Is the window above counter height? I might consider extending both cab/counter runs. Did you consider extending the cabs/counters on the other wall to achieve what you want instead? Walking around to sit in the small area seems awkward to me.

You have given your renovation three years. If you honestly feel that the current set up isn't working, then I say go for it.

Others will weigh in on the logistics of it all.

Your kitchen is lovely and I am sure your next reno will be equally so.

Could you please label the layout with where the front door and stairs are?

Could you also please add labels for the width of each wall/window/door/doorway and the distances b/w each wall/window/door/doorway in the "new" space?

How high off the floor are the windows?

I don't know what is possible using the IKEA Planner, but if you have to:

• Save it to as a JPG to your machine
• Add labels using MS Paint, a photo editor, or similar program, & save
• Upload the edited image here

I second rantontoo's suggestion to consider extending the peninsula on the other side sorry, I'm not very good at mocking up diagrams or I'd show this visually). I currently have a 1980s-era kitchen that has stools backup up against a wall, similar to your proposal, and it feels claustrophobic and inefficient to me. Plus the pantry is on the wrong side of the seating area (assuming it will contain kitchen items). But I am sure there is a way to achieve your goal of adding informal seating in lieu of the banquette.

I really like your kitchen and the combination of the deep red textiles with the neutral kitchen colors, by the way.

Your kitchen is lovely and well designed. A good first step woukd be to remove the banquette and table and replace with a counter height table with stools. See how you like that arrangement.

I'd consider leaving the window and lowering the counter to baking/perch seating height. It would be so nice to work there without overhead cabinets in your way. I'd turn the corner with the counter (eliminate the peninsula) and install a cabinet down to the counter for a pantry/appliance garage. The counter next to the pantry cabinet could be used as a beverage and buffet area, leaving plenty of space for guests to mingle.

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Are you planning to stay in this house indefinitely? Because I wonder whether you should be looking for a house that better suits your needs.

Can you provide a diagram of the entire first floor, please?

Thanks all!

I really appreciate the kind feedback and the great ideas! Unfortunately, extending the run of counters on the inside wall isn't an option - it would run right up against the foot of the stairs.

The photos of the banquette area were taken essentially while standing at the front door. Here's the opposite view - the door is 4.5ft from the window over the banquette. If the photo wasn't so blurry, you could see the staircase banister at the bottom right hand corner - the stairs flow directly into the banquette area.

Here's a rough floor plan. I'm hoping to remove the wall between the living and dining rooms (and add another bedroom above.)

One of the reasons I want to tweak the kitchen as part of that process is that we NEVER use the dining room right now. I want to keep a large table, but it would get a lot more use if it was integrated into one larger living space. We are a family of 4 in a 1900sq ft house, with no basement - we need to make the most of every inch!

The easiest thing to do would be just to extend the cabinets and counter all the way along the outside wall, including another pantry but forgetting about the peninsula. I just feel like I'd use the counter space more if it were perpendicular to the stove, rather than further away from the sink and the fridge. OTOH the best thing about the renovation was opening up the space, so I'm genuinely concerned about doing anything that makes it feel more cramped again.

I think I will try @benjesbride's suggestion to mock it up and see how it feels.

I thought about the peninsula originally, but in my planning then a lot of people warned me to avoid having a "trapped" seating area. That's still my primary concern about this, although I hope to use this more as a quick snack space rather than the main spot for family meals - kind of like the photo below.

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BTW thanks esp @jesslake for the banquette commiseration! My oldest just turned 13yo and I'm constantly prodding him to sit up when he's at the table. It's like there is some biological drive to lie down when there is a couch-like surface available, even (especially?) if there is food on the table.

I've got a slightly amended kitchen plan below, but I'm not sure if it's helpful. We have a very weird house, I know. If we didn't live in a neighborhood of million dollar teardowns, I'd move for sure.

