Advice on renovating a tiny 8'9 x 8'3 kitchen in a 150 year old home!
Everton Media
3 years ago
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roccouple
3 years agoEverton Media
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Seeking advice on 1915 foursquare kitchen renovation
Comments (14)Thank you so much for all the comments! In answer to the questions, - We have thought about a prep sink, and plumbing anywhere is straightforward because we're over a basement. But we have a second house with a similar setup and a prep sink, and we never use the prep sink, it just gets in the way. We are thinking about adding an undermount prep sink that could be covered up with a cutting board if we wanted to. - Unfortunately, we're pretty limited to the space we have. The original footprint of our house has 100 year old heart pine floors throughout and our historic district regulations wouldn't allow a massive reconfiguring. We don't mind the space limitations, we're an old house people, just want to be sure what we have is well planned-out. - We have seen what the brick looks like and it's great. The chimney was originally exposed in the kitchen of the original house and the former owners covered it with a soffit when they remodeled the kitchen. - I know there is no space on the left side of the range, but if we get the 48" range, I would have a griddle on the left hand side, and the griddle cover would serve as a staging area. That said, not having a staging area on that side (esp. because I'm right handed!) is a big concern. This has given me plenty of food for thought. I'm going to think today about putting a second oven in on the window wall. dyhgarden - I also like your idea. It would make a lot of sense to have the range on the window wall, and we could definitely add a second window instead of widening the window (window work can't be done until next year anyway so we have plenty of time to adjust the plan). I'm worried the range would be in the way on that wall, though. But I think I'm a little scarred by having a cooktop peninsula on the hallway side that forces a bottleneck in that walkway. Here's a larger layout with hopefully readable dimensions:...See Morekitchen style for bi-level (raised ranch) house ? advice wanted
Comments (19)OK, here are some options. [Note: Door & stair opening/landing measurements were taken from your older post.] BTW...is the Living Room wall a true, completely enclosed wall or is it partially open (like a pass-through or with spindles interspersed for the entire length of the wall)? I wasn't sure b/c it was not "filled in" like the other walls. On the off chance the wall is not solid, I created solid walls in some of the layouts -- if the wall is already solid, then no need to build one out. ++++++++++ All but two layouts have the refrigerator in the same place -- the bottom right -- to accommodate a table. The only ones that have the refrigerator elsewhere have banquette seating; not my favorite for the only table seating, but it's an option. The banquette is the only way the refrigerator can realistically fit anywhere else than along the far right wall, assuming you want decent aisles, that is! Note that I mixed things up. I did this to show you what options you have. In many cases, you can "mix & match", just be sure you keep decent aisles, a fairly open space around the door, and at least two Prep Zones, preferably with water next to both of them. If you have a question as to whether some options can be mixed, just ask! I'll work it up to show you yes or no. Walls...Note that while I did not modify the 4'5" wall (bottom right), I did modify the left side a bit in most cases, some more than others. Hopefully, you can modify that wall b/c it's one of the biggest reasons you have such a traffic jam -- it forces people to go into the middle of the room to go from the exterior door on the left to the rest of the home. One last thing, the Cooking Zone (with the range) should be the most protected Zone from traffic -- so if traffic is directed away from it or it's in a "dead end" area, it will work better. ++++++++++ Layout #1: Long "L" with China "hutch" for storing your good chin as well as a buffet for staging/serving food. There are three variations; all three share the same Work Zone Map, so only Zone map is included. Layout #1a has a shallow built-in pantry with 12"D shelves floor-to-ceiling. It still has two 24" pantry cabinets. I'm actually not a fan of pantry cabinets this wide and originally put in three 18" wide pullout pantries, but they didn't quite fit b/w the wall and window (you need some filler b/w the wall and the first pantry cabinet). Two didn't provide enough "buffer" to the door. Layout #1b has a tall cabinet with a MW alcove. See a later layout with two 18" pantries & a 12" Utility pullout. What I think is best, is a reach-in pantry (Layout 1a) or shallow pantry cabinets (Layout 3). ++++++++++ Layout #2: Similar to Layout #1 except it has two sinks -- one where the current one is as a prep sink and one in the old Dining Room for Cleanup. This provides two or three very nice Prep Zones -- all with their own counterspace as well as sink access for all three. It also creates a Prep Zone separate from the Cleanup Zone, very helpful if someone is trying to load/unload the DW while someone else is preparing a meal or snack. ++++++++++ Layout #3: Short "L" + small island + Shallow Pantry cabinets and a China cabinet ++++++++++ Layout #4: It has banquette for table seating, a small island, and the refrigerator is on the top wall b/w the windows. The MW is in a tall cabinet to the right of the range. ++++++++++ Layout #5: As with Layout #4, it has banquette for table seating, a small island, and the refrigerator is on the top wall b/w the windows. In this case, there's a prep sink along the right wall creating a Prep Zone separate from the Cleanup Zone, very helpful if someone is trying to load/unload the DW while someone else is preparing a meal or snack....See MoreTiny old house. Need help with kitchen layout!
Comments (18)You wouldn't need to remove the whole wall--just widen the cased opening with a new header above (which is why I left the remnant of the wall--to support the header and provide space for a shallow pantry cab). Also, behind the exterior door, you wouldn't need to open the wall--I suggested using the stud bays to add storage, but you have space for a tall shallow cabinet. I realize your plan might not be exact, but you show no filler between the fridge and the wall to the right, which means the fridge door will not open fully, and maybe not even to 90 degrees, in order to pull out the crispers. You can check the specs on your model, to make sure. You probably don't have that issue now, since it looks as if the fridge door opens away from the wall, in its current orientation. To the right of the range, you could use a cabinet which opens to the side, and then extend the countertop to the edge of the door frame, but you probably wouldn't be able to case it. I wonder if you could use the existing chimney to vent the range on that wall?...See MoreHow can we expand? Need 100-150sf more from our house!!
Comments (28)Zennifer I understand what you're trying to do, totally understand the location and blood/sweat/tears you've got in the current home. But prepare to be shocked. My guess is financially you'd still be better off moving. I wouldn't attempt an addition onto your house without an architect's help bc I agree it could easily look funky and wrong. The examples above proved it for me. How much would it suck to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into it, only to have it look bad in the end? Good luck. I've been there. Loved my old little home but it didn't make financial sense to add on. We moved. Sometimes I still miss that old house but it was the right decision....See MorePatricia Colwell Consulting
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