kitchen remodel layout advise

12 years ago

We are getting ready to remodel a kitchen of a 1960's colonial just bought. Everything in the house is the original except for the second layer of wallpaper in the bathrooms. There are often 2 of us cooking in the kitchen, and we cook most breakfasts and dinners at home. The original layout is pretty tight being only 10x9. The white portion is how we are thinking of redesigning

In the remodel we intend to take out the penisula and eliminate the dinette area. The stove will be moved to the outside wall next to the dishwasher so there is more counter top adjacent. We will put in a 36 inch pantry where the original fridge was, place fridge in middle of short side of the kitchen with counter area adjacent. Is this going to being too long a counter space? The new kitchen will be 9x19'4'. I'm slightly worried about not having any counter seating the new kitchen, but it is open to the family room at the end, so can still converse with family, but the kids may be eating in the family room for movie nights without that counter seating.
Anything glaring in what might need to be changed? We haven't moved in yet, so will remodel before moving in (still have 2.5 mo in lease)

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Comments (4)

herbflavor
12 years ago
Firstly, I wouldn't undertake this until you've lived in the home 6-12 months minimum. If the kitchen is functional as is, it's important to wait.If a plan must be undertaken, I would probably do an L with the back sink wall and shorter wall on the left....but leave an area for some sort of dinette eating or banquette-without the peninsula.Fridge opposite the sink is okay.....stove with venting perhaps on short side of L, leaving counter to the right of sink .Have the stove venting options been assessed-is there venting from where it is now?
jreag
Original Author
12 years ago
The is currently no refrigerator in the kitchen(sold by previous owner) dishwasher hasn't worked in 30 years and disposal is not functioning. That's why we are going to remodel prior to moving in, rather than put in new appliances and then move them down the road. There is venting to the outside where the stove currently is, remodeling contractors said not a problem venting to the outside when stove is moved to outside wall. Because we cook a lot, I want counter space on both sides of the stove. The current kitchen we are in has the stove with only counter on one side. We have a history of moving every three years(military) so have cooked in many different kitchens over the years, this is our first that we plan to be in for more than three years!
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annkh_nd
12 years ago
DW, fridge, and disposal are mighty easy to incorporate into a remodel. Buy appliances you like, and re-use them. DW and GD especially are universal.

I agree with the others - live with it for a while. There may be things you love about the existing layout and the way it works for your home and family, that you might not realize from a walkthrough. My Mom lived with essentially that layout for almost 40 years, and it worked well for her.

You mentioned moving the stove to the right of the DW. Most folks here would advise against that. Kitchen design philosophy has expanded from the basic "work triangle" or yore to a "zone" plan. The idea is to keep prep, cooking, and cleanup zones separate, if possible. The area between sink and stove is primary prep space; you don't want your DW smack in the middle of it.

What are your thoughts about the long expanse of counter to the right of the stove? What will you use it for? Is there a window in the dinette area?
jreag
Original Author
12 years ago
It was that looong expanse of counter that was bothering me. Husband says we need all the cabinet space we can gain, but by adding pantry and using drawer bases, we are gaining more efficient storage than we've had previously. I've tried searching for long narrow kitchens to look at different ways to incorporate some seating to break up that end of the kitchen without much luck. There is a window in the dinette area, we were going to have a smaller window installed there so we could put a counter across there with lower drawers. The half wall between the kitchen and family room is 3 ft long, contractors who have come through have recommended not extending that 1/2 wall because of the basement door location. After the comments above, I'm really leaning to somehow putting in a little banquette in that corner.