Planning for a spring renovation
Hi Everyone,
We are starting to plan for a kitchen/first floor remodel to start this spring. I've included the layout below. I'm still in the macro stage of planning at the moment. We are a family of 4, daughters 8 and 5. I'm the main cook but the girls are starting to want to cook more. Our kitchen is difficult at the moment, we have a small amount of storage with two blind corners. There is only 93 inches between the cabinets by the fridge and the sink. I tend to most of my prep on the peninsula above the dishwasher.
We would like to create an office on the first floor. My husband works from home full time and current works in the dining room. I'm considering either turning the formal living currently used as a playroom into the office and expanding the kitchen into the dining room or keeping the kitchen in the same location and closing the dining room off for a more functional office. We will remove the wall between eating area and the family room. There is a fireplace in the family room that we want to keep. I would like to maximize functionality and then more storage. We are going to have 60k to spend, but need to include all new floors, new bathroom fixtures, and ceiling popcorn removal.
Thank you for any help.
Comments (15)
Kristin
6 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (42)Hi Adam and everyone, Hmm. So it was not just me having little success with Minnow. Someone had problem with his Thalia earlier this year. I forgot where he got it from. Sun Disc/Sundisc didn't live long for me either. Just too crowded in my garden. Craigford is a mid season bloomer. Much earlier than Geranium. Looks almost like Geranium. Smells good too. re Leucojum. LOL. Amanda is right. Way too many leaves. Stay green longer than narcissi too. :-P But I love them. Planted only 25 the first year. Loved it so much I added 100 the next year. A mistake, because they multiply like rabbits. :-) I suggest that you plant no more than 25-30 and quite far apart, say 2' to give them room to increase. I like mine right in front of the border between Alchemilla mollis so I can admire its delicate beauty and Alchemilla can hide the Leucojum later in the season. Since it is white, it goes well with everything. I have clay soil. I learned that large size narcissi don't mind it one bit, but miniatures don't like it at all. I planted a couple hundred of N. bulbocodium on my lawn that had not really been cultivated hoping to get a drift of it. Didn't work. Only one bloomed then totally disappeared. Nell's reading suggestion is good. My soil is heavy clay. I have amended it over the years. In fact, I add leaves in the planting hole as I go. Here is what I actually do when I plant blulbs: Dig a deep hole, place a handfull of leaves and a pinch of bone meal at the bottom- a bit of soil-large bulb-a bit of soil & bone meal-a handful of leaves-a bit of soil with bone meal-minor or small bulb-soil-leaves-soil-another bulb-soil-leaves and a bit of soil. I call it composting in situ. LOL. My own invention. Works like charm. My garden beds is quite loamy now. Still rather heavy, though. I may plant 2 or 3 bulbs in one hole, depending on what I have. When I have mulch and/or compost I dump the whole thing on top of the beds whenever I clean them up....See MoreSpring feeding after Fall renovation
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Comments (27)Right. Mama_goose I also noted the similarities in those two designs (yours and this one I've modified) I guess I don't love the idea of *any* work zone being in that aisle and the reason is that front door and the sloppy shoes (we are in the NorthEast and in the middle of winter) walking through from visitors (people that live here use the garage door) The main reason we chose the fridge for that area of the kitchen is because it seemed to make more sense in the L shape of counter as a prep area than it did over on the side adjacent to the front door where there wouldn't be as much counter space to spread things out for prepping. But what you say about walking around to a distant corner to grab a drink or something also is an inconvenience. I am also at such a loss as to where I will store canned goods and other pantry items in this design. Having our kitchen at the front of the house is something I had a hard time getting used to at first, but now I embrace it. I do want it to be as inviting as a kitchen can be when guests arrive, and walking into a range area is probably not a great idea....See More
m_gabriel
6 years agoHow long is your frig wall? We have a very similar layout and put a double pantry where your frig is, then the frig and then we had 96" for a breakfast, lunch, snack prep area to keep kids out of the main kitchen work area when they are coming and going for snacks. Microwave and toaster are over there. (We did two deep drawers in the large base cabinet for kitchen appliances, not the doors as shown in an early drawing.)
dan1888
6 years agoKristin
6 years agowilson853
6 years agoKristin, I would turn the front room into an office and make the entire back of the house one big living space - remove popcorn, headers and walls between rooms, unite the ceiling, and add doors to the back yard from your current dining room. You have a lot more possibilities if you remove the doors in the kitchen.
Better than Restoration Hardware Gray and White Kitchen · More Info
PRORhonda Knoche Design
6 years ago
sheloveslayouts
6 years agoI don't know how feasible this is nor do I have any idea of cost, but I thought maybe you could take two feet off the front room for the kitchen. Maybe it will spark helpful ideas...
kirkhall
6 years ago- PRO
Rhonda Knoche Design
6 years ago Kristin
6 years agoKristin
6 years agoI'm going back to this old post and updating what we've done since September. We paid for some kitchen designs. A picture of those are below. This plan has a lot more storage than my current kitchen but I am not sure it is a lot more functional.
I'm wondering if I could maximize the functionality of the kitchen in its current location by going to a single door to the back and creating a large peninsula. To make that better. I want to get the dishwasher out of the peninsula. It is my main work space and working above the dishwasher is not ideal.
I really want to make the right choices to have a functional kitchen, and I'm having trouble moving forward with anything.
course411
6 years agocourse411
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoI'm thinking something like this, where you have a window seat in the bay window, shallow cabinet storage on the back side of the island, and a microwave in the island:
course411
6 years agoHere's another layout possibility that gives you a peninsula and access to the office. It would probably be more involved/costly because of the bay window dimensions and the potential need to change the windows to be above counter height.
lucky998877