How would you improve this kitchen design?

2 years ago

I'm going to meet with a professional kitchen designer and a cabinet manufacturer next week. But! I want to come prepared with a good starting point. I've put together a few illustrations. Do you have any suggestions of things to try differently?

Challenges:

- Determining how far the kitchen island should be away from that large front window. I know it is a-typical to put the kitchen in the front of the house like this. But I want to see if I can make it work. I hate the TV in the front of the house thing. I want to be peeling carrots and keeping an eye on the neighborhood, you know?

- Should the island be centered with the wall cabinets? I pushed the island a little closer to the window so that it is not sticking out into the dining area and blocking the walkway from the other exterior door into the hallway (marked in green). But centering the island would put the sink directly across from the range and also allow the two vertical slabs (underneath bar and backsplash) to line up.

- Island width. Right now, this island is made with 24" deep cabinets and a 15" overhang. The thinking behind this is that with a 39" deep island I will be able to use the same slab to cover the 24" depth of the counter against the wall. But! Do you think the island should be sized differently?

- How to add some little touches to the kitchen that make it feel less basic. My two thoughts right now are: 1. Do a custom wood siding for the kitchen island with slats that allow light to pass though. Kind of like a waterfall but with some light transmission. This will also introduce more vertical lines and spare me from the expense of a stone waterfall. 2. Use the same slab underneath the bar as in the countertop backsplash. This will give some cohesiveness to the kitchen.

- Is it going to be way too heavy to have all of the cabinets in black? The rest of the room is going to be painted swiss coffee white and have maple flooring. Lots of light comes into the space. But maybe I need to be more adventurous and utilize another cabinet color?

Featured Answer

mama goose_gw zn6OH

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Your island will be deeper than 39". You'll have a front overhang of 1" to 1.5", and a back cover, which can be as thin as a cabinet skin, or as thick as a cabinet door if you choose matching panels. I'd plan for at least 41". You'll also need a return panel to support the counter top on the DW end. (If you don't use the slats or solid sides.)

In your basic layout I'd center the range on the perimeter cabinets and move the the DW to the left corner of the island. Dishes can be stored in the cabinets across the aisle, which will allow a helper to unload the DW, or gather dishes to set the table, without entering the prep triangle. You will have a wider prep space to the right, and will also have a clear space across from the fridge, to drop groceries to load to fridge and pantry.With a 4'2" work aisle, sink and range back-to-back won't be a problem, and we spend more time prepping beside a sink, than rinsing items in front of it.

You have space for tall shallow pantries on the wall opposite the fridge and range, or that could also be shallow base cabs and uppers for a coffee/breakfast center, or a mix of the two.

Actually, for greatest efficiency, I'd suggest m/l flipping the layout, to put the fridge closer to the dining table, and closer to traffic from the rest of the house: