Kitchen Layout - Island
We have decided to open the wall between our kitchen and living space, and trying to tie our island into one of the support posts. Current plan is a 7ft island that has a 36" range with oven. Should we instead opt for a wider aisle (42") and smaller 6ft island to allow to move the range to the L across from island rather than island itself? Current aisle is 36" between L and island. Thanks for your insight!
Rendering does not include the posts on edge of white cabinet "L", as well as one at the left side of island. The space is not to scale and larger between island and wall with pantry/wine fridge.
Comments (30)
emilyam819
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Kitchen Layout help: island to peninsula
Comments (1)Are these columns structural? I would just get rid of them if they aren't. Do you plan on having seating at the peninsula? I think with your kitchen dimensions, that getting rid of the island is a good idea....See MoreNew kitchen layout....portable island
Comments (16)A prep sink would help greatly by giving you multiple work triangles so that many people could work in your kitchen at one time with minimal path crossing. I agree that lengthening the island toward the table could be helpful. If you don't want it full length all the time, then the end of it could be a drop leaf, or a rollaway cart. I encourage you to check out Elizpiz's kitchen. There are links to even more pics through the Finished Kitchen Blog. She has a narrow island with the sink facing the cooktop. In some ways, a narrow island with a sink would be great. It could be accessed from 3 sides! It would be right there for filling and emptying pots. A baking zone could be set up on the oven side of the island, separate from a meal prep zone, which is also separate from the cleanup zone. That's 3 people minimum that could work simultaneously. It's great to hear you've got so much food storage space. Yay! : ) I don't know what to tell you on your burners. If you've got the space and funds, it might be worth it to go bigger. I haven't heard too many people regret going bigger on here but I have heard a few regrets about going smaller. My plan right now is to supplement a 4 burner with some induction burners. Check back in 5 years and see if I made a wise move. Gulp. We don't want to do gas, so we're more limited in what will work well for us. Oh, Elizpiz has a 2 burner domino induction next to her multiburner gas cooktop. Might be the best of both worlds. Here is a link that might be useful: Elizpiz's kitchen on the FKB...See MoreIdeas needed for kitchen layout - island seating question
Comments (8)First of all, congratulations- looks like a beautiful home! Aside from blocking the view of dirty dishes (which is a big plus), a raised height bar also provides a clear delineation of usage. For example, there's a natural indication of where the newspaper should go and where the dirty dishes should go. There are good reasons people stray from this natural pattern of interaction, especially in smaller kitchens or out of concern for small children (which your kiddos may be), but I think I would try and keep it raised in your kitchen if possible. I like your idea of placing some of the same materials found in the living room (such as the fireplace stone) in the kitchen. This will help bring the house together. I wouldn't worry too much about whether the fireplace lines up with the hood, in part because the rooms are designed such that folks will rarely have a view of both together. And even if there was some natural vantage point which caused you to see them both inline, I wouldn't rush to shift the hood down any further because that will increase the number of steps you take from the cooking area to the sink (a trip that is taken quite often). People often don't think enough about their day to day interactions with the elements of the kitchen. For example, what will you be looking at while you do the dishes? In your case, a dish washer can look out many windows, but also interact with folks at the bar or keep an eye on kids in the living room. Seems like exactly what you want. So, I would keep the angled island despite folks' accurate comments on your other post that it's not an ideal layout for storage space. Speaking of day-to-day interactions and your concern about storage, I would think about what each cabinet will be used for. For example, how far will you have to walk to put away a stack of heavy plates that just came out of the dishwasher? Can you put pots & pans where they're easily accessible from the cooking area? If you walk through this exercise, my hunch is you'll find that the cabinets around the sink/DW/oven end of the kitchen will be in high demand, and the space in the pantry and next to it is not as much. However, overall I think you have plenty of space (especially considering you've got a dining room buffet and wet bar cabinetry for some items other folks would have in kitchen cabinetry), so it may simply be a prioritization exercise. One thing I might think about changing is the pocket door between the mudroom and the kitchen. I love pocket doors for their efficient use of space, but they are not as easy to open and close. The passageway from the garage to the kitchen is one of the most heavily used in many households, and making it as simple as possible to pass through will pay off frequently. Because pocket doors are more difficult to open/close, they are also often left open. This is not a big deal in many of the situations where they're commonly used, but may be something to consider in your......See MoreKitchen Layout—Island footprint?
Comments (12)Each seat needs 24" elbow space, so you could have two seats on the short end, which would be a better for conversation. I'd make that overhang 15", too, but I think you can get by with ap 120" for the length, m/l centered on the window behind the island. I would flip both cabinet runs 1) to put the oven in the position to open into the deeper aisle, and 2) to put the DW and dish storage outside the prep path. I know this centers the sink on the range--and some would argue that a sink should never be centered on a range--but we prep to one side of a sink, and if you move the island back an inch (to 48") your aisle will be wide enough for two people. The hood is 6" wider than the cooktop, to provide a wider capture area for grease and steam. If you need a tall cabinet, put a shallow, side-loading pantry to the left of the fridge. It will be less expensive than the narrow, pull-out pantry, and everything will be more easily accessed. I made the cabinet on the end of the island (under the overhang) a pull-out, so it's more easily accessed, and put a MW drawer beside it, facing the fridge; anyone using the MW won't need to stand in the work aisle. I also gave you a single-bowl sink. :) Pic on left, shallow pantry: NKBA guidelines New to Kitchens? Read me first. Discussions--all drawer bases Discussions--dishes in drawers ETA, after seeing the wide window with space below for base cabinets I'm wondering why the sink run isn't on that wall, with the cooktop to the left, or why there aren't base cabinets in the plan you posted?...See More
mama goose_gw zn6OH
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoMaybe you have the cooktop on the island because you want to face the
living area as you cook. More time is spent prepping than cooking, so
moving the cooktop off the island, and the addition of a prep sink on the island will allow the island to become smaller, to increase the aisle space between it and the L.A prep sink will also serve the bar area, and a trash pull-out on the corner near the fridge will serve all zones.
Consider putting a cooktop on the back wall, where it will be easily vented, and move the fridge to the L, with a wall oven to the left. The fridge will be more accessible to the living area and the DR. Put the MW in a cab to the right, combined with snack drawers below. Even if you use a range, rather than separate cooktop and wall oven, the hood will be a focal point from the LR.
You have a potential pinch-point with the island post and wall--not so much the post, but anyone seated beside the post will be in the traffic aisle. (Red circle.) Have the cabinets on the back of the island open toward either side, for convenient access (except the middle cabinet, of course), and use as many drawers as possible, even on the pantry wall.
kkuech
3 years agokkuech
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Sammie J
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njay
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Charlie Noway
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PROPhDesign Company
3 years agokkuech
3 years ago- PRO
PhDesign Company
3 years ago kkuech
2 years agoVery delayed posting these but wanted to thanks this community for their input! We ended up moving the range off the island and have been very happy with our new kitchen! Still working on finishing touches.
@mamagoose, went with your recommendation to mount the cabinets on the side vs the back and it has been SO useful! I store all of my spices on the side by the range. Thanks!
@PhDesign Company, we are going with the floating shelves suggested and getting those ordered soon! It definitely hemos with the transition between living and kitchen space without the uppers to the right of the range. Thanks!!
PROJAN MOYER
2 years ago
JAN MOYER