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alliern_gw

Any suggestions for my kitchen layout?

alliern
16 years ago

I have been quietly lurking for a couple of months while we were getting ready to start building our home. Now the foundation is in and I would like to get your ideas, critiques, suggestions for our kitchen layout. DH and I have three young boys. My plan is to have beaded inset cabinets with a shaker style door and slab drawer front. The perimeter will be white painted with soapstone and the island will be a stained clear alder with marble counter. Everyone here has such great valid points (positive or negative) and I hope that you will help me out too. Thank you in advance!

Comments (6)

  • footballmom
    16 years ago

    It looks great. The only thing I would correct is the legs on the island. I have had them before and they just seem to be an interference and get all dinged up. You really do not need them for support if you have you granite supported by the metal rods on top of the plywood. Congrats on the progress!

  • rhome410
    16 years ago

    Looks very well thought-out. The dishes don't seem to be in the most convenient spot, though. Anyone setting the table or needing something at the island will go right into the busy work zone to get to the dishes. But I'm not certain of a better answer. I would also want solid doors on the uppers in the steam/grease zone of the range, and maybe put the glass in the ones by the window that might presumably have glassware, etc. The things I keep near the stove aren't so pretty to have on display. :-)

  • rmkitchen
    16 years ago

    Looks efficient on paper and in person is going to look gorgeous -- I am really excited about your kitchen (actually, I'm excited about your whole house!).

    My sole question: where are you going to keep your children's drinking glasses? I love how you have the cereal in between the fridge and where the bowls will be kept -- smart morning! I'm just thinking about the lads getting themselves drinks / snacks in the afternoon ....

    I'm envious all that natural light.

    I'm so glad another wonderful family is moving out here! You've given me the best reason to go poking around Evergreen -- you've made it sound divine. I really am happy your family is coming out here.

    Congratulations!
    -Brooke

  • sweeby
    16 years ago

    Looks very nice -- Just a few potential issues:

    - Do your kids set the table while you prepare dinner? Because there's no way for them to get the dishes without getting in your way.

    - Lots of glass doors. If all your cookware and dishes are pretty, they're always neatly arranged, and you clean your glass often, that will be very attractive. If not...

    - I'm not sure the pull-out trash behind the range will pull it's weight. I'd prefer a spice and condiment pull-out in that location.

    - I like your island legs -- though they ARE likely to get dinged and dented. Is that something you can live with? Also, the double doors below will look much busier than single doors, which would look more like panels.

    - On your seating, having more than two people sitting beside each other on a straight countertop run makes for a 'conversation sandwich' with someone always either caught in the middle or left out. Even a slight curve can make the conversation dynamics much nicer.

    Overall, even though my nit-picky comments imply otherwise, I really like your kitchen and your design. Every space has its compromises, and as long as you're choosing the ones that work best for you, then you're off to a great start.

  • alliern
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thank you for your responses so far. I'm taking them all into consideration.

    footballmom / sweeby: we're having the cabinetry custom made by a local woodworker and I can always have him touch-up the legs on the island if they get too banged up. I think that the island needs the legs to kind of "anchor" it.

    rhome410 / sweeby: I am flexible on where I keep the dishes. That is one of the reasons I plan on having so many deep undercounter drawers. I can figure that out more when we actually move in. The sketch didn't clearly depict the wall cabinets. The designer that I consulted with had proposed all glass doors on all of the wall cabinets. I wanted the "stacked" look of having a solid door front on the lower 36" cabinets with 18" glass uppers. That way I don't have to worry about grease and the like from the range getting on them so much.

    Brooke: I think I am going to keep the kids cups in the 30" drawers to the left of the microwave. I'm trying to keep them using sippy cups until they leave for college so I can avoid spills...especially in our brand new house! Don't know how that will work out :) And, yes, we can't wait to move. We think that CO will be a great fit for our family!

    Thanks again!

  • Buehl
    16 years ago

    Great layout! I only have a few comments:


    * Undercounter MW: Is this a MW Drawer or a MW on a shelf? I ask b/c I think an undercounter MW on a shelf will be more difficult to access or see into from the front than a MW drawer from the top. This is especially true if anyone in your family is tall (or will be!)


    * You might want to consider a couple more 3-drawer drawer bases. Deep ones are great, but sometimes the shallower ones are better for things like
    --- cooking utensils
    --- silver/flatware
    --- kitchen linens & table linens
    --- pot holders
    --- wraps, foils, plastics, bags
    --- prep utensils & tools
    --- junk (yes...don't forget to allocate a junk drawer since most people end up w/one whether they plan to or not...if you plan for it you can at least control it's location!)

    Even Tupperware, measuring cups, etc. often fit better in "medium" depth drawers than deep ones. With deep drawers you have to stack/nest more and things aren't quite as easy to see/get to as in the shallower drawers.


    * Where is your tray storage? While it's not ideally located, I would recommend the 12" cabinet on the far end of the island. Yes, 12" drawers can be somewhat useful, especially when you have no choice, but I wonder if it might be better used as tray storage. I think the 24" cabinets under the island overhang would be too difficult to access trays, cutting boards, pans, etc on a regular basis. (I assume those cabinets are for little-used items.)

    HTH!