Is that not a large, pantry storage to the left of the fridge? In our last home, all food items were kept in one like that. The upper cabinets were dishes/glassware. So you could technically not have the uppers and store dishes/glasses on shelves.

What is going in the drawers or doors kitchen side of bar?

I've seen you post on other threads, but don't know what style kitchen you want. Is there another thread you can point me to?

It might help to imagine your daily workflow in the kitchen -- if it were my space, I'd definitely want glasses and plates to go in that L shaped spot. It's closest to the sink (glasses) and right above the dishwasher for easy putting away. So I'd almost vote for putting the open shelves there; I like that better visually than solid cabs in that spot.

I'm not a fan of those little freestanding upper narrow cabinets either, which can (although don't always) emphasize the builder-grade effect of crammed-in marching uppers -- so depending on your desires I might almost try to reconfigure that oven side a bit?

The diagonal upper cab (above the DW): you're right, it would be good storage space, but would not look good since it would be flanked by 2 small wall cabinets. If you had a long run of wall cabinets, the diagonal wall cab would look good.

The tiny wall cab to the left of the hood: too small, and like circuspeanut said, looks "builder-grade". I could see you putting spices in there, but that's about it.

Hood area: at this point, it's lacking "oomph". (Forgive me if it really is not intended to look like this, you did say the style shown is not exact.) Is that the range you will be getting? You might need a better hood too balance it out. It seems like the cabs flanking the hood are eating up the hood. How can you re-work that area? That random window is killing you. Do you absolutely need the light coming in from that window? It the window faces north or east, you could prob remove it and block in the area (that is, if you can match the patched in exterior to the rest of the house, sometimes can be hard to do with older brick homes). If you lost the window, then you would have options for the open shelving. And, you could put in a diagonal corner cab if you lost the window and had a longer run of shelves/cabs.

We are removing and blocking in/out (whatever the correct term is) a window for our new dining room. It is a south facing window, but it was an old window that was above a kitchen sink (we are switching the dining room and kitchen) and would look totally out of place. At first I thought losing the window would be a bad decision, but I am actually so happy that it will be gone b/c there is another larger window in the room, and there are so many more decorating options now that the window is gone.

Good luck, it looks like it is going to be a great kitchen. I am looking forward to seeing more pics!

Thanks everyone! That is a very narrow broom pullout beside the fridge.

The peninsula will be all one height- that small lowered spot was something the cabinet guy added but I told him to raise it back up. The appliances are just what he just plugged in from his software.

The fridge is pretty close to mine, the sink will be white farm sink, the dishwasher will be integrated with cabinet front. I dont have a stove or hood yet ...The stove will be stainless but electric with a glass top, or maybe dual fuel if I can convince my husband we need to run gas line... I dont know yet what i want for a hood. I havent ruled out the type with cabinets above, but I haven't found one I love just yet.

The windows have to stay. Well, I guess that isnt 100% but its really really the last thing we want to have to deal with. Our siding is vinyl, old enough that it is hard to match, but in good shape so replacing isnt something we want to do. That odd window is on the west side. My dad and husband will be back soon (they are my labor!) and I will ask about some other options...

Style & colors - Base cabinets will primarily be inset shaker cabinets either in a shade of white white or light yellow. Dark brown counter top (Quartz or paper-based) and original wood floors (which will be refinished - I haven't decided on the shade yet) White painted brick back splash. With all that said - my house is 100+ year old foursquare with lots of original built ins which are basic shaker style - just in a honey colored oak.. I'd like to pull some of that into the kitchen - either with the uppers, or the peninsula. I'm also hoping to have the cabinet under the sink either be completely different than the others and in a fun color, or use a skirt.

I really want it to be fun and unique - a mix of old and new, and as though it has evolved over the century.. I'd love to display vintage Tupperware and mixing bowls on open shelving, for instance.

I'll put some more pics up..

I don't think you'll be able to access that upper cabinet above the DW when the DW is open. That will mean 2 steps for you putting things away. You'll have to put it on the counter, close the DW door and then put stuff in the cabinets. I can't tell if the DW can fit on the left of the sink. Do you have an overhead perspective with measurements. It's much easier to comment on pros and cons.

