kitchen design suggestions
Getting closer to finalizing our kitchen layout, but it's evolved since the last time I posted and I want to get some feed back.
Couple of non-negotiables:
Dishwasher and sink stay where they are (floor is a concrete slab and don't want the added expense of moving plumbing)
Microwave stays above stove
Torn between installing echelon, timberlake, or ikea cabinetry with custom doors and drawers. Desperately wish Ikea would just make a WHITE shaker cabinet door because my life would be so much easier, but alas... Our need for white adds a minimum of an extra 3k to our cabinet total, but I just can't get with Ikea's off white color, or their ultramodern true white doors.
The island is going to be walnut butchers block from lumber liquidators more than likely, but haven't completely ruled out ikea's oak or beech stained. For the main counters, I've gone from wanting quartz, to wanting soapstone, to now considering honed granite. Love the idea of soapstone, just not sure if we need two finicky counter surfaces, and slightly put off by the price quotes I'm getting (more than 1k more than quartz).
There will be an overhang at the island for seating and a slight overhang on the penisula, maybe 6 inches? The purpose of this is to buy some extra counter space and potentially make a coffee bar area on the back corner of the counters, accessible from the dining nook.
This is going to be our forever house, so really would like to get this right on our first try, but our budget is limited, so have to pick and choose my battles. All suggestions (other than dont renovate) are welcome :)
Starting in the upper left corner, moving counterclockwise, the openings are as follows: large window, patio door out onto porch, opening into dining room (will actually go all the way to the wall), bathroom door, opening to living room/family room
Comments (13)
hatethecold_gw
8 years ago
sheloveslayouts
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Kitchen Layout design suggestions needed
Comments (8)I think you want more "elbow room" around laundry than is provided by merely positioning the stack there. At minimum move fridge down or elsewhere,and fit the closet adjacent with shelves/ racks/cubbys or cubicles to stash/fold piles of clothes.I would absolutley need more space and I've had laundry in the kitchen....it becomes a zone when in use....it's not impossible and you have space in the kitchen....perhaps pantry-type closet/room to segregate....bifold doors?Devoting that pantry closet would work....but then you might want a different pantry for food /kitchen use....See MoreMy kitchen designer is suggesting Breeze cabinet boxes, by Woodharbor.
Comments (3)“Everybody” are ignorant people who suffer from wood prejudice. Good furniture board beats bad plywood any day. Any moisture that would damage furniture boards would delaminate plywood internally. It just would not be as visible, which is why the ignorant wood snobs think it’s better. But delaminated plywood had no strength....See MoreKitchen design suggestions
Comments (3)First, is the second overall picture what the reconfiguration of the rooms will look like as opposed to the first overall picture in your original post? Yes. Kitchen comments/questions: You said you were merging the two designs…what about the pantry/pantries? Which one are you using? It looks like open shelves to the left of the refrigerator in the first layout and it looks like a row of pantry cabinets in the elevation image in your second post. Which is correct? We are moving the pantry to the wall across the kitchen and borrowing from the back of the master closet for the space. It will begin where the angled part of the closet begins and will be built out to be rectangular. The extra pantry cabinets will be used for small appliances. It looks like your counters are two different heights. That's OK and even encouraged if you plan a Baking Zone, but if you move the range to center it on the island, how much space will you have to the left at the same. Is that what we see in the second elevation? If so, then there looks like you have plenty of room. Yes, where it is on the second elevation is where it will be. There will be space on both sides that are standard counter height. How wide is the aisle ...All isles are 5 feet wide. We have a child in a wheelchair and would like to have this work for him if he doesn't ever get strong enough to walk. The exception is the distance between the sink counter and the pantry, which will be four feet but is more a small pinch point transition than an isle. Is there seating along the back of the island? It looks like the answer is no, but I wanted to check. There is not going to be seating on the back of the island, there will be a rounded out overhang of 18" that is counterheight on the back of the peninsula that will be for seating. The dining room is across from the island as well. Is there one DW? Or are there two? If two, do you really need two? My husband would argue that no, we don't need two, but it is on my wishllist since ease of clean up is a priority for me and we often have more dishes in one day than can fit in one. If there is only one, I would put the DW to the right of the DW. (See next comment) I would change the island cabinet configuration to include a wide drawer (36"?) base that faces the sink and DW for dish storage. That way, you could have the DW to the right of the sink so (1) it doesn't get in the way of someone trying to prep and cook and (2) make it easier to get to the upper cabinets when the DW is open (or DWs). Excellent idea. Are you voiding out the corner next to the sink? If so, consider putting in a 27" cabinet turned 90 degrees so it faces the Great Room for additional storage. the 27" width will provide self-filler on the Kitchen side without wasting space. It is a 36" blind cabinet with half moon pullouts. I assume you have at least 3" of filler on each side of the corner on the Kitchen side to allow doors/drawers and the DW to open fully without interfering with each other. Not sure, I have to ask the designer, but good point. Did you consider a prep sink (not bar or main sink) in the island? It would give you a better Prep Zone if there is a DW to the left of the sink. (You should strive to keep the DW out of the Prep Zone – the space where you have decent counter space next to a water source and next to or across from the Cooking Zone and range). It also gives you two nice Prep Zones if there will be more than one of you working in the Kitchen at the same time regardless of the # of DWs you have. There are often two of us in the kitchen, but that extra plumbing would be crazy expensive since we have a concrete slab floor under the tile and a trench would have to be made. Already I'm moving the main sink 3' away from it's current place. Where is the MW going to be? Will it be under the counter? If so, what type of MW -- a drawer? Standard counter top MWs installed under the counter are difficult to use b/c you have to squat or lean very far over to put food in, use the controls, take food out (unless you reach blindly in when there is hot food in the MW -- not recommended!) If you rarely use the MW, then it might be only a rare inconvenience, but if you use it a lot, it could become a major headache! I also hope the MW is not an Over the Range MW -- they are also an issue! (Both safety and usability) Yeah, we don't really use it too often but it is above the range. It would be really helpful if we had a fully measured layout of the space -- the widths of each wall/window/door/doorway and the distances between eachwall/window/door/doorway. If you look really closely at my sketch on the full house floorplan, tiny measurements are running along the top, bottom and center of the room....See MoreHelp! Any kitchen/design suggestions?
