I agree. I sized my island according to my stone slab size, but didn't worry about any other area.

Share your whole layout?

I understand you completely.

My perimeter is ~23feet and I hate my 2 seams (no where near the sink nor 2 DWs), and the installer did a pretty bad job w/ the Marble seam and ?grout color.

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Suggestion: move the DW to the Left of the sink.

The space between the sink and range is my ideal prep/cook space.

I would hate to have the DW door opening/closing while I'm trying to cook, especially when there's a perfectly good spot for the DW (out of the prep/cook zone).

Amanda

Thanks Joseph and sherri. I'm relieved that I won't have to change my cabinets for the sake of the seam. Phew... I'd much rather have my cabinets arranged for the best workflow over working around trying to get the perfect seam. I won't have an island in this kitchen. Just a foot or so too narrow for one, unfortunately. I'll post my layout in my reply to Amanda below.

Hi Amanda! Oh gosh, it looks like my seam won't land anywhere near the sink. I hope my one seam won't be too bad. Here's a picture of the entire layout:

I did originally have the DW to the left of the sink like you see here. I much preferred having it away from my prep zone. Then recently, I reluctantly moved it to the right of the sink because having it on the left would have meant having a not very useful 8" filler or narrow pull out beside the DW. I'm giving myself a generous 5' length of prep space so I'm hoping that the DW won't get in my way very often.

In my current kitchen, I have it smack dab in the middle of my peninsula prep space and I've been able to work around it no problem so I think it should be OK. ;)

Oh no! Don't make me go all Funkycamper on you! :-)

She's been busy lately, so I may have to go on a rant about that dw in the prep zone in her absence. (Btw, if you didn't know, she is the self proclaimed DW nazi)

Why don't you just put the 8" cabinet against the wall (perfect for sheet trays, cutting boards), then the DW, then the sink?

Is 19 the fridge? What's 20, a pantry cabinet? If so, I'd put both full-height items next to each other rather than bookending your counter space in the middle.

I'd also switch your sink & range. Think about bringing dirty dishes from the table - you have to walk all the way through your kitchen w/ those dishes to the sink/DW. If the sink/DW is closer to the kitchen, you have less far to walk.

LOL rebunky!! It was because of funkycamper's very strong advice that I first moved the DW to the left. She is going to be quite bothered when she sees I've gone and moved it back!

I really hated having a skinny 8" storage space. I already have 6" of wasted open storage at the other end (because of the radiator) that I plan to use for cutting boards and baking sheets so it really bothered me to lose another 8" that I don't really have a use for. But now you've got me questioning the DW placement again! Ahh!! I'll mull it over this weekend and see what works best for me.

Carrie: yes 19 is the fridge and 20 is a tall pantry with my microwave in it at counter height. I don't have the photo on my phone right now to show the layout on that wall. I bookended that counter so that the fridge and microwave would have a landing space. I also don't want a pantry right beside the fridge because that's how I have it in my current kitchen, and when the fridge heats up the items in my pantry. But if there's a good reason to put them side by side I'm willing to consider it!

I also totally agree that switching the sink and range would be ideal. But I have a window above the sink which is not ideal to have above the range. If you can think of a way to make that placement work I'm all ears!

It seems like you're getting custom sizes.

So I would move the DW to the left of the sink, and either:

A. UN-center the sink just centering the FAUCET to the window,

B. make the sink base 44" and put in a fabulously large 22" pull-out trash under the sink.

I would not like to buy your house after you, if I knew that you had the option to move the DW to the left, out of my main prep/cook zone.

I don't like people near me when I cook, so I designed a sink/prep/cooktop area just for me in my kitchen. No on near me w/ the trash or DW or fridge.

huango: OK now I'm definitely reconsidering the DW location!! ARGH! I do like your option B - claiming that 8" for the sink cab and doing a large trash pull out. Hmm...

OK... before I move it back to the left, one last issue with having the DW to the left of the sink: my designer noted that one of her clients has hers next to a wall like mine would be. She says that client really regrets putting the DW there because she can only access it on one side. I can see how this might be inconvenient but is it really that much of a problem only having access on one side?

I have to question the suggestion to move the DW. In this case, it may mean that the silverware drawers would end up in the prep space. I had that in my former kitchen and it was horrible. When prepping, I blocked the drawers a and so anyone trying to set the table could not get to the silverware unless I moved. I would rather have the DW there - and I could make sure it was empty before I started prepping.

