Very trendy. If that's your style, grab their kitchen and follow their model. It's a lot of work to renovate a kitchen, so pay them a big compliment and ask how they did it. They might hand you the source list and introduce you to their contractor!

Up to you. Their reno appears to eliminate space for a table & chairs, leaving island seating as the only place to eat meals. Not sure what matters in your market for resale, but I'm not sure I would make that tradeoff...

The work triangle looks like a line in the reno. I'd keep designing and think about cooking -- getting ingredients from fridge, puttting them back, storage pantry. Looks like you are losing cabinets in the reno.

Wow, they did a lot of reconstruction. I like it, but it has pros and cons that might or might not be important to you. I prefer their more open and spacious kitchen, but it does decrease the amount of sitting/living space in the rest of their condo - how would you like to proportion out your space?

Good point! We never use the space for table and chairs but potential buyers might like to.

but if I don’t move kitchen towards back patio door, I can’t see where I can get the more space desperately needed!

The island shown is not code compliant since there doesn't appear to be electrical. There are also small details that would bother me like not building in the fridge and the inaccessible cabinet above it. I also never understand spending this much energy on a kitchen renovation and not figuring out a place for the trash can... I think the general direction of this is fine but it could be SO MUCH BETTER.

The upper cabinets are very wide, I'd configure that differently. Maybe a single two door cabinet plus a one door glass door cabinet (three doors) above either side of the sink?

Did the neighbor's sell? If they had no problems finding a buyer with no table space, then that could guide you. If it's not selling, that might be a contributor. You could probably call the listing agent and ask if people are put off by no dining area.

Very trendy.

Does the condo have another living/gathering/family area, or is it the only one?

I'd be hesitant to loose so much space to a very open kitchen, if no other room. I also don't see any spot for dining, but for a couple people at the island?

I think it got bigger-but disproportionately so. Also, I'm not sure it's the most convenient plan. Doesn't mean it's unworkable-I had one wall of a kitchen once, and a good dining table, and that was enough. But I wonder whether can't be done better.

another thing is matter of pure aesthetic-namely, I don't like these wood planks for a backsplash, they look strange almost everywhere, especially in a condo, and get very old very fast.

We have the small family room next to kitchen plus a living room and dining room. We always eat in the dining room cuz we can watch the tv from there!

Your neighbor's remodel triples the counter work space, but what is the point of that if there is no space for a dining table.

Her concept would be marvelous if one bought two units next to each other and combined them, and that was to be the one large kitchen for the now one large unit, and then there would be space available for a dining table.

I think you can remodel your unit if you want to update and beautify, but please leave an area to sit down and eat at a table.

In a unit that small, you don't need counter seating.

I don't care for it at all. I can see why it photographs nicely---but that's because it has a sleeker look than your kitchen does. I would FAR prefer your functional peninsula with room by the sliding door for a small table. I've never been a fan of dining on stools anyway. Whenever I see 3 or more stools lined up in a row, I always wonder if 3 people actually sit there for a meal like they're in a diner. And your "tabletop" area for paying bills, spreading out a project, or having kids do homework, is some elevated kitchen countertop---where for many people might be cluttered with cooking/dining implements etc.

To me, I note that you already have an open kitchen! It looks pretty functional to me. A quick tidy and some fantastic lighting would do wonders. Do you notice how brightly lit the other condo's space is? I'm not sure it's coming from their overhead lights, but you can see how bright lights make the space so much more appealing.

I think you need to understand how much a kitchen remodel like that probably costs. From reading these forums... probably... $60-75K (and I'm no expert.... so don't take my word for it). And for what? Would that increase your property value by that much?

edited: I notice there are only 2 stools. Really? you can only seat 2 people for dining? not for me.

I love all the counter space the remodel provides. I cook a lot, so get cranky when I don't have enough counter space. It really boils down to how you live and how long you plan to live there. I think it would attract more buyers than the current layout, but that only helps you sell quicker, not usually for a lot more money.