Here is my current setup - it isnt pretty. These are my official "before" photos. We pulled up some lovely linoleum to see how the floor underneath looked. The paint splattered, worn wood floor and plywood is actually only slightly uglier than the linoleum!

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View from the dining room:

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This doorway goes to a tiny entry for the side door & basement. Beyond that is another door that goes to the little foyer.

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This is the wall that separates the dining and kitchen... the wall we plan to remove.
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Here's the dining room and some original woodwork so you can see what I am building from. The trim through the middle of the wall is something that I will continue into the kitchen wherever the wall is empty. The paint colors in the dining room can change. The sheers on the windows are temporary until I find what I really want.. and I will rearrange once the wall is removed.
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Here's the new layout. I think I'm pretty set with the base cabinets and appliances.. while it isnt perfect, I dont see how to improve it given the space I have. The dishwasher wont be next to the sink though - but around the corner. Long story short, the dishwasher will only fit next to the sink if I get 30" sink or smaller and I need a bigger sink than that. Also - the peninsula will have a 24"
deep cabinet facing the kitchen instead of 2 12's back to back. And a bookshelf on the end - facing the walkway.
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I like your dining room a lot!

What? You don't like my kitchen?? ;)

Thank you.. I like it too, but will change it up a bit to flow better into the kitchen. Here's a pic from Pittsburgh Paints website that shows what I am going for color-wise except more dark woodwork. The greens and yellows are very close to what I have in the dining room. My living room is similar but with more ivory and tan tan with some dark brown and barn red. I'd like to bring some of that red into my kitchen, and the dark brown with the countertops. I know I'll like the way the colors jive, just need to figure out what will go where...

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OK...I'm doing this b/w power outages so I have to hurry and post while I have an internet connection (bad weather here at the beach...power on & off!)...so not much proof reading....so please excuse any typos!

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I don't know about that "L" storage for dishes, etc. The way the DW is situated, you aren't going to be able to access most of it when the DW is open...unless you have very, very long arms. For the base of the "L" and the blind corner cab, you'll have to reach over the DW and over the counter perpendicular to the DW...much too far for the majority of people to reach! It'll be worse for the blind corner b/c it's so difficult to access those anyway, let alone reaching over an open DW!

If you put your baking supplies, etc. in that "L" it will be somewhat better IF, and only IF, there's no one loading/unloading the DW at the same time. However, your Baking Center appears to be on the peninsula b/c the counter is lower than the rest of the kitchen's counters...so ideally you'd want to store your baking supplies near it instead.

How much filler space is there b/w the DW and the cabinets perpendicular to it? You will probably need 3" or so to clear the doors/drawers plus knobs/pulls. You definitely do not want them to collide!

In my kitchen, I have one corner where I have to be sure the drawers are closed fully on one side b/f opening the drawers in the cabinet perpendicular to it. We thought we had left enough space, and we did...as long as all drawers are closed fully! No, there isn't an actual collision, but the drawer pulls on one side of the corner scrape the drawers on the other side of the corner if the drawers are not fully closed. My SIL has an issue with her range...the cabinetmaker (she didn't use a KD b/c she said she "didn't need one") didn't realize you needed filler b/w the range that's right next to her peninsula and the peninsula itself. So now, she can only open the top drawer when her oven is open and she cannot open the bottom door fully b/c it bumps into the oven door (opening the oven door in this case doesn't help). To make matters worse, she has a blind corner there so she really cannot access it!

I also have a problem w/the DW location in general...it's in the middle of your Prep Zone. If this is a one-person kitchen all the time or there's never anyone loading/unloading the DW while someone else is trying to prep or cook, then you're probably OK. However, if the above two are not the case, then you might want to give some serious thought to doing something about it...whether it's to switch the DW & sink (putting the sink close to the corner) or changing the peninsula so you can put a sink in it and make it the Prep Zone.

This is what you have right now for zones:

This is what I was suggesting about putting a sink in the peninsula:

With zones marked...

It does, though, eliminate counter seating...but do you really need it with the table so close? I understand if you do...but I thought I'd ask.

About that lowered counter height....I would make it deeper if you really intend it to be a Baking Center b/c rolling out dough with that overhang from the raised counter will be an issue (at least it would be for me).

