Need help with changing kitchen layout
Hi! Our kitchen is 5 years old and in 5 years we had 5 kids and we have a lot of parties and gatherings and would like to be able to seat 6 people at the kitchen island. We also want a built in counter depth fridge and freezer. I'd like ideas on how to accomplish what we want, given the space we have. We just took down an arched wall between the kitchen and family room and as you can see from the photos have a large open space that we can work with to add the seating.
some of my ideas include
1. making the current island smaller and adding a 2nd semi-circle island.
2. making the island thinner and longer and moving the pantry door over to fit the double ovens there instead.
3. ripping out the cabinets on the window side, putting the fridge in the left corner, the ovens where the current pantry door is and making the island wider.
4. something I haven't thought of...
We plan on painting our cabinets white and doing white ice granite with maybe a gray island or something after we figure out changing the layout.
The dimensions on the blueprint are not accurate. Here are the accurate measurements. Window wall 131" with a 37" aisle. Stove side 173" with 40" aisle. Fridge side is 171" with 41.5 aisle from ovens but 31.5 from fridge (not including the handles).
Some things I don't like about the kitchen: fridge takes up so much aisle space. If the oven is open and someone opens the fridge the door hits it. The island doesn't seat 6 people. The random lonely corner cabinet next to the pantry door. I also don't like the light fixtures!
On a side note, our dining room is empty because when we had a table in there nobody used it so I don't know what to do to make it inviting from the kitchen side. You can see it from the front door as well. Maybe you have some suggestions for that as well.
I am in the process of hiring a professional but would like thoughts and ideas before I meet with them.
We are also redecorating our family room and ordered cream sofas and such with chrome accents.
Dining room below
Hopefully you have some ideas!
Thanks!
Comments (23)
MommaB
7 years agoRelated Discussions
White kitchen DIY Doubts- need kitchen layout help!
Comments (9)(With no actual layout posted, it's hard to tell.) It looks like you will have close adjacent counters across from the fridge for a fridge landing zone? In that case, pick whichever scenario gives you the most room between the sink and the range. That is where you'll spend 90% of your time in a kitchen and you need to have the most space there. If the sink is not around the corner on the other leg of the L from the range, then do your best to center the range between the fridge and wall as that is what your eyes will focus on. If the sink is on the L, and you have at least 48" of linear counter space between it and the range after shifting it to the left, then that would be fine. Just don't go under 36" of linear space between adjacent sink and range....See MoreEverything is changing... need new layout help
Comments (13)mom2lilenj... I'm working on trying to draw a complete layout of the kitchen, bathrooms, and current master bedroom with dimensions. The family room and 2nd bedroom aren't impacted at all as they are in the front of the house. I'm strugging... but I'll get it. cotehele... thank you so much for your words of encouragement and awesome suggestion. I try to talk to DH about things but he's so sick of hearing about it it's difficult to engage him without feeling like I'm a nag. I admit... I'm beginning to feel totally obsessed. He was all in with this elaborate layout the architect came up with for the bedroom extension till he started thinking about it. All along I said... I really don't need that much but he (DH) kept saying that doubling the size of the extension wouldn't cost that much more. Now he wants to live with it as is. His words... "why don't we just throw 10K in there and it'll be fine. There are no appliances, a tiny orginal builders blue laminate 1960's kitchen, and the master bedroom is currently only 9'W with one 4 1/2' square closet and 4/12 ' square bathroom. I'm more then willing to make accomodations; but I can't live in that. I put forth the idea to him that we could enclose the screen room and push the kitchen back. Then I could widen the bathrooms and bedroom into area of the kitchen where the dining area is. It'll be easier when I figure how to draw the whole thing out both current and proposed layouts with nothing in there. I'm not too concerned about load bearing walls since we can always have an beam dropped in for support. This entire layout started months ago with a support wall and odd wall juts that I wanted to work around. The architect said we will drop an ibeam in for support. Anyway... I truly appreciate all input...See MoreHelp! Kitchen layout help needed.
Comments (10)I would try another full height, shallow depth pantry cabinet, rotated 90 degrees to it backed into the other pantry cabinet. Same thing with shallow bookshelves and with angled corner shelves. Also maybe try two full height, single door pantry cabinets or slightly smaller full height pantry cabinets with wine bottle cubbies between them on one side of the ref. It's really hard to tell aisle and such from a perspective drawing - they can be really misleading. So take this will a little salt. It looks like you have about a three foot aisle between the fronts of the pantries and the peninsula. Even if you get a counter depth ref, it will still come out into the aisle about six inches including the doors and the handles. Plus another inch or two will go to adding decorative panels on the end of the peninsula cabinets and the countertop overhang. So you're aisle may turn out to be more like 28" there. Can the ref be maneuvered into or out of its place without removing the peninsula? Can you open the freezer completely? Are you ok with having to close the freezer door, walk by it and re-open to reach something on the other side?...See More***ADDED LAYOUT*** Kitchen reno - need price points and layout help!
