aspiring kitchen designers, help please!
We are in the process of buying a new house. The current kitchen configuration is below. The island is just too big and blocks the door from the dining room.
It's a 3200 sq ft house that is chopped into a bunch of small rooms. We will spend most of our time in the kitchen and family room. We are mom, dad and four kids (17, 15, 11 and 9). The 17 year old is leaving in the fall and realistically the 15 year old won't leave for awhile. I'm thinking within the next 10 years we may have one of more elderly parents with us, as well. We are very casual and don't entertain besides other kids. We've used the dining room two times in the past year. You guessed it, Christmas and Thanksgiving.
The house currently has a formal living room and small dining room between it and the kitchen. The other side of the kitchen opens to the family room. The dining room is basically too small for us to use. I'd like to get rid of it and incorporate it into the kitchen. We are planning to do most of the work ourselves (we'll be hiring out plumbing/gas/flooring). Probably Ikea since we're DIYers.
I'm all about function. Of course I'd like it to look nice, but a practical kitchen is a necessity. I grudgingly cook every night. We want to reuse the dishwasher, oven and microwave since they are practically new. The cook top is electric and we think there is natural gas to the house just not connected. If so, we we will get a gas cook top-if not we will go induction. I'd prefer to not put that on an island as I don't like hoods hanging down in the middle of the room. The kitchen currently has no exhaust fan.
I'd love a walk in pantry (may not be possible), side by side double oven, and the Frigidaire Professional Series All Refrigerator and All Freezer combo.
Our idea is to remove the dining room wall and put up a new wall between the formal living room and kitchen. Not sure where to place the opening-next to the french doors?
We are thinking the bump out would be a good place for the big dining table and probably turn the island to open up the walkway through the kitchen. Open to any and all ideas!
Comments (9)
mama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAssuming you want to keep the peninsula and clean-up sink in the current location, this rough plan gives you a walk-in pantry and fridge/freezer columns, but I couldn't fit side-by-side ovens. There is a MW on a shelf beside the fridge/freezer, with landing space below.
The island has seating on two sides, with shared trash pull-out on the corner. Separate prep and clean-up zones allow a helper to load or unload the
DW, or set the table, without interfering with prep and cooking.The base cabinet in the corner between the clean-up sink and cooktop opens toward the family room, so that space is not wasted. The optional cabinet above it can also open toward the FR, to stow a purse, phones/charger, bills, etc.
The pantry has a sliding door, with optional sliders to close off the kitchen from the formal LR.
Mamacita Nikita
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Hood design dilemma - kitchen designers please help
Comments (13)Holly are you saying i have to replace all of the crown in the kitchen? I am not trying to save anything between the 2 windows where the range area is currently. I am ok with the expense and have already gotten the quotes from the cab company and for the modernaire hood insert. But for the cost I want to be sure want to be sure about not using the vv96 in that area and the staggered cabs. I know what I have is really nice, it is just not what I want....See MorePlease help with designing our galley kitchen!! Designers help!
Comments (15)If teal isn’t doing it for you that blue color is really pretty too and still would look gray with brass and the grey floor tile! I found a few good options on amazon for the hardware by searching brass square pulls and also these on way fair: https://www.wayfair.com/Hamilton-Bowes--Ventoux-5-Center-Bar-Pull-24128SB-24128SCOP-L1123-K~HMBW1035.html?refid=GX293766718941-HMBW1035_40348394&device=m&ptid=762818256643&network=g&targetid=pla-762818256643&channel=GooglePLA&ireid=83020192&fdid=1817&PiID[]=40348394&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsbjP3fmW5AIVgrfsCh1oWwbcEAQYDSABEgIS_PD_BwE Here is a link to a similar light fixture! https://www.bellacor.com/productdetail/elegant-lighting-ld6042br-eclipse-brass-and-frosted-white-12-inch-one-light-pendant-2116486.htm?partid=googlePLA-DataFeed-Pendants-2116486&kpid=2116486&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping_-All_Products(NEW)&utm_term=&utm_content=multi-converters_(2-5)&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIv_64qPqW5AIVFKrsCh0HGQGgEAQYCCABEgJyK_D_BwE I think the subway tile will look classic and gives you more leeway to get a countertop that can be the star! If you picked the geometric backsplash I would say go for simple very toned down counters....See MoreNeed design help with 11' x 10' (approx) galley kitchen please!
