Don’t waste $1 on that dysfunctional mess. Spending your money there would be way smarter than a family room. That’s a distinct turnoff, even if you cover it in 10K worth of premium stone. Which would be cray cray to even contemplate. You might as well just set that money on fire. But, it would be better spent on IKEA and laminate than anything else.

I second live wire’s sentiment.

normally I'm not one to agree with negative advice, but I'm with live wire. that's a terrible layout not worth a surface upgrade. you were on board with renovation before, so just wait until you can do it properly.

that kitchen is huge. I'll bet if you rearranged the layout and moved the peninsula, you could add barstools if you wanted.

That's a super weird layout. I have to agree to just WAIT on anything expensive until you can do it all.

Tile is very practical and it looks to be in okay shape. To warm up the place, how about using the Taj Mahal as the current backsplash (color check required, of course!). It'll be cheaper (and less tragic when you redo the kitchen properly) and still warm the place up. You might be able to get remnants. You don't really want to commit to that kitchen do you?

There aren't great downdrafts, especially for gas. If you're willing to go electric, induction would be the best choice. You'd get a separate popup downdraft.

I agree too this is a mess and IMO more important than a redo of the family room that kitchen needs a good kitchen designer to get the most out of a large space that is really disfunctional right now. If you post a to scale floor plan of the kitchen you might get some very helpful ideas here for free.

C'mon now folks, it's not bad at all. I see a bright white kitchen with beautiful wood floors. I do agree, don't put much money in the countertop if it's only a short term thing even if short term is five years. Take a look at laminates, they are beautiful now. Wilsonart has a ton of options. Save money on the countertop and put it in the backsplash.

taj majal??? your'e going to spend 6K and put Taj Majal in there? nope.

please listen to what everyone else is telling you. Wait. Wait until you can do the entire thing.

The layout is pretty bad. the cabs are dated, the peninsula is just weird, and that overhead light,,all bad. Taj Majal is the proverbial lipstick on a pig in this case. don't waste 6K. You could have a beautiful space if you wait and do everything correctly.

Honestly? the tile countertops are the least of your worries.

Thank you for the tough love...we've gotten used to it. I think we're in an abusive relationship with our kitchen!!! Sigh, to do it right, we need to tear down the big old brick chimney that is inside the wall at the end of that peninsula. The chimney is not needed anymore. Once that is out we could use that entire wall -- put range and sink there -- and reclaim 2 feet of space in the kitchen width. We could then have a 6 to 9' long island down the middle of the kitchen, perpendicular to where the peninsula is now. But that also means we are affecting our living room fireplace & large hearth on the other side of the chimney, and of course the roof where there is stone on the top of the chimney....

it's not bad at all? did you not notice how you have to walk all the way around that giant island to get from the stove to the sink? that is a whole lotta nope from me.

I wouldn't go so far as to say dysfunctional (aside from the ventilation which has been described as such).

It might actually perform well. It sure does have zones!

If you post the layout (with measurements), you may get a suggestion or two that doesn't require all the expense of tearing out the fireplace.

This is a fascinating layout. Definitely has specific zones. Can we see what’s on the other wall? Or a layout. Even if you just took out the peninsula and didn’t tear out that area (which is what I assume you meant about the chimney) you might he able to design something that isn’t a full remodel but would function better.

I'm working on a layout for you all! This is awesome to get feedback. Here are 2 other photos so you can see that we have lots of doors and also staircases that limit the use of space.

what a great space. man, if I had that, I'd splurge and do an entire kitchen makeover. you plan on being in the house at least 10 years? Totally worth it then. I mean, it doesn't have to cost 80K, but I'd have 25-35 put aside for it. This way you could incorporate the entire room with custom cabinets.

The layout with measurements. Any advice is appreciated! We will spend the $. Hope you can read the measurements..

This kitchen is designed for two! One to staff the sink side, and one to staff the stove and ovens.

For now? I'd get rid of the mini curtains on the window.

I would just remove the peninsula...put in an island ....move sink and stove onto island ....do nothing in front of the fireplace wall ....looks like the island could be long enough to have some seating at the end....

Exposing the chimney brick and painting it could be a feature wall if it is do- able...

Taking down a chimney isn’t that hard. Just sweaty and makes for callouses. You start at the top and work down . Thats an easy way to contribute DIY labor and lower your costs.