Comments (24)From a countertop fabricator/installer's point of view. If you add new countertops to the existing cabinets, no problem there. The potential issues arise if and when you decide to get all new cabinets and want to use the new countertops. You'll have to get the same fabricator to remove the tops from your original cabinets and then re-install them unto the new cabinets. Other fabricators will not want to take this on as it is fraught with issues. We get asked all the time to do this and we always politely decline. Material breaks, sizing can be off on the new cabinets compared to the original. You would have to keep the cabinet footprint exactly the same and hope it all re-installs perfectly. More often than not homeowners who have done this wind up buying all new countertops, thus doubling your cost for this one portion of your project. Best of luck with your project....See More
mama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agoMommaB
7 years agomama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agoMommaB
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agosmm5525
7 years agoBrittany I'm glad you posted here. Mamagoose, this was cross posted on the Houzz design forum. Brittany has taken out all the arches and is left with a massive space between kitchen and living room. I was suggesting a separate seating island (like Romy did) to get all those bodies out of the aisles and prep space. Whatcha think?
smm5525
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoBuehl
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMay I suggest you check out the Kitchen Design FAQs (linked below)? I'm concerned about trying to cram 6 seats on an island that cannot accommodate that many. You need a minimum of 24" of linear space per seat and you cannot overlap 3 seats on the end...unless the island is at least 54" deep - and it cannot be b/c your Kitchen is too narrow with the existing cabinets on both sides of the island. You also need a minimum of 15" of clear leg/knee overhang space.
Island Options with 6 seats:
++++++++++++
I have to ask - if you have Nook seating so close, do you really need that many seats at the island? You also have a Dining Room - so now you have 3 eating locations, again, do you really need that many different places to eat? The Nook seating is practically on top of the Kitchen, so people can easily visit with you (or do homework) while you're working in the Kitchen. I'm not saying give up all seats at the island, but six just isn't realistic given the limitations of your space.
.
Other thoughts:
Can you move the "Heat Run"? (I'm assuming it's an HVAC run.)
Have you considered a double-oven range instead of double ovens? That would free up some wall space.
Do you or will you have a second refrigerator elsewhere? You say you want a built-in refrigerator. However, unless it's around 48" wide, I don't think it will be big enough for your large family. A standard-depth would most likely be more useful - or, as I mentioned, a wider built-in. Notice that MamaGoose recessed what I think is a standard-depth refrigerator into the pantry - that's one way to make a standard-depth refrigerator look like a counter-depth. Keep in mind that even when recessing, the doors of standard-depth (and counter-depth) refrigerators must extend out past all surrounding counters, cabinets, walls, etc., to allow them to open fully.
Kitchen Design FAQ threads:
Kitchen work zones, what are they?
Aisle widths, walkways, seating overhangs, work and landing space, and others
How do I plan for storage? Types of Storage? What to Store Where?
Ice. Water. Stone. Fire (Looking for layout help? Memorize this first)
.
Buehl
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agosmm5525
7 years agosmm5525
7 years agoMommaB
7 years agoBuehl
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMommaB
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agomama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoHa! I typed that very idea last night, then deleted it before I posted, thinking you wouldn't want to give up that lovely pantry since you have 5 kids. Plus it was late. Here's a quick idea:
You have little kids right now (and at least one high chair), so I think you can get six seats around the island. Later, when the kids are bigger, remove one seat on the long side and they can still fit at an 8' x 42" island. It looks as if the dining nook seats 8 (you can have another kid! :), so the island won't need to seat the whole family. I moved the island to give you a few more inches between it and the sink/DW.
Since there is now plenty of space between the cooktop and island, you can pull the cabinets on that wall out to be flush with a standard depth fridge, so you have more space in the fridge, and more counter space around the cooktop. If you are doing custom cabinets, the drawers on that wall can be deeper, to add to storage capacity.
I also included a window seat/reading nook just off the play room, for the kids. (And I love window seats.)
smm5525
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agomama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoIf you need to have the windows more balanced on the exterior, here's a plan that also shows deeper counters on the fridge/cooktop wall. I extended the other window, too.
I extended the island to 10', but then you have the 'stadium seating effect' with 5 seats on one side. (Wasn't that marcolo's term for it?)
smm5525, she could put a locked gate between the playroom and kitchen. ;)
mama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoFridge (CD) and ovens relocated, and pantry enlarged and reconfigured:
smm5525
7 years agomama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agosmm, did you mean something like this? Sorry I missed your other post above, when I first checked in this morning.
mama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agoThought of another variation while I was photographing pumpkins :). I just made a quick change to the perimeter, to completely separate the prep and clean-up zones, but the ovens stay in the corner, out of the main work space:
Katrina Tate
7 years ago
mama goose_gw zn6OH