In 20 years, whoever buys your house is likely to want to redo it fairly completely. If you think it highly unlikely that YOU will want to put a larger range in while you live there and you think it unlikely that you will have to sell for 15-20 years, do what makes sense for you. A 30" range is standard for most kitchens.

We have no plans to move for many years, although the loss of a job or other tragedy can always happen and change one's plans. A 30" range does seem to be standard for most kitchens, so maybe I am letting pictures I have seen on GW or in magazine skew my perspective. I am a bit worried the 30" range will look dinky compared to the fridge and freezer, but I need those to be wide for adequate storage since they are so shallow.

You are right that the next owner may want to totally re-do the kitchen, no matter how nice and "timeless" I think our chosen materials will be.

Put in what you think is right, not what some other people MIGHT think is right. The 1500 savings you will have by staying with the 30" can be put towards buffering the loss on the sale of the home at a later date IF whoever buys it cares that much. I would think a vast majority of people (myself included) would be pleased as punch to have the appliances you will be getting. Buy the 30" and enjoy it.

Anyone who gets a Bertazzoni and a speed oven should count him or herself lucky indeed : ). So I think you can definitely plan for yourself and not future buyers...

Becky

AJ Madison has 411 ranges listed at 30"

It has 125 listed at 36". #18 and up list for $3000 +, and the first nine are cheap 30" ranges in a 36" cabinet. 69 of them are not self cleaning.

Actually because 30" ranges are much more common, a 36" space for a range could actually be a liability in some markets.

I agree with the other posters. If you want, though, you could design your cabinets in such a way as to make it easy-ish to put in a larger oven. For example, with a 6" baking tray pullout beside the range, a new owner could just remove that and pop in a 36" range, assuming the uppers are similarly flexible.

I suggest that you do not create flexible plan that may look odd in the long. You should create a kitchen that is right for you. Unfortunatley, because of the backsplash and countops, it is not an easy or cheap fix to swap out different sized ranges. By the time the "wealthy" owner goes through that trouble, they would probably decide to do the whole nine yard!

I agree with several previous posters on several points:

- do what you want and use what will actually work for you
- 30" ranges are VERY common
- in 20 years someone will VERY likely redo your kitchen anyway, so don't design for them --

SUGGESTION -- as previous poster said, you can make it easier for you or someone else to change later. I know you said that you don't want to reduce the base cabinets from 24" wide, but I can't imagine you'd really miss three inches on each cabinet???? I would suggest 3-inch fillers (maybe box fillers to the ground with no toe-kick?) on either side of the range. That way you or someone could just pop those out and put in a 36-inch range if they wanted to. Someone else mentioned a 6-inch tray pullout, but that would make things "lopsided" if someone were to pull it out and put in the wider range.

Only a negative if all the other homes in your neighborhood have 36"+ ranges. And if you're planning on staying put for more than 7-8 years, it doesn't matter anyway. Go with what works for you and enjoy it!

If it makes a difference, the neighborhood we live in is full of 1960's California ranch houses (all with different designs, not tract houses), with a few obviously remodeled houses in Mediterranean or Cape Cod style. Most of the homes look pretty modest, at least from the outside, but prices are high due to the zip code and ocean views. I have not seen inside any of the other houses on our street or the immediately surrounding streets. From house searching in this general area for several months, it seemed like the houses either had the original 50-year-old kitchens and lower prices, or kitchens remodelled with high-end, pro-style integrated appliances and expensive looking cabinets, counters, etc. and much higher prices. Based on my limited experience, I concluded that buyers would expect a "high end" kitchen if it is remodelled, or else a house priced as if the kitchen needs to be gutted, but not much in between. I don't know if I am right or not, but that is what I tell DH when he asks why we can't just have a "normal" fridge like we did in the last house rather than a wide, shallow built-in fridge.

I have seen a few large (48"+) ranges in a few houses and they definitely provided wow factor. I think a lot of the kitchens had 30" ranges, but some of them were smaller kitchens. Our kitchen will be about 14' x 15': small enough that it is tough to fit a 36" range plus the other things we want, but large enough that I worry the 30" range will look small in the space. Oh well, I guess I need to stop obsessing about this detail and just go with what works for us.

Re-sale issues aside, do any of you think a 30" range will look odd next to the 30" fridge and freezer columns? Maybe it is okay since the columns are separated rather than one 60" block.

A 30" range will look good.

