Updated Layout | Final feedback Please!

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I posted a while back and you were all so helpful - buehl, nightowl, Anglophilia, rantontoo, mama goose_gw zn6OH, tracie_erin, cpartist - and I've been working / researching / refining since then.

Original post: link

Thank you for all the earlier comments & suggestions!

Here is an update on where I am now:

Range Wall with left door to patio and right doorway to dining room:

Sink Wall with big window:

(note - sink is actually 33" so that cabinet may be 3" wider - we can 'bump' this left into the family room a few inches.)

Island changing to:

Below are more details/questions - thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!

Relationship to first floor - note basement stairs, which is where our deep freeze/storage is located:

(kitchen layout above 'trumps' layout in this plan, including window placement/etc - but faces the correct direction with island opening into family room.)

I'm feeling good about the layout, have 'walked through it' in my head with various times of day, #s of cooks, menus, Ice.Water.Stone.Fire. There are trade-offs. Which are hard. But it is so fun to look forward to the finished project!

Below are more questions - thanks in advance for your thoughts & suggestions!

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Comments (2)

Nic
Original Author
6 years ago
Primary questions:

Did I miss anything major?
- I know this is a personal preference question - but I would love to hear what you may like - or dislike - about working in this kitchen.
- We have only been in our house 1.5 years, and were cooking in apartment kitchens (or going out!) for 10 years prior - so while I baked/cooked a lot growing up, my 'adult-cooking-life' has been limited.
- I want this space to grow with us and our family.
Door to patio: I gave up a corner countertop/cabinets for the door to go outside to our grill/patio.
- Do any of you have a door directly to the patio in your kitchen?
- The main door to our backyard will be in the patio, but I don't want to carry raw meat, etc. through the family room to get to the grill.
- Am I over-valuing the door/under-valuing the countertop?
Pantry: I gave up more cabinets/countertop for a big, open 'pantry' with countertops and sliding barn doors.
- 3x8.5 feet (internal measurement, with ~48" opening.)
- I envision this working like a small apartment kitchen - small sink, microwave, blender, coffeepot, etc. will 'live' in here, as will open shelving for pantry storage.
- Doors will close when we have people over or at end of day, but this will be where I send my son to find his goldfish snacks & get a cup of water, make coffee in the morning, grab noodles, heads of garlic & canned tomatoes from to make dinner, etc.
- Countertop will be ~24" on sides and ~15" along the back wall. Shelving above will be ~12" on back wall, above the sink (probably on
- Some dishes will be stored here for point-of-use - coffee cups, mug of spoons, cereal bowls, kid/plastic cups/plates, etc.
- Does anyone have similar or have you seen similar?
- Need to decide if I should use cabinet maker or container store or builder for the shelving.
- Countertop will be same as kitchen.
Potential Pantry layout:

I'm working on layering in the 'incremental function' and the 'pretty' - anything you would recommend adding?
- My list is already long as I've searched & scoured Gardenweb, Chowhound, etc ... just curious as to what you might add to this layout.
- Tapmaster, Sweepovac, UCL, motion toe-kick lights, etc.
- Drawers with flour, sugar in the island; baking pans above ovens, utility with electric, etc.
Thanks so much!!
rebunky
6 years ago
Hi Nic, bumping this up for you.

I missed the last thread so I read it over. You had some great ideas and layout help. I see where you are going with this new layout in particular the large pantry. Also wanting access to the BBQ. I would too.

Have you thought about if you had space to do a full butlers pantry that would have the double ovens, clean up sink, dw, micro, small fridge for drinks/kid snacks, etc?

