SO sorry! I posted the wrong link. Let me try again.

Here is a link that might be useful: KD Kitchen layout

I guess my suggestion is to make just one colossal island - both narrower and longer. Part is that the small island just looks like something that would be in the way (for me) and a big part is how the kitchen would work for your daughter.

A five foot aisle will allow a wheelchair user IN the kitchen and allow her to move around a bit even when other people are working. A 48" aisle is considered the MINIMUM for a multi-person cook when both use their own feet. A person can turn around in two feet, but the turning circle of a wheelchair is about 60" (experienced racechair driver - ymmv).

People in regular chairs "stick out" about 2 feet from the work surface. So anybody at the desk or at ?counter height stools will stop the wheel chair even with a 4 foot aisle.

Is that angled top is a bar-height eating area?

Consider some lowered counter area with a wheel chair pull-in and a prep sink for your daughter - one of the arguments for a big island. Perhaps consider lowering the cooktop 4 inches so she can eventually use it. I don't know what the height of the microwave is, but I might check that and the height of the oven controls so that she could reach them. Every kid has got to be able to make pizza.

I know you've already thought out dishwashers and dish storage.

I guess I would see if I could flatten the pantry some by using a sliding pocket door - if I had to chew into the cooktop area a little, I would. I would also be tempted to move the ovens to the northeast corner of the kitchen to have more room on both sides of the cooktop.

HTH

Bmorepanic, I think maybe you looked at the original design that came with the house plan?--Since that is the one with the small island. I think she wants us to consider the pencil drawn plans without the little island.

I see no choice but to make the remaining angled island smaller so it pulls away from the desk...But someone like Bmorepanic is better about thinking outside the box if you'd prefer a different shape or a different approach.

Yes, rhome410, you're correct. My problem is what new shape to make the angled island so that it would work in the kitchen and still allow that 48" walk around room. Maybe rectuangular? The kitchen would look out on the breakfast nook if that helps.

Scale is 1/2"=1"

How about skip the angled part and any raised part. Keep it at counterheight and make a large rectangular island instead with maybe a curved edge for counter height stools. Would get you more countertop space and more space to move around. If I was in a wheel chair the raised bar area would seem like a wall. At least a counter height would allow me to see if anybody is in the kitchen.

Is your daughter in a manual or power wheelchair? My power wheelchair is a few inches higher than a manual wheelchair. My kitchen has standard cabinets and countertop at standard height. I can cook and wash the dishes fine at this height.

Recently, I was approached by a KD at Lowe's and she pointed out that they made cabinets with higher and deeper toe kicks for wheelchair accessibility. Although, I didn't replaced my cabinets, it was good to know. You may want to look into this if you're interested.

One other suggestion if you don't mind. Once you got the cabinets done, consider adding plexi-glass at the lower portion of the cabinets to serve as wheelchair pumbers. I recently had this done in my kitchen and will consider to do it throughout the house (wall, doors, etc.). The plexi-glass piece is screwed in for easy replacement. Below is a link to my kitchen so you'd see how it was done.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Refaced

ntthou--My daughter is twelve, if that helps, and is in a manual wheelchair. The entire space to the right of the angled oven wall is for Lauren. She will have a desklike space to pull up under (we did this at our last house and it worked great) and I'm considering a small prep sink that will have a cover for those times when she uses the area for school and doesn't need the sink. It means alot to me to have your input, so if there's any other suggestions you have regarding her area (maybe a small undercounter refrigerator?) I'd love to hear them.

The rest of the kitchen is my height. At the risk of sounding terribly selfish, I know Lauren won't be with me forever (we have a basement where we can build her a handicap accessible apartment :)). With that in mind, and the fact that both my husband and I are tall, I wanted the rest of the counters standard height. I am using an induction cooktop so less risk of Lauren burning herself.

I love the idea of plexiglass and had actually already thought of that for the walls in some of the house. Wheelchairs are SO tough on drywall and cabinets. It's a great idea for adding to the cabinets. BTW, your kitchen is lovely! Thanks for the idea of putting the plexi on the cabinets.

As for the island (finally getting to that LOL!) I'm thinking of doing an L-shaped, with the short part of the L being the rounded part. Or maybe an elongated diamond shape. One thing that just occurred to me minutes ago was that I don't have any cabinets to put glasses, cookware and plates in as I unload the dishwasher. This means crossing the room to put away clean dishes and silverware. I'm thinking I need to re-do the island shape to accommodate those things, maybe taking out one trash can and DD. Phooey!

Would love some more ideas!

sdionnemoore for the plates and glasses I know several people on here have used under counter drawers, which seems like in your case would work great for your daughter as well.

I like the idea of the drawers myself from having seen those that have it as it seems so easy to use and much more ergonomical too.

No, of course you don't sound selfish. You and your husband are the main chefs and that's what the kitchen needs to accomodate for.

You're just trying to accomodate your daughter here and there which is so much more than what my family did for me. Believe me, the family is the least that ever understand you. You, on the other hand, are doing great!