Yeah, seriously, you will be SO much happier with the dishwasher on the left. That whole thing we were talking about last week where you could stack your pile of dirty dishes to the left where they will be out of the way of your prepping just doesn't work as well if the dishwasher is not also on the left.

I have that issue now -- the dishwasher in our condo is under the prep counter, so dishes accumulate on my prep counter with nowhere to stack them that is out of the way/handy for cleaning, AND I have to entirely move myself out of my own way in order to open the dishwasher and grab things or load them in order to get out of my way. I was just fighting with that last night -- my kitchen just flatly doesn't flow, and ugh. Don't do that to yourself!

You may hate losing the 8 inches of storage, but as I said last week, what you are really gaining is 8" of dirty dish stacking space in addition to the 24" above the dishwasher, all of which will provide you ample room to stack dirty dishes out of your way when you prep in a place that puts them in the ideal spot for loading them into the dishwasher. It is a system that works extremely well, I promise. So those 8" definitely aren't lost or pointless.

I know you're really focused on the cabinets and storage now, so it seems like a big problem, but when you are actually in the kitchen and using it, having your movements while cooking not be so constrained and awkward as mine are in my kitchen will seem like a much, much bigger deal.

Having a random extra 8" storage cabinet will not interfere with your use of the kitchen at all. A poorly-placed dishwasher DEFINITELY will.

Ha ha... this thread has REALLY gone off topic! But I'm glad it did!

Jillius, thank you so much for keeping my head straight and reminding me of all the careful thought that went into placing the DW to the left of the sink. I didn't even think through how moving it to the right would totally disrupt that really efficient work flow of having that landing area for the dirty dishes.

And you're so right - having a random 8" there will not bother me but having having the workflow disrupted WILL.

Have you already made a list of everything that you need to store? Perhaps if you post it, we can make a suggestion for which among your items would be be well-suited to being stored in a 8" cabinet or an 8" pull-out to the left of the dishwasher. There are a lot of different styles of pull-outs, and you might be surprised by what you could manage to store there.

For me, my immediate thought would be to have a pull-out for plastic bags accumulating before my husband takes them to the grocery store to get recycled. We have a pull-out with a bin for trash and a bin for general recycling, but I forgot about the %#&*)! plastic bags, and now they live in my hallway.

P.S. Does your friend who does not like not being able to access both sides of the dishwasher have storage spots on both sides of the dishwasher? I can access only one side of my dishwasher, but I have no need to access the other side because there's no storage on the other side. I've never minded it or given it any thought. In your kitchen, all your storage is across or to the right of the dishwasher. I can't imagine a situation where you'd need to approach it from the left.

Hi Jillius. Nope, haven't made a complete list of what I need to store yet. But I am SO CLOSE to getting to that step! I hope to have that completed by this weekend. I will definitely post it to get ideas, especially for that 8" pull out.

When I first started thinking about that 8" pull out, I also had it pegged for storing plastic bags for recycling! Either that or for storing my skinny cleaning supplies (extra sponges, spray bottles, rubber gloves, etc).

That person with the DW next to the wall is my designer's client. I know that their DW will be just like mine - there will be a wall right next to one side of it so storage is only on one side. I agree - in my kitchen I will have no need to approach it from the left. So it's settled! Access from one side is not an issue I need to worry about.

I also have an 8" pullout beside the sink. It is for hanging towels, storing cleaning supplies, etc. I put a 24" trash / recycling unit under the sink. Kitchen isn't finished yet, but I hope it will work!!

Oh I'm so glad you are reconsidering the dw back to the left. Yes Funky would have had a fit is she already had the "talk" with you. Haha!

I was thinking similar to Amanda with making the sink cabinet larger for the trash pullout. Would something like this work?

I really can't imagine why it would be a problem by the wall. I do most of my unloading from the front and one side - you will always be unloading on the side closest to where you are putting things away anyway, which definitely isn't the wall! There is obviously no need to add to the DW rants above (agree here!), but having a 6" and an 8" spot for pans and cutting boards seems pretty useful to me. I need much more than 6" for these items.

Thanks lharpie! I think it's a no-brainer. The DW is moving back to the right of the sink! I'll post a new thread to get ideas for dealing with that 8" space.