Small simple kitchen Layout advise

18 years ago

The houseplan we are thinking about building has a pretty simple U layout kitchen but I thought I would run it by you all since you usually have such good advice.

Here is the kitchen:

I have the sink on the south wall because I don't see any other good spot for the refrigerator and the east wall will be straw bale and therefore a bad place to put plumbing. The south wall is shown thick in this picture but won't actually be strawbale.

I am considering having the cabinets on the north wall extra deep (30") to be the same depth as the fridge and having the upper cabinets also be a bit deeper and come all the way down to the counter. Maybe set up so there are outlets inside and the mixer etc can be in there and plugged in and I just have to open the cabinet and slide them out to use them.

I am not really sure where the best place for a microwave is and I think the island will probably be butcher block.

I am thinking upper cabinets/open shelves/dish racks on the East wall and none on the south wall to keep the kitchen a little more open feeling.

The rest of the first floor:

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Comments (3)

rosie
18 years ago
I like your house, Chelsea. Beautifully simple, and your kitchen ideas overall look pretty good.

I was just wondering, though, for a long room like that, have you considered an even simpler layout of counter across the east wall faced with a long island paralling that? The sink would be in the island, apparently. The reasons I like this is are that the east wall carefully laid out, it can look wonderful from the other end of the room; it's very efficient, tightening up the work flow; you get to work facing out into the room more; there are no corner-storage problems; and not narrowing the space with cabinets on the north and south walls would make that end of your living area feel nice and spacious. The counters would frame the window at the end, which can be a very nice effect, and your idea of a deeper counter sounds really good and could be applied to the east wall.
paintnsew
18 years ago
Your plan is good. Like the deeper area for keeping your mixer, etc. You can use stock cabinets both upper and lower and get the same effect if you don't bring them all the way to the counter. On the lower you just extend the counter to cover the back gap. On the upper you space them out. It will not show since the end is blocked by the frig on one end and the wall on the other.

Like Rosies idea too except I don't like looking at the frig from the living room area. (stove doesn't bother me but frig does!! Go figure!!)

Another thought to consider. The 30" island isn't a lot of space and you have a lot of wasted space with walk ways on both sides. Instead of an island turn it into a pennisula..more counter space that way.

But what you have is nice and very workable.
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mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
18 years ago
I love your layout! However, I love U shaped kitchens and think they are the most functional (at least for me) and I don't like kitchen islands.

For the micro--will there be electricity for the island? You could put it under the countertop in the island if you wanted. I have mine as an under cabinet mounted micro. It is not a built in micro and so far, I am OK with it. I say that as my kitchen is still under construction, so I haven't been able to cook in it yet. Both Sharp and GE make an under cab mount. There is a light under the micro to help light up the countertop. I will see if I have a picture I can show you of mine.