Awkward kitchen Reno needs help
My son and daughter-in-law are finally getting around to redoing their awkward kitchen. We are at the very beginning of the thinking process, so help is welcomed. They do not want to expand the footprint of the house. As indicated on the plan below, there is one wall they would consider removing, if it improves the layout. There is a plumbing stack which won't be removed, indicated on the plan, which would need to be accounted for.
They did consider switching kitchen with dining room, but decided it's ano-go.
The household consists of twin 16 year olds and 2 adults and one large, active dog.
The current appliances would be reused until they get replaced with like sizes. Fridge is a 36” French door, range is 30” natural gas, eventually might change to induction. Ideally DIL would like a cooktop/rangetop and wall ovens, but is realistic about use of space.
One of their friends who has the same layout, took down that wall and essentially made a galley kitchen with island containing sink and DW parallel to current fridge wall. It's open to the dining room. Son and DIL do like the way it looks.
That is one consideration. the other is to use the L layout with an added island. Both of these choices would not allow for the use of a table and chairs in front of the bay, as they currently have but is too tight, but might allow for 2 neat stools to tuck under a counter.
In either scenario , the fridge would move to where the pantry is indicated, along with pantry type cabinet. Range woul move to wall where frdge is currently.
The bay window is currently about 30” from the floor, with hot water baseboard, and that area is cantilevered past the foundation about 24”. most likely will be replaced during reno.
The graph consists of 3 foot squares, with 12” squares in lighter lines. we welcome any comments and suggestions.
Comments (9)
blubird
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Need help with very Awkward kitchen layout!!
Comments (20)Okay, here are two more ideas, with windows and doors in existing locations, plumbing untouched but with the gas line moved. These plans use Ikea cab sizes (rounded up, obviously). I spec'd a CD fridge in both plans to avoid crowding the back door. I eliminated the peninsula and swapped it for an island with room for 2 seats. Eliminating the peninsula allowed me to move the range down the wall, giving you more prep room between sink and range. The island is composed of a counter supported by 2 legs at the lower end and an upper cabinet serving as a base cabinet at the top end (check Ikea hacks, this has been done before). The lower end of the island is open for seating like this [Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Charleston Cabinets & Cabinetry K & K Custom Cabinets LLC Plan D adds a peninsula for seating opposite the fridge. The 3 cabinets in the lower left corner are upper cabs used as base cabs. Stack an additional 12" and 24" on top of the bottom 2 to create a shallow pantry. The 24" cab below the window is only one high, topped with counter. You can eliminate the doors and have a bookcase/display case here instead. The top side of the peninsula has one each 12" and 30" wide base cabs, facing the fridge, for more storage and serving as counter support. The peninsula has room for 3 seats with ample aisles behind the seats. I curved the lower right end of the counter overhang. You can use the peninsula as additional prep area, buffet counter, snack center.... Whatever fits your needs. This post was edited by lisa_a on Sun, Jul 13, 14 at 16:50...See MoreNeed help with awkward kitchen wall
Comments (7)HI -- You say your getting new cabinets but not making any changes with the layout . I am sorry but that does not make any sense and sounds like a waste of money . I would get rid of the angled section and just have the cabinets in a line . And the stove needs to be moved over to make room on each side for work space . You could have a see trough glass cabinet at the end of the new peninsula If you run base cabinets in a straight line then not having the angled upper cabinets there , then you will have room for some feature pendent lights. Perhaps getting a kitchen designer will help you so your not making huge expensive mistakes ....See Moreneed help with small kitchen design please, awkward shape/low window.
Comments (5)The biggest problem with the original space was the lack of countertop/work space. Moving the refrigerator will definitely help. I'm guessing you'll add a dishwasher too? Maybe a mini (24") so you can also have a narrow cabinet for baking sheets or a pull-out spice rack. Looks like you might have room across from the kitchen on the opposite wall for a 12 in deep floor to ceiling pantry, the width of the kitchen for extra storage. And a small rolling cart with a butcher block top could be stored by the window, but brought out into the center for an extra work area. Depends on how much you need to store, and how much you cook. If you're in New York or something and don't cook much. I'd keep things pretty minimal....See MoreAwkward kitchen needs Reno and ventilation
Comments (2)Mcarroll16, it's very odd how the original posted. When I went to reply to any of the responses, I couldn't do so unless I logged into Houzz, although I was logged into gw. If the post hits a dead end, so be it. But I wanted it to have a fair shot. On the earlier post, I did ask mamgoose about moving the fridge to the hutch area. Removing that wall between the living room and kitchen is a load bearing wall and probably is a non-starter. As mentioned above, DIL is more interested in pretty than function, and son is going along, and is not kitchen obsessed like most of us here. I try to talk to them about venting and where the dishes are going, and providing a spot for paper towels, but I'm not getting anywhere. She had shown me the pix she had taken of the neighbor's house with the island, and I was not impressed. I saw lots of clutter on a 2 level island and very few uppers. But at least that kitchen had a 30” range. I won't post them here here, because they're not mine. DIL is talking about a 36” cooktop with an oven beneath which I dont think is a wise idea, and I tried to explain about the need for a hood larger than 36” which would reduce the available space for uppers, not to mention the inefficient routing for ductwork. I thought mamgoose's layout was quite good, but DIL wants a place to sit and preferred the island layout I'm trying to save son and DIL from themselves. This could be a costly mistake. P.S. I was able to post without logging into Houzz....See Moreblubird
2 years agoblubird
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoMy son and DIL went to see their friend's kitchen with the wall removed. I told them to take the tape measure and to, as best as they could without being intrusive, to get a feel for the dynamics of working in that kitchen. Posted below is a mockup of that kitchen with the info i had.
Several negatives: difficult to vent range, puts one walking path to/from dining room in front of range. There is another entrance to dining room from the living room, so any visitors would most likely enter dining room through that archway, not the kitchen route. It would also not allow for many upper cabs in the work area.
A positive is that it expands the kitchen visually and does provide more counter space than they currently have. the fridge/pantry wall in friend's house has more storage than i thought it would.
Comments welcome.
thinkdesignlive
2 years agoblubird
2 years agoHere's a quick and dirty sketch of the rest of that floor. As you can see, there's not much more here.
thinkdesignlive
2 years agoblubird
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
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