I would live in the house at least 6 months before making any renovations. ive been in mine for three years and need to redo the baths and kitchen and still keep adding to the list things that bother me and i what i want to change. live in it awhile and see what works and doesnt.

What a charming time capsule of a kitchen. Lucky you! Before you do any renovataions, check your breaker box to determine how many amps it can handle. Homes now require far more electricity than in past decades, you want to make sure your wiring can handle it. Update your electric panel if need be, there have been maor recalls on several big name panels in the past few years. Check your home inspection report for more information or ask your realtor for the name of a licensed electrician. Your new kitchen has great bones... Congratulations!.

Thank you. We have plans to replace our electrical panel as we are doing a lot more remodeling than the kitchen and you are correct, the inspector noted one of the panels had to go.

Really need to see the whole kitchen to advise. But from the photos, remove all bulkheads and install cabs to the ceiling, with recessed lights around perimeter. Keep the sink/DW where it is, the range (with a hood if venting is possible) where it is currently located and move the fridge to the adjacent wall at the beginning of that run of cabinets. Another option would be to put the range centered behind the island you’re planning to have and keep the fridge in it’s current position.

Until you can post a measured drawing of the space, it will be hard to give good advice. But in general, here are some things to think about:

• know yourself and your family: how do you use a kitchen? Daily homemade meals or mainly order in? Eat at the table, perch at a counter or munch in front of the TV?
• know how much storage you need. and what kind. And remember that you get much more usable storage from drawers than you do from lower cupboards.
• keep the mantra ice, water, stone, fire front of mind. That means you want your workflow to easily go from fridge to sink to prep surface to stove without criss-crossing.
• do your best to design things so that people not cooking don't need to enter the kitchen. e.g. put the fridge near to the eating area so people can grab a drink without interfering with your flow. And don't put the dishwasher between sink and stove.

Exciting times ahead!

likely the original kitchen 1970 ish? Approx 10 ft by 12 foot windowless walls. I would attempt to get the kitchen task zone on the two walls. Long term placing a french or sliding patio door out to rear deck or patio would be more in keeping with an actual improvement. the sink under the window or not is not the main thing. With better storage cabinets those long walls are your gift so your window walls and along the exterior wall can bring light/view and access out to rear yard/patio etc .....maybe an island to house the sink etc...... bring the space forward into modern living . place a sketch of the layout of these rooms near the kitchen and orientation to garage/entrys etc. too soon to do anything except think and plan. if thats the front of the home you have to think differently about it. as you plan to redo your 50 yr old kitchen think of enhancing the home for the next 50 yrs

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Congratulations on your new house! I agree with the “live in it for a year” group. Give yourself time to “know” your house so the final (disruptive) kitchen remodel will be your true dream kitchen. Other projects might take priority (like having to redo a bathroom due to a leak - just happened to a friend of mine) and the kitchen may not be the first big redo.

Collect photos on Houzz for every room you want to tackle. Eventually, your personal style will become obvious. Don’t rush into this. As annoying as you think this kitchen will be, a rushed remodel will annoy you more.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5972404/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first-2020-interim#n=10

Please review this very helpful link.

I would wait until I have lived in the house for at least 6 months before making any changes. Personally I like the peninsula just remove the end overhang

If you can live with that kitchen for a year - you are good. Gosh - I could not!

Post dimensions.

Without being able to see the whole space I'm not sure if this is really a good idea, but think about moving the opening to the dining room so you have a "U" shape that isn't broken up. But I agree with the other posters about waiting a bit before doing anything. I moved two years ago and I am doing my kitchen last. There are so many things you have to do when you move, even if the house is newer. Make a list and think about the best order to do things in and plan, plan, plan. You could remove the wallpaper in the interim to make it easier to live with.

You can not line up reputable contractors and do a multiple hundred thousand dollar whole home design and renovation before you move in. Not unless you are willing to let the home be vacant for 6-9 months while all of the design planning and getting contractor committments happens.

Move in and live with it as is, while you plan the whole home redo, and assess your DIY skills that can reduce the cost of your list of wants. Because your list is large enough and expensive enough, that perhaps you should be planning a teardown and rebuild instead. And if that is the route you ultimately go, any money in spent renovating any of the existing would have been wasted.

