Hi, I've been lurking for a while while thinking about my kitchen remodel. I have learned so much from reading threads on this forum, and I love the warm, positive, and frankly brilliant culture of this site. We have been kicking layouts around for a while now, and I think I'm finally ready for some critique. Since we are moving exterior walls, this design is such a big commitment; I know that with gw input and changes, I'll feel more confident in finalizing these plans.
Goals:
++ good workflow and support of simultaneous cooking, snack prep, baking, cleanup, and hanging out. This is a homeschooler's kitchen, and most of the time, five people will be preparing 3 meals a day plus snacks in the kitchen, with lots of non-kitchen activity (homework, laptop, even science labs) on the peninsula.
++ good natural light and ventilation: one of the main reasons we are undertaking such a drastic remodel is that the kitchen is in the cold, dark, northwest corner of the house. By opening it up to the south side of the house via the peninsula and converting the dark back hallway there into a many-windowed conservatory, we will flood the area with light. Also, the back hallway connects to an exit that goes nowhere; the driveway, and arriving groceries, are on the north side of the house. In the new layout, the door by the laundry area goes directly to the driveway, greatly reducing the steps when unloading the car.
++ adequate storage, recycling
++ pretty and simply elegant but function first, and not overwhelming. My favorite kitchen is my grandma's 1920 bungalow with white painted cabinetry, glass knobs, glass paned uppers, and wooden countertops.
Dining usage: breakfast=kitchen, lunch=50/50, dinner=dining room.
Ceilings are 9'. House is 1880's Queen Anne victorian.
Plans are flexible because the top right corner of the kitchen can be bumped out a bit more, and some interior walls may be moved. Walls that cannot be moved are shown in solid black; walls that can move or bump out are diagonally shaded.
Our budget has a lot of flexibility in that we are spending the big bucks on the structural changes, plumber, and electrician, then all the cabinetry install, finish carpentry, flooring and backsplash will be done ourselves. We have a large budget contingency set aside, but we'd rather use it to pay down our mortgage. We come from a frugal background, and to us, Ikea lidingo cabinets and corian countertops (some parts will also be stained and sealed Ikea numerar wood counters) feel like a big splurge. If we need to dig into our contingency, we will, and we are splurging anyway on some things like the induction cooktop, the many windows, and the corian. I really like the soft warm feel of corian when I lean on it.
We plan to get Sherrs to clone lidingo in custom sizes if Ikea stock sizes won't work for us. The wall oven stack (bottom up: drawer, oven, microwave, toaster oven, open shelf for cookbooks, and cabinet) will definitely need to be custom, although that may get built by dh with just some lidingo doors added for versimilitude. So, flexibility with cabinet dimensions too.
The kids and I do the most cooking, and often work together or in parallel. Dh does most of the clean-up. Sometimes (blush), he is cleaning up my lunch mess while I'm getting dinner going. I could improve, or just design the kitchen for simultaneous cooking and cleaning. I prefer the latter...
I do bake. I envision keeping most of the baking items in the cabinets on the window seat side of the kitchen, then pulling them down to the small counters on either side of the window for prep, as the appliance garage with the mixer is to the right of the cooktop. Perhaps I should move it to the baking wall, but it's just around the corner, and I love the idea of the extra deep bases with the appliance garages parked on top.
I don't know much about beverage centers; the coffee maker will live on the 12" deep countertop that is perpendicular to and backs the fridge. Tea will come from a kettle on the stove and boxes/canisters of tea will live in 6" rev-a-shelf pullouts to either side of the base cabinet under the cooktop.
Pantry: no pantry but hopefully I have enough cabinets around the fridge and in baking area. Our storage needs are average to below-average. I do have a 4 x 8 mudroom closet (former butler's pantry, long story) near the door to the driveway, and bulky stuff like jumbo packs of paper towels can live there (our garage is detached).
Appliances: 36" induction cooktop, vent hood with custom carpentry surround, 36" wide standard depth refrigerator, one standard 24" dishwasher, one 30" wall oven, free-standing microwave on a shelf, free-standing toaster oven on a shelf, two sink areas, two trash areas, recycling.
No warming drawer.
Fridge will be standard depth, and I like the idea of trading off depth with the washer and dryer to accomodate this yet keep surrounding cabinetry flush to the fronts of the appliances.
Musts/wants/wishes:
Bathroom door must be 36" wide. No one is handicapped now, but you never know. I want one of the cabinets under the peninsula to accommodate our sizeable printer. I wish I could have a pot rack, but not sure where one fits in here. Could go over island, but might block sight lines from people seated at peninsula to windows behind the island.
Below are two potential layouts; the first has an island, the second doesn't.
I would love to get people's votes on island vs. no island. Rhome410, I believe your island has the sink faucet on the diagonal; dh suggested it, and I was so proud of him when I saw that a master had already done it :-)
Sorry this is so long; I tried to follow all the suggestions on the readme, but I'm sure someone else could have been briefer. Just my quirk!
Please vote: with island:
{{gwi:1616829}}
or without island:
{{gwi:1616831}}
davidro1
homepro01
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