Any pictures of the layout? It's more a function of what the rest of the kitchen layout is.

BTW...is it possible to add 3 more inches to the overhangs? 15" is the recommended overhang for counter-height seating. (12" is the recommended height for bar-height seating.)

We had to go with a 12" overhang, as anything more makes it tight at the entryway, and between the seating and the back wall.

Here's a schematic of the kitchen. We're trying to decide whether to orient the sink ala the blue or red.

{{gwi:1577380}}

Wow! You have a lot squeezed into that one side...is there any way to spread things out a bit?

Your cooking & cleanup zones are on top of each other and you have virtually no landing or workspace around your cooktop and ovens. Yes, there's the island, but for a cooktop, at least, it's more important to have it next to it.

Prepping might also occur on that side b/c of the location of your prep sink & cooktop.

Orientation of sink should probably be vertical...but I do think there's a lot of potential for splashing your visitors since you have such a small overhang. If it weren't for the seat on the end of the island, I would suggest you move your prep sink to the corner of that end to try to space out your work zones.

Double wow!! I agree with buehl. You've got enough counter space, but not in the right places. I'd move the sink between the 2 windows on the fridge wall, put a super susan in the corner, and move the cooktop to the left. I wouldn't put anything in an island that narrow.

Anne

I agree you don't seem to have adequate main workspaces as is. What is for sure is that the places you use for important tasks will ultimately be determined by the layout of the kitchen, and it's very nice if they turn out to actually be what and where you want them. This little reality is the reason I worked on a 15-18" counter beside the stove in a rental for several months with 8 feet of open NEVER-used counter several feet away. I literally never went there except to clean up the mail it collected and to dust it.

So, the kitchen basically needs spaces for preparing/cooking/serving food and for the cleanup afterward. Where do you WANT to do each of these tasks? And how much space do you NEED for it? What do you want to happen in each of those spaces and what do you want to keep out?

For instance, I hate dirty dishes in my prep space, a starting point that resulted in adding a prep sink and dedicating the other bar of the L counter to cleanup. A friend laughed when she heard about my hangup and really appreciates the convenience of having her big main sink close to the stove. Dirty pans are never in her way because she cleans as she goes. Her prep sink in the island came with the house and is used by her children to clean their hands and as a bar sink. They're always having people over and use the island to lay out goodies. It works well for them but not as originally intended by whomever.

Thanks to buehl, jimandanne_mi, and rosie for your comments. It seems the topic has shifted from prep sink orientation to overall kitchen layout, and I greatly appreciate your ideas.

Yes, the kitchen is overloaded on the west side. However, a couple of things seem to dictate this. For example, the main sink. If we put it between the two windows on the fridge wall (if I understand Anne's suggestion correctly), we would lose 4 feet of wall cabinet space, and be staring at a wall while washing. We thought about putting it in front of the window nearest the fridge, but there will be a passthrough there out onto a back deck. So that seems to lock in the sink in the corner, unless you can suggest another idea. This is our preferred location as well, as it gives a great view outside and nearby bird feeders.

The cooktop is also, as you pointed out, problematic due to its lack of side landing area. Trying to relocate the stove is made difficult due to the fact that the kitchen has exposed beam ceilings, and venting is best accomplished through an exterior wall, since we don't want industrial ducting being strung under the beams. The two exterior walls are the west and south. We can't use the south, as we don't want to vent onto the deck. So that locks in the cooktop to the west wall.

One way to get more landing space around the cooktop would be to get a bottom oven, rather than wall ovens. We prefer the wall oven design, since that's what we have now, and we're not getting any younger.

I'd be interested in any suggestions concerning these placements, but we've tried and can't come up with anything different. We were sure that we could improve the layout significantly from the original 1959 design, but have not found a practical way. The island is the only difference, and we hope that it will give the necessary prep and landing space behind the cooktop, rather than next to it.

Having a prep sink on the island allows multiple cooks to avoid the traffic jam at the main sink. Mainly for washing hands and prep. Entertaining at the island is a secondary benefit.

So, maybe we should concentrate on a smallish square prep sink to compromise on the orientation issue.

I really appreciate all of your comments, and welcome additional suggestions before finalizing this plan.

Alice

Maybe I'm not understanding you correctly, but why would the pass-through prohibit placing the sink under the other window? I've seen pass-throughs over sinks before, and they seemed to work fine. That would solve all your problems in one move. You'd have a nice, long stretch of counter between the sink and stove. Your main prep area would most likely naturally end up in that corner, so you could enjoy that view as you prep.

You could even do without the prep sink altogether if the main sink were more accessible and out of the cooking area. If you're sold on the prep sink, moving the main sink would make it logical to place the prep sink at the end of the island nearest the stove. One of my main uses for our prep sink is draining water from pasta. Having it close to my stove makes that work well.

No, you're understanding perfectly. The reason we're thinking of not putting the main sink there is because the faucet we're considering is almost 17" high. And the window will be single hung, not sliding, limiting the opening height. That more or less takes away the ability to lift something over the faucet and onto the granite counter outside the window, leaving the usable width of the passthrough to half the window width.

Does this make sense?

Yes, that makes perfect sense. I can picture it now. However, for all the other benefits of having the sink there, I think I'd reconsider the choice of faucets or choose a sink that would take an off-center faucet.