Kitchen layout dilemma. What do you think?
We will soon be renovating our dining/kitchen, making it the kitchen! We will be opening the wall through to the formal dining, where we plan to eat all our meals (except perhaps a rushed breakfast at the kitchen island on a busy morning). Our structural engineer has given us the "OK" to remove 50% of the wall between the kitchen and dining room. We thought that having two doorways at either end of the room would work best, leaving a large wall for a calendar/memos, and a unit underneath to store school bags etc while kids do homework at the kitchen island, and for all the junk that seems to gather in the kitchen (so it's not in the cooking space).
We were inspired by this photo, with the open wall and connection to the outdoors...
But it leaves us with a dilemma. As you see in the above photo, there is no space for a dishwasher on the left of the sink. Putting it on the right would feel clumsy as we are both right handed (so naturally lift dishes with our left to scrape/rise with the right), and we would have to lean over/past the open dishwasher to get to dirty dishes that have been piled in the landing zone on the right of the sink as they come back from the dining room. It also leaves very little space to squeeze between the open dishwasher and the island, which is unfortunately only 33" wide. And if we move the sink down to accommodate a dishwasher, we are left with no landing zone for dirty dishes coming back from the dining room. We haven't been able to come up with a solution that allows us to keep the window/door. The best I have come up with is this...
And this would be the limit to how far we could move the sink, without needing to do some magic with the baby gate, which disappears into the island like a half height pocket door.
We feel like this layout works, but it seems a shame to lose the door from the kitchen, although I guess the dining room door isn't so far away.
So, can you figure a way to fit the dishwasher and a door out of the kitchen? (The Last 33 1/2 inches of the external wall can't be opened up, unfortunately.)
If not - what do you think of this layout? Would it be better to move the fridge to the sink wall in the last 33 1/2" wall space?
Comments (14)
damiarain
5 years ago
lmckuin
5 years agoRelated Discussions
First Draft: Kitchen Layout - What do YOU think?
Comments (8)put the powder room and hall closet side by side off hallway....the closet would be cool as a deeper,walk in closet with some hooks/etc. place coffee station/wine fridge, etc,[are you thinking butler pantry?..]over where you had the powder room.If you want banquette where it's shown, cut a break in cabinet run where dishwasher is and make that the back passage to back door and enclose banquette with a wall opposite table-an enclosed niche....2 benches?? I don't care for the sink/fridge wall, so redoing with a cut thru would be okay for me. where it says"coffee" would be a wall-the side of powder room or closet-do the fridge/freezer set up there.....move island up to allow clearance for it. probably remove that whole run where sink/fridge/freezer is-the back door in/out is much better there....you could put 12 in deep cabinet and counter under the one window tho for drop zone coming through from back door....purse/keys/cellphones/mail/etc.. Focus on the island next-it could be broken into 2 islands-one closer and opposite large range with sink and dishwasher for the main cook's intensive "work", and a 2nd island out to the left a bit more for seating/interaction with family room. 2 island kitchen would work and be desirable with all the appliance/serious cooking it appears will happen.For keeping one rather large island-do a main sink and then smaller prep/entertainment sink at the other end somewhere. In general-the hallway powder room and closet side by side would be better for the period home you have,allowing chance for a sort of butler's pantry between dining room and kitchen. As well, enclosing the banquette would give a chance for more authenticity and linkage to the feel of such a home and be more enjoyable without the visual of the back entryway every time you sit there. the island-whether one grand, or 2 separate is personal preference but looking at what you plan for cooking intensive hours here, I'd lean to 2 separate islands....See MoreKitchen layout, What do you think?