Yes, a 36" range may provide some wow factor. However, if the finishes, fixtures, and layout of your kitchen are great, those will also provide a wow factor. In fact, I would be reluctant to purchase a home where a 36" range was placed such that functional/important counter space was lost. Having a 30" fridge, freezer, and range may provide some great symmetry and may end up being even more appealing to the eye than a 36" range. Can you try drawing out the two options to see what they look like to your eye? Personally, from the layout (of just that wall) that you've described, I think I would prefer the 30". I have a 30" range with two flanking countertops on 24" base cabinets. While it would still be functional at 21", the 24" already feels a little small sometimes. I think a high quality top of the line 30" range will be perfect in your space and I cannot imagine it ruining resale if it fits in with the other homes in the neighborhood.

Keep the 30" range. 24" counter on each side is small already, so don't reduce the cab / counter size anymore. That range with a 36" hood will look fine with the 30" fridge and freezer.

And honestly, if I was THAT particular about having a professional range, 36" wouldn't do me any good either. That kind of buyer would want 48" or wider.

If I can't do a separate baking center I'm going with a single undercounter oven. I NEED the separate fridge and freezer storage much more than extra cooking capacity. Do I care that this may affect re-sale? NO!

The neighborhod houses you describe sound like they'd be fine with 30", but since you're talking long term, it also sounds like they're transitioning to larger, fancier homes. There's a whole neighborhood of tiny houses with very large lots on amazing, wide streets in S.M. You can bet that they're all being turned over as teardowns as at the old folks pass on, and replaced by mansions. That's extreme, but likely an exaggeration of what's happening over time in your neighborhood.

All of which means it doesn't matter at all what the other houses are doing.

Premised on the notion that although you don't expect to sell for decades, things happen and you might have to sell next year, it's more important whether the range fits the kitchen you're putting in. If you have long expanses of cabinetry runs with a 30" range then it's too small. When you're doing tradeoffs between the range and the fridge, it's fine. I think you're better off with the 30" coolers and smaller range.

Reality: In the neighborhood you describe, almost no one is going to reject the house because of the size of the range. It shouldn't be that expensive for a new owner to remove the cabinets flanking the range and put in an attractive contrast with a larger range if necessary, so suggest that if they try to use that as an excuse for a lower offer. The most important thing for selling your kitchen (and attached house), is clean clean clean clean clean. As long as it suffices for the "we need to live in the house for a couple of years while we figure out what we want to do to it", that's all you need.

Aesthetics: I don't think the range will be drawfed by the coolers at all. The rigid symmetry of that wall might make me a bit dizzy, but some people adore perfect symmetries. As long as you think it looks nice, lots of other people are likely to as well. (I mean, you're not putting in sunrise strata, patterned tiles like I did!)

My layout is similar -- range centered on a 12 foot wall. I got a 30 inch Blue Star (plus a Miele Speed Oven) because I didn't need a bigger range. Honestly, from the perspective of scale, I think the 36 would have looked better -- but -- honestly -- I did not need more than 4 burners, did not want a grill or griddle and preferred the oven on the 30. Though I do cook daily, I think I would have felt silly with a larger range. It would have not felt genuine for me. I don't have any bias against larger appliances-- we have a 48 inch refrigerator and it is full! My bias if I have one is to get what is right for you yourself.

A 30" range will look in proportion on a 12' wall.

I'd rather have the wider drawers on either side than a wider range.

Thank you all so much for reassuring me that my original plan isn't crazy, at least for how we use the kitchen. With 2 kids, I really need the extra food storage space, but I don't need more burners. I'm not an accomplished enough cook to monitor more than 3 burners at a time, and we can grill outdoors year round.

I really appreciate being able to ask questions here when the details of the remodel start to make my head spin. DH might have called a shrink if I asked him whether we should buy a larger range than we really need so it would look better to some people.

I thought about a 30 inch range because i didn't want a 36 inch oven (uses too much space!). I like the look of a range. But then i switched my plan to a 36" rangetop and then a single 30" oven under counter (not under cooktop) plus a 240V advantium as second oven and I was happy. While i rarely use more than 3 burners, I like having the extra width between burners. However then i discovered that i had only a few top drawers and switched to 36" cooktop (only 5 burners but probably more than enough). So i need to order appliances this week and hope i can stick with this decision.

You are good to think about resale. I would just ask a local real estate agent to get the best answer. My initial thought is that is alot of space devoted to a refrigerator vs space devoted to cooking and would seem odd to a potential buyer. Good luck!

