Week 172 - What kitchen design do you dislike? Why

6 years ago

There's quite a few popular designs that I dislike upon further investigation such as those 3" spice pullout either above or below a counter. They seem so cool but try and read the spice bottles while you are 6" off the ground or climbing a ladder to see them, it's not so functional after all.

My least favorite however has to be the batwing island. I lived with this design for 18 years and cursing it every day. you really have no counter space to work with. Your sink only allows one person to be there. Water splashes over anyone trying to talk to you from the other side. You have to shift completely to the other side of the kitchen to open the door to either side of the batwing cabinets.

The wings block anyone from entering the work zone especially if your refrigerator is at one end and your pantry is at the other. The side of the wing also block the rangetop as well in a typical layout.

What kitchen design have you experienced or seen that you dislike intensely and why? Save the rest of us from making those mistakes.

Featured Answer

User

6 years ago

I dislike open shelving. Seems to me to be a dirt catcher especially the items on the top most shelf. And you need a ladder to access what is up there . . . so how often do you use it -- I like function over form!

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Comments (139)

Fori
6 years ago
I have one yucky sink cabinet and one nice one. It's not terribly yucky, but it's where a lot of cleaning supplies and dish detergent etc. are stored so it's soapy sticky.

You could eat out of my prep sink cabinet. (Please don't.)
beachem
Original Author
6 years ago
@Missy & Chicagoans. Yep that's my batwing island except I had a 36" sink the middle and 18" of counter on either side. However, we had the dish drainer on one side and prep on the other side. That was our only prepping zone. The sides of the island was blocked by a fridge and the stove respectively. Next to the stove was the pantry. So if you're cooking, no one can enter the work zone. The double ovens were next to the fridge so if you're baking or using the oven, you can't use the sink and you don't have counter space because the dish drainer is right there.

I had 4 brothers, they were always standing in front of the open fridge and my dad was always cooking. I had to cook at 11PM at night after coming home from work.

I put a trash can under the sink so we'll see how it works for me. I dislike having a separate trash can. Someone always tripped over it in our kitchen since it was placed right in front of the island and we had to wait our turns to walk around the island to throw trash away.
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bpath
6 years ago
I've had and dislike any layout that has the cooktop not sharing a countertop with the sink and dishwasher. I clean as I go, and don't want to swivel from one side of the kitchen to the opposite side. I LIKE an L, with cooktop and sink on the two legs, and the dishwasher in the other side of the sink.

I dislike too much distance between kitchen elements. I like a fairly tight arrangement. And I find I move more from fridge to countertop/dishes, multiple times a day, than fridge to cooking prep usually at dinner, minimally at breakfast/lunch.
Candace Bailie
6 years ago
A couple of years ago I bought a beautiful stainless trash can, the kind with the pedal you step on to raise the lid, and put it in an empty spot that seemed made for it. BUT, with my super shiny wood floors, the thing kept walking all over the kitchen, even when I made little foam feet for it. So disappointing. One night while staring into my pantry I came up with the idea to remove the lower shelf and put the can in there. It left enough room to step on the pedal and raise the lid. It works for me since the lid prevents any odors from forming. Voila!
palimpsest
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Honestly growing up even the insides of our actual garbage cans were clean. There were bags held in the can with a strap and the bag with the garbage in it went inside that. Nothing really touched the inside of the can except by accident. And it was my job to periodically scrub them too.

But I also cleaned the garage floor and then the cleaning lady would mop it and vacuum the rugs. (I also washed the pinch pleat sheers in the garage once a year). The current owners still have them. It was all a bit much but it fit into a routine.
javiwa
6 years ago
palimpsest: We grew up similarly, with clean garbage cans and mopped garage floors. To this day, my 85 y/o mom still religiously sprays/rinses the cans after the collectors have made their run. And not a single July 5 passed without her scrubbing clean all the fireworks residue from the night before. A different time.
mama goose_gw zn6OH
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I love my trash pull-out! It has a partial shelf above, with a pull-out basket where I keep rolls of foil and extra plastic bags. Maybe it would be different if I kept food stuffs, or silverware above, but seriously, you could eat out of my trashcan. Everyone knows that potentially smelly, runny, icky stuff goes in the covered can outside the mudroom door, and the inside can always has a fitted plastic trash bag liner. We compost, and the only peelings that go in the inside trash can are citrus fruit peels, because they smell so good!

