year warranty. They are extremely sturdy and they have numerous door styles. Many cabinet experts state that there is no advantage to all-wood. Door panels even on high-end cabinets are often MDF. If you don't like the door styles Ikea offers, many companies like Semi-Handmade, Scherr's, Barker, Kokono (sp?), etc., sell after-market doors to fit Ikea cabinets. You can buy the cabinets from Ikea without door/drawer fronts and use whatever you prefer from other companies instead.

Nothing against Ikea or MDF, like you say many cabinets have MDF components. My really old sink cabinet is falling apart now because the melamine coating wore off. It took a long time for that to happen, but even though I'm confident Ikea cabinets can last a long time when installed right, I like the look of plywood more. The price difference is at most a few grand for my small kitchen considering getting the cabinets and getting them on the walls; if it was a wild disparity, I might think harder about it.

I'm sorry if you provided this info upthread, I've looked for it a couple times...

Where do the two entryways go? Entry hall and dining area maybe?

Do you have a window in this room?

Hey benjesbride, I tried to draw and sort of explain what I want to do. Kitchen is currently U-shaped and half the kitchen is completely useless. So I want to add cabs to that side and also open up a path to the dining room area. The kitchen faces the interior of the building so no luck on windows. I can't run water to where I want my peninsula, and I don't want the oven on the peninsula either because I will probably make that a counter height seating counter. Hopefully the crude drawing below is legible. The appliances would move slightly, but oven, dishwasher and sink would stay against that interior wall. My original picture shows what I want to do with the appliances and new cabinets (also, not doing lazy susan on peninsula, just normal base cabinet).

With a 12" overhang and with building out the kitchen by 6-12", I'd still have 10'6" wide dining area, which my KD said is the minimum amount for comfortable dining table + space to pull out chairs.