Comments (8)My kitchen layout has many similarities to yours. I have my one and only sink in the island and it is across from my cooktop and my ovens are in the same general area as yours are. In my kitchen the fridge is about were your doorway next to the pantry cabinet is. I find that the arrangement works very well. I truly don't mind having a joint prep and clean up area. It's so easy to get stuff from the fridge and place it on the island, prep it and then turn and cook on the stove top. Prep utensils can then go quickly into the dishwasher. I have 50 inches between my island and cooktop wall and that is more than enough room even if someone is at the sink and someone at the cooktop. I do think you should consider all drawers on your cooktop wall. That is what I have and I love being able to open the dishwasher and the drawers across from it and unload the dishes, flatware and pots into the drawers. Even with my dishwasher and/or drawers open there is room to walk through or of course one can walk around the backside of the island. My DH and I cook together in the kitchen all the time and the layout works fine for us. My island is not deep enough for seating but we have a small sitting area just beyond it. Definitely put storage on the backside of your island for items that are only used occasionally. You can never have too much storage. I think your plan could work out just fine for you. Good luck with your remodel....See MoreNewest kitchen layout. What do you think?
Comments (15)Okay - I've been thinking about this kitchen all night....LOL. The problem is how to make it function well, while maintaining the aesthetic you seem to be going for. To make this work you need to make a few changes: 1. The pantry will need to take over some of the mud rooms space so you get a nice stretch of uninterrupted counter on the bottom wall. 2. The door into the dinning room needs to be moved up the wall so people entering and exiting don't intersect the food prep area. This also aids in cleanup as they enter near the sink DW zone. As well it makes for a nicer flow from the living room to the kitchen as people will no longer have to walk around the dinning room table. 3.The fridge and ovens are now on the left wall - close to the prep area. I have also included a wall pantry space beside the oven as you will not want to enter the pantry for everything (cereal etc.) 4. Try to eliminate most of the island seating as it's a bit redundant. If you REALLY want those stools on the island, move them to the top or right side of the island. 5. Now you need to decide if you really want the stovetop on the island. You can do this and have the prep/baking on the lower wall. OR you could move the stovetop to the lower wall and have the prep on the island. Since 70% of cooking is prep I would personally prefer prepping on the island (nice view out the window)....See MoreNew Kitchen Layout - what do you think?
Comments (9)What I think is your space is a really frustrating shape with way too many doors. It has plenty of space. I'm guessing that when inspiration and aspirin failed the designer decided to just cut line and give up. 1. Is there even one door you could give up/move? 2. Do you love your laundry as is? Could you move it elsewhere? Could you shorten it back to create a vertical wall? I confess, I like the angled cabinets around the sink. Not because they're functional but because they're a special look integral to this house and tie in with all the other hypoteneuses? Hypoteni? I just looked it up--someone suggested hypoteneese. :)...See MoreMichelle misses Sophie
5 years agoM
5 years ago
Hillside House
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
PROAnglophilia
5 years agoJamie Smith
5 years agoThank you for all the comments.
To answer some questions....The wall on the left is 163".
The baby gates are for babies (but there is a possibility of getting a dog in the future).
The doorway at the bottom of the kitchen leads to the living room.
There are currently two adults who both cook, although generally not at the same time, plus one toddler, and second baby on the way in this growing family.
The fridge isn't against a wall - it has an 30" pantry and mini oven on it's left, which this angle shows a little more clearly.
I agree that the space at the sides of the counter are too narrow - especially the side with the sink. Perhaps this is why the space feels so crowded?We have opted for no upper cabinets - just a small shelf for some greenery, and to fit the task lighting (led strips) to the underside of. We are hoping this keeps the kitchen feeling open and un-cluttered.
So, once I switch the dishwasher to the right of the sink, and slide the sink closer to the corner, it opens up the space around the sink more, and allows space for a kitchen door to the outside. This seems to improve the issues of the narrow space around the sink, and the usability of the corner (prep and cleanup at the same time).
Jamie Smith
5 years ago
decoenthusiaste
5 years agoJamie Smith
5 years agodecoenthusiaste
5 years agorantontoo
5 years agoJamie Smith
5 years agoThanks all for the feedback. To make the dimensions work, I've come up with two alternatives.
This island gives us the space we need to move around, with the bonus of an extra seat, although sharing a corner isn't ideal.
If we give up on the door, we can do something like this... It lets 3 sit comfortably, plus the fridge can be moved closer to the sink, and that leaves us more space for a bigger pantry. However, the milk and cereal would then be in opposite corners (as would be the case for ingredients of most meals).
Which do you think is better option? Or, if you have a 3rd option, it would be welcome.
artistsharonva