Floor plan help - kitchen relocation
Hi all!
I’m looking to do a reno to our kitchen - I’d like to move it into what is currently the dining room.
Looking at the floor plan, does this even make sense? I was thinking to tske out the wall between kitchen and dining room and push the stove and counters to the back most wall in the dining room… then build a small butlers pantry towards the formal living room, and make the living room the dining room.
the stairs kind of get in the way though, and Im not sure what to do in the rest of the space where the current kitchen is (thibking large island?
Any help/suggestions is appreciated!
Edited to add: currently we have a gas stove, which is on the wall between kitchen and dining room. Budget wise, we dont have a set amount..
We dont really need a formal living room, as there is another family room and sunroom on the nain floor with ample seating for entertaining. We love the idea of a large island, ideally facing the current family room/sunroom.
Comments (16)
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PROlast yearlast modified: last yearShivani Sahney thanked Patricia Colwell ConsultingRelated Discussions
Help me decide on my open Great Room floor plan! (kitchen included)
Comments (16)Benjesbride, what you say regarding dining/island makes sense, but unfortunately I have ~11'x16' space to fit in the kitchen. If I decide to rotate the kitchen the way you say it, then my kitchen island will be quite small. I too started out thinking of a longer island and thus came up with option 2, and am not able to find pictures to tell me if that would look ok or not. Secondly, currently the plan is that the Great Room will be mainly conversation area. TV will be in a separate room, so no need to consider TV-watchability. Mama Rachel, your idea of spice kitchen is great! That's the kitchen I started out "wanting". I had to abandon it halfway, however, because of space constraints. My whole house is ~2200 sqft, therefore allocating disproportionately large amount of space to the kitchen would have meant I gave up on some other priorities. Mama Rachel : regarding powder: we decided to ditch the powder because of the availability of full bath on that floor, which otherwise will be guest bath. We also wanted as much storage as possible, therefore decided on having a storage rather than powder. Anyway, here's the original plan. Note that we added ~5ft towards the courtyard and some square footage along top wall (which is facing backyard). I am working on sizing of the entry right now, because I think it's a bit too big for the house, but that space will NOT become available to the kitchen again due to the building rules....See MoreHelp with Kitchen and Butler Pantry floor plan
Comments (43)The “Butler’s pantry” has to be between the food production area and serving area to actually get used. This phrase has been popping up -- incorrectly -- on this website lately; people are using it to mean "large pantry" or "walk in pantry". A real butler's pantry, as you say, is located between the kitchen and the dining room, and it's a "staging area". It's a place where a server can stash the extra bread basket or the dessert, and it's usually a storage area for good dishes. Since pretty much no one actually has servers in a private home, people today tend to use butler's pantries as a place to set out drinks or dessert. You have what I’d call a scullery. I have one and I love it. Yes, scullery is a better word choice. I've also heard such spots called "dirty kitchens" or "spice kitchens" or "canning kitchens" ... while the outer portion is called the "pretty kitchen". I don't really like the concept. Seems like what you want -- your favorite knife, your measuring spoons, whatever -- would always be in the wrong spot. Seems like a lot of daily hassle for an occasional benefit. Agreed. Adding more places to mess up is never the solution for a messy partner. That’s fantasy that he will confine his messes to just where you want them to be confined. Eh, I halfway agree. My husband is a terrible slob, and over 28 years I've created this-and-that method to try to get him to keep things cleaner. Some he embraces (like a place for car keys and the folders for receipts we need to keep for taxes), others he promises to use, then ignores (like all trash cans at all times and junk mail). I think the key is to think though exactly what YOU want to happen, then consider HIS habits, and think about how you can make things work better ... without expecting miracles. CPArtist gave some good examples above....See MoreRelocating stairs on a house plan still in the works
Comments (24)Stairs are the most critical element of the design since they're the most important circulation element. They have to start and end in just the right place on all levels for the plan to work. Your architect is right. Moving the stairs will completely change the design. However, from what I see, not much design has actually happened. A good architectural concept happens in all 3 dimensions and relates to its site. So far you don't have windows, elevations, a roof, a site plan etc. Whether the stairs work as located depends on what's happening on the site. It's blocking the view to the outside from the main living space. On some lots that might be a perfect solution. On others it might be awful. I honestly think it shouldn't be expensive to have your architect sketch another plan or two until you're happy. It's much better to do it now than months from now, or worse accept something you hate in the completed house....See MoreHELP!! Relocate kitchen- shuffle rooms for functionality
