I agree with SJ on all counts.

The appliance garage is taking up some pretty prime real estate. Presumably the coffee maker will get a lot of use, so it might as well sit on the counter and take up less space.

I really don't like the layout of the upper cabinets by the range. Either the three doors should be equal width (like your inspiration), or go with just two door. I can tell you from experience that 12" uppers are a pain in the neck. Even 15" is much better.

Same with the lowers by the range. 12" drawers are next to useless, 27" drawers are nice, 39" drawers are glorious. You can always add dividers to separate space within a big drawer.

It might just be the rendering, but the cabinets above the fridge and range both look like they flip up. Are you tall enough to do that? Those are both wonderful storage spaces, if used correctly. Many people put in vertical dividers, and use the space above the fridge for trays, cookie sheets, cake pans.

I'm 5'8" and my husband is 6'2" -- I *think* we're tall enough for flip-ups. Our old house had regular doors up there, which I could open without a stool...but I couldn't really get anything out of there without a stool. I figured if I have to get out a stool no matter what, the flip-ups have a cleaner more modern look. Still open to critique on this element, just wanted to explain how we got where we are! :)

Hi,

I like the plan! I really like your inspiration picture, so I would modify the plan just a bit....so it's more like that picture. The hood should be a bit larger than the range and two uppers on each side might be a better fit than three.

If you can move the microwave to the island, that might be good....if the kids will not be getting into it. Or maybe in the pantry for now....and then the island as they get older?

Since you're going to see this wall of the kitchen from the rest of the house....I'd want the added ventilation and the more balanced look. Just my two cents :)

I like what LL did.

I would also drop the garage with the limited work space you have. To add to it I prefer deeper than 24" counter space on that run. 28"-30" will be very useful and help with the placement of your frig. You will find that space your most valuable. You don't increase the depth of the uppers. Swap the stove for a slide-in. Check the Appliance forum for induction for a very high performance and child safe option. Bosch Benchmark is worth a look. Micro over the stove will be at a lower design level than the rest of your plan. I also would suggest a deep single bowl sink.

I agree with everything everybody has said. Especially concerning the OTR micro vs. hood. And the appliance garage. Here's a poor job of doctoring your inspiration pic to show what it would look like with both. While a narrower appliance garage than I made it might be OK, the micro definitely detracts. Please consider a drawer micro or putting it in the pantry. And consider the induction cooktop. Many former glass lovers would never go back to gas per posts here.

OK! Just discussed all the ideas with my husband. Here's where we're at...

1) We're sticking with a mix of drawers and roll outs. The advantage of roll-outs is they are height-adjustable within the cabinet, and it'll be nice to have some of those for storing awkward stuff.

2) Considering a drawer microwave and a vent hood over the range.

3) Dropping the appliance garage.

4) Will quadruple check that fridge depth and make sure we choose a base cabinet depth that makes the fridge look like it "fits."

5. 100% agree w/ making the upper cab doors all the same size, one way or the other.

5) The range is a slide-in, not a free-standing (the rendering just doesn't reflect that very well).

6) The sink we've chosen is a deep single-bowl composite granite sink.

Anything else to spring on him tomorrow night? :)

I'll quibble with you over #1. While it takes more planning to get the drawers the right sizes for your needs, they are universally loved here. You might do a search for some of the discussion about them. Awkward stuff stores extremely well in drawers and you can get more things in drawers than you can in roll-outs. You do need to plan ahead. Figure out what you want to store in which drawers. Measure the tallest item, and get the drawers sized to fit.

Everything else sounds great!

If you use vertical storage dividers above your refrigerator, you won't need a step stool to get things out. I am 5'7" and I can easily reach my cookie sheets, cooling racks, cutting boards, etc.

This old thread has some pictures.

And drawers are good. Very, very good. Mine hold my blender, crockpot, rice maker, stand mixer, etc.. I have a couple of very deep drawers and others of varying sizes. Just one step to open a drawer instead of two for roll out shelves.

Microwave definitely needs to be moved. Makes using the back burners on the stove very awkward. Appliance cabinet taking up too much prime space. Looks crammed in and bulky. Uppers should have equal balance in this situation. They make counter depth refrigerators. Good luck. It will turn out great.

