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Building a Home Design Dilemma

Should I close this entry from dining room to pantry?

last month

Should I have the builder close off this entry from the dining room going to pantry? It will give me more room in the pantry and I could have a larger space for my fridge on the other side of wall. As of now, a fridge was going there as well as a small amount of counter space for my coffee maker that has its own water source. I am thinking the counter space won’t be large enough, and if I close off this entry, I can have them turn the water source so that it faces the pantry and put a countertop/cabinet there for my coffee maker/coffee bar. The microwave will also be in the pantry and I don’t know that I will like having to walk through the kitchen to get to the dining room. This is my first build and forever home and I want to get it right. Any thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated. (That small door to the left in the pantry is for grocery loading from the garage and that whole wall will be counter space/cabinets.)

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Comments (7)

alanalinette
last month
It sounds like a good idea but it would be helpful if your plumbing fixtures were included in the plan.
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PRO
PPF.
last month
Your attached image is really small. Try again with one about 3 times larger.

Show your kitchen and pantry layout -- cabinets and appliances.

Where are you in the build -- already framing?
0
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I posted this already and who knows where it is, but it's a crazy non-sequitor in someone's thread. And you probably saw these anyway. Here is a jib thanks to chijim and Arch. Digest. You can see it, but all this says is "THIS door isn't as important as the others". I have seen Obvious jib doors in dining rooms that said "The Servants Come in through here, You Don't". Speaking of Dining Rooms. See the columns here. Notice the wall thickness. Notice also that they ranked the orders, with lower order on the pilaster and higher order on the full column: This dining room would only be improved by DeGournay grisaille paper with the figures in color. That would be On Crack. Please do a scenic in your dining room. It would only add another $20K to $50K to the budget. What bugs me in this picture is the "smoke" coming out of the mirror over the mantle.
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Comments (30)
It looks nice with the red shades but I agree with Les, I think the issue is too much symmetry. Dining rooms seem especially prone to this! It does come down to personal taste but I think your buffet is small enough that one lamp with a more substantial base to it could work; and it can sit in front of the mirror if needed. Then place a bowl, vase, picture on a stand, or other items that have meaning to you along on the other side of it. That could be the "unexpected" thing that can make such a difference in our homes. Gorgeous wall color, and love the red drapes next to it.
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Comments (10)
I'd want it to stay separate. What is that window in the laundry facing? Would it be possible to have a door on that wall? I'd put a door across from the pocket door and put the washer dryer to the longest exterior wall. Then you could probably fit a sink in there somewhere. If you move the doors more to the center then you have space for a whole wall of cabinets on the interior wall. You could do a tall cabinet for cleaning supplies, brooms, etc. Then have a folding counter if you like. I'd move the pocket door from kitchen into the pantry up as much as you can. As it is now, you don't have anywhere for a lightswitch in the pantry or the laundry. If you add a 36" exterior door from the laundry then you can have the pocket doors be 30". I'd use the wall inside the pantry to hang aprons or have a shelf for cookbooks or even wine. Also, think about how you will use the pantry. A sink is good if you will actually work in there, but if not then a sink in the laundry is better. You can use that sink for messy stuff. I use the sink in my laundry to wash dogs, arrange flowers, clean bird feeders, wash up from crafty stuff, clean the grill grates, etc.
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Comments (22)
So, the breezeway originally was the entire depth of the house, but the back end is now laundry/enclosed area? I think screening the front would be nice, especially if you have a nice view out front. We had a breezeway and they made the front part a bedroom and the back a mudroom/passage to the kitchen. They kept the windows and door across the front and people do mistake that door for the front entrance, but what can you do? I'm a porch person, so I say go for the breezeway. We would have liked to revert, but ours is a very large bedroom with very large closet (attached to HVAC) and it would make the house three bedrooms, instead of four. Your room doesn't sound like it has a very practical function as it is so I say, go for it!
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PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last month
"This is my first build and forever home and I want to get it right."

Normally details like that are worked out during the design process. Is the builder designing the house? This might be your 'first forever home' with more to follow.

"That small door to the left in the pantry is for grocery loading from the garage and that whole wall will be counter space/cabinets."

Is the garage labeled "Dining" or did you mean the other left?
bpath
last month
Show the proposed layout of the kitchen. And the proposed placement of furniture in the family room.

How do you plan to use the pantry besides food storage?
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worthy
last month
This space seems more of an oversized butler's pantry--a walkthrough to the dining room. But with a door to the exterior? In that case, the entry is needed..
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bpath
last month
Oh, that’s a second fridge?
0
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last month
last modified: last month
Consider foregoing the door from the garage to the pantry. The logistics of it and the cleanliness of it may not work as planned.

Consider rearranging the spaces to create better spatial relationships.

Consider moving the steps further from the latch side of the door to the garage.

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