Hi and welcome to the best forum I've ever found. There is some more basic info that you could provide that would help us work with you on your layout.
Where do your doorways lead too?
Are any of the walls half walls?
Do you intend on seating on the 10" overhang? (kinda narrow)
How many in your family and how do you cook? Others help?

That should help start out the feedback! We'll go from there.

Hi, I'm new at this, but just a few questions. Is the walkway from the north doorway past the fridge to the door on the south a main traffic route? What will you be using the countertops to the left and right of the fridge for? If you switch your fridge with that 36" cab on the south wall, will that put it too far from your prep area?

Welcome to GW. Everybody here is really helpful. I have a few additional questions.

What do you mean by 30" range in 36" base? Do you mean 30" cooktop? If so where are your ovens? Or maybe just 36" range?

Do you bake often? not at all? only around holidays?

Do you shop at Costco, Sam's, BJ's?

Do you have a separate pantry someplace else?

Is the overhang a true overhang or raised eating bar? What does it back up to? What are the dimensions of the space it backs up to?

Have you done the sweeby test?

I'm sure one of the layout gurus will have even more questions.

More questions for you:
What rooms are adjacent to the kitchen?

- Perhaps, instead of having corner base cabinet by the range, flip a 30" cabinet to face the other room, so that you can gain more space for the walkway.

- Maybe switch the other corner cabinet to ?an L-cabinet? so that you can gain more space on that wall, then you can set the cabinets along the fridge wall further out at 30", so that the fridge looks flushed/built-in.

- Does the sink window have to stay there? If you can move it, I'd switch the DW to the other side of the sink. That way, the space between the sink and range could be your prep sink; the space where the DW is can be the clean-up area.

late; off to bed,
Amanda

From the "Read Me" Thread:

Layout Help

We often get requests to help with layouts. Many of us enjoy doing this but it would help if you can post a copy of your layout, preferably to-scale.

• The best place to start is to draw up your kitchen (to scale, if possible) either without cabinets & appliances if you don't know where to start or w/your proposed new layout if you have something to start with. Regardless, measure and label everything...walls, ceiling height, widths of doors & windows, distances between windows, walls, doorways, etc. *** you've done this, on to the next step! ***

• If you cannot move plumbing or gas, mark them on your drawing as well.

• Mark all doorways & windows (w/dimensions) and label them as to where they lead. If they're actual doors, mark how they swing.

• It also would be helpful to see the connecting rooms, even layouts so you see how they interact with the kitchen and/or extend the kitchen feel and flow.

• Make note of traffic flows in and out of the kitchen

Make a list of things like:

• What are your goals? E.g., more counter space, more storage, seating in the kitchen (island? peninsula? table?), etc.

• Do you plan to merge two rooms/areas (e.g., Nook and Kitchen into a Kitchen only)

• Where are you flexible?

  • Can windows or doorways change size?
  • Can they be moved?
  • Can windows be raised/lowered?
  • Can any walls come down?
  • Does the sink have to be centered under a window?
  • Does it have to be under a window at all?

• Do you bake? Do you want a coffee/tea/beverage center?

• What appliances do you plan on having (helps to figure out work flow, work zones, and types of cabinets...upper/lower vs full height, etc.)

  • Range or Cooktop?
  • Single or Double or no Wall Oven or Undercounter Oven?
  • Warming Drawer?
  • MW? (Advantium, drawer, OTR, countertop, built-in, shelf?)
  • DW? Standard or drawers? If drawers, 1 or 2?
  • Refrigerator built-in, CD, standard depth, or drawers?
  • Vent Hood?
  • Other?
    
    Sizes of desired appliances (e.g., 30" or 36" or 48" cooktop; 36" or 42" or 48" wide or other Refrigerator? Counter depth or standard depth refrigerator, etc.)

• Pantry: Walk-in or cabinets?

***** Very Important *****

Is there anything you:

• Can't live without?

• Definitely don't want?

• Would like if you can find a way?

And when you get done answering all those...(laughing)

What's up with the 89" wall?

Hi everybody. I posted a revised layout image - hopefully it will answer some of the things I left out the first time :) I've turned it 90 degrees so it fits on the screen better. The wall between the kitchen and the formals is load-bearing, and the family room is too narrow to extend the kitchen into the family room. My house is brick and 40 years old, so I want to try and avoid moving any windows if I can - although I am going to replace them with double-pane windows. So my footprint is not all that flexible.

We bought the Dishwasher and Refrigerator (standard depth stainless) when we moved in, so we aren't replacing those. We will be replacing the sink (the only thing I'm sure about - I want a Blanco Super Single sink in Anthracite) and also replacing the gas cooktop and oven (currently gas also). . Thank you all for your patience and help! Is it okay to answer everyone's question on one post like this - or is that a no-no?

Before I start trying to answer everybody's questions, I should tell ya'll a little about us. It is just my husband and me (and three dogs) - no children. We both work long hours and really don't cook much - but are trying to do better :) Our cooking mostly consists of casseroles or 1-pot dinners, grilled cheese sandwiches, and grilling out. We will be putting a small table into the breakfast area once my husband's grandmother's antique table is refinished, but we eat almost entirely sitting on the couch. My house was built in 1971 and I think the horrible cabinets are original - parts of them are actually plastic! And when we first moved in 3 years ago, there was a mold problem under some of the cabinet bottoms so several of the cabinets have no bottom at all and aren't used.