Comments (37)I saw this a lot in my old neighborhood full of 70’s-90’s houses.. My house still had 8’ ceilings and all these little separate rooms. We remodeled the kitchen, and I loved it! But the house wasn’t built to 2020 home standards of living. The kitchen still wasn’t connected to the family room, and everyone had to go down a narrow hallway to get out to the deck and back yard. It lived wrong. I got every penny back from my kitchen redo when I sold the house, and put it into a downsized new house with taller ceilings, a connection to the family space, and big french doors out to the pool. It lives a whole lot bigger and better than my old compartmentalized house ever did. If I had been younger, and wanted to stay there long term, I would have done what my neighbor did, which was take the old 1979 ranch down and build a new house on the lot. But my house was already 3500 square feet. It would have been the wrong direction to do a teardown and the smaller house. Even though my old house was 3500 square feet, and the new one is right at 2000, this house just lives better and feels bigger. Don’t be afraid of doing something far more drastic than you originally thought about doing. Or doing less, and selling and moving to a house that fits you better. It’s the in between those poles that you’re going to get the worst results for the most money....See MoreRelated Professionals
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PROlast yearThis depends your goal. If that is to get a huge island? You won't get it with a move to the dining room- you will still be hemmed in by the stair.
Something like.....
Shivani Sahney thanked JAN MOYER- last year
- last year
PROlast yearI think you could try something like this:
This would require closing the one window where the sink is now.
For the large blank wall, you could put some artwork or maybe do some creative niches to break it up.
Just a thought!
Shivani Sahney thanked Debbi Washburn
last yearDebbi's idea is defnitely a larger kitchen! The problems I see are (1) the fridge is now very far from the family room, (2) you are maximizing your walk with groceries (however you come in), (3) you're ending up with two casual eating areas right next to each other (island and nook), and (4) there's now a large empty space between the kitchen and the family room, in the center of your house. You could maybe do something about #4 by putting some kind of beverage center at the end of the "blank wall" -- a coffee station and/or a place for drinks to be grabbed by folks in the family room, or even a bar. But I suspect you'll be back here with a "what do I do with this weird empy space" query a year after doing all this work.
Could you repurpose the living room? Maybe a game table, or a little grouping of chairs for chatting with a friend, or a home office/homework space with french doors you can close when company comes over? Then maybe you could scratch your "large island" itch by putting a counter-height table and a few chairs behind a couch in your family room, where it would provide extra seats for snacking while watching a football game/movie/etc... That would kind of be using the extra space from the other side, but of course it depends on how your furniture is arranged.
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Los Altos Hills Fun Basement · More InfoShivani Sahney thanked acm- PROlast year
You'd have to spit, and don't get all excited......Until I put real dimensions on it
- PROlast year
last yearYeah, that 13.5’ width makes having an island in the kitchen very awkward and the isles get too tight.
Your island right now is what we call a ”barrier island” because it is a barrier that you need to walk around when going from the fridge to the sink.
I know everyone wants an island, I get it, but would you be open to a peninsula?
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- PROlast yearlast modified: last year
I'm calling these the "you haven't died until now plans........taking a bit of license with what Rebunky did
That said, does anyone in the family remember the last time they hung around in the living room?How often do you use the dining room?
Where is the storage in the existing kitchen?
Is the point of the island bettering the two stool scenario? So you can chop and prep and face the family?
May as well go the distance. Because I am betting you can't put a date to sitting in the living room. Breaking rules, with the insanity of 13.6 kitchens, but wth.....you haven't died to now.
If they're all gonna be in there anyway? Who cares?!
Below, seats depending. The real point is......is the living a loss? Dining with friend is about THE most public event in a home, and it is why so many dining spaces are at the entry. To me and based on hundreds of clients? Christmas still only comes once a year. Same with Thanksgiving and Easter, even Passover is once. That is when the living room gets used, if at all.
Shivani Sahney thanked JAN MOYER - last year
- PROlast year
So.......................... there you GO. : ) Whatever was in the pantry end, just goes around the corner.
A microwave can be a drawer microwave, Better for kids as well.
If ALL your walls, and windows and passages on your floor plan, had feet and inches exactly ? You'd get a more exact layout. For everything.
auntthelma