Wonky Room/Kitchen Dilemma

last month

last modified: last month

I've tried to post this four times but the only way it'll post is without pictures, so unfortunately I hope my description is enough to make sense of everything + the Zillow link. I can't even add pictures in a comment.

Long time, no see Houzz! I'm looking at buying a fixer upper with a very odd layout. Here's the Zillow link. Not sure if that works, but my issue is the kitchen. It looks like they enclosed a space so that when you first walk in, you're in that odd room with the chair, and then you pop out and you're facing the dining room/back sliding doors/actual tiny living room. If you turn around, you're in the kitchen. How would I open that kitchen up? I'm guessing the wall where the oven was is load bearing. I'm not opposed to doin what I gotta do, but if I took that wall down, I could maybe put an island there, but what would the room be that you're now looking into? Maybe an actual living room or a long den? Its current door would need to be moved. It's such an odd layout. I'm not concerned with the rest of the house; just that initial space and the kitchen. I drew a rough sketch of the layout once upon a time, but it's on a different computer. I can upload that later; in the meantime, I'll attach the pictures from the listing. Hopefully my description is good enough to understand where the kitchen is relative to that weird space with the chair.

facing the front door; just to orient yourself

if you walked through the front door and looked left, you get this

^the kitchen's on the opposite wall of the front room

In ^this photo, you can see the front room from this random peninsula. that door you saw earlier is seemingly on the opposite side of that vertical deep freezer

this is the view from the back of the galley kitchen

then this washer/dryer nook is right behind the vertical deep freezer. so if I replaced the wall with an island, walking around the left of the island would have to lead back here. there's also ANOTHER ROOM past this. I have no idea what purpose it's meant to serve either. I've never seen a more chaotic layout.

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Buehl

last month

last modified: last month

Unless your island is at least 43.5" D with not seating on the back or 49.5" if there is seating -and- it's wide enough to have at least 24" on either side of the range, I would not recommend it. Cooktops/ranges are the last thing that should go on an island. Even though I'm not proponent of island cleanup sinks/Cleanup Zone, that's better than a cooktop or range!

With a cooktop or range in the island, you will have a hood hanging in the middle of the space - not usually liked by most people. (A downdraft is an expensive, ineffective option.)

43.5" = 1.5" counter overhang + 24"D cooktop cabinet + 18" safety overhang behind the cooktop

Add another 6" for a total of 24" behind the cooktop if seating = 49.5"

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Comments (17)

PRO
JAN MOYER
last month
No clue how anyone is commenting on a link that isn't even on the post?