Natural to medium stained cherry is my favorite, but probably out of my price-range. Whatever we pick for cabinet colors, I need to make sure it goes with the antique table & armoire. I like simple cabinets - something similar to Kraftmaid's Sonora style.
Laxmom asked if I had done the Sweeby test - I tried but I really can't picture my "dream kitchen". Other than that it would come with a cook in it!

I would want light-and-bright, particularly because my house is pretty dark with not much sunlight. More to the Modern/Artsy/Arts & Crafts side than traditional or vintage. Simple and casual, but not shabby-chic or country. Nothing flowery, pink, lacy, etc. - so I guess more masculine than feminine.

My husband is set on double ovens and stained (not painted) cabinets. I am set on my super-single sink and I really want some nice looking and bright lighting. Those are the only musts I can think of. We use coffeepots (one each - don't ask), microwave (which is in the future pantry area now), an electric kettle, a seal-a-meal, and occasionally a toaster and an electric griddle. Sometimes a crock-pot.

Elyse (remodelfla),
The doorway (now on the left) leads to a formal dining/living area we don't really...

Donna--Your plan is not showing up at the link.

I'm sorry - does this link work?

Here is a link that might be useful: Revised Kitchen Layout

How big is the table?

Which entrance do you "use" - grocercies or access to family room or ...
Mostly for amusement value.
{{gwi:2108837}}

Hi, Wayward. Before you invest in a new kitchen, I'm thinking you really need to examine why you don't use a third(?) of your house. That so much of your home's living space lacks charm and function for its owners is a very common but nevertheless serious problem that has very exciting and worthwhile fixes. Do those front rooms lack a feeling of separation from a bothersome world? That can be fixed, likely best from outdoors, but also inside. Did you know people don't even slow and start shopping when they enter a store until they're about 20 feet in? The need for separation is very real; and in homes too there are problems with areas right by the front wall. But they can be fixed, usually with a lot more knowhow than money. Too dark? That can be fixed. Everything you want to do at home you just prefer to do elsewhere. Really? I bet some spaces are crowded while these spaces gather dust. Like that dysfunctional-for-you little space currently called "breakfast area."

This doesn't seem to address what you asked, of course, but it really does. You have enough space as is for a very nice kitchen, but kitchens don't exist in a vacuum, and you need to start its renovation by looking at your entire property. In most cases a home's charm and its opportunities for improved living come from its relation to the outside every bit as much as what's inside. That's true to some extent even for people who prefer to keep the world shut out with drawn drapes. A bigger job, but if you do it you'll enjoy your home enormously more and its value will also increase very substantially.

How about starting with a list of the main things you do or would like to do in your home and then browse the net for ideas for the sort of places you'd like to do them? You don't need money or ambition to actually do most of them in this house; just examining the ideas will pay off for you big time in this kitchen planning process.

Since you don't cook often, is form more important than function to you? (I.e., the way it "looks" is more important than having separate work zones or following the workflow.) There's no "right" answer to the question and it's not a negative, many people feel this way, even those who cook a lot; but your answer will give us a better idea of what will work for you.

Two questions and no more I promise! Would you be open to the notion of removing the wall/countertop between the breakfast area and kitchen to really open up the space. And... if so, would you consider a long island with seating for your informal eating area for you and your husband.

Hi: Is there a reason you are putting the cooktop at an angle? You are losing quite a lot of storage space that way.

With your doorways and the size of your room, you would do well with a U shape facing into the window, then a wall with the ovens, a counter/storage/landing space, then the refrigerator.

Do you have a separate pantry?

I think you may be confusing my amusement drawing with the op's plan. This is the op's plan.

I have zero patience and doodled while waiting.

I did indeed confuse the two. Thanks!

bmorepanic - wow! that is a very creative plan. It really makes me think I haven't fully explored my options. The entrance I use into the kitchen is the 35" walkway. But the entrance into the house is by a door in the family room. Even for groceries, I usually come in the family room door and then go into the kitchen.

I'm not sure how big the table is. It is in my husband's disaster of a garage. I can't go out there or I'll hyperventilate at the mess :) I'll ask him to measure it this weekend.

Rosie - that is really interesting what you are saying about considering the house as a whole. I think I've been approaching the kitchen remodel as a task to be done, rather than looking to see how it could change things in a positive way. Thanks!

remodelfla - Ask all the questions you want - I appreciate the feedback. There isn't a real wall between the kitchen and breakfast room. The line behind the cooktop area is just a line of where the cabinets stop. My real problem in making a large island for an eating area is avoiding the window and figuring out where to put it. But I can see from bmorepanic's drawing that I haven't been very creative in that endeavor.

sarschlos_remodeler, I believe I will have a separate pantry. At the moment I do not.

buehl, I think more concerned with form than function is probably a fair statement - although I don't want to carry it to extremes. I don't want to make it terribly inconvenient to do things, but you are right - I'm not super-concerned with workflo or zones. About the extent of my zones is that I like to have everything for making coffee and tea in one spot. And I'd like to make sure I have a place to chop up veges close to the sink to wash them off.