Thank you -- there are larger stones affixed on top of the chimney and the roof is clay tile -- they indicated they'd need a fair amount of work to get it down. BUT thanks to all of you I am realizing that would be worth it for us. We didn't want the cooktop and the sink in our island, so taking out the chimney is the way to go. Just need darned COVID to end so that we can get out of the house and let workers rip it apart!

Re the chimney - how old is the house and how many stories? In older houses sometimes the structure was (inadvisedly) tied into the chimney, making it hard or impossible to remove.

Is the chimney intact? How many flues does it have? Would it be possible to route a range exhaust duct up it? Why is it so wide?

I'm assuming that the chimney was part of the original house, which is over 100 years old. They rebuilt the house in 1992 and put in a gas insert at some point before we bought the house in desperation in 2014. The large brick foundation of the chimney is accessible under the house in the larger crawlspace, it is 6' wide or more and very thick but I have no idea why it is so wide. It all looks intact. The fireplace hearth and surround in the living room takes up way too much space in the small room so we'd be happy to get rid of that side too and reclaim space in the living room. The chimney goes through the main living level, upstairs bedroom behind the wall where it is only a few feet wide, and a little bit of attic before going out the roof. We did have a contractor and a chimney person look at it and they said it would take about 3 men and 3 days to dismantle it.

We lived thru a kitchen reno while in the house. Set up a makeshift kitchen outside or downstairs or even in the garage and you'll have a ton of stories to tell down the road. Don't let covid stop you! lol My kids still talk about washing dishes in the powder room sink and all the microwave and crock pot dinners.

I would also explore the brick as suggested. It could become a Pandoras box being so old or it could become an amazing feature in the kitchen. It might be easier to flop the kitchen and shorten the windows up to counter height in your eating area rather than deal with the brick.

Wondering also if it's possible to open up the brick chimney from the kitchen side and recess the range in there, and vent the gas insert fireplace and the range cooktop up the existing chimney? (We'd keep our wall ovens.)

But we're also in northern California, earthquake country, and it's been noted that having a brick & stone chimney is not the best thing. The house was rebuilt after the big quake in 1989 so the foundation is bolted but nothing was done with the brick chimney.

A recessed range would be AMAZING! I can understand your concerns about earthquakes however maybe it's more cost effective to reinforce the chimney rather than remove...? Unfortunately you won't really know until you open up the wall.

the chimney is a big can of worms.. the quotes for removing it may seem small but ..the potential for serious unknown problems are big..having stove and/or sink in the island are a plus in many cases..and almost the only practical solution in your case... just being able to have open access all around the island will change your life

If not through the chimney, is there another way to vent a range hood? It looks like you have a lack of exterior walls in the kitchen.

Is there a crawl space or basement underneath for accessing and moving plumbing, electrical, and gas?

Correct, we do not have exterior walls except for the 1 wall with windows. There is easily accessible space under the house, maybe 5 feet high. Attached is my least obtrusive idea -- moving the sink and dishwasher, cooktop on island, not removing the chimney. Hopefully we could put a range hood up there and vent it out over the windows, but that would be a long way to go.

Any decision yet?

Do you truly need your breakfast room or could you use your dining room and, eventually, a new island bar or peninsula as in-kitchen eating area?

Budget permitting, when you do rebuild your kitchen, seriously consider rebuilding your kitchen in the breakfast/table window wall end of your room with your stove and sink against that wall, perhaps opening up the wall between kitchen and dining as your rebuild your island/bar adjacent to the dining room to let natural light into the kitchen from the other end.

Since you have a basement space you can install a downdraft stove....

You might consider changing your cook top and using an unvented stove hood to enable you to move your stove top to where you want it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=unvented+stove+hood&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiewMmEn4nqAhUiSjABHYyiCqIQsxh6BAgOEC4&biw=1349&bih=648

Just got the chimney removal estimate -- $10,600 to remove it down to the hearth and pour a new concrete base. This does not include buying and installing a new gas fireplace insert which they said is apprrox $4,500. The gas fireplace insert would be centered in that space as would the cooktop that we want to install in that space. That would require us to bump out the range into the kitchen space, which would mess up the plans for a long straight island. Anyhow, I stopped listening after hearing a number that started with TEN THOUSAND.