I'm not an expert on kitchen design like the rest of the people who comment here but I just went through a new build with similar criteria (one cook kitchen, wanted an appliance garage, etc). I can't tell from your drawings but how high are your ceilings? Can you add cabinets above for some additional storage? Also is there any room to add a tall cabinet on the left to balance out the refrigerator on the right and put your appliance garage there...maybe if you steal a bit from the pantry and use the new tall cabinet as a pantry cabinet? The standard layout for our new house was very much like the one you've posted but we worried we wouldn't have enough storage space. Here's what we did with our similar layout (please excuse the cabinet that is still missing over the refrigerator...it came in damaged and is on reorder). However, we had the space to move the refrigerator to a different wall so we could have a full depth refrigerator and more cabinet space on the the back wall. It doesn't look like you have that space.

#4 you can use a standard base cabinet on the frig run. Just space it out where you need it and put a deeper counter over it with a cleat along the wall. You'll have counter space behind the slide-in to the backsplash. More valuable usable space for a higher end look. The Bosch Benchmark induction would fit.

Still reviewing responses, but I want to share that I *do* think it's possible to have a lovely kitchen without hiding away the microwave. Here's an idea book with some examples:

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/61399513/thumbs/visible-microwaves

Could you extend the base cabinets on the range wall? If so, then you could put your keurig on the left end.

I played around with moving your micro to the left of the range and "erased" the appliance garage, too. Keep in mind most built in microwaves are not flush with regular 12" upper cabinets.

Help me understand why mounting the microwave a few feet over is preferable to its current location?

Not a super regular poster on here, so maybe others can confirm this isn't a problem: But I'd be concerned about having a fridge abutting a pantry wall like that. Fridges need a lot more room than just a "filler" strip to fully open. My mom installed hers against a pantry like that, and can't get out the crisper drawer on that side to clean it because the door doesn't sufficiently open. Or course, assuming you get a fridge as shown in the pic, you could have the door swing the other way and it wouldn't be a problem. But that's an annoying direction for the swing (both from a right handed perspective and from the perspective that it would swing in the direction of other people in kitchen). My fridge preference is French door with drawer below - which would probably be a disaster in your plan.

Also, while I have your eyes...which color variation looks better?

(We've chosen slate gray appliances--husband loves the look and I love that they don't show fingerprints.)

H202 -- I had the same concern. We're getting a french-door + freezer-drawer fridge. I'm hoping to adjust/angle the pantry wall there. It's on my list of things to discuss at tomorrow's meeting.

90%+ of otr micros are not properly vented to the outside and 100% do not have the correct blower capacity. So when you see a lower end design it often has the micro in that spot.

Have you picked our a refrigerator yet? Some require less space than others for fully-opening doors and drawer removal. This is a picture of the fridge in my previous home. You can see there is a not-very-wide filler to the right, and the wall next to it does extend past the fridge (so if you were facing that partial wall you wouldn't see the fridge at all). We had no problem removing the drawers for cleaning. The fridge is a KA French door.

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this above, but I would want a little more prep space to the left of the sink and a little less clean up zone space to the right. I can't tell how many inches you have there but it seems that you would want at least 36" for prep. I'd probably swap the drawers to the right of the DW to the other side of the sink.

As for the OTR - you have less space under it (I always feel like the space above the stove is quite cramped with them - usually a hood will be a little higher up) and they often don't vent well. It also just seems awkward to me using it over a stove in use. That being said when you have a smaller space to work with it may make sense as long as you know the downsides (there are lots of threads on this if you search).

I know you are good with the roll-outs, but I have a photo that might cause you to take one more look at that:

This is the backside of a retrofitted rollout from our old kitchen. Clearly, this is worse that what a new one would look like, but you can see that rollouts, especially in face frame cabinets, waste a lot of space. Generally speaking, you get a better use of space with drawers. Just think if you had drawers in at least one of the spots next to your stove. You could reach over and open the drawer, pull out the wanted pot, and slide it shut again vs. move in front of the doors, open them, stoop down and pull out the tray, remove the pot, slide in the tray, close the doors, move back to the stove. Simple is better.

One thing a 12" drawer is good for is as a bread drawer. Bread, muffins, rolls are all easily accessible in a 12" drawer. I also used one for dish towels and pot holders. They are of limited use in general, but those things work. (Not this kitchen. This kitchen has 18" drawers to the left of the stove.)

OTR MW: I absolutely agree that not OTR is better, yet that is where mine is again. It's a space thing. Also, DH has neck mobility issues and a microwave drawer seemed like it would be hard for him to see the controls. A work in progress:

While I don't like the look of OTR microwaves, the appearance isn't the main concern. They simply don't vent as well and they are noisier. Since they are noisy, you will tend to not want to use it. Which means you won't benefit from what a good, well-vented, quiet hood can do for you which is remove GOSS from your home. GOSS is grease, odors, steam and smoke. If you don't use a good hood regularly to vent this particles to the outside, they float through the air and land on your cabinets, furniture, floors, windows, window coverings, decor items, contributing to increased grime in your home which means you clean more often and you have more odor in your home.