Now about those open cabinets in your peninsula base...I suggest at least putting in a drawer on the bottom. Dust, hair, etc. will get into those shelves and anything on those shelves. I've found that the shelves close to the floor always seem to collect the dust, hair, dirt, etc. that's on the floor. Probably b/c every time someone walks past the slight stir of air disturbs the dust, etc. and it swirls around and settles wherever it finds a surface...including shelves near the floor. My experience, though, is not in a kitchen, it's in other rooms so maybe kitchens are different...but I don't think they are.

The other thing to keep in mind since you want a lot of open shelving throughout the kitchen, is to be sure you have very, very good venting...you don't want a lot of grease, steam, smoke, etc. swirling around your kitchen and landing on the items stored on your open shelves. Add dust to the mix and you end up with a "gunk" buildup that can be difficult to remove. I recommend getting a hood that's 6" wider than the range as well as at least 24" deep plus at least 900cfms (if not 1000)...I think you'll be very glad of it in the long run.

Sink...is there really enough room to the left of the sink to work? Is there even enough elbow room? OK, maybe enough elbow room, but if you plan to use the counter to the right of the sink as your Cleanup Zone, then there will be problems when you also try to use it as your Prep Zone...dirty dishes in the way of cleaning/rinsing/chopping veggies/fruit, etc. Remember that a water source is needed for prepping and if you only have one sink in your kitchen it must be shared by two of the three primary Zones...the Prep Zone & Cleanup Zone. That means you need space for both zones around the sink so you can corral the dirty dishes/Cleanup Zone on one side of the sink and use the other side for prepping...and right now you really cannot. Also, b/c the DW & Cleanup Zone are to the right of the sink, there will be a lot of zone-crossing...to get to the sink from the Prep Zone, you'll have to cross the Cleanup Zone.

What if you did this?

With zones marked:

One last thing...remember that the refrigerator doors must stick out past the counters & cabinets surrounding it. In your layout, it looks like the 9" broom closet is practically flush with the front of the refrigerator as a whole... If you have a cabinet-depth refrigerator, the refrigerator carcass will be approx 24" deep. Add an inch or so in the back to accommodate ice/water line, air clearance, plug, anti-tip device, and you're now approx 25" from the back wall (maybe more...mine ended up close to 26"). This is as far forward as the broom closet can be to allow your refrigerator to open fully (i.e., so the ref door doesn't hit the cabinet). So, you will not be able to pull the broom closet forward 6" like it shows in your layout (picture 27 of 237 in your album)...probably only 2" or so will be possible. If, OTOH, you get a built-in refrigerator, then it will be truly counter-depth so you won't need that "extra" space for opening the refrigerator doors.

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Can that door on the 112" wall be moved to the right? If it could be moved 15" or so, you could put in 12" deep pantry shelves for much more room and allow you to eliminate most, if not all, the upper cabinets and go back to the design you really want of all open shelving...

If you cannot move the door, can you utilize some of that wall that's next to the door? It looks like something is in that area, but it doesn't look like it's fully used...maybe you could use the rest of it for pantry space...with a door facing the peninsula? If it's already being used for pantry, could you expand it to fit the entire space?

I don't remember, but did you try a layout with the sink & range walls reversed? You would need to move or eliminate the window where the sink is right now, but it would give you more options... Right now, those two windows are what's limiting you to what options are available to you.

Made it! BUT...I see I should have refreshed first...a lot of posts since I started working on it!

OK...no dual-height counter, for one.

I need to read all the posts since the 9:27am post in detail...

Oh so much to think about! Thank you for all the great suggestions. That doorway cant move - to the right is the stairwell that takes you down a few steps to a small landing and then either to the basement or outside. The chunk of wall by that doorway is the laundry chute and chimney. Those have to stay too.

We dont really need the seating as much ast the table top. We use the dining room table for everything - homework, crafts, play doh, my sewing and scrapbooking, etc. We are constantly shuffling things around so we can set the table for dinner. It would be nice to have a secondary spot and there just isnt room anywhere else in the house for this. Bedrooms are very small and the basement is very old and damp.

I do really like your last layout with the fridge on the end, but we would really like to bring in some seating if at all possible. We could do it on the chimney side, but I dont know how to do it so it isnt awkward.

