Kitchen layout - I know you all will tear this apart, have at it!
Opening up our 50's ranch and strongly considering a gut reno of the kitchen. We already did a lipstick-on-the-pig rework about 6 years ago (new counters/floors/backsplash/refaced cabinets) but now have decided that we are going to be here for another 10-15 years and it's worth doing things right including the kitchen layout.
I'm no kitchen designer but I have lurked here for years. I know you guys know your stuff...
I was thinking that the prep zone is the fridge/sink combination, and the cook zone is the sink/stovetop area. We would do a counter depth fridge.
- top wall is exterior - all new windows out to the back yard and no uppers.
- left side is open to the not-formal dining room. We would reuse a drawer fridge/freezer combo we currently have and use constantly. Might consider an overhang in the DR for stools.
- right side faces a hallway that has a door to the backyard (loads of windows in the hallway) and leads to the master bedroom door (facing the kitchen.) Thinking of doing open shelves along there that open on both sides, blocking the view a bit while allowing the light from the hallway.
- Use the ovens a lot at our house.
- People are constantly walking through the kitchen as a passage to the master and office and the public bathroom.
Comments (19)
thinkdesignlive
5 years agoRelated Discussions
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PROAnglophilia
5 years agothinkdesignlive
5 years agoWell it seems to me you have not enough room for an island but an awful lot of room to spread the appliances out on 3 walls. I’d be inclined to look at keeping the sink and range under the windows (a lot of people say no to a range under a window but if it’s designed properly it can work)
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Then the fridge can stay where the designers put it. And the long wall on the bottom could be pantry/beverage center. In your case, I would not take down the wall between the kitchen and the living as you have all window/open area and very little wall space if that’s done. Again, I feel the island is too much of a barrier and will create a choke point not only for appliances but for entertaining. Guests like to be close to the cook but not in their way. I see a guest naturally wanting to congregate by the island if it’s there and not the peninsula. A guest will naturally use the peninsula when the cook is doing their thing without the island.thinkdesignlive
5 years agoThis is just a cooktop and sink under windows. Might then consider ovens and pantry and beverage center on long wall.
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5 years agoThat long wall could be a real work horse and house lots of things (inspiration pic like this but in your cabinet style)
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But if you have an island just 36” away and it’s a main traffic path then it becomes less functional IMO
debtex
5 years agothinkdesignlive
5 years agothinkdesignlive
5 years ago
mama goose_gw zn6OH
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI agree with thinkdesignlive about the wall to the right; keeping it will give you more options. If you move the door down, you could put tall, shallow (15") pantries on the bottom wall, and incorporate a dish hutch with bases that would be 18" deep. Then if you put the DW and sink on the peninsula, you could prep with a view of the DR and back yard. I split the trash pull-outs--garbage to the left of the cooktop, and recycling to the right. The hood is 6" wider that the cooktop, to help capture steam and grease (in the absence of upper cabinets).
I moved the peninsula so that the seating overhang is in the kitchen, but it could be moved back into the DR, if you need more space for the fridge drawers.
Appliance garages:
waverly6
5 years agodebtex
5 years agowaverly6
5 years agothinkdesignlive
5 years agomama goose_gw zn6OH
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoAs drawn, it would be ap 133"--about 11', if you have a CD fridge, but the fridge is not in the busy traffic aisle. NKBA recommended max distance between center points of large appliances is 9', so I agree that might not be an acceptable trade-off.
My work zone is an L with 9' between the center of the sink and the center of the fridge, and that's a comfortable distance for me. (I never measured the distance between them when planning--I didn't have a lot of choices for layout in my small-to-medium kitchen--we just put the fridge in the shallow recess of a former door, and it works very well with the range on the same wall. I call it a cockpit kitchen; having 9' seems to dispute that description, but having everything I need in the L makes it efficient. I kind of wish the fridge was at the end of the run, or 10.5' from the sink, because I'd like more space between it and the range. But then it would have been against a stub wall, and in full view of the front entry. If I ever re-remodel, it's going at the end, and everyone who comes in can just ignore the calendar and all the pics of the grandkids stuck on the front!) I'm not trying to talk you into anything that won't be comfortable for you, but measure 11' and see how many steps it takes to cover that distance. Then think about the distances between the fridge and sink, and fridge and cooktop in your plan, and walking around the island to cover those distances.
Adding this, so you don't have to scroll between posts:
You could still have the fridge on the bottom wall, with an open counter to the right.
I missed the link with the current kitchen, until this morning when I saw your last comment. I remember the pivoting bar! So cool! I loved the former stainless worktable--I almost suggested a rolling worktable, which would fit under the counter of the dish hutch when not in use, but when in use in the center of the kitchen, it would be a barrier between the sink and fridge. I don't recall if I ever saw the thread with your remodeled kitchen, but it is beautiful, and I'm sure the new kitchen will be beautiful, too.
ETA, I wouldn't put the cooktop on the peninsula.
thinkdesignlive
5 years agoI think if the U was more compact then I would put the sink in the peninsula. But with meal prep and the foot path from sink to fridge would be cumbersome to me. A lot of social chefs like the cook top by their guests - just depends what type you are.
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5 years agolast modified: 5 years agodebtex
5 years agoThat's very nice of you all to say about the current kitchen, and now of course I'm questioning whether we should just keep it as-is...because honestly we get a lot of compliments on it! Maybe we can re-use the materials, I'm definitely considering whether that's possible.
OK, here's my latest based on the comments and suggestions.
- I actually don't mind having the fridge and ovens along the bottom wall, it's been fine so I'm leaving them there. I need to fill in that run, but I was thinking Drinks, cabinet, ovens, pantry, fridge, pantry. (We LOVE pantry storage.)- What I hate in my current kitchen is the barrier island, so moving the cooktop is really the biggest improvement I can make.
- It would be nice to not make major changes to the exterior of the house, so this keeps the windows where they are, just replacing the long ones with shorter ones.
- the run on the left is seating counter + 15" deep lowers. IKEA planner doesn't want me to put one in that corner but I would probably do one facing the other way....
Thoughts?
raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
5 years ago
debtexOriginal Author