I think Design Girl has the right idea with flipping the space to your current eating area. Shorten those windows and add your main counter there. Also do you need wall ovens? We went with a beautiful gas range and I found it's more than enough. I think first and foremost though is to have your cabinet designer over to come up with a plan that doesn't involve removing the chimney-- that is a CRAZY estimate. I'm sorry because I bet you're bummed. BUT this could really be something amazing opening up that wall and exposing the brick.. You could even paint it like the last photo..?

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Bummer, but looking at your photos again, what is the space beyond the kitchen where there seems to be a room with a couple of windows and a french door - it is not identified on your scale floor plan.

Hi, the doors at the end of the kitchen by the window open to the end of our rectangular living room. B/c we use the formal dining room like a little family room, we have our dining table at the end of the living room. It is a mess now with my work at home set up! We spend a LOT of time at the table in the kitchen with all meals and the kids do homework. We like to look outside while we eat, and the Christmas tree goes in front of those french doors and I look forward to that each year when I can sit at the kitchen table and see the Christmas tree. When we have larger gatherings the kids are at the table in the kitchen and the adults are aligned at the teak table in the living room.

Could/would you use an island with seating for casual meals/kids homework instead of a kitchen table?

For various reasons, including knees and backs, we are very unlikely to sit at the island for whole meals.

I posted our current idea above on the grid paper. We could also put the sink and D/W where the wall ovens are now and put the cooktop toward that end of the island. We mocked it up and the island can be 9' long max. We use the 2 wall ovens a lot and b/c of bad back do not want an oven under the range

I was looking at your original footprint on graph paper of the current kitchen as is. There seems to be a room behind what you labeled "cupboards" that has 2 windows and some french doors. What is that space. When I mentioned shortening the windows where the kitchen table currently is, it would not block the doorway into the room with the table, but would move the table to the current location of the "cupboards". You'd be able to put the sink and cabinetry below those windows while still having access to the dining table through that doorway. You would however not have an outside view if moving the table. So my question is "What is the room/space behind the wall marked "cupboards" - behind the wall that is parallel to the current large peninsula.

If, like most of us, you're on a budget, consider an alternative to a total rip out and replace.

It is, after all, mostly where the peninsula is located that is not good - not that you have a peninsula or that the look of the cabinets is a real issue.

Take some measurements and, with your grid paper, see if you could move the peninsula base cabinets toward the dining part of the room where the microwave cabinet and the base cabinet with countertop that is left of it are now located. Then put the microwave base cabinet and the base cabinet that is now to the left of that where the peninsula was.

When you replace the countertop for the peninsula, put both the sink and the stove top on the kitchen side of the peninsula. You may need to rework the innards of the base cabinet to make room for the stove top instead of a drawer but you can reuse most if not all your cabinets and doors and drawers.

There may still be some inconvenient spacing between the row of cabinets against the back left wall and the closest cabinet, but if there is a walk space issue, put some wheels on the single door base cabinet (with countertop now left of the microwave cabinet) and park it elsewhere.

Sorry Design Girl I think I misunderstood your previous question. That room is the prettiest room in the house, which is wasted currently. It is the only room where we can look at our pretty back yard. It is supposed to be a formal dining room with french doors onto a small deck, beautiful inlaid wood floors in a long octagonal shape to go around a dining table and the ceiling is tiered/coffered (I don't know the word) with a hanging pendant light in the middle. We use it as a small family room but we are rarely in there b/c it is just the TV and no one watches TV at my house. The other end of this room opens through double doors to our front foyer. The doors to the kitchen are over to the right of this photo. I would like a way to incorporate this room into our lives more, though we are told that we need to keep the load-bearing wall where the cupboards are now.

Although I'm not normally a fan of a cooktop in an island, if you don't plan to put seating there, I think your layout above that moves the sink and dishwasher to the back wall and leaves the chimney intact could be a good compromise.

Ok, I understand. My reason for asking was it seems like you want to keep your kitchen table in it's current location, so I was wondering if you could expand in the other direction into this room. Now I know that there is a load bearing wall (which could come down much cheaper than the chimney) but I get that it's a special place. Just trying to explore all options.

Thanks all! I'm realizing that if I do my compromise plan as above, I can't open up into the pretty room b/c I won't have enough space BUT if I"m at the sink I can see outside to the front yard and to the back yard, which is nice.

You should be able to open that wall with a cased opening. I was also looking at your compromise plan which I think looks pretty good, but can you get the refrigerator on the side where the wall oven is. That would give you a pretty good work triangle, even if it meant putting the wall oven over where the fridge is now.