If I were going to gut a kitchen, I’d try to get rid of the soffit if possible. Woukd make an enormous difference; you could have taller upper cabinets, the room would feel more open, that soffit is pretty intrusive.

The stripey walls are a poor choice. If I were moving into that condo, I’d rip them out first thing.

I think I would have ended the long wall run about half way between side of range and patio door. It looks to be too spread out. I think I'd move island up closer to fridge...maybe shorten it a bit. these adjustments would allow a table of some sort at patio door area. I would have continuous stretch of wall cabinets without the break. the arc of faucet would be somewhat lower. I would have used glass doors on all the uppers [frosted or seeded]. I would have the island in the same finish as perimeter. Canister lights in ceiling and a couple of stylish angled sconces on the soffit directed down. I don't know about pendants above island at all because I think you have to work w that soffit...thats why glass doors and the cool newer angled sconces for that surface ....you need features over there with that big boy soffit hangin round. Both of you have fridge on top wall...does the deep soffit maybe handle the fridge on the long wall better ? And sink moved to fridge wall? I don't know. .

I agree with @HALLETT & Co. - sleek/modern style aside, the functionality aspects of the new kitchen are headed in the right direction but far from perfect. I disagree with others that your current layout looks functional, though - I would be ready to pull my hair out over the sink/DW arrangement alone. not to mention the terrible lack of counter space. If you post a measured layout I'm sure the forum can come up with a layout that will work much better than both of these!

"Her concept would be marvelous if one bought two units next to each other and combined them"

Or if one doesn't want a dining table, or lives alone, or lives with a chef.........lots of options for different types of home owners. One size never fits all, and the OP didn't tell us anything about her family or lifestyle for us to assume that there's no point to enlarging a kitchen if you don't have a dining room.

As mentioned I do have a dining room! And another living room. We’re seniors and after 30 years here, need a refresh. The cabinets were oak and we painted them about 10 years ago. Perhaps new updated doors (not new cabinets), new countertop, and as suggested some good lighting. Maybe that will be enough?

In your neighbor’s configuration I would swap the range and sink configuration. Put the range near the sliding doors, then have a nice stretch of prep counter, then have your sink and the dishwasher to the right of the sink nearer the fridge. That could create a conflict with the fridge when open if the dishwasher was too close to the range, so that would need to be looked at more closely.

A refresh would be great! If it were my kitchen, I would change the countertop to soapstone or honed Virginia Mist, and get some new, chunkier hardware for the cabinets, a new sink and cool faucet and call it done.

There are two very different goals-one, is to expand working space and increase functionality; another, is to refresh the existing footprint. Very different budgets are involved, and timelines and trouble to go though. You need to decide whether it makes sense to go into full mode remodel-and then it'd be great to see a plan with dimensions, in separate thread, if you'd like more suggestions-or whether you stay within your current footprint. Changing the doors btw is pretty expensive, friends were quoted almost 10K for a similar-sized kitchen, and just installed new cabinets already instead.

How much the current set up bugs you? And how much you're willing to spend?

It looks okay, and will look even better with new counters, sink, and lights-but it won't become bigger, with more counter space. I also don't see space to put more drawers, that make even the smallest kitchens more convenient to work with.

It's really a question of what you want to do. Or, what you can afford to do. Or, what you can bother to do. Time and energy are also valuable resources.

Then, how to do it.

I like the idea of shortened L-plan, in case of full reno.

I don’t like your neighbor’s kitchen at all! It’s so cold looking, with no good place to sit down to a meal with friends. If it is a college student type condo, that might fly. Regular folks want tables. I think they spent a whole lot of money, but didn’t get any professional help. And it shows.

@aubreesm It would probably be helpful to post a layout of your unit to get useful feedback - clearly it is much larger than your existing kitchen would suggest if you have a dining space and living area that is not pictured. In my big city experience, a kitchen that size in an older condo means you have a 2 bedroom 750 - 850 sq ft unit, which means there isn’t room for 3 living spaces or a separate dining area.