Take time and ask your daughter what works for her and what not instead of just assuming it. Have her test out a 36" wide area and see how well she gets around it. A 36" wide hallway is not enough to turn around but enough to serve as a one-way hallway. If I looked at the right layout, it seems that you have 2 openings on each side of the kitchen. If Lauren needs to turn around, these 2 open areas would have enough room for her to turn around. Does that makes sense?

Make sure that the floor is leveled and if it's going to be tiled, make sure it's strong enough to accomodate Lauren and her wheelchair's weight. Don't forget that she'd get heavier as she grows up. I'm fortunate to have Saltillo tiles which are almost 1" thick and heavy duty. My power wheelchair is a little over 210 lbs., plus myself, that's a total of 310 lbs. for the floor to support!

My bedrooms are the only areas that still have carpets. Since I don't have alot of budget to replace the carpet with Saltillo, I asked my handyman what other material I could use besides wood. He said porcelain tiles are quite strong and should work.

If you fail in doing something, don't worry, none of us are borned into what we are. It's a trial 'n error. The wise thing to do is redo it and retry it. The fail thing to do is... doing nothing about it. This would apply to everyone whether we have a disability or not.

For my family being inconsiderate and superficial, I don't blame them. Although, I do feel sorry for them of being stubborn and ignorant, not just about me but also about life. There are more blessings to be thankful than our disabilities.

Right now, I'm counting all the blessings that went into the kitchen and tried not to think of the bills (disabilities) that will be rolling in soon.... LOL

E-mail me if you have any questions.

Rhome is right - I was confused about where the kd's drawings were because the others are the op's sketches and I thought the printed plans were the kds.

I guess I understand being torn between accomodations and getting what you have wanted --- but I still think you need a differently shaped island and wider aisles. You have a big space to work with and the angled island makes it seem strangely narrow and empty??

Can your daughter get into a counter height stool or a bar height stool? I hate bar height stools anyway (even in bars). They are just too tall for me and I hate the clamber up and clamber down. One of my brothers is disabled and can do a counterheight, but not a bar height.

bmorepanic-My daughter could transfer to a table height chair, never a bar height. I've thought of making a roughly triangular island with the two longer ends of the triangle having a 6 or 12 inch overhang-table height. So instead of having a rise in front of the sink, mine will drop a few inches to table height.

Then I remembered that my DDs didn't have any cabinets for storing glasses or silverware, so I'd have to cross the kithcen. I thought maybe I could anchor the two corners at the base of the triangle with wall height cabinets. I have no idea if that would work, or even if it would look right, but I'm a little bit desperate to settle on something.

ntt_hou-We'll have hard wood floors throughout. Lauren's manual wheelchair is approx. 50 pounds, quite a bit less than the power. My husband and I heave it into our van without breaking it down at all, though those days might be numbered as she enters the growing years . . . And I'm really trying to have open spaces because of the turning radius required for a wheelchair. And DOORS!! No swing doors, POCKET doors! One of my pet peeves is public bathrooms marked handicap accessible when they are SO not able to accommadate the radius required for wheelchairs.

If you need to accomodate Lauren to the bar height, try using a drafting chair. It's very similar to a secretary chair but it jacks up higher. Once she gets on the chair at lower level, you can help her pushing the chair up high while she presses the leveler.

A drafting chair has 5 legs with wheels which helps to level the chair and not easily tilt over. A drafting chair also has arms so Lauren can hold onto if needed. With wheels, you can move her around also.

Another alternative for pocket doors is using the Swing Clear Offset Door hinges for areas that you can't do pocket doors. Below is the link to what it looks like. You may want to do a search to get the best price online.

As for hard wood floors, make sure you get a durable ones and the type of finish that wouldn't show up scratches as much. Any type of wheelchairs can do alot of damage to the wood floors.

As for getting a wheelchair in and out of the van, there are a few assist devices that are not too expensive to purchase and install. It may save both of your backs before it's too late. One of my new next door neighbor is doing the same with their disabled son. Except their son is not 12 but 24 and a fully grown young man! I've given them some leads to approach a local special accessible auto modification vendor and installer to give them an evaluation of available equipments. You may want to do the same.

I know you're currently busy with the kitchen. For whenever after that you have sometimes, check out programs that has funds available for these needs. I live in Texas and there's a program that funds all the special equipments and college tuition just as long as I go to school or continue to go to work. They're responsible for my independent living. If you ever need any help in this area or others, don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail and I can help you researching more about this. As long as we live in the US, we're never disabled alone. It's ashamed if we don't take advantages of these programs to help us get ahead more easily. That's what they're there for.

Btw, you do know that if you buy a new car to accomodate your disabled child, most manufacturers will refund you up to $1000 toward installation of handicapped equipments (hand controls, lifts, etc.)? I know for certain that all US manufacturers do. I recently heard that some foreign manufacturers are doing the same.

I recently found out from my colleague that if you modify your house to accomodate a disabled, you can claim it on your tax. Since I did some this year, I'll look into it for myself also.

Good night for now...

Natalie

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.adaptiveaccess.com/offset_hinges.php