OT....my short stories are on Kindle Unlimited : ) X-posted
Lavender Lass
7 years ago
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7'x33" kitchen island?
Comments (36)As others have mentioned, 15" of clear leg/knee space is the minimum recommended seating overhang for counter-height seating. That means 15" after you account for finished end panels on the back of the cabinets. If you have standard depth cabinets on ones side of the island plus seating, then the minimum depth of the island is 40.5" for semi-comfortable seating. Here's the math: 1.5" counter overhang + 24" deep cabinets + 1" thick finished end panel + 15" overhang = 40.5" If you do not install finished end panels on the back of the island cabinets, then you save about 1", so a 39.5" deep island would work - with the appropriate aisle behind the seats (more on that later). If this is the only seating in the house, then I would discourage island seating as this type of seating is not the most comfortable for meals, is not conducive to personal interaction (especially if seating is like "ducks in a row"), and will definitely be a major detriment to resale (if resale is a consideration...) In your case, you appear to have a DR. So, is it a fair assumption that the island is only going to be used for snacks, the occasional quick meal, and for visitors while you work? Of note is that for a kitchen to have cabinets and/or appliances on both walls + an island with seating, the kitchen needs to be at least 187" (15'7") wide. More math! 25.5" perimeter cabs/counters + 42" aisle + 40.5" island + 54" aisle + 25.5" cabs/counters = 187.5" (15'7.5") If you have an appliance like a refrigerator on one side, add another 6" if it's not a true built-in refrigerator; if it is, add another 2" to 3". You have a 13' wide kitchen...at least 2'7" too narrow for what you want. Reducing the 42" aisle width to 39" will gain you 3", but if you have a DW on that aisle, even 39" could be problematical - unless you're OK with no one being able to pass by when the DW is open. Reducing the 54" aisle will really only work (1) if there's no path through the kitchen on that aisle and (2) if there are no work counters or appliances behind the seats (e.g., pantry cabinets only). If these conditions are met, you could reduce that aisle to 48". If there is nothing on the back wall at all (only wall), then you can probably get away with 44". Be aware that skimping on overhang does not save you on aisle width. People will still take up the same amount of room - they will just have to sit back farther from the island and lean over more - not very comfortable! They might sit sideways or "straddle" the island, but again, those are very uncomfortable positions! [I speak from experience - we have friends with a 12" overhang and it is NOT comfortable to sit at their peninsula! My DH and DS never sit there b/c it's so uncomfortable for them. Even our 15" is too shallow for my DH & DS, but it's not as bad as 12". If I had it to do over, I would try for an 18" overhang.] Another pitfall is the "barrier island" problem. If you can't avoid it, then perhaps an island is not appropriate in your kitchen. I know that islands are the "in thing" right now, but not all kitchens can support an island. Note: While 12" of clear leg/knee space is the minimum recommended seating overhang for bar-height seating, that small a counter is not very useful if you plan to eat any meals there - there's not enough room for plates & glasses w/o the risk of knocking one or the other off the counter and down onto the lower counter. In addition, bar-height seating is very uncomfortable for older people (if not impossible for them to use) and not very safe for young children. Plus, it breaks up your workspace on the working side of the island and sometimes causes that side to have even less depth than perimeter counters/counters with no raised counters on the other side. HTH!...See MoreHelping my dad share his stories...X-posted on Kitchens/Smaller homes
Comments (17)My mom wrote some memoirs, this reminds me of it. Such a wonderful thing for your family to have. I want to create some kind of book with mom's stuff. But who knows if I will ever find the time . . . thank goodness she found some time. I like to think that I encouraged her. I didn't nag her to do it but at least I told her it was great that she was doing it. She took a writing class which was why she was doing it. I am one of those people who thinks family stories, and story telling in general, is rather important. So did my librarian mom. Glad to hear others feel the same way!...See MoreAnyone writing a book or short story?
Comments (10)Re using names. I think you might want to use family/given names for close relations eg Grandpa Smith or Aunt Agnes as they will again anchor the information. As some of the stories might involve members of the wider community you might have to be a bit more careful with 'real' names' especially with such things as "Old Moses Brown, drunk as usual, fell off his horse into the duck pond thus disturbing the amorous goings on between Cousin Mildred and the farm-hand in a near-by hay stack " especially if the Browns are now pillars of the community who took the pledge 75 years ago and Mildred became a nun . . . but on the other hand . . . these tales when true do give colour to a community's way of life back then. Sheri's mention of a 'family tree' is good, thinking back to the times when I've read a 'family saga' and have to keep referring back to the tree to remind myself who-is-who!...See MoreCan you please give me some feedback on this story? : )
Comments (11)Hi Lavender, I love your characters and the promise of this story. You've got a nice start with writing it. If you were writing in my category (young adult) you'd have a REALLY good start. Every genre has its own set of expectations. When writing for teens and young adults you'll almost always find short, snappy sentences. You'll also find a lot of new sentences that start with transition words like so, and , or but. That's what you've done at the beginning of your story. However, this isn't a novel for teens; it's a Victorian romance. Romance readers, and (I think) historical romance readers in particular, seem to like a more formal, wordier style. The words you choose and the way you structure your sentences can help establish tone and set the the story in the proper era. I played around with the first few paragraphs to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, but I'm no victorian romance writer so -- if I were you, I'd consider researching a few popular novels in the genre to get a better idea of what readers might expect: She would be coming to his classroom that afternoon. Henry Lastname set to putting things right, shelving a book here, straightening a pile of papers there as he tried to think about something, anything else. His opportunity to teach had come at the grace of a wealthy neighbor. Despite being born deaf, she’d thought him a bright child and had paid for his education. The chance to find books, to learn to communicate with others like himself, to establish a career as a teacher, it was all more than his family could have dreamed for him from their small tenant farm. Henry inspected his classroom with pride. He’d done well for himself, had gained the respect of the headmaster and the entire community. He knew he should be satisfied, but memories of the farm often crept in as he graded papers and settled petty disputes between the students in his charge. The lovely way the sun rose over the hills in the morning, the brilliant colors as it sank in the evening, and his horses -- how he longed to have his own horse again. Some days it was all he could think of … when he wasn’t thinking about the girl. The way she braided her lovely blonde hair around that pretty head of hers seemed to fill his own skull with all manner of indelicate thoughts. The yearning to run his fingers through those braids was chief among them. He reminded himself, yet again, how inappropriate this would be. Not only was Clara Lastname a student, she was also the daughter of an influential mayor of a nearby city. He was so involved in pushing away his thoughts that he jumped when he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. I hope you can get the idea from my pretty pitiful effort, lol. I don't read a lot of this genre, but I do read a lot of aspiring writers' works. You have a big head start on a lot of them. You have a nice way with dialogue and, even in this first chapter, you've already established the most important thing in romance writing -- chemistry. These two are full of it! Figuring out the voice of your story is all that's holding you back. I hope you'll accept my advice in the spirit it was intended. If I didn't think you had the ability to take this story to another level I wouldn't have bothered chiming in. Lavender Lass, you've got a good story to tell and the talent to tell it. P.S. A word about marketing if you don't mind. Just like there are genre expectations in the writing of the book, readers have expectations about the way a Victorian romance novel should look. Pretty women in beautiful dresses (and a bare chested man if you can find one) seem to be the norm. You might want to take a look at canva.com In just a few minutes I was able to put together this: To Share A Dream With You...See MoreLavender Lass
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoLavender Lass
7 years agoLavender Lass
7 years agoLavender Lass
7 years ago
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