There are many threads here and elsewhere on the web where people put in a good hood, use it correctly, and are amazed at how much cleaner their home stays and how much fresher it smells.

And, yeah, they don't look very good either. And I did check out your link with photos. Not convinced. Personally, I would go without a microwave if the only place I could put one is over my cooktop. But you have space, especially because of your nice big pantry, for other viable options.

Imagine this...about 5 minutes prior to cooking you put your fan on low. Your quiet, well-ventilated hood barely makes any noise. You have to stop and listen to check it's really on. Air currents start circulating which takes the air and anything floating in the air outside. Now you cook and everything keeps going up. You and DH are watching a TV show and you can hear the show and talk with him during commercials and it's a pleasant cooking experience. You let the fan stay on for about 10 minutes afterwards to continue sucking up most of what may not have been immediately sucked out of your kitchen and almost forget to turn the fan off because you barely notice it's on. You dust less, have to have furniture professionally cleaned less, and your windows stay clean so much longer than they used to. You save a lot of time not cleaning so often and, because of that, you can enjoy the rest of the movie you were watching while cooking without feeling guilty that you're not cleaning those filthy windows.

Now imagine this...you don't turn the fan on until grease, smoke and steam are floating through the kitchen. You don't want to turn it on because you have your eye on a movie while cooking and you don't want to miss what's being said. Finally, the GOSS wafting through the air gets to be too much and you turn it on annoyed because you're missing the movie. So is DH who yells at you to turn the fan off because he can't hear the movie either. You turn off the fan and ask him what he said because you couldn't hear him due to the fan blowing. You keep the fan off. Later that night, you wish the weather was warm enough to keep the windows open for awhile to air out the house because of the lingering odor of dinner. And note how dirty the couch and curtains are and make a note to yourself to call the cleaners. And feel guilty that you're watching the rest of the movie because you really should wash the grime off the windows.

OK, that may sound like a bit of hyperbole but if you get a good, low sone hood and use it properly, you will see that it's really not all that much of an exaggeration.

No that could be a reality show. Pure truth.

Well...a couple of thoughts b/f discussing your layout.

You have two children, and possibly more. You're telling us what you do NOW. Things will change drastically when the children get older. I assume you will be teaching them all (boys & girls) basic life skills like cooking and cleaning up. There will come a time - sooner than you realize, probably within 4 or 5 years (maybe less) - when there will be multiple cooks at one time as well as cleaning up being done by someone other than the cook.

You need to think/plan ahead - don't just plan for today, plan for the future as well! The last thing you want to have to do is another remodel b/c the Kitchen is too difficult to work in with a family. This is more of an empty nester who does not entertain much Kitchen (i.e., no future children).

+++++

OK, now the layout critique:

Island seating...

• Be sure you have the minimum of 15" of clear leg/knee space for the seating overhang on both sides. Since your DH is tall and there's a good chance your children will be taller (my DH is 6'5" and my DS is 6'7" - I think he's finally stopped growing!), 15" will probably be too shallow - it is in our house. I wish I had done 18". 15" is too shallow for my DH and DS. I'm 5'10" and my DD is 6' - and it's just barely deep enough for us. I recommend 18" on one of the sides.

• At the corner, you can only have one seat - two people cannot share the same knee/leg space. So, you will need at least 15" b/w the counter edge and the first seat on one side. You may be OK, the layout is not clear. But keep in mind that each seat needs 24" of linear space as well as the 15" (or 18") of overhang. Since you have a cabinet on one side, you will need to add another 6" or so of linear space for that first seat to have enough room to maneuver into a seat since you can't slide into it from the cabinet side. This means for two seats, you will need at least 6" + 24" + 24" = 54" when there's a cabinet (or leg or wall) next to a seat. It looks like both sides will have that issue. Another 15" or 18" will be needed on whichever side is going to provide the overhang for the corner seat.

• I would move the DW down so it's the first item on the island. Then the sink, an 18" trash pullout, and whatever will fit. You need more space on the Prep Zone side of the sink (the opposite side from the DW) - preferably at least 42". You also don't want the DW to open into the same general area as the range.

Other...

• The refrigerator cannot be against the wall like that. You need at least a 9" cabinet b/w the wall and refrigerator (if the wall were even deeper, it would have to be a 12" cabinet, but you should be fine with a 9"). Make it a 9" tall pantry or utility cabinet.