I think I've posted this before, but when I had electrical outlets moved, the trash can was in use, but at that time the countertop consisted of a board laid across the cabinets. When the electrician finished, he asked where the trash was, so that he could throw away some debris. He had no clue he'd been working above it.

ETA, garbage cans that go to the curb are also clean, but spiders like to hide in the handle recesses.
freeoscar
6 years ago
I hate cooktops on an island, but I loathe ranges on an island even more. Both belong on a wall.

I dislike counter depth french door fridges - they are a very inefficient use of space. Because of all the insulation and sealing needed on the doors, you can hardly fit anything on the doors. And then you have have to always open both to get stuff. Love my old fashioned bottom freezer regular depth fridge. It fits a ton in there, and it was pretty inexpensive to boot!

Hate shallow sinks.

And while I don't mind the white shaker cabinet look, I'm so sick of seeing them everywhere that I throw up a little when I see yet another one.

Dislike different color lowers and uppers.

Dislike open shelving, or even glass cabinets (that are meant to hold everyday stuff). They look good in pictures when staged, but in real life they're just a mess. Same reason my clothes are either in drawers or behind a closet door - sure, if everything is stacked perfectly like in a high end boutique my clothes would look great exposed, but that's not real life.
Twosit4me
6 years ago
palimpsest , Sheers in the garage cracks me up, but I bet it looked great from the outside. I shudder to think what they would look like in my garage.
palimpsest
6 years ago
Yes the windows that faced the street were the living room and the garage so the garage got the same treatment. At one time shutters were considered for the garage but it was decided it was easier to periodically wash and hang polyester sheers than it would be to keep a bunch of louvers clean.
aprilneverends
6 years ago
Several observations:

a) I like this thread

b) I'm an easy going person when it comes to kitchens or so it appears

c) remember I told you about the strange island? the bat wing island some showed here-is a beautiful geometrical figure, in comparison to that one. You can describe it at least. Have a name for it. That awful thing we saw probably would have a name if one understands in multivariables or something. But overall-yes, don't plop an island for the sake of plopping an island. Either one can fit it easily or should drop the idea.

d) my family thinks I'm obsessed with tidyness but they didn't meet my Grandma. They don't know how real clean looks like.

and e) Fori, can I borrow a relevant disaster ongoing? Can't stop thinking about. LOL.
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
aprilneverends, your comment made me revisit Fori is starting to get annoyed again's comment...

Fori, I totally agree with you and would like to add those to my list of likes/dislikes:

I have cabinets over a peninsula now - only really good thing about my current kitchen. They are high and one can easily see the other side.

Wholeheartedly agree on not having a tv in the kitchen, but that's because when I cook I need to concentrate on what I'm doing... unless there's an ongoing major disaster.

"If I can still find the fridge, it ain't done right! :)" Fori, I'm sick as a dog today with the flu and should get back in bed, but your comment made me laugh so hard! Thanks for brightening an otherwise not-so-great day :-)

ETA: Somebody shoot me if I ever put sheers in the garage... nevermind, DH would handle that task ;-)
AnnKH
6 years ago
- Cabinets that don't go to an 8-foot ceiling
- cooktops in an island (or anywhere with no hood)
- lack of drawers
- kitchens so spread out they should come with roller skates
- 3 eating areas (dining table, island, breakfast nook) within 10 feet of each other
palimpsest
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I suppose white shutters would look equivalent, but to have nothing would be terrible on the street facade. The sheers just made it look like the rest of the first floor.
Toronto Veterinarian
6 years ago
"I hate cooktops on an island, but I loathe ranges on an island even more. Both belong on a wall."

