Need help designing a new kitchen please
Jade BR
7 years ago
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Comments (11)
Stan B
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agorantontoo
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRelated Discussions
Need kitchen layout design help please... Thanks!
Comments (12)I don't understand the reason for the slanted wall on the fridge wall. Your original floor plan does not have a slanted wall, so why would you take down the dining room wall and then build it on an angle? Its seems like a pantry could be incorporated in this plan without having to have a slanted wall. "***Instead of a range, we plan on a 36" rangetop and microwave/combo wall ovens to the right of the rangetop." This is going to change the look of the range wall and I am not sure how it will look with a wall ovens / mw stacked between hood and window. IF I were you, I would mock this up in your renderings to see how it looks. "If you look at my main floor plan, we are removing the foyer closet and opening up that space for a foyer table of some kind (possible built ins)." As someone who has no closet in the foyer, I dislike this idea. When you have guests, it is nice to have a place to hang coats, etc. (assuming you use mudrm closet for daily use). Unless you live in a warm climate, consider this decision carefully. IMHO, I think your plan to squeeze in a small coat closet that is walled into the kitchen space but opens to the foyer is less than ideal as well. Do you really want a quirky little closet instead of your nice tucked away closet that exists now? If you take out your existing closet will you have the banister for stairway showing? That is the only possible reason I can think that this change could be beneficial. But again, just my opinion. Your layout is somewhat similiar to mine. Where your fridge wall is, my DH wanted to slant the wall as well for optimum tv viewing. I am so glad I won that battle. Good luck. I think you are going to love the openness you your new kitchen....See MorePlease help me design my new kitchen
Comments (16)You have a tremendous advantage in living with this basic layout already, but I'd suggest drawing it carefully to scale anyway. Also, that will help spur thoughts that might be useful on this side. What sort of things will be stored in the non-pullout 24" deep cabinet? Have you given any thought to putting in a window on the stove wall since it's on the exterior? Something low below the cabinets, or high, above? Has DH had the opportunity to fondle soapstone yet? :) BTW, you're showing the same dining space also, so it's safe to assume it's also working very well for you. Do you have a table for two against the wall, or? Is there room to bring in a comfy chair for relaxing and chatting with the cook? I like your idea of bookcases backing the counter. Since books are one of my very favorite mood creators and decorations, I'd do glass doors there....See Morenew kitchen design in need of help-its a mess!!
Comments (15)Okay- deep breath... Here are the steps I would go through (sorry- my sketches would not upload): First, and always first, think of natural light. The closest windows in this kitchen is a small one off of the dining room! If you pay for any upcharge, make that a big, gorgeous set of French doors or large (to the ceiling) windows with a windowseat under it. Get rid of that side door it is going to bump into the table if you leave it anyway, and you have doors right there next to the fireplace. Second, put your dining table right up to the windowseat. You can seat 6 like this in a much smaller space. Third, do yourself a HUGE favor and move that door from the garage from going directly into the kitchen...to come through that utility room instead and through to the kitchen. A foyer/ mud area is just about the most important part of the house- keys, coats, boots, bags... if you can in any way use the space more wisely by putting laundry or pantry elsewhere too, you won't regret it. It looks like you have some room where the stairs to the inside from the garage would have gone for something. Fourthly, I suggest a double island. That is a high end thing and awesome for a reason: go to anyone's house with a 13 foot island and see how long it takes until you get tired walking ALL THE WAY AROUND if you are on the bar stool side. It's a total obstruction. By the way, barstools are very uncomfortable so it is unlikely you will have 4 people sitting there to eat all at once. Less should work. With a double island, you can have one for utility purposes, and one for barstools if need be- so those eating are in a table arrangement and not in a lineup. Fifthly, I would put your main sink on the wall with the stove and dw by extending the whole wall config a little further toward that window. A small sink in the island is fine, but piles of dishes on a counter that get in the way and can be knocked off easily makes main sinks in islands not fun. This extension also give you more room to pull off the double islands (which by the way, are often better if they are not matchy-matchy---- as are cabinets). Sixthly- replace all of those wall cabinets with open shelves on either side of the sink for your everyday dishes. Wall cabinets blocks your vision by being a big wall box in the way when you walk in. Finally, scoot your pantry door inside your mudroom but shrink it so it isn't a walk in. This leaves room to build in your refrigerator facing the kitchen and gets it out of the way. Sink it just enough to line up with the entire wall of cabinets that I suggest you create and put right next to you on that unused prime wall space under the stairs. The can be just pretty doors, to save on "cabinet" costs, and dual as a pantry too. By the way, after that depth is factored into that wall, the entire kitchen arrangement should have exactly the same walk through space on each side- not different distances like on this plan.... so everything just needs scotched a little closer to the dining room. Oops, one more thing- on the main wall, I suggest (from left to right) skinny cabinet with small pot rack over, oven with hood, skinny cabinet with potrack over, dishwasher with space over, cabinet with open shelves over, sink with something you love over, cabinet with open shelves over. Would love to know what advice you take/ don't take and why- I'm working on a design business and had fun thinking through this. Best to you- I hope it turns out beautifully! Jackie Ps- inexpensive hoods are easy to build in with a little wood and trim so you don't have to spend on a fancy one. Hope this helps! All in all, I think I decreased your cabinet costs- hopefully that pays for the added doors/ windows:). Islands are easy to make, by the way, too and a great place to add color!...See MoreNeed help with new Kitchen -- cabinet colors and design
Comments (10)The previous homeowners made a classic mistake of mixing "earthy" with "fresh" in fixed materials. Maybe they did it for resale, I don't know. But the mistake is there. White kitchen plus white subway tile doesn't look good with travertine(or that granite, for that matter). It's not a question of traditional vs modern; it's just a plainly wrong choice of combining materials. Fixed things should make sense together; if they don't it doesn't matter what style it is or was supposed to be-it will irritate you. I'm not that optimistic about travertine floors-I have them myself in my current home(not everywhere but big entry and kitchen)-I find them much bossier than wood floors. Luckily I prefer warmer palette, so I was able to combine them with wood, and work with them and not against them. I agree with Lily'smom about warmer aqua, it will work; aqua by itself is on the warmer side of blues. But it won't be enough to tie everything together. The materials are fighting each other. You'll need-eventually- to change either the countertop, or the backsplash. (The backsplash you're probably loving more; but it's easier to change) The question is: after you spend your time and money tweaking here and there-will you arrive to the feeling of the house you're after? I'd make a plan. What bothers you the most? And I'd start slowly changing it. In our new house, the owners put a newer kitchen, probably for resale because it was like a sore thumb. It didn't make any sense with the rest of thehouse. I thought for days how to tweak it until I understood that whatever I do-it won't be a good solution. It was a wrong plan for the home, and a wrong style for the home. Fortunately (or not LOL) we had to abate tons of asbestos, literally gutting the house..was psychologically easier to decide to put in a new kitchen, because the old one had to come down off the walls anyway. You can start small, taking doors of the upper cabinets, painting the lowers aqua..btw I'd paint the uppers aqua too. Painting walls if you don't like the current color(even though it's cool), seeing how it all comes together. Or you can decide the floors or the granite boss you around too much-and start with that. In which case I'd start with the granite)) Much smaller surface to tackle. And harder to work around, than travertine.. This house is traditional..you can't make it into a completely different house. But you can translate a different feel. It takes planning, time, and money(or less money and lot of work if you DIY a lot)...See MoreJade BR
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