I played with an idea, but I’m just gonna warn you I am NOT good at these layouts like the others. I just like tossing out crazy ideas to see if you like the idea and second if the designers can actually make it function with your dimensions. Hope this sparks an idea anyways.
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You may be planning to store toys in the family room built ins, but I would also consider a closet in the corner where the stairs reach the basement. This would be a great place to "throw" toys when finished for the evening. I have a friend who has this set up and it is always so nice when we visit. Make sure you plan an outlet in there in case you would ever want to convert it to a closet office or computer spot for the boys. I love the large mudroom. Cubbies and a bench are great ideas, but you may want to consider adding a drop zone /cabinet for you to drop mail, school papers and the like. It is also a great place to store keys, etc. I think you have room for this between the two doors. Depending on how long you plan to be in the house, I would deepen the utility closet so that it can accommodate a stack w/d if you would need to live on th email floor as you age or someone is disabled. You only need 3' deep, and the closet behind it will be fine at 6' wide. It looks like the foyer is 2 story. My preference would be to make it a single story and create a loft / library area upstairs with bookcases and comfy reading chairs. The kids will gravitate towards this area as they grow. Consider a prep sink in the island. Also make sure you have enough room for the breakfast table with chairs pushed out. With three young boys, they will remain in that state for at least 15 more years... The chairs, I mean. :) Good luck with your build!
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Thanks so much for the responses; here is my reply: 1) Doh!! I will definitely swap the trash and the DW -- so the DW is where the trash is now, and vice versa. Caligirl, do you think that would be enough? 2) As to the clearance, I have outlined the island on my floor with painter's tape and the 36" seems OK but I will investigate again -- maybe when the time comes I can leave the island cabs not bolted down for a while (or put legs on them and let them be freestanding -- I love Ikea!!). That would give me a chance to live with it for a while before committing to any particular clearance. Feedback? 3) I would LOVE to put an overhang with seating on the island, and had originally planned to do so, but I just don't see how I have the clearance on that side of the island -- right now, there is 51' from the island to the low, red cabs, an overhang would add at least another 12", then I need room for people sitting AND others walking behind them. Also, I figure I need extra clearance there to minimize the amount of traffic invading my work zone. Am I overestimating that? Again maybe I will just throw a piece of plywood over the island for a while, live with those dimensions before committing to a countertop. Thanks again --
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Hello again. I have been so wrapped up in trying to find a cabinet maker that I've been slow to respond here. bmorepanic, thank you so much for all the thought you've put into this! I really appreciate it. I have been walking around the house trying to make it work the way you envisioned. I love the thought of opening it the way you've proposed... A few things. So sorry that my drawings are misleading, the access to the eating area is the same in my layout as the current layout, even with the longer island. People will still walk around the H2O and down the island by the glass to the eating. There is no interference in that case with the inside 'business' of the kitchen. I've spend a ton of time there over the last week or so trying to get your design to work because I really like the ide of having that space open. Unfortunately the only thing that's going to work is to keep the kitchen footprint where it is now. The reasons are twofold: first the plumbing issue. Second is the interference with the windows which would mean I would be putting a 36" range and 33" sink on a wall that is not too long, meaning there would be only a few feet of counter space. I was thinking I could use your idea of the range on that wall and the sink where it is now, but that seems awfully far to go from sink to range. So, i need to work within the confines of the current layout. I am just not willing to block the glass wall. I could not extend the island, but I feel like the increased counter space and lower cabinets would be really nice. Any thoughts on that? Interesting that you wrapped the counter around the pillar in the last one, I was thinking of doing that in mine as well. Also was thinking I should move the fridge more towards the windows...but then it would be away from the counter under the bulkhead. Will have to look at that wall more. Thanks so much again, this has been a really interesting few weeks just trying to visualise everything. I will take a better picture from the east side so you can see the end of the H2O and how it interacts with the counter.
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Thanks for the advice. It's been a rough week with the baby, so I've hardly had time to get on my computer. Most of my posts are made from my iphone will I'm in motion with the baby. A pass through would be fun, but we have that area in the mudroom slated for built in lockers for the kids. Those were super high on my priority list in our new house, and I cannot imagine letting go of those. :) We're going to change the mudroom door to a pocket door. I'm pretty sure that door will be open 99% of the time, but for the few times we might have someone over from whom we might need to hide bags and coats dumped all over, I think it will be nice to close it off. I think I want to keep the oven where it is because I want to keep it as far away from the traffic pattern as possible. If one of the kids wants to get something from the fridge, I'd rather not have them walk past an oven or cooktop. Definitely going to get rid of the clipped corner at the end of the cabinets. Great idea about the trash in the island across from the main sink. I think we will do that. DW will be moved. It makes sense to me especially if the trash is in the island. I was having problems figuring out trash/DW/silverware layout. (poor KD- I just told him to move it last time and now he gets to move it back!) Rhome- You brought up the microwave. I certainly use it the way you mentioned in prepping. I originally thought that it would go right next to the fridge, but then I read on a website that since MWs are left hinged that it's not best to have it on the immediate left of a fridge or wall. I keep trying to imagine a barrier on my right elbow everytime I use our current OTR MW, and I do see how it could be annoying. It's really hard to tell though. Have you ever heard of that suggestion? Thank you both so much. I know I need to draw up a better picture but I just haven't had a chance. Maybe next week when MIL is here to help. :)
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Updated Layout | Final feedback Please!

Comments (2)

Nic
Original Author

rebunky

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Updated Layout | Final feedback Please!

Comments (2)

NicOriginal Author

rebunky

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Nic
Original Author