When you were planning your kitchen renovation, was there a discussion about moving the utility room to the office? I'm wondering how old your children are and how much longer you may feel the need a toy area. If the utility area was removed from the right side of the house, it looks like it would open up a nice large L for dining/living/kitchen.

BenjesBride...that would be a great improvement, but I suspect SmallOldHouse is on a slab (no basement) and it would probably be costly to move all the plumbing, etc.

But, I wonder if the washer & dryer, at least, could be moved upstairs with the bedrooms. The Utility Room could then be reduced to the bare minimum necessary to house the HW tank and the furnace and free up more space on the first floor for the Kitchen and/or the Dining/Living Room area.

The added advantage is that the Laundry Room would then be near the upstairs bedrooms & bathrooms where the vast majority of laundry comes from/goes back to.

Ahhh. I always forget about slab construction, I think it's uncommon here.

Same here -- everyone has a basement here in the Central MD and in Western NY (where I grew up). In fact, I had never heard of being "on a slab" b/f GW!

But, if she can move the Laundry Room upstairs, then she can tie in to existing upstairs plumbing and cap off the old LR plumbing -- OR -- use it for something else! (Prep sink, Snack Center, Bar, ...)

We are considering moving the laundry upstairs. Right now the second floor does not extend over the living and dining rooms (which may have been an addition by a previous owner.) The general plan is to bump up the attic above the living/dining room and make a master suite. Moving the laundry probably only frees up storage space because all the vents and pipes connect through that area.

I'm from New England where everyone has a basement as well. However, our house is in one of those neighborhoods built just outside DC in the 1950s, added onto slowly and somewhat strangely in our case. Most around us have basements but since my husband never saw one growing up in CA and since all our neighbors are constantly dealing with water issues, we don't really miss it. But it underscores why we need to use every inch of the house efficiently.

Also, sorry the 'toy area' is really a den - we're academics and that room and the office are walled with bookshelves. A few Legos remain, but mostly just books.

Hi S.O.H. - based on your priority, why aren't you building a nice big island instead of crowding the room? You should be able to get a nice size island in with plenty of storage underneath.

I think that pantry would be awkward and difficult to get to as well. But if you like a peninsula and want stools, just do what you planned but forget the pantry. Your kitchen is lovely!

This looks like what you have to work with.

Existing in green cannot be changed

Space available to work with in red and approx 106" x 144"

Is this correct?

@buehl: Yes, thanks!! That's it exactly.

You would need at least 4' I think behind the stools on the peninsula. 3' is doable but tight.

Creating a vestibule or a staged entry way may create boundary lines. Your extension of the counter into the eating area may seem more organic - like part of the kitchen. One option is to flip the pantry so that it is opposite the peninsula you are planning- recessed into a new wall to create a foyer. Position the new wall to line up with your cabinet that wraps around the banquet area. It will give you less space to work with but perhaps more choices in how to orient your breakfast room seating. Just a thought - feel free to ignore.

I think the peninsula is awkward and I suspect you wouldn't use it much because it is outside of your work triangle.

I think you would use your dining room more if it was swapped with the living room, making it adjacent to the kitchen. Is the wall between the dining and living able to come down completely, or would you have a cased opening? If no remnant of the former wall remained, then the living on the other end could still be good sized.

I love your floor plan and your ideas for upstairs sound awesome!

I second Emily, I think you should swap living and dining rooms. Open the doorway up between the kitchen and the now dining room. The other room I would keep the door, so the TV room/ living room becomes a little away space with out the TV interrupting someone working in the kitchen.

Personally, I like having one eating area in the house, and designed my current home to have a kitchen table and nothing else. I love it. I would turn your current banquet area into a small sitting area with a homework station for the kids.

Have fun with the planning process, and think about how your family lives and moves through your home, you have so many great ideas coming your way, I'm sure your space will end up great.

Good luck!

GW, sorry this is off topic, but I love your roman shades/window treatments. I'm shopping for some for our kitchen. Can you please share where you got them?