• OTR MW...not the safest location, especially as your children get old enough to use it by themselves and b/c you appear to have a gas range. We've had several people relate how they or a friend/family member have set a sweater or shirt on fire reaching over a gas range to use an OTR MW. Plus, you're removing items from the MW above your shoulders, which means any tilting of the dish as it comes out of the MW will splash on your face instead of your body where you might have clothing on to offer some protection. It's also more difficult to take things out when you have to reach up than reaching/lifting up or out from around waist high. I strongly recommend a MW drawer - it's usable by short and tall people alike b/c the controls are angled up so there's no bending over to use them. Like most appliances these days, they have easy child-locks while your children are too young to use it.

• Range Hood...get a true range hood if you want it to be effective. OTR MWs ar notoriously poor at venting and often cannot be vented outside. They don't cover the entire cooking surface, so they don't work well if you use the front burners or even the back ones if they're too far off to the side. The capture area should cove the entire width of your cooking surface plus, preferably 6". So, with a 30" range, you should have a 36"W x 24"D range hood that is vented to the outside. Oh, and not only are them more effective, but they're also quieter (unless you go with a cheap builder-grade one)!

• Appliance garage...you don't have enough room on the range wall for an appliance garage. You need workspace on both sides and you don't have much, if any, on the appliance garage side - especially as that's the side that does not have the DW opening up into the aisle.

• This is a personal preference, but I would not want my dirty dishes taking center stage on an island. When a Cleanup Zone is on an island, the dirty dishes are front & center and, often in the faces of anyone sitting at the island. It's better than having your Cooking Zone on the island, but if you can arrange it, it would be better to have the island only your Prep Zone with a prep sink, your Cooking Zone along the wall behind the Prep Zone, and the Cleanup Zone elsewhere, also on a wall. If it's not possible, then get a really deep sink! (Although, if it's the only sink you won't be able to stash dirty dishes in it b/c you'll need it for prepping...)

More thoughts on the microwave. How much is it used? It would bother me immensely to have others in my face using the MW while I'm cooking at the range. Mine is in constant use while I'm cooking. Additionally, it's not a great decision if you are doing a gas cooktop. It will get very hot and not vent appropriately. I have an under cabinet MW that fits beautifully under a 12" depth cabinet. It's out of the cooking area and accessible to all without interfering with the cook.

I'm the poster child for not wanting 12" wide cabinets (or drawers). I have three upper 12"-ers here, and they are useless!!! I keep mugs in one which is okay since I'm never needing a specific mug. Another has coffee/tea, and it's a pain to find what I'm looking for. The third used to contain all my spices, but now I have wall spice racks, and just the oversized spices remain. Useless! (There's only one normal sized upper in this place!!) My build will be Different!

MW - ditto what a lot of folks have been saying. I'd put it in the pantry and get a real range vent. (Although, funkycamper, if that much TV was going on in my house, I'd maybe want a noisy vent to drown it out!! -- ;) )

It does sound like kids may be joining you in the kitchen in a few years -- you'll want some ways you don't end up stepping all over each other.

beuhl, please elaborate on why the refrigerator cannot be placed as drawn by the OP. Just curious.

Diane

Powermuffin - the issue in my experience is that, in order to full access drawers and pull outs in the fridge, you need 180' access to open the door on either side. Even if a fridge says it has clearance, i'd want to see it in practice before committing to that fridge in that location.

Also - it's just an issue of annoyance. We have a counter depth french door style (with drawer below), and a pantry cabinet to the right with finger pull hardware on the left edge of the cabinet. When the fridge was fully pushed back (i.e. where we wanted it), and you opened the right side fridge door, the door swing was impeded by the one-inch finger pull (!). We had to pull the fridge out a couple inches into the room to avoid the problem. We used to rent a place where the fridge was in a corner where the right door opened into the counter immediately to the right. It drove us bonkers. Slamming against the counter every time you opened it, making a loud jar clanging noise.

I know, Artemis. I would have no TV at all if it wasn't for DH needing his sports. Thankfully, it's far enough away from the kitchen where that scenario wouldn't happen in my house. :)

But imagine it happening when the kids come home from school and want to tell you something but you either don't hear them so they just stop talking and you don't even realize you missed an important share or you turn it off to listen to them and the GOSS merrily lands on everything you own. It's equally as annoying and gross in any scenario.

THANK YOU all for your valuable input!! I so appreciate the fresh eyes and varied opinions! I'm applying lots of the suggested edits. :)