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monabar

help with kitchen layout for new construction

last month
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Our house is in complete renovation, down to the studs. we've been waiting 10 years and we're finally doing it. We have passed plumbing, electrical and mechanical inspections. My husband is the builder. We are in a flood zone, so want to be economical.

I might not use ikea cabinets - I just used their design tool.


I want a functional, warm, happy, somewhat playful kitchen for one prolific cook, not a hang out place except for parties. The playful might come from the planned color for the cabinets - Farrow and Ball Breakfast Room Green with accents of indigo and very light pink - Farrow and Ball Tailor Tack, and the dignified Farrow and Ball White Tie for the walls.


We are two older adults, no kids, who have people living with us from time to time. We entertain informally and have parties and meetings. I'm short so I'll have a step stool to reach cabinets.

The kitchen is for cooking and eating at the peninsula.
There is a basement below the whole first floor.
The plumbing for the sink is set.
I bake about 4 times a month and maybe would do it more if I had a functional spot.
We need a place for coffee stuff - large burr grinder, drip coffee, frother, electric kettle and right now they are planned to be in an appliance garage on the right. I want appliances in the drawers and in an appliance garage if possible - maybe just the toaster on the counter.


We don't need a snack center. A lot of our food is bulk beans and grains which we can display attractively in the glass cabinets.
I have:
30" induction cooktop
microwave and oven that can go in the oven cabinet -but maybe they are too far out and need a different placement.
standard dishwasher
36" french door fridge/freezer
24" wide and 34" tall extra freezer for large batches of soup - the alternative would be to ge the extra freezer space in a 42" side by side frig/freezer but they seem to be all counter depth so I would lose interior space. And I don't need counter depth because the counter on the frig run is 30" deep.
I can't live without functionality and a good place for spices - right now they are in a 12" pullout next to the dishwasher. But I'm also considering a pull down that goes under the cabinets that I have seen on etsy.



The countertops on the frig wall are 30" to diminish the width of the kitchen and to allow for appliance garages. There is a corner cabinet in the back right that has a pull out kidney shape, with a 20" high cabinet above it for a garage.
I plan to store everyday dishes and plates on the shelves on the sink wall, glasses and well-displayed food in containers in the glass cabinets in the stove run and the frig run, and baking supplies in the base cabinets in the frig run. Canned and boxed food will be in the pull out tall pantry next to the frig and in drawers. Back up bulk food will be in the kidney corner base pull out.


This has been really hard but also fun and something is beginning to penetrate my design-challenged mind. .



Here are my major questions though I am open to any and all comments:
Does it look choppy? I like the look of minimizing upper cabinets but wonder if it looks choppy.
Will the 8' distance from sink to frig be annoying over time?
Is there a better way to get appliance garages in?
What about microwave and stove placement - they are way out right now. Maybe the oven under the cooktop and the microwave or for last resport on the counter?
The peninsula with the freezer facing inward and the cabinet facing outward is unusual but I'm wondering if it could work. I plan to remove the back of the cabinet next to the freezer on the inside to make a short bookshelf for cookbooks. That can be seen on one picture below. The rest of the cabinet would be for infrequently used storage accessed from the outside of the kitchen.





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