Seeking comments on our kitchen reno layout
Just about ready to place our cabinetry order. Feel free to have a look and chime in with your insights.
We have tried to incorporate Aging in Place features as we love the waterfront setting and deep covered terraces our townhouse offers and know we've found our forever home. That's why I wanted as many drawers with full-extension glides as possible, to eliminate the trifecta of cabinet diving: bending, reaching and lifting.
Note: We are constrained to the footprint as shown since there is no extra tile for the existing Saturnia marble flooring.
More images in next post (seems there's a limit of 4 per post).
Comments (15)
purpleplume
13 days agolast modified: 12 days agoRelated Discussions
Seeking layout advice, please for old farmhouse kitchen
Comments (6)First of all, THANK YOU for taking the time to read this, look at my plan, and assist me. In response to some of the questions/comments... The right side that desertsteph mentioned not being able to see/read on the drawing - right now there is a large old butcher block table there, with 3 wall cabs and some shelves above. We do not use the table - it basically collects junk. I think that area could be used much more efficiently. Yes, this is mostly "steamlining and prettying up"! I'm not opposed to changing things *if* it really makes sense to do it but am not looking to change things just for the sake of change. I think I have a good base and there is no need to tear it all out and start from scratch. I just want to be sure that I am making the most efficient and effective decisions. I was thinking of putting another oven beside the refrigerator; it seems like the easiest place for a new appliance. I do have a floor-to-ceiling pantry that holds a ton of stuff. If I don't put in a second oven, the space beside the refrigerator would probably be a combo of deep drawers and a good sized pantry cabinet, and/or some kind of built-in microwave as right now we have a countertop MW that just sits on an old dresser! The floor is pine planks - very pretty, warm color - all the first floor floors are the same material, and it will remain. The hall door sees the least traffic, so it seems like the cook center is already in the best place given that I need to keep 5 doors into this space. The space between the island and the kitchen table is basically a corridor to the living room, so that needs to stay clear. I briefly considered a new countertop with an overhang on that side but the overhang would make my existing top drawers unusable, so I ruled that out. We do not have an entry room or mudroom at this entrance to the house; there is a brick patio outside this door. Our laundry room is as long as the kitchen but about 6 ft wide; part of this is a half bath, some is laundry, and the rest is storage and "mud room" functions. There is a lot packed into that little space but it works pretty well. I have aspirations of building a covered stoop at the back since we do use this entrance all the time, but that will be a few years away. I don't think our site setbacks would allow a full mudroom or entry here. I like the shelf above the cabinets too, although I'm not much of a collector, so I don't know what to put up there. I'm short so it is too high for me to access for storage, and works as display only. I'm having outlets installed above the shelf as part of this project so I can install lighting up there to light the ceiling. My finish plan is: *keep the floors *cover the ceiling with an anaglyptic wallcovering that looks like tin tiles which will be painted white *install crown mold all around, painted white *paint the cabinets white, add a "light rail" piece of trim to the bottoms, switch out the hinges with something less obtrusive, change the pulls on the drawers to bin pulls, and change the door pulls to new ORB/white porcelain pulls *paint the wainscot and trim (now blue) dark brown, picking up on the darkest brown tones of the floor and the dark brown fleck in the laminate countertop *paint the walls a very light cream/yellow (BM Pearly Gates, I think) *I'd hoped to replace the countertop to the left of the range with Corian to match what's on the right. It's probably 20 years old and it looks great, but this CT is so old that I am having trouble matching it. I am still looking at options here - would like to use something white/light colored but have also considered the Ikea butcher block for economy reasons, although I am not sure I am up to that DIY project *I bought subway tile for the backsplash at the range, but I have to replace the CTs first because they are not currently at the same height (only a fraction of an inch off, but against the lines of the tile it will be really evident) I guess my biggest question is - is it worth it to consider moving the sink? Would I gain the same benefit by undermounting a new sink at the existing location on the island and having a butcher block piece made to cover half of it to expand the prep area? That would certainly be less expensive, but would it be as effective as the combination of a main sink and a prep sink? I appreciate your time and your thoughts. Thanks for your help!...See MoreSeeking Kitchen Layout Advice
Comments (5)Sorry for the lack of clarity. Yes, the refrigerator is where "refrig" is. I've posted a rescaled drawing to show the relationship of the kitchen to the adjacent family room & dining area. Hope that helps. Also a pix of the removal of the wall between the kitchen & family room (and concurrent creation of the cubby area for the refrig). I do take your point about the path from fridge to sink and stove. Since removing the wall between the kitchen and family room just moved the refrigerator about 3' closer to the door and back 2', we're not much worse off than we have been for 12 years. You are also quite right that there's not a huge advantage over the current layout. My motivation is to find a way to use more of that granite that we just wrote a big check for! I don't really see the granite top as an eating area -- just a larger expanse of granite and more countertop space. The door by the fridge is the one we primarily use for our daily comings and goings, so we try to keep the pathway clear. We just don't want to do this moving around and then later smack our foreheads and cry, "What were we thinking?!" So we very much appreciate your thoughts about doing this. Here's the rescaled drawing to show kitchen's relationship to adjoining rooms. From Kitchen Reno Here's a picture of the wall being removed that shows the refrig cubby. Please excuse the construction mess. From Kitchen Reno Thanks again for the advice....See More***ADDED LAYOUT*** Kitchen reno - need price points and layout help!
