Do you have two dishwashers ?

Where are you thinking of making the opening? The problem is you can't do it on the wall where the cooktop is now because then you won't have landing room on each side and it will be a hazard being so close to the cooktop. Any walkthrough would need to be a minimum of 36" from counter to counter.

Is there a glow ceiling under the eggcrates?

Could you go into more detail about what you mean about not gutting the kitchen and starting over? Are you trying to save the footprint or are you trying to save any of the cabinets?

I think we are going to need a measured drawing of the floorplan of the kitchen.

If you make any sort of opening into the family room the cooktop is really going to have to move off that run. The easiest fix might be to eliminate that run altogether, eliminate the DW at that end, make the run straight and put the cooktop on that run. That will be tight and not give the the best prep space but it would be the lowest intervention. If by "not gutting" you mean not altering the footprint but changing everything within the footprint you will be able to come up with something a lot better.

If you create an opening here into the family room, it's going to be more of a shortcut than a primary entry point (although it will get a lot of use). I don't think it needs to be 36" necessarily, because a lot of residential doorways are 30" (I have a couple 24" doorways in my house--which I am widening). I think you could get away with 30" if you needed the extra inches on that run for some reason. It's not ideal, but it's not the only opening into the kitchen.

This does not seem to be a large kitchen for a house this size. --And this particular cabinet style is not a vintage look that anybody is really ready to embrace again :)/

If you create an opening here into the family room, it's going to be more of a shortcut than a primary entry point (although it will get a lot of use). I don't think it needs to be 36" necessarily, because a lot of residential doorways are 30" (I have a couple 24" doorways in my house--which I am widening). I think you could get away with 30" if you needed the extra inches on that run for some reason. It's not ideal, but it's not the only opening into the kitchen.

The OP mentioned grandchildren which leads me to believe that the OP is going into their "better" years, whether they're in their early 50's or older. It's always a good idea to plan for the future and a 30" opening would not work for something like a walker. Plus code in many communities (I know it is in mine) specifies it must be a minimum of 36" wide.

My community does not. There are kitchens with 28"-30" doorways all over my neighborhood, and bathrooms with 24". Not new builds but this house isn't a new build either.

Plus there is a primary opening into the kitchen 6 feet away. Someone with a walker or wheelchair could enter or exit there--although realistically if you've seen the other pictures of the house, it's not particularly accessible to someone in a walker or chair anyway/.

If the kitchen is going to be changed significantly, I would not create a 30" opening, I'd make it 36". But if the OP is doing minimal intervention but interested in doing something to get what is essentially a shortcut into the family room, I have no problem suggesting 30".

I think there is a danger of saying "if you can't do it ideally, don't bother-- you can't do it at all" I remember a small kitchen in a small house a few years back where the HO wanted to make a few small changes to make it function a little better, and the prevailing advice was: "if you can't demolish the back of the house, move". Of course the OP never came back, that was outside their realm of possibility.

I agree Pal. Code and zoning rules differs from place to place. Budgets matter. And not everyone wants to live through a major remodel regardless of budget.

OP can you provide a measured plan? Also can you give more details about goals and restrictions for your project?

CPArtist, I agree that thinking about changing needs as life changes is important. Small kids don't stay very small for long. And hopefully we will all age, which can present myriad of challenges.

S.Rod, one is the dishwasher and one is a working trash compactor that I would eliminate.

cpart,pal,jmar, thanks for starting the convo. I will be there tomorrow to take some measurements. My first thought was to leave the footprint but I started thinking about dealing with the grandkids 4,2 and one on the way and having to run around that hallway for snacks, the sink etc and it seems like it will impact our lifestyle. I need to take a good look at cab structure to see if bases are good and if doors can be changed as an update. I was thinking of a peninsula with cooktop there but sounds like the space may not allow.

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I am coming from a smaller kitchen so the size is okay, its more about ease of function.

Another thing is that there isn't a pantry! There is storage on back side wall of refrigerator and the butlers pantry area. I also considered making it a range and using the current oven space as a pantry, although I do like the idea of wall ovens. I currently have the big wolf double range.

Thanks for the help, I will get some measurements tomorrow!

If you are not fixed on keeping the sink centered on the window it opens up some possibilities.

As soon as I posted about the house not being too accessible I wondered if it had an elevator because of the size and location and layout.

Thinking about the idea mentioned about eliminating the peninsula and making a straight run on wall because I am changing flooring and really can use that room on other side however I want. It will be for kid play area now but can be an extension of kitchen with table rather than having the kitchen so closed off may be a better idea. Will toy around with that. Here is whats on the other side now with the current owner still living there.

With removal of the peninsula maybe the refrigerator could go at the end of that run and a range wall could replace the fridge and ovens in the same alcove. If you can figure out ventilation.