Comments (12)Sorry for your home Sarah. This is a long and diffcult process, I know because we just rebuilt our entire first floor due to water and mold damage. Between trying to find a contractor that would do quality work and not ripe us off and getting the insurance to pay, it was quite a trial in patience. My heart is with you! I did put in the wood look tile floors for our whole first floor (kitchen, great room, master and laundry) and I LOVE IT! Really love the paint colors and back splash choices you have made. I think a simpler white counter will get you closer to your inspiration photo. Because you have lots of counter down both sides of your kitchen the pattern can get very busy. Keeping the counters light and simple will solve this and give your kitchen a clean elegant feel. Here is my finished Kitchen: Sorry you can't see more of the floor....See MoreCaraline Neus
8 years agoherbflavor
8 years ago
cpartist
8 years agoBuehl
8 years agoBuehl
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoBuehl
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agosheloveslayouts
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoHere's another layout for your consideration.
A small island and a breakfast table in addition to a nice sized dining table seems unnecessary to me so I eliminated the small island and expanded the peninsula so it would seat three comfortably; parties of four or more might be more likely to sit in the dining room. Also, the peninsula should provide a nice vantage point into family room as well as toward the front door.
I Put the fridge and a 21" set of cabinets (for a fridge landing zone and possible dish storage) on the powder room wall so you can scoot the range farther away from the sink and increase the width of your primary prep space. The five foot wall area across from the powder room is treated as pantry with microwave. it might be more budget friendly to frame in a closet type of pantry across from the powder room rather than buy Ikea High
Cabinets.
Caraline Neus thanked sheloveslayoutsCaraline Neus
8 years agoYou guys have given me a lot to think about. I actually posted this over in garden web as well, and per some suggestions I got over there, I did this
Removing the end cabinets on the right bought me some additional counterspace to the left of the range. I also realized that I didn't have a large enough sink base in to fit the type of sink I wanted, so I widened that and moved the drawers over, so that the peninsula isnt protruding out into the walkway more.
We went to Ikea last night and saw a Grimslov display we hadn't seen previously. They appeared pretty white, so we're considering going in that direction, which would save some money.
The whole thought behind the microhood was primarily that it saves money, as I wont have to buy a microwave and a seperate hood fan. I'm not concerned about the ventilation aspect, as it will be 100x better than what I've made due with all of my adult life which is a crappy fan in a rental that doesnt vent outside. But, I have had concerns about taking hot items out of the microwave that high up, so maybe I will move it and spring for one of Ikeas cheap hood fans.
benjesbride, thanks for pulling that over for me! And thanks for coming up with an alternative. Definitely going to play around with implementing some of your suggestions. My biggest concerns are losing the 4 person seating (our dining room table is going to be pretty big, and seating only 4 there will be strange), the unused space in the breakfast nook if we remove the table altogether, the increased cost of high end stone counter tops on the perimeter, and the loss of my beautiful wood top on the island.
Also, i dont know if you can tell from the floor plan you posted, but that little opening between the powder room and the stairwell is our pocket basement door. Do you think we need to be concerned about butting the fridge up to it, in terms of traffic flow? Not that people will regularly be coming out of the basement (its unfinished and never will be finished) but that it might be awkward when we do have to use the basement?
sheloveslayouts
8 years agoA couple quick notes...
8'6" is too narrow for a comfortable dining area. A minimum for dining (using the NKBA guidelines) is 9' across: 36" to slide behind a seated diner+36"table+36" to slide behind seated diner.
Also, 6" overhangs are not sufficient for counter height seating. 15" overhangs are recommended. Gardenwebbers have done 12" knowing that it's for children and not adults. Six inches will take away from valuable clear floor space and will not be comfortable to sit at; the stools will barely tuck under--keep in mind how much space the stools take up.
For four person casual dining I'd put a table near the fireplace. It can double as a game table and break that long family room sunroom up into zones.
Looking at your overall budget, it makes no sense to me that you wouldn't consider moving the sink plumbing to save money, but you'd invest in high end stone. In my opinion, a good layout is priority number one. You can always do butcher block with the option to swap it out in the future. You can't change the layout so easily.
I don't think the doorway to the basement is an issue. It looks like you'll have at least six feet between the fridge and the dishwasher to walk around.
It's a bit awkward to basically have the powder room in the kitchen proper. To make it more secluded, I'd reconsider that framed in pantry on the wall across from the powder. You might even add cased openings on each end of the hallway created for more seclusion; it looks like you might have walls on either side already.
Caraline Neus
7 years ago
sheloveslayouts