Comments (24)From a countertop fabricator/installer's point of view. If you add new countertops to the existing cabinets, no problem there. The potential issues arise if and when you decide to get all new cabinets and want to use the new countertops. You'll have to get the same fabricator to remove the tops from your original cabinets and then re-install them unto the new cabinets. Other fabricators will not want to take this on as it is fraught with issues. We get asked all the time to do this and we always politely decline. Material breaks, sizing can be off on the new cabinets compared to the original. You would have to keep the cabinet footprint exactly the same and hope it all re-installs perfectly. More often than not homeowners who have done this wind up buying all new countertops, thus doubling your cost for this one portion of your project. Best of luck with your project....See Moreseeking comments on new-build kitchen design
Comments (12)Different people have different needs. As I outlined in my posts a 48" all gas w/ 4 burners and 24" griddle/flattop serves us well 98% of the time and then the countertop induction hobs add some additional versatility/capability. I talked w/ Scotsman and they said cutting the power is fine. It's not ideal but given Scotsman's lack of a timer it is what it is. Ideally every icemaker should have the ability to set a programmed on and off time along with an overide for entertaining. If a $20 coffee maker can do that an icemaker certainly can. An 8 hr pause is better than nothing but still very limiting - we do a 20 hr pause most days. I would NOT put any range in the island - unless you live on an island (and so have lots of windows open at all times) or are OK with a really big hood. https://bamasotan.us/range-exhaust-hood-faq/ If you want a griddle/flattop (and I do recommend them) then stick with gas. Consumer level induction and electric perform quite poorly. And if you like to cook or want to expand your abilities then you'll want gas burners. Induction works well for a lot of people and perhaps most people but there's a reason restaurants still use gas. Consider doing a pass-thru between your pantry/scullery/prep and kitchen (good idea on using that as back prep or scullery). Counter level so things can be slid thru. Pocket door (about 12x12 or 12x18). You could also include a fixed window or two between the two....See Morepurpleplume
13 days agoCounters and backsplash in Diamond Blue Polished Calcite. The stone sample is shown here beside 2 island paint samples. We opted for the one on the lower left: SW Blissful Blue.
Stone has a touch of green with the blue gray. That's to relate to the bright BenMoore Big City Blue and Cabana Green as seen in the LR wall. LR and DR are open to the water view on east and south sides. A short passage connects the Kitchen to the DR; they share a calcite counter that tops off a SubZero Beverage Fridge on that shared short passage.
purpleplume
13 days agopurpleplume
13 days agopurpleplume
12 days agolast modified: 12 days ago@petula 67 I totally agree with you about the tight aisle widths!
Unfortunately, we cannot eliminate the island or modify its footprint because making it smaller to increase aisle widths would reveal concrete sub-floor and sadly we do not have any extra marble flooring tile with which to cover that base flooring. :(
Ditto for a flooring change: the existing 24” square marble pieces of flooring run throughout the entire level of the townhouse where the kitchen is located: LR, DR, reception room, foyer, and powder room. And since it’s an open floor plan, even if we wanted to change out just the kitchen and laundry room flooring, the GC says there’s no way to make that happen.
The kitchen flooring is my biggest design delimma because there are 3” square textured metal tiles in a bronze color at some of the 4-way intersections of the larger marble floor tiles. They are inset diagonally and relate to absolutely nothing! There are 8 of them in the kitchen—in the walkways around the island, set 48” apart—plus 2 more in the hallway to the laundry room.
I would welcome suggestions on how to deal with those!
purpleplume
12 days agolast modified: 12 days ago@rebasheba I agree with you! I am not a fan of the Blissful Blue on the island.
Originally, our interior designer had done the island cabinetry in BenMoore Elmira White (which to me reads as a beige). It made the kitchen look blah to me. I was in tears. Then she proposed doing it in a light blue and gave me a few from which to choose. I don’t see how the light blue relates to anything in the LR or the kitchen. When we add 3 counter-height stools to the island that may help a bit, but I’m afraid not enough
We need to get this cabinetry order in this week and I am at a loss for how to salvage this project palette dilemma!
The kitchen walls are painted Chantilly Lace (a white). Here’s a rendering with Elmira White on the island cabinets:
purpleplume
12 days agolast modified: 12 days agoAnd a couple more showing the bronze diamond insert floor tiles.
Any suggestions for counter-height bar stools that could help tie this space together are welcome!
Note: there is no door on the back right where shown in this photo. That‘s a hallway leading to the adjacent Laundry Room and a utility closet.purpleplume
10 days agolast modified: 10 days agopurpleplume
10 days ago
rebasheba