I'm wondering why you hate a range in an island even more......Just curious since I would think that with them both being a cooking appliances and both having the same surface appearance (i.e. the cooktop), that one wouldn't be worse to you than the other. Just curious.
kidshop
6 years ago
I don't like appliances next to each other, mostly an oven next to a refrigerator. I do not like a microwave out on the counter. I would take over the range any day over that. I have seen very expensive homes, fully remodeled with a microwave sitting out like an afterthought. If you use one, find a place for it when you redo the kitchen!
bpath
6 years ago
Diversions, I wish my neighbors across the street would put the sheers BACK in their garage. The window faces my house, and when they pull in the headlights are like a spotlight through my front door and kitchen. The sheers at least made it not so glaring.
Elizabeth M
6 years ago
I don't have a preference on trash cans. We had 2 houses with the trash hidden under a cabinet and I thought it stayed pretty clean and did not generally smell.

As far as design dislikes, I really dislike over the range microwaves. I understand some people absolutely need them in some instances, but I just have not enjoyed having a microwave in my face when cooking. It feels very utilitarian to me.
artemis_ma
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Kidshop, i love having my MW on the counter. Perfect height for me. And it works fine, seems wasteful to ditch it for a built-in. I also keep my coffee maker and sodaStream on the counter, too.
jhmarie
6 years ago
I also am not fond of the over the range microwave, but understand the need at times. My microwave is actually on a cart:) It was on a microwave shelf in an upper cabinet, but I am short and got tired of standing on a step to clean it or when lifting anything heavy up and into it. The cart is an old fashion way to deal with it, but it is out of my way, and the cart has a pull out shelf if I need extra landing space.

If I was doing a new kitchen, I would do something like this or put it over a wall oven, but lower than it was previously:
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I don't like any angles except 90 degree ones so layouts that aren't squared off won't ever be my kitchen.
zorroslw1
6 years ago
I don't like stoves at the end of a run. They NEED a landing space on both sides. Toe kick drawers, what good are they? Really stupid! You can't store much of anything and who wants to crawl on the floor to get anything out or back in? Open shelving, grease and dust collectors. Upper cabinets sitting on the counter, why? Anything in the island, sinks and stoves belong along the counter, islands are prep or eating spaces. Chandeliers do not belong in a kitchen (or a bathroom).
Annette Holbrook(z7a)
6 years ago
Making wine storage fillers. Usually they are beside an apppliance like a dishwasher or above the fridge, which is way too warm to keep wine for more than a day!
friedajune
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
While I am not a fan of a panelled refrigerator for my own kitchen, I understand when people want to have their fridge blend with their cabinetry. What I can’t stand is the panelled fridge with its dispenser, trim, and hinges showing, and not flush with the other cabinets. IMO, it looks much worse than not paneling at all. If you are going to spend the substantial additional money on a fridge that accepts paneling, and the panels themselves, then buy a fully-integrated model, so that it truly blends. Or, just allow your fridge, which is in your kitchen after all, to look like a fridge. But not like this:
Miranda33
6 years ago
Friedajune - that 1st pic LOL!
bossyvossy
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
So batwing island is same as ‘L’ shaped?

Not for me:

trash under sink

open shelving or cubbies

super fancy kitchen that doesn’t match rest of simpler home
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
palimpsest, bpathome: I stand corrected. Yes, if the garage windows face outward, I agree, they should match the other window coverings. bpathhome, now that you mention it, we have the same problem here! You know, I never should have said ‘never’ because I do have the same mini blinds in our garage as the front or our home... and they collect dust like nobody's business, but they match on the outside.
vinmarks
6 years ago
Stacked appliances. The microwave is way to high. Even on tip toes this 4ft 11 in. gal could barely get things out. You basically had to lay on the floor to see anything in the bottom oven.
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
Oh. My. That bottom-most oven. Not desirable!
AboutToGetDusty
6 years ago
I keep seeing sinks in the island with the range on the main line of cabinetry...how the heck are people supposed to carry heavy, large pots of water across the open space without burning themselves or dropping the pot? So that's my big design pet peeve. I guess if you don't cook, no big deal.
User
6 years ago
Just about everything I dislike design wise has been listed.