What is the grid ceiling? Did you see the other deco house I posted on the forum about your stairs?

Pal, yes that is something to look at, but right now its a downdraft venting out that wall so would be easier to keep that there and fridge where it is.

The grid ceiling is an aluminum grid with nothing above it except I think a light track but no lights coming on. Lights are all from cans and over peninsula pendants.

I may have missed another deco house you posted on the stair post, I will go back and look for it tho. Thanks

I really like the aluminum grid for that house and I would hate to disturb it, but to put in a downdraft that is somewhat effective, that would be a tall popup which requires quite a bit more depth than a standard counter. How accessible is plumbing underneath the kitchen? It would be nice to the the cooktop on the outside wall and go straight out the wall.

I feel the same way about the grid but have heard from others asking how I was going to change it.

I looked under the cooktop cabinet and saw the venting turned towards the wall so assume it vents out the wall. Its an old down draft style cooktop with grill.

I agree with putting the cooktop on the outside wall for sure.

I feel the same way about the grid but have heard from others asking how I was going to change it.

Practically everyone is going to encourage you to slowly chip away 1983 and late-modernism in this house and homogenize it into something that looks like you just built it. You can count on that.

That said, the style of kitchen cabinet you have, while fitting to the period is not really one of my favorites. I am not sure anyone is ready for its revival, although 1980s revival in general is already well underway.

Doh. I really like the grid!

I was thinking of a peninsula with cooktop there but sounds like the space may not allow.

Dangerous!

I do like the cabinets. Go figure because I hated most of the 80's cabinets.

Have you considered switching to induction cooking? Much safer for those of us aging and for little ones.

I like the idea of turning the kitchen into more of a galley style kitchen.

I like the grid too but would put LED lighting in it so you have more lighting.

cp, I currently have the big Wolf double range and have never even cooked with electric before. I read some of the pros and cons here in 09 but will have to read some current regarding induction.

I haven't seen the lighting at night yet but I like the idea of adding more. I am getting dimensions tomorrow and want to play around with a galley layout.

I also like the cabinets but agree there is just too much white and maybe the stark contrast between the wood and the white is a little overpowering. Are the white parts of the cabinet doors panels that could be removed? If so, you could consider leaving most of the cabinets alone but remove the panel from a select few and replacing with glass. If you did that, you could let the remaining white doors be your highlights and tone down the white wall paint with a color you like. I think you could leave the ceiling white. I think white looks great in a kitchen but even this is a bit much for me. I assume you will be going with granite or one of the composite counter tops and that will also give you a chance to mute down the white.

In the end, you may have trouble keeping the existing cabinets if you can't make the existing cabinets work with your yet-to-be-resolved walk-through.

John, thanks thinking maybe extending kitchen into back room with sink and cooktop on same wall. I will take a better look at cab doors to see if the panels are removable. I do love white throughout and like the idea of the countertops being different tho. Hoping to save some cabs if they are okay and maybe doing new doors, removing some uppers, still a thought process for now.

I took measurements and am working on a rough drawing but this pic shows the extent of the soffit area.

I had cooktop, DW and sink in 96" and it was functional except prep and sink side drainage were both over the DW. You have double that so it should be doable with good clearances except you are somewhat dictated to by window position.

Ok so 208".

208" - 24" dishwasher + 2" wall clearance = 182"

182" - 30" sink base = 152"

152" - 48" prep space = 104"

104" - 36" cooktop = 68"

You have plenty of room. I'd actually spread it out more. You certainly don't need 68" to the opposite side of your cooktop. I'd think 30" -36" on the non prep side would be fine which would still give you an additional 32" to play with.

Thanks pal and cpart, and yes the sink/window placement pretty much lays it all out. DW on left side of sink with trash pull out on right of sink in prep area, which is perfect. Now onto figuring out storage areas and pantry. Thanks!

This post and photos were from the previous owner, before we actually moved in...we have now been in for about 5 weeks. Making a few changes elsewhere first and now on to planning out the kitchen.

After living here and feeling things out, the closed off kitchen doesn't feel so bad. I have a dilemma now that I am going back and forth on, to open up the kitchen to the back den or leave it with same footprint and remodel it. One pro for leaving footprint is that the kitchen is not a pass thru for grandkids to run back and forth, con is that means I can't pass thru either. I need to make decisions because we are adding more hardwood flooring and if we open up the kitchen it changes things.

Does using the same footprint really make a big difference in cost, time, etc of the remodel? Last kitchen I did, I gutted and changed entire layout, part of me just wants to keep things simple and stay true to the original design. Not spend the money and time making huge changes.

I guess being a little older now, the big kitchen remodel isn't as exciting as it was the last time. Of course I want it to be beautiful and functional but simple as well. Thanks for any advice