Comments (24)As RappArchitecture mentioned, deciding on the sink/DW and Washer/Dryer locations without looking at the Kitchen layout as a whole severely limits your options. If you are willing to consider other options, here are three. A couple of important notes: (1) As you know, you are severely limited in usable storage. I understand you do not want to remove the wall with the built-in. Have you considered, instead, removing the 17" x 5" wall and the 28.5" wall and extending the 42.25" wall another 31.2"? This would give you much more usable space. It keeps the Linen Closet but opens up the Kitchen space. from your drawing it appears that space is a hall that leads to the Bedrooms & Bathroom. If your drawing is accurate, you should be able to make these changes without adversely impacting the overall flow. From this: To this: (2) The washer & dryer -- probably the biggest obstacle to a decent layout. The first two only work if you can find another place for the washer & dryer -- maybe in the Bedroom/Bathroom part of the home (which makes the most sense in general since the vast majority of laundry comes from and returns to the Bedrooms). We'd have to see a full-floor layout to see if there's another place for them. [Ideally, the dryer should be on an exterior wall for exterior venting. My mother has a "ventless" dryer and it takes forever for even small loads of clothing to dry! And, she has to empty a reservoir each time (the reservoir is where the moisture is deposited once it's removed from the clothes).] By moving the W/D elsewhere, you gain a lot of storage space! . For your consideration: . . Includes an alternate upper cabinet arrangement (which would work in any of the layouts) . . Washer & dryer staying in the Kitchen...See MorePLEASE HELP - Kitchen Layout Design
Comments (49)I am not a pro by any means, but I do love sketching to see "what would we do".. so here's something maybe different, maybe not, but at least it's something to think about. The scale is approximate 1 sqaure=1ft, based on your pictures and I hope I got all the doors in the right locations! At first glance, yes your kitchen looks very disjointed, lacks flow and it looks like you have a lot of wasted space in the middle of your existing layout. Starting at the top Wall "A" would be pretty much the same as you had it, with the countertop continuing over to Wall "B" but at 12" depth, with 12" uppers. Then there's your door, which I agree you need to keep to have access to your bathroom and bedroom. To the right of that door is another 12" base cabinet and countertop with 12" uppers (or a full height 12" pantry cabinet). I had two ideas for the rest of this wall, pretty much playing around with fridge placement and pantry storage. The first pic shows a 24"d pantry cabinet wtih dead space behind, but keeping flush with the 36"w fridge (wouldn't interfere with dishwasher when open), and then another larger closet style reach-in pantry. You could have lots of shelves in there, with a 24" door. Or, have standard kitchen pantry cabinets, 24"d , again with a bit of dead space behind them but keeping flush with the fridge (if you want to avoid another door). The second option is to have the fridge more "in " the kitchen, with a larger pantry by the basement door and windows. Again dead space if you go standard 24"d cabinets, or another set of doors for the reach-in closet style pantry but this would get you the most storage space. Walls C and D would remain unchanged from your current plan. But then I though a penninsula would be nice, to have the sink somewhat facing your front windows. Building out the wall against the stairwell would give you space to have an overhang for seating or if you don't want seating, have extra 12'"d base cabinets facing the windows to maximize storage. This makes it feel more roomy in that "hallway" from stairs to dining. Or have less dead space and move the entire peninsula 6inch to the left and have 54" spacing in the kitchen between the sink and fridge wall. Have some uppers in the stairwell wall, Lot of options to play around with! But i think this way you are keeping all your doors, getting much more storage, and better flow....See Moremama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI like benches in front of windows, but if it works better for you to take it out, you can move the table a little further into the bay. If windows permit, the desk area could become a china hutch, convenient to the DW in the plan I posted above, or add a small sink and make it a bar area.
In the following plan I eliminated the peninsula in favor of a large island, and reconfigured the pantry. The fridge is now closer to the FR, but there is only one sink (except for optional sink in the bay):
Either layout could be flipped, m/l. Keeping the area open to the LR, in this plan I bumped the French doors out to leave more space behind the island seating. I know this is the opposite of what you want, but I'll include it:
First plan, flipped:
Mamacita Nikita
7 years ago
ski4life
7 years agolyfia
7 years agoMamacita Nikita
7 years agolyfia
7 years ago
mama goose_gw zn6OH