The only thing I can think to add are ranges that have space between the range top and adjoining counters, where every spill runs down the side of the range into the inaccessible netherworld between cabs and range, arrgh....
javiwa
6 years ago
AboutToGetDusty: Our configuration is the opposite, with cooktop on the island and sink on main run (no feasible options to rearrange). Cooktop and sink are directly across each other, separated by a 45" aisle. 26+ years of home cooking, and never an issue as it's a quick pivot to go from heat to water -- no dropped pots, scalded children, burns, etc. :)
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
"how the heck are people supposed to carry heavy, large pots of water across the open space without burning themselves or dropping the pot?"

Lifting and carrying a heavy pot over a countertop to a sink is just as difficult and hazardous. I empty the contents on the cooktop if it's a soup or something along those lines... if it's pasta water, I let it cool, and then carry it to the sink... I may have DH rig up a pulley system... just kidding!
javiwa
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I may have DH rig up a pulley system... OMG, 2Many, that you put that into the ether means MY DH will have caught wind somehow! ;) If he even utters the word pulley in any context within the next month, I'm blaming you! :p
Toronto Veterinarian
6 years ago
"I keep seeing sinks in the island with the range on the main line of
cabinetry...how the heck are people supposed to carry heavy, large pots
of water across the open space without burning themselves or dropping
the pot?"

Ummm......by carrying it? The "open space" is really just a pivot and a step - maybe 3'. Maybe I'm stronger than some (and I know I'm stronger than I will be in the future), but I just don't see it is a problem. Mine is the opposite set up with the range in the island and the sink against the wall, but I really don't have a problem. I regularly make 5L pots of tea (with which I make iced tea), and I carry it to the sink and pour it into pitchers - a 3' walk with maybe 15 lbs. It's not an issue, and no one has ever been scalded in the process. If I become weaker, then I'll ladle it out on the stove top.
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Well, Toronto Veterinarian, I think you should do what javiwa and I are doing... a pulley system in your kitchen! ; -)

Not really sure what's going on here, but we all could use this as a starting point... I think this might be the latest trend in function! Or not.
Photos for uploading · More Info

Add this to the above (gawd that's a big sink)
JPW12910-Heavy-Duty-Cray-Pot-Hauler-Lifter-2.jpg (725×495) · More Info
Toss in some complicated plans...

Photos for uploading · More Info
or not...

hqdefault.jpg (480×360) · More Info
Et Voila! Never have to carry another heavy pot again : - )
AboutToGetDusty
6 years ago
Toronto, I'm not talking about 5L of tea! I'm talking about very large pots of boiling water and pasta - way, way bigger and heavier. It's much easier to "drag" over the pot when there is a connecting countertop between the stove and sink.
javiwa
6 years ago
Correction: what Mr. Javiwa might be doing! -_- That pulley system pic is actually not too far a stretch from what our garage currently looks like. DH has hoisted all the non-essentials upward in order to make room for his new toys...errrm, tools. j/k (sorta!) -- I'm grateful for DH's desire and talent to/for fashioning any and all drawer dividers I'll be requesting.

Going to steal the spice insert design from the "love" thread that Lee Valley is charging $43.50 for! (OMG -- Isn't UV-resistant just a bit overkill for something sitting inside a drawer?!)
javiwa
6 years ago
OK, I really should contribute properly and answer beachem's original prompt. ;)

I greatly dislike those fake panels where a drawer should have been installed -- what a waste of good storage (there was nothing but empty space and cobwebs back there!):