Hi there, I agree with many of the comments listed here. However, if you have experience decorating and designing, you may not need to live in it first. I have a knack for both and from my experience, I discovered clever designs being in the space for some time first- but I am very indecisive and sometimes take too long to make a decision.

It is unclear if you are doing preliminary work to see possibilities versus scheduling a team of tradesmen/women to start work on the day of closing. I believe you are exploring the possibilities of what could be. With is said, based on what I can see...

I would remove the peninsula and install an island (running the opposite direction) if you have the space (it may interfere with the doorway). You will need 36" of clearance all around the island for code. I feel like to get the kitchen you may want, you should consider shrinking the window so you can get more cabinetry. I would relocate the stove to the opposite wall with the open shelving to give you a triangle flow with your appliances. This will free up space next to your fridge for your pantry. The dishwasher can be relocated to the island or peninsula. I agree with running your cabinets to the ceiling. Sometimes, duck work and plumbing is ran behind soffitts. You can punch a hole (in the soffitts) on each wall to verify this. If you take a circular saw (I think this is the tool), you can punch a hole out and put it back until you're ready for demo. I would also take advantage of corner cabinets to maximize space.

I hope this is helpful.

To start we need a to scale floor plan showing all windows doorways where the doorways lead all measurements clearly marked , some clue as to your family use of the space and budget. I do agree this is best tackled after living in the space for at least 3 months. I am not seeing the electrical boxes but IMO with a renovation of a new to you home the bones need to be tackled before any other thing is done. So the electrical, the plumbing the insulation all dealt with before the pretty stuff. As for the kitchen we need to know how you cook why you need an eat in kitchen or can you just use the counter for a quick snack. How many cooks in the space usually? From whay I see the first think you could tackle is raising those windows then you open up a whole world of possibilities for a fabulous kitchen

^^^ Incorrect and poor advice on multiple fronts. 42”-60” is the spacing for kitchen aisles. Using a circular saw as described is unsafe and should not be attempted. You never shrink a window. Ever. There are many other alternatives for additional storage over that bad idea. As a whole, this comment is not helpful, and does not show any ”knack” for anything but inferior desecrator design skills and a disregard for safety. Red flag run from any of that for any contractor.

This is why you hire a professional.

Frank and Frank, you are entitled to your opinion and I am in no way a professional. When I reference 36" of clearance I was not referencing the size of the island. The homeowner can check with her city's building & code department for exact min. clearance. Regarding cutting a hole, any professional could do this with ease. It would have been nice for you to actually give the homeowner advice on what could work for her kitchen. This is why these forums are so great, you get the opportunity to hear a vast variety of perspectives. Many of us live in different places so the advice will most likely cater to our demographics. If you have a better solution for the homeowner, please share it with her.

The better solution requires whole home measurements, a stated realistic budget, and a realistic assessment of any construction skills that they possess. With zero factual information from the OP regarding any of that, no actual suggestjins can be forthcoming. It does not involve pie in the sky fantasies from someone who incorrectly fancies that they have some sort of ”knack” And that is why the value of this board is all over the map. People with zero knowledge and skill think their opinion is as good as a experienced professional’s assessment.

Frank and Frank,

I appreciate your attempts to protect posters on these boards from bad advice. But it's important to be aware of context. Advice from a lay-person (like myself, for example) does have a place. And the OP will see the advice is not from a pro and weigh it accordingly.

The most damage is done when someone with a Pro tag gives bad advice-- either because they are commenting outside of their expertise or because they have an inflated opinion of their expertise (there are a few almost famous ones). If you want to take posters to task for bad advice, you will provide the most value by addressing inaccurate advice from other pros.

Thanks for what you do. I'm glad you're here.

Tara Kelly, you can educate yourself by reading the National Kitchen and Bath guidelines and the link eld provided. While they are not all requirements for safety and building codes, they do give advice based on function and comfort:

NKBA guidelines

New to Kitchens? Read me first.