Matters not. A kitchen is feet and inches, and NO real estate photo will inform dimensions.
Courtney
Original Author
last month
Sorry Jan, it's not highlighted very well, but if you click on the second Zillow link, the link is there. If not, I'm sure Houzz will let me add links to comments. I'm not sure why my pictures wouldn't work.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6357-Malory-Dr-Ocean-Springs-MS-39564/447322803_zpid/?
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I think you are trading one wonky layout for another, to be honest. You have built a rang into a corner with no space on one side and not a lot on the other, your best prep space is across the way where dirty dishes are also likely to get stacked, the bay is awkward now (including teh gao bewteen the frisge and bay), a doorway separates the kitchen and the now only eating area and the washer and dryer are out in the hall -- none of these are good in my book. You still have a lot of things to move with your plan, and I wouldn't be surprised if it would cost you as much as bmore's plans. With bmore's I think you would increase the value of your home. With your plan, I think the best you could hope for would be to stay even with where you are. If I were a buyer, I'd be less likely to buy your new plan that the house with the current layout at the same price. If you are on pier and beam, it is much easier to move things than it would be for me on slab. On top of that, look again at bmore's first option. It takes advantage of water supply and drains near their current locations. I think you'd be moving less than in your plan. I'm not crazy about the doorway bewteen the kitchen and DR, but you could put a couple of chairs or stools at the baking height counter or the island and not be carrying food across the doorway for every meal. A hybrid scenario -- keep the WD in that room but put them against the wall on the right. If you stack them, you still have room for a small laundry sink, hanging and folding spaces -- or a desk as you drew -- something. Move the doorway on the bath to the hall between the two bedrooms as suggested and then modify the kitchen as bmore's first option shows. Even less moving, but keeps the improved function of the space.
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If you are planning on having two dishwashers, I'd suggest placing one on each side of the clean-up sink, and making that run in the bump-out 27" deep, with a 15" deep cabinet in the corner. The island, as drawn on your plan, is 6.5' x 7', but I made it 6' x 6.5' plus overhangs, which will give you 48" cabinet-to-cabinet on the clean-up sink aisle--the extra three inches will provide space for the overhangs (1.5", although I prefer 1", especially in a small kitchen). I think you can get by with the narrower aisle between the pantry and island, if the fridge is moved to the range wall, as per bb's suggestion. The dish storage on the island has moved back, with a trash pull-out on the corner of the island, convenient to all zones. You can also store dishes in the 15" deep base cabinet. Prep space on the island is 42+", on the left, with landing space and an 18" cabinet to the right of the prep sink. BTW, you'll need a DW return panel for the DW on the end, to support the countertop.
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pigeen
last month
The link is there: "the Zillow link"
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last month
You post pics here in acomments and the trck is to post one at a time wait until it is no longer grayed and the the next one. Sorry but no pctures, no to scale plan no help. Take the time to do the drawing to scale on graph paper every measurement clearly marked also windows and doorways post that drawing here in jpeg format in a comment . I newer wnt to go back and forth from any link.
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cyprissa
last month
The Zillow link is broken for some reason.
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Buehl
last month
last modified: last month
The Zillow link worked for me - it's the second "Zillow link" in the original post (second paragraph). https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6357-Malory-Dr-Ocean-Springs-MS-39564/447322803_zpid/? It's not obvious, which is why I usually bold links when they're embedded in text (using the "Link" button) so they stand out.

However, I would try again to post pictures. The inability to post pictures is an intermittent issue on Houzz that, unfortunately, seems to be happening more & more often.
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Courtney
Original Author
last month
last modified: last month
facing front door. OH FINALLY, my other pictures must've been too big or something. Thankfully, I'd saved these ages ago on another computer.
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Courtney
Original Author
last month
If you walk through the front door, and look left
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Courtney
Original Author
last month
In this photo, you can see the front room from this random peninsula. the door from my previous comment is seemingly on the opposite side of the vertical deep freezer at the back left of this picture
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Courtney
Original Author
last month
better view of the kitchen
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Courtney
Original Author
last month
view of the kitchen from the back
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Courtney
Original Author
last month
tiny little w/d nook behind the deep freezer
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Courtney
Original Author
last month
Honestly, the fact that I couldn't get my pictures to post until today feels like a sign. HAHA. Even my realtor doesn't like this house. Maybe I should just look for something else. Something I wouldn't have to re-orient to make the flow feel normal.
Courtney
Original Author
last month
Just had another look at it. I think an island is the way to go (on the kitchen/living room wall). So rip out that wall, put an island with a cooktop in it, possibly put a wall oven on the opposite wall; then remove the door that currently leads out of the living room and into the dining area and shorten that wall all the way to the hallway. That would open everything up. I guess I just had to go through the struggle bus of getting my pictures to post to figure that out. :) Thanks, as always, Houzz!
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PRO
lisedv
last month
Lots of pictures but what we'd need is a floor plan showing all dimensions, doors, windows, entrances, etc.
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Courtney
Original Author
last month
Thanks @Buehl! Now that I think about it, I guess I don't really need an island there. Just take the wall down to open the space and do an L-shaped kitchen with what's left, except I'd swap that old peninsula thingy out for a real one/extension of the kitchen. So much to think about!
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Wonky Room/Kitchen Dilemma

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