I was actually planning to put that dishwasher on the other wall - around the corner from the sink - with the column of drawers next to it being silverware & dish storage. Anything that didnt fit in there and was pretty - would go on the upper shelves. I'm not crazy about the prep and cleaning zones being on top of each other, but I couldn't figure out a better way to do it and keep the peninsula. I wish i didn't need a fridge. That would help me a lot!

Im still not 100% decided on whether I'd have the peninsula at counter height or raised or lowered.. it would be the entire thing, not just a small chunk of it. I can see your point about the shelving near the floor. I think it looks really nice, but makes sense that it might not be so practical. I could really use that space for a wider set of drawers.

Here's a picture of a 100 year old hutch my great-grandfather made. Unfortunately my mom isnt ready to pass it down to me yet. If I definitely need some kind of upper with doors, I'd love to copycat the top of this.. If there was a way to make the drawers so they "hang" down for spice storage like the drawers on the thing below.... that would be fantastic. OR replace the drawer section with an open shelf or cubbies - I could put cookbooks and assorted goodies there.

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Wow. Can't sleep. I've got cabinets of all shapes and sizes wrapping around every corner of my brain. I got up to sketch out what was a fantastic idea in my dream... not so hot in reality!! :)

Okay, I think I've seen every option possible for this kitchen.. and while having the dishwasher underfoot in the prep area isnt ideal I dont think I have a better option. I really dont want a prep sink on the peninsula when it comes down to it. With my current set up, I do prep in front of the dishwasher - thats the only spot where my mixer can be plugged in. Also the dish storage is beyond the dishwasher if I am at the sink - so we are already used to that. So while it may be a problem, it is a problem we are already used to - and all the other additions we will have I feel will make the kitchen so much nicer in every other aspect.

Here's a quick shop job on my moms hutch. I was thinking having doors on the top, one open shelf area and drawers on the bottom..If i could get these drawers to hang for spices, that would be fantastic. I have the name of a few men that make cabinets in their garage - and all of them are giving me quotes for the whole kitchen. Hopefully one of them could do these drawers for me. This unit could have the shelf open to the wall behind, maybe?

I was thinking this could go to the right of my sink. I could have it fill the wall, or go into hte corner with some room beside the sink... OR i could have it hanging centered on the wall.

Woops! Here is the picture:

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ugh! Everytime I post anything, someone brings up something new (which is great dont get me wrong) and then I start to question everything. lol. I've been reworking everything all day today - well at least every minute I've had to spare, and think I need to just move. ;_

I can place sink off center with the window, and put the dishwasher on the other side. That would separate clean up and prep zones... soo... brains or beauty?

oops heres the pic with sink moved

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again here is the option of putting sink under other window. I dont think I'll like this workflow-wise and I'd have to move plumbing.

oops. I need to go to bed

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what it the box at the top of the layout? Is it a pipe? I don't think you're going to be able to fit a table in this space with the peninsula and stools. Have you tried laying it out?

Right now the organ sticks out into the dining room as far as the peninsula would. It is tight when someone is playing it but we deal with it. Moving the walkway over, would take that obstacle out of the path from living room, to dining room to kitchen. The organ and the buffet will come out - the table can move closer to the window wall and the black bookcase will move to the other side of the window.

Oh and that is the chimney...

For giggles I sent my plan to Allwood through Costco. Here's what they sent back. Do the uppers by the stove look better with the microwave cabinet? I wouldnt put my micro there, but I could do the type of hood that has a cabinet attached..

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I prefer the first one...but the one you got from Allwood has the sink moved back right next to the refrigerator...so it looks like very little work room to the left of the sink. Which means, conflict while trying to prep and someone cleaning up.

One note: you say you live with the issue of prepping over the DW, but you don't sound like you're thrilled with it. If you're spending $$$$ on a remodel, don't you think you should try to fix the existing problems? It's up to you, but in all honesty, I would not want to spend all that $$$ just to have the same problems I started with. I won't say any more about it, but I hope you think about it.

I just want you to have the best kitchen you can have...both functionally and aesthetically.

That's what I want too... but something has to give. I dont think I can fix all the problems. Wah! ;( Why cant the magic kitchen fairy come do it for me??