Any ideas how to make my kitchen more functional?
Shanny Reimer-Haider
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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roarah
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoShanny Reimer-Haider
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Any ideas to make my exterior more charming?
Comments (6)Wow. When I looked at your pic, I thought it was the back of the house. I think it's because the patio looks like a patio, and the french doors look like a way to the patio, and there's no front walkway or anything that says welcome, and even the lighting by the door is not symmetrical. So those are things you can definitely fix. Where is the street front and where is the driveway where people park? Is the front door visible from where guests park? If not, it's always more challenging to help them find their way...landscaping helps tremendously with that. Before I'd move the front door, I'd think about what's going on on the inside as well. Do you have a foyer area? If not, this would be a great opportunity to create one. Much more gracious to separate the entry from the living room. Second, in order to tell people where to go, the front door needs to be most prominent on the facade. Also, it is nice for guests to have some kind of shelter while they are at the door. So if you have the ability to add on, I would think about adding a porch with a hip roof to repeat the lines and color of the roof, and have it supported by posts and railing that will make it more obvious where the front door is. Definitely change the style of the front door too so it's more like a front door. And move the downspout to a corner, not in the middle of the wall. I agree the bays are small, but again, it depends on what's going on inside as to how much they can be changed....See MoreLayout Help: No Idea How to Make This Functional
Comments (3)These are just rough ideas but perhaps they will help spark better things. :) The two things that jump out at me are that the range (or cooktop) should be on the fridge wall and the island should be made a normal rectangle, not L shaped, and be all one level. This gives you a deeper surface for prepping, which is more useful than having the surface interrupted by a change in height to the bar level. From there, I would probably choose to put the fridge at the top of its current wall (with a 9 to 12" pull-out pantry between it and wall to allow for the doors to fully open), OR on the bottom wall with the pantry and ovens. Most likely, it would be better in the former location so that it is easily accessible to the family room. I would also probably change to a range instead of cooktop and wall ovens. However, that's your preference. Alternatively, I would look at leaving the fridge where it is, making the rest of the wall pantry space (can be shallow depth), then put the range, sink and DW (left to right) on the back wall, taking up all of it. An island with a prep sink on the left end floats in front of the back wall. There are two issues with this - 1) I can't tell if you really have room for this because your drawings are too small, please repost a bigger/clearer size and add measurements, 2) I would much rather have the fridge on that back wall as well and make the left wall all shallow pantry so the island can be longer, but with the two windows on that back wall I'm not sure you can fit both fridge and range - again, an issue with the drawing. I hope this helps, and I'll check back in for updates....See MoreHow to make my French country-ish kitchen look more modern
Comments (26)hate to not have to say anything new lol..but yes of course, it's the backsplash. nice suggestions above. will make tons of difference hardware can be changed or not..i think it's pretty versatile a rug will help to set a tone..but if you're hesitant about rugs-I'd look into changing the lighting fixture for something that'd reflect your taste more it's all easy fixes, relatively speaking. you're not miles from what you envision..you're couple feet away:) yes, paint creams white color..or not a neutral, but a version of some color you love, so it won't fight with the cabinets you can use creams and whites together a lot in decor, but with cabinetry it's harder to swing it; so I'd paint. Brick-up to you. Will look ok whether painted or not, or so I feel. Maybe start with the build ins then decide about brick. You also will probably have your backsplash by then..will help you decide if the backsplash is patterned for example-I'd be tempted to paint the brick more It's not a lot of brick too, so whatever you decide-easier....See MoreNeed Help Making Tiny Kitchen More Functional
Comments (97)I think I like the idea of maintaining a 15 inch landing space to the left of the stove. For one thing, it gives me a convenient place to put my Instant Pot (yes I have WAY too many gadgets!) The other thing it does is keep the prep space mostly under the window. I'm coming around on the benefits of a 30-inch sink cab. It allows a larger sink, I can put a cutting board on it and use it as prep space if necessary....all good things. And I saw this cool hack where you can make one 15 inch door into a trash pullout, and the other side can be a regular door (or, I guess, another pullout.) I like that! I think I'm going to start another thread seeing if people might be able to share pictures of their off-center sinks. Seeing this will help me visualize it a bit better. Hi, Rebunky! I'd love to go to Hawaii some day. It is very hard to find an affordable 30-inch, counter-depth fridge, I'm finding! There's the Fisher Paykel, but I worry about reliability and it's at the tippy-top of my budget. There's 33-inch wide counter depth fridges, but at that point, why not just go to 36 inches, you know? I'm not sure if a contractor can build a recessed space for the fridge because that wall goes into a stairwell, but I won't be sure until I get someone in here to look at it. So, it's just another compromise for me to consider -- overly big counterdepth fridge, or correctly proportioned standard fridge that might jut into work space? Sorry that I'm using you all as my constant sounding boards! The limitations of a small space can be frustrating but I find this enjoyable to talk about....See Morezennifer
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Shanny Reimer-HaiderOriginal Author