@aubreesm Waaaaaaiiiittttt! I would re-do your kitchen, but along entirely different lines.... You're seniors, you say? Regroup! Plan a kitchen that will let you use it easily for the next 20 years. Your current kitchen could become problematic in that time, as could your neighbor's!

Re-do with what I call "senior-real" features. Think of every possible way you could avoid an accident. Make everything EZPZ. Put everything within reach. Try to avoid a lot of bending over or crawling on the floor. Eliminate things that twist or require find hand movements. What would be a problem with a slight tremor? No to ladders...

I would look at the whole kitchen from that point of view: every single inch of it.

For instance:

-replace the stove with one that has knobs on the front, so you aren't reaching across burners

-increase the overhead lighting, so everything is super see-able (not just the countertops, but the whole space); this helps with orientation

-lower the wall cabinets a couple of inches so you can see into more of the shelves and don't have to reach so high

-lower the microwave; the risk of getting scalding soup on your face if your hand trembled when getting it out is spooky.

-the best thing about your neighbor's kitchen IMO are the pulls on the cabinets. I want them, like, yesterday. ADA specs recommend that C shape for cabinet pulls: something you can do with a significant part of your hand.

-Below, use cabinets with slideouts or big drawers for pans, etc.

-Lazy Susans in all corners

-If you don't need full-size dishwasher and stove, consider getting the narrower versions and gaining some lower cabinet space.

Could you maybe add 6-12" more kitchen into the living room, so there's just a tad more space?

I don’t see the need for the island in your neighbor’s renovation. That space could be used for a table and chairs.

Steal your neighbor’s newspaper, or biscuit recipe, or even their spouse. Let them keep that kitchen. Its kinda a poorly planned halfass that doesn’t work. Plus, it’s kinda ugly.

Tangerinedoor, I love your suggestions! Not just for aging in place, but for simple, universal functionality. I am a short woman (4’ 11”) in my late 60s and over the course of my lifetime in a kitchen have wished for many of the items or design ideas that you list. Good design is in these details, not just the “pretty” parts of backsplash colors and counter tops. Thank you for repeating them!

Wow! Thank you all..especially tangerinedoor! I guess I should have mentioned I’m in my early 70’s and partner early 80’so so your suggestions make a whole lot of sense! Our condo is 1500 sq ft. 2 bed, 2 1/2 bath. LR, DR and den/kitchen at back of main floor. We bought new 30 years ago. Coming from a 100 year old cottage the “new” kitchen was attractive. Now not so much. As you can imagine, with my husband being in early 80s, we only have a limited time to travel. Hence the dilemma..travelling and working with kitchen we have...or much less travel and going with a full on Reno! Thanks very much for your input and great suggestions!

I'm all about "dying in place". "Aging in place" doesn't quite meet my goals, lol. No nursing home, thank you very much. So, yeah, that's how I designed my kitchen which might have about the same linear feet as @aubreesm , but in an L-shape. My house isn't big enough for a U.

I went to Home Depot, found a set of cabinets I liked, where I could reach the shelves, and I measured them. I simply gave my builder the measurements; it was up to him to pick manufacturer, etc. The distance I chose from HD between base and wall cabinets is 15".

I had extra electric outlets put above the counter so I can have the MW on the countertop for safety and plug in whatever I need on the fly without cords stretching everywhere. I don't especially like having a MW on the counter, but it's SAFE.

I LOVE the stove I got, by the way. 24" wide, knobs on front, Made in USA. Budget-advantaged.

I compromised on sink size so I could have more base cabinet space. Mine is 24". Plenty for my needs.

@aubreesm The most important thing I would worry about as far as safety in your kitchen is the position of your DW door. When that's open, I could easily see myself having an accident right there. Also, if there's just 2 of you, a smaller-than-standard DW might work just as well and save on utilities/water. This might get you some extra inches on base cabinets, which will give you spaciousness needed to have sizeable drawers and pull-outs.

