Island vs. peninsula....
Lavender Lass
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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Layout with a small hitch
Comments (7)If you do put the pantry in that nook and the range on that garage wall, I think you could get 20" to each side of the range easily and perhaps even 22", instead of the 18" currently shown. There's no need for the counter to end almost half a foot before the garage door; you can extend it right down to just before the line indicating where the door would swing. And of course, if you can have it open into the garage, you could scoot the garage door down to the right another couple of inches and gain yourself some extra counter space that way. (I assume it's located where it is on this layout in order to make sure the door doesn't smack into the cabinet pulls or the counter edge when you open it? You could also use some sort of doorstop to protect those surfaces, if you have to have the door open inwards but still want it closer to the sink wall.) Also, you don't really need a standard 5" or 5.5"-wide wall at the top right corner of the pantry (where it zigs up to hug the cabinets/counter on the stove wall), because it's not supporting any weight and won't have any plumbing or HVAC in it, I assume. You could gain yourself a bit of space along the range wall by making that little vertical zig of pantry wall as narrow as it is possible to make it. If the contractor turns the 2x4s sideways, that wall could be as little as 3" thick, and with other materials it might be possible to get it down to 2". Likewise, you can scoot the pantry doorway a bit to the left ("left" on the layout you posted, i.e. towards the fridge wall) and gain another inch or three of counter space on the range wall that way. I don't know what that thing next to the fridge is--the one between the fridge and the pantry--so I'm just going to call it a cabinet, even though, based on the handle, that's obviously not what it is. Anyway, it looks like the pantry doorway is designed to start 2"-3" in front of that cabinet, about level with the fridge and cabinet handles, but it doesn't need to. It can start flush or almost flush with the cabinet, which would let you extend the range wall cabinets another little bit to the left while still having a standard-sized doorway on the pantry. I hope this makes sense! Anyway, the basic gist is you should be able to make that range wall base cabinets 6" or 8" wider. That would give you a more reasonable amount of space to each side of the range....See MoreLayout Help for Small U-Shaped Kitchen
Comments (25)Yes you're right, it's everyone's favorite room (guests included). Spinning my wheels again and wondering if a peninsula will be best. Do either of these layouts seem like they'd work. The program was a little glitchy and kept moving the garage door and doing something strange with corner but... 1.) Drop in range on the peninsula with a recessed vent. I know people don't like the idea of a cooking surface in island or peninsular, but being that I have one now it has never been an issue. Plus we will probably be going the induction route. 2.) Drop-in on the garage wall with range vent hood. Basically everything else is that same. For both options we'd have to go the semi-custom route especially with the garage door corner....See MoreAnother island vs peninsula post!
Comments (29)lots of great stuff here for sure. I definitely appreciate all the input and ideas. I dont think we're going to move any windows or doors for this project...too many other things we need to work on to spend money on that. I think even with an imperfect layout this will be the nicest/best kitchen my wife or I have ever had the pleasure of using/enjoying :) I love the creative idea of recessing the fridge (or even pantry) into the wall those extra few inches. Unfortunately thats not going to work in this scenario....there is plumbing in the wall behind the pantry and light switches behind the fridge (for the entryway behind it). I pitched the idea to my wife of putting the fridge where out full-height cabinet is, and having counter space all along the wall with the range (with the range more centered on that wall). I really liked that idea...I wasnt crazy about the big blocky fridge sitting in the middle of the room and right next to our main entry from the deck...but loved the idea of that counter space next to the range, especially for serving big family dinners in our dining room....but she wasnt having it...the big fridge being there was a no-go. I am on the fence about whether the fridge/end of island will be too tight or not. I had been thinking of a single door fridge and it would clear the island by a good 10" I think? Will have to measure that one out. Although we really dont have much storage in our island for dishes etc (we have a trash drawer, a microwave, and a pan drawer under the microwave facing the dishwasher...and then a 36" cabinet on the end of the island, facing the range for pots and pans and whatnot) I still like your suggestion to move the island at least those 3 inches out away from the sink/window wall...it will also visually make the range almost entirely in that 45" walkway which I think is good. I keep going back and forth between we have no storage in our kitchen and we have plenty of storage in our kitchen. When I am thinking we have plenty, I talk to myself about putting that single wall oven in the pantry cabinet....but then I see that the short single wall ovens suck for interior capacity, and think that a 30" high single oven would take up too much space....so I scratch the wall oven idea begrudgingly and then think, well if I think the pantry was big enough for a ~18" tall wall oven, and im not getting any wall oven, maybe I can make the entire pantry just 18" deep instead of 24? Open up that walkway even more (even with moving the island that way another 3". Attaching another rendering with a few tweaks....a different colored island the designer was suggesting and the counter-height cabinet bumped out to be 18" deep to accomodate our toaster oven (per my request). If I had a small, quick heating wall oven, I could probably make do with a regular toaster and go back to a 12" deep counter-height cabinet which I think looks better (and leaves a more usable 12" of counter space in front of it).......See Morekitchen layout dilemma island vs peninsula
Comments (15)Assuming the wall can be altered, have you considered putting a range on the back wall? The hood would make a nice focal point from the LR, and venting would be simple on the exterior wall. You could have a larger range (and a killer hood), but the following plan has a couple of trade-offs; the fridge and range are a step or so farther apart than the NKBA recommended max of 9', and the clean-up zone is between them. Since the DW would be so close to the corner, dishes would need to be stored beyond the open DW door, for ease of loading. With the addition of the island sink, you'd have two prep spaces, but the plan would work with only the perimeter sink. The MW is in an upper to the left of the fridge, but it could go on the corner of the island, and trash pull-out could move to the other side of the prep sink. If using the single sink version, trash could go to the left of the perimeter sink. To the right of the fridge is a pantry--reach-in or ROTS. This is a quick version, eyeballing the plan with the templates provided; all measurements need to be confirmed. NKBA guidelines New to Kitchens? Read me first. Discussions--all drawer bases...See Moreeld6161
7 years agoLisa
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agojuddgirl2
7 years agolam702
7 years ago
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