...since remedied:
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
I know I got OT with humor, but reading the words "I hate", as opposed to 'not fond of' or 'don't like' or 'dislike' was starting to get tiresome - and yeah, I realize it's all pretty much the same thing. I'm not sensitive, I just thought some levity would be nice, and to be specific, AboutToGetDusty, this was not aimed at you, and yes, you did raise a good point. Heavy pots for us older folks aren't fun to carry anywhere, especially filled with hot water. I just don't see a good way around it... I can't drag mine across the counter without hurting the counter, but I can do 'rest stops' with hot pads : - ) And I ain't that old!

javiwa DH is also going to build my dividers, or I will. Custom beats overpriced! Also, DH has his 'goodies' lifted in the garage. Maybe they should meet... OTOH, maybe they really shouldn't!
Russ Barnard
6 years ago
Okay, I am still reading this looooong thread but.. lol

It might have been easier to state what one DID like vs did NOT like in a couple posts.. laugh!

Most people do not like my island.. I love it. I set everything out on it before I start cooking and by God, I have room to spare.. heh. The words, "I wish I had more counter space" never leave my lips.. heh

BUT.. I too cannot see the point in a spice pull-out. I prefer the top drawer being a spice rack. They all lay down and the bottles are facing me when I open it so I know what to pick.

Not a fan of kitchens made for "show"Lastly, the biggest thing I do not care for is a kitchen without a view of outside....seems too lonely. heh

I HAVE seen ones that were beautiful though..hrm, I remember a yellow kitchen, if I am right, TexasBelle or something ? That was a pretty kitchen, but it has been a while so I could be wrong if it was her :P

Russ
javiwa
6 years ago
Russ: I have a feeling everyone would hate my island, too (nicknamed: The Rule Breaker)...which is why I do my darndest not to ruffle feathers by posting a pic. :) I don't mind it a bit, but I'm trying to keep the peace/calm.
barncatz
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Continued OT

A few summers ago we bought a used hay elevator -

My google image search for hay elevator- and to store it, DH hoisted it up over the piled hay in the shed via a pulley method that resembled 2Many's complicated plans and is a major concussion risk. We definitely don't want our riggers to meet.

2Many, when I first read that you handled heavy soup pots by emptying the contents on the stovetop, I read it as "onto the stovetop"!
javiwa
6 years ago
Sigh...our 20' extension ladder similarly hovers in our garage: I hold my breath every time I pass underneath. Must say, that cray pot hauler caught my eye. :)
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
"onto the stovetop" Well, yes, that too : - /

Uh, Russ, you are a week late, sir... : - ) [Week 173 - Kitchen design ideas that you love. Why?[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/week-173-kitchen-design-ideas-that-you-love-why-dsvw-vd~5104095?n=49)
Russ Barnard
6 years ago
Aw.. it was closer to the top..lol.I'll catch up when I get home! :P

R
Kendrah
6 years ago
Permanent built in wood drawer dividers. (all it will take is one mouse)

I'm about to get built in wood drawer dividers. Not sure I understand the mouse reference. Perhaps my mind is just not imaginative enough. Can't a mouse walk, eat, poop, and die anywhere in your kitchen?
Margaret Schultz
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
kidshop says: I have seen very expensive homes, fully remodeled with a microwave sitting out like an afterthought.

omg YES. I have a friend, who bought a house, (beautiful old early 1900's dutch colonial) did an extensive remo on the entire thing, had a sub-zero and a wolf range in the kitchen AND.... microwave on the counter. I told him that was a mistake. He acknowledged it. He had lived in older places for so long, he was used to a micro on the counter. Never crossed his mind that it needed a better home in his new kitchen.
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
I think what one puts on a counter is sometimes a reflection of what is used often. We'll have a sub-zero, and all our appliances (except the range of course) will be cabinetry, and while the microwave will go in an upper garage, the toaster convection steam oven won't. I will use it daily, and I've no room to add extra storage for it. Also, the mixer is used daily as well, and most likely rather than put it away, I'm considering leaving it out as well. While I like continuity in a well designed, well styled kitchen, sometimes function just comes first.
functionthenlook
6 years ago
I agree what use is a kitchen if it does function for your personal lifestyle first.

Week 172 - What kitchen design do you dislike? Why

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beachem
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