Don't they also now make DW's in drawer shapes? Then you wouldn't even have to bend over to fill/empty.

I re-thought EVERYTHING in a standard kitchen and adapted it to what would work for me with my needs, age, wishes. I need to be able to make a batch of cookies or a casserole. As far as I'm concerned, someone else can roast the Thanksgiving turkey. I need to have a really good way to wash dishes, but I don't need a huge sink, and it had better not be deep, 'cos reaching deep might not be great on my back.

Anyway, that's what I recommend. Look at everything that might keep you safe and corresponds exactly to what you want to actually do in that kitchen at this point in your life +20 years.

This should be a lot less money than your neighbor's reno....

tangerinedoor...does the 24” stove have enough oven space for my once a year 18 lb Christmas turkey For the family?

@aubreesm Can you give me inches for a turkey? I'll measure. I know I did decide I'd never roast another turkey, except maybe half a one.

I just looked. You probably could put a turkey in there (you wouldn't want to put something in with it, though), but I haven't seen hide nor hair of a turkey for a while.

It's made by Premier, a division of GE. Mine is 24", but they might also come in 30". There are prolly interior dimensions online.

Oooh, my stove has a glass top, BTW. It's the best thing that's happened to me in a looooooong time. Nothing tips off a burner; I can pull stuff out of the oven and put it immediately on top; I don't have to move pots with hot liquid awkwardly to the counter (I just slide them to a cool spot on the top); I can spill all over the stove top without adding grey hairs to my head. So much safer than separate burners...

One other possibility that I looked at for my kitchen..... Having a lowered section of counter top—maybe 30" wide?—where I could sit and chop vegetables or stir a cookie batch.

With a couple, the space could be designed with no cabinet underneath, and used to pull up a standard chair so you'd have a mini dining surface, with 2 people facing each other. The advantage of this is, food and utensils don't have to be moved far....no tripping with a knife, trying to get a bowl of soup to the dining room table, etc. It's all right there: you cook, sit in a regular chair, and eat.

Bar stools are nightmarishly dangerous IMO...so easy to tip.

There are pros and cons to both layouts. I will say that the setup in your neighbor's is generally better, with a few tweaks. Whether the island truly fits, I can't say without dimensions.

To summarize your thoughts...is the following correct?

• You currently have two table spaces -- a Dining Room elsewhere and a small "nook" area (the other side of the peninsula in your current Kitchen where the two stools and sliding doors are)
• You are talking about moving into the small "nook" space and will still have a separate Dining Room
• You have both a Family Room (in front of the Kitchen) and a Living Room elsewhere
• So, all you would be losing would be the small "nook" area, which it doesn't look like you're really using anyway...correct?

What's good about your neighbor's layout...

• The sink and range are along the same wall so you can easily move things along the counter from one place to the next...as we age, it can become more important as picking things up, especially heavy things like pots of water, can become more difficult (arthritis, etc.).
• Tweak...the DW should be on the other side of the sink so it's not an obstacle between the range and sink.
• It looks like there is quite a bit more prep space between the sink and range

What might not be good...

• Is the aisle b/w the island and sink wall 48"? It should be wide enough to accommodate a walker or wheelchair. Ditto between the refrigerator and the island?
• No one wants to think about the need for either, but you never know. I had an accident a few years ago that necessitated a knee replacement. I had to use a walker for a couple of weeks (it took that long for my muscles to "kick back in" and be able to do straight-leg raises -- apparently, the younger you are, the longer the recovery time...counter-intuitive, but my PT therapist said it's so!) It not only gave me a taste of what it may be like years down the line, but it also made me realize what does/does not work when you are disabled, even temporarily. Fortunately, my Kitchen is wide open, so I had no problems navigating it.