Here's what I came up with for both Kitchen seating -and- a Foyer "space". I recommend going ahead and doing both at this time so they can be designed to work together. That's assuming you want a simple foyer space and not something "grander".

Are you planning to use IKEA or a different manufacturer?

FYI...I put in the existing appliances so workflow can be seen.

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Foyer:

I put in walls that are 12" from the door trim. The studs in the walls are turned 90 degrees to gain a couple of inches of space overall.

The overall width of the space is 63". One thing I suggest is opening up the side walls a bit to give a more open feel while keeping the feeling of separation b/w the front door and the rest of the home.

I don't know the size of your front door, but I assumed 39", including 3" of trim on each side.

Questions:

Can you put a coat closet under the stairs? (Just a thought!)

Are the stairs "open" to the rest of the floor or is there a wall on both sides?

Our experience: We have 11.5" b/w our front door & the wall on one side and a 12"W sidelight on the other side with the stairs to the 2nd floor starting immediately after the sidelight. There is more than enough room for moving around at the door. 11.5" is also enough room for a 4-light switch panel.

The only other difference is that our front door is 42"W, including door trim (36" door + 3" trim on each side).

Based on what we have, I think the 63" I've shown will be plenty.

Note: I'm guessing on many measurements since they were not included in your layouts. E.g., the width of the stairs, the distance b/w the front door & the Den.

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Pantry ideas:

Pantry storage...Note that I did not put a pantry cabinet in that corner. I did this for several reasons.

• A seat at the short end of the peninsula is going to get in the way, especially when you create a "foyer space".

• With a pantry cabinet back there, the aisle b/w the peninsula and right wall will need to be 44" b/c now there's pantry traffic passing behind the seats. Without the pantry cabinet, the aisle can be 36" or so (I made it 39" for a bit more space)

• Access to that cabinet would be awkward, IMO.

Instead, I recommend moving the Laundry Room upstairs and using the now vacated W/D space for shallow pantry cabinets or shelving. I would opt for cabinets just b/c I think they would look nicer, but open shelving would work as well since this is not a public room. You may have to work around the pipes, etc., that you say are in the room. IKEA makes 15"D tall cabinets.

You could, optionally, also add a shallow pantry cabinet b/w the new foyer wall and the window -- but not too wide b/c you need a decent aisle to get to the seats and you don't want too much crowding on that wall.

I think putting your pantry storage in the Utility Room rather than off to the far right would bring your food storage a bit closer to the primary work zones in your Kitchen -- with fewer obstacles to go around to get to it.

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Peninsula ideas:

All 3 seats are on the long side of the peninsula -- for the reason I stated above.

I put in a 39-inch aisle behind the seats for ease of access. You could probably reduce it to 36", but I wouldn't go any narrower.

I show 4 corner options (the rest is the same):

• Option #1: 27" cabinet turned 90 degrees and facing outside the Kitchen
• Option #2: Voided corner.
• Option #3: Corner susan
• Option #4: IKEA corner susan. IKEA's 36" corner susan is really 38"x38"

Which do I prefer? I don't have a clear preference. There are pros & cons to each, but I think they are all very doable and functional. I do know that in my old Kitchen, I stored all my pots & pans and colanders in our 36" corner susan. Others store their small appliances in corner susans. So, if you have a need for those types of storage, I would probably go with one of the of the corner susan options.

The cabinet turned 90 degrees is probably not as useful in this situation b/c there's no other room on that side, just a wall, so the storage in that cabinet would not be located where it would be useful for another room.

Option 1:

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Option 2:

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Option 3:

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Option 4:

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I would remove the banquette and pick one of the windows to place a free standing bench with back. Then add more chairs around table. Whichever window position is then free, install shallow depth cabinets along with counter and place laptop/baskets/coffee pot which consumes your other counter usability. You have to edit and clear in my opinion before a major expense of installing that permanent fixed seating .....keep the bigger area for seating-just fix it ---invest in a beautiful bench and a few great chairs.