O.T. does the GardenWeb software know the topics we're talking about? There's a mega-range on the bottom of my screen. This puppy must be 5 feet across!

Most of the online places these days know. When I was searching for Bertazzoni on this forum, the links at the top of the page were all for Bertazzoni. However, I have Adblock working so that no real advertising comes through. If it is intrusive to have those ads appear, you can get rid of them.

It's not GW that does it, it's GoogleAds; lots of sites use their engine for their ads. It aggregrates the sites you've visited and searches you've done in the past x days/weeks and customizes ads just for you! Creepy.

I think a 30" would be fine because not everyone wants the same things. Unless you are flipping and trying for a luxury buyer, you will be selling a 20 year old kitchen which someone may keep for 5 - 10 years and then re-do their way.... You never know who the future buyer will be. We once set up and apartment kitchen to rent out on the lower level of our first house. I went to great trouble to get a large bar sink and specialty faucet because the one there was tight and awkward. I had an island made and took out the bar fridge to put in a small normal fridge and then added a small stove in its empty spot. We then rented to several guys who never cooked! We'd see them come home with takeout every day.... The 2nd guy asked if we could move the island to storage because he had a big couch and then next guy did not want it either. We basically wasted time and money on things that did not get used by who they were intended for. OTOH, the eventual buyer of the house had a mom with her who seemed to appreciate having her own kitchen setup. I don't know if they kept it as we made it, but I hope they did, lol.... I had done the apartment kitchen like I would have appreciated it. I had no clue that the guys we'd get would not even care....

We have a separate fridge and freezer placed next to each other (like a jumbo s x s) in our new kitchen and I think that works well rather than to have them so far apart. I'd also want at least one work space on the side of the stove to be more than 24", so I'd do a 30" on one side and 18" on the other. If you completely ignore symmetry, you can get more function out of your particular layout.

If something happened and you sold in 2 years instead of 20, more people are going to be wowed by the Thermador columns than will care about the difference between a 30" and a 36" range.

Your whole kitchen (and sorry to say the name brands of the appliances) is what makes it good for resale. I love the fact that you have so many cooking options for either you or a future owner to make a holiday meal. Go with the 30". It will also be easier to upgrade if 20 years from now your cabinets are still in style and look great, but your appliances are toast.

Good luck!

Wellll, I have an opinion, as usual.

Firstly, if you live in the Harrisburg PA area, please get the 36" or 48", so that perhaps I might find you when we decide to move there....

Secondly, I haven't seen a house online for sale with anything but a 30" range. Maybe one or two exceptions over the past 6 months.

When we were doing our kitchen, first stove in the picture was a 30" DCS bought on CL. Then, we decided, if we are doing this, let's get what we really want because getting a bigger one later really won't ever happen once we do the counters, etc. Plus, I just think that if it's your kitchen vs the kitchen next door for sale, buyers sometimes can be swayed by the larger range...so we went for the 36" Capital. Hey, my neighbor/realtor came in during the reno and said something along the lines of "buyers will love the bigger range", and of course at that time we were Not doing the larger range.

So, with that being said, I don't think people are expecting it, but I do believe it is a nice bonus when it's there in regards to resale. Heck, if they see stainless you suddenly have a "gourmet" kitchen whether or not you have a hood over that range or not.....

Can you tell I'm being driven to the edge looking at dark stained oak kitchens? Goodness. And if I see one more island cooktop without venting, I might just have to let loose.

lol

-Bee

Since this old thread popped up again, I'll post an update. I was all set to go with the 30" range, then I found a deal I could not refuse on a 36" Wolf range that was a display model at a store that closed (just one location of a large local chain).

Because of that find and a bit of soul searching, I re-designed the entire kitchen layout. I gave up having the whole back wall be symmetrical as long as the uppers and lowers directly on each side of the range match. (It drove me batty that the architect's original plans showed 15" wide doors on the uppers on one side of the range and 18" on the other side.) So I moved the Thermador columns to the pantry wall. The back wall now has, from the left, a 30" wide oven stack with a Viking combi-steam oven and a speed oven (model TBD), then 30" double-door uppers over 30" drawers, then the 36" range and hood, then 30" double-door uppers over 30" drawers, then another 30" double-door upper next to a 13" "blind" space in the upper corner, over a blind corner lower cabinet with a 15-16" door. I'll have to get new drawings uploaded into another thread, as I am still tweaking some details.

Thank you all so much for your advice on this and other threads.