If you want to know what would fit, post a fully-measured layout of the spaces under consideration and a sketch of the entire floor.

From the Featured Answer in the "New to Kitchens? Read Me First!" thread:

Both can be either hand-drawn, computer generated, or drawn up with computer/app tools.

By "fully-measured", we mean a layout with the widths of each wall/window/door/doorway and the distances between each wall/window/door/doorway labeled. See a sample below. If something cannot be moved or changed, label it precisely on your layout (see post in sample) and tell us why it cannot be moved/changed -- we may have some ideas for you. Include the trim in window and door/doorway measurements.

The sketch of the entire floor lets us see how the Kitchen relates to the rest of the home. It doesn't have to be to-scale, but it should accurately show how the rooms relate to each other and should include all interior & exterior doors. In addition, it will help us see how traffic flows in, around, and through the Kitchen. Label the front entry and family entry. The family entry is usually a garage or side entry, but it might not be. It's helpful to know which door you use to bring in groceries.

Regardless of how you draw it up (by hand, computer, etc.), please be sure all measurements are labeled. (Note: Computer generated layouts often lack key measurements and, sometimes, measure to/from things like the middle of a wall or the middle of a window. Neither are useful. Measure each item and the distances between each item.)

The sink is a nightmare in the peninsula so any change would be an improvement. What's your budget? I am not a fan of the finishes your neighbor chose. Trendy is not a good way to go if resale is in the future. Reading it sounds like you are a person who like change for changes sake. You might enjoy the process of starting from scratch, get the advise of a designer who can help you find where your likes meet today's trends that will meld into a kitchen that is more timeless than your neighbors.

IMO this is reno done with no real thought as to function and that behemoth fridge ruins the look totally. To spend that huge amount of money and not have all base cabinets be drawers is IMO a waste, It seems like the kitchen now takes over space that should be used better if resale is something to consider.I agree your kitchen could be bigger and to accomplish that you will need to get an actual independant KD to help you. I never design a kitchen where you need to pass the stove to get to the sink so that is poor design .You need to understand your needs I would never suggest 24” range unless you honestly lived in a shoe box but I know nothing about your life so I can’t say. I happen to think U shaped kitchens are very functional and with some tweaks yours could be nicer without a huge renovation. BTW I am 74 and we did our travelling a whaile ago and thnkd goodness we did , my husband went blind 4 yrs ago . If you are both healthy I would say save the money and do your travels .

I moved into a townhouse a little over a year ago. I had your current kitchen layout, one of the first things I did was rip it out and do similar to what your neighbor did. Although my colors and finishes are different, the layout is nearly the same - except I did all drawers and my dishwasher is to the left of the sink. (I also have a separate dining room). However, I did Ikea and mostly did the reno me and my teenage kids.

I’m not sure you should spend the money? When I was looking for a townhome, I did not like when someone had just redone the kitchen because I am very particular with what I like (like all drawers for example) and most people when renovating for resale don’t spend the extra on drawers. But even if they did some a ton of money it was not my style and then I would have had to spend money on top of spending more money because the price was higher to compensate for them doing the kitchen. Point is, I looked for a kitchen that was untouched - which this house was untouched since 1980s!

I would leave the kitchen as is and travel more! The kitchen will bother you far less when you are in a cafe in Paris.

"The kitchen will bother you far less when you are in a cafe in Paris."

I like your way of thinking1 I too see a lot of the OP's kitchen layout, in condos new and not-as-new. Personally, I hate it, and told my agent to never show me a unit with a U shaped kitchen like that......but it never occurred to me to rip it out and rebuild. Like you said, I'd rather spend the money to travel, and also not live through another reconstruction project. While I much prefer her neighbour's set-up, I don't know that I would be willing to undertake living through that project. Other people don't mind it so much.

Is it possible to eliminate the soffit above the cabinets? You may like having the sink and dishwasher in the island so you aren’t facing a wall while prepping and cleaning. otherwise it looks nice.