Thanks for all the comments. I have read numerous articles about spacing, work zones vs work triangles, the ice, water, stone, fire approach. Wayyyyy too many hours spent going down the rabbit hole of Houzz posts and pictures. I still appreciate other people’s opinions, from pros to just others that know more than me or just think differently than me. Our reality is we will not be living in this space until it is remodeled. We are proceeding with a contractor, although early that we know and trust. It will be months after closing before we move in. We have thought the living scenarios through and with 3 young kids and busy lives and an entire main floor that needs updating we don’t want to live in the space until it’s done. I am able to get in the house this weekend and will take some measurements and more complete photos and see what people think once they have a more complete view. Curious if you think I should add to this thread or post a new post with more complete info?

I'd keep the post, but I think you can edit your original post to say something like "Added measurements and more photos at end."

I would want to renovate before I move in. You’d need to move out during the renovation anyway. I would love to see what you do. I love an island and you easily have space. Get rid of the soffit and have cabinets to the ceiling. You pretty much have a blank space and can do anything you want. So many options makes it hard!

What a fabulous amount of space. Generally speaking, I'd perhaps put the stove (and a proper hood) on the big counter run instead of next to the fridge and leave the rest where it is.

It looks highly functional and in good repair. I would have no problem using it after I took down the wallpaper. (Except I can't reach the microwave.)

I'm not a pro but did help many customers design their kitchens when I worked for a home builder. At first glance, I would consider keeping the peninsula. It's wonderful for storage and works well at holidays for buffet style service. It's also a good place to add a microwave drawer if you plan on having a microwave. You could also install a garbage pullout cabinet in the peninsula. Eliminating the overhang will certainly increase your walking clearance. You can keep the sink and dishwasher where they are. I would move the stove to the long run of cabinets right in the center with pots and pans drawers on either side. Move the refrigerator down just enough toward where the stove is now to add a 24" pantry cabinet with pull out shelves. If it's possible to eliminate the soffits, I would do so and take the cabinets all the way to the ceiling. Upper shelves are great for storing serving dishes that are used only occasionally. Hope this helps!

Agree that a floor plan is needed if you want to get rid of the peninsula, install an island, and keep a dining area. Agree the stove should not be next to the fridge. You have a professional helping with the kitchen design, right?

Post measurements as soon as you can. No need for a new post.

If I had to live with that kitchen for a while, I would take down that wallpaper and window treatments, paint the walls white along with the base of the peninsula. This could buy you some time, if you need it…

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

Please post a fully-measured layout of the space under consideration and a sketch of the entire floor. 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.

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.)

In our last home we lived in the basement suite while we gutted the top two floors. I had zero interest in living in the chaos above and am so glad we moved down to the basement. We had someone lined up who quit the night before which was insane. And then had a friends husband be our GC and it was excellent! Lots of work but amazing outcome

I have attached our attempt at a drawing of the room (to scale to our best ability). First is dimensions of the room. Second is with current cabinet layout. Fridge is best guess at size, everything else should be accurate. Having our 4 yo with us while measuring proved to be a bit challenging. 😳. Scale is in corner and 1 square is 12 inches. I noted the rooms around the kitchen (those areas are not to scale), but I don’t yet have the full main floor drawn out. There are bedrooms essentially on the other side of the entryway and on the other end of the home past the family and living rooms. We are a family of 5, kids 4.10.13. I like to cook, but often have limited time and we do take out a decent amount. The kitchen tends to be the homework area as well. In our current house we don’t have a separate dining room or mud room and just have an eat in area where we can fit a 6-8 person table and hooks. This home will have a separate mud room and dining room so it should be less of a dumping ground that our current kitchen becomes. I would love to figure out even a small eat in space in addition to an island with seating, likely in the corner of windows. I see that may be a challenge. I am not opposed to eating our meals in our dining room, but even a small nook/table would be a good homework/ breakfast spot for my kids. We prefer not to knock down walls or change windows. Would be okay with widening doorways in and out. I appreciate everyone’s input so far. And yes we will ultimately work with a professional. I just like to do my homework and educate myself first.

It's actually not a bad layout as is. To my mind there are 2 main issues:

• the stove should be on the wall with the stairs behind it.
• traffic will naturally cross the kitchen from the family room to the homework area. With 3 kids, that's likely to be a fair bit of disrupted cooking.

If you remove the peninsula, the traffic will have a straight shot from FR to homework. But it will still be interrupting your work triangle. Here's a diagram of what that might look like. The work triangle is too large. That will mitigate the traffic issue but make cooking a chore.