Please Help! Kitchen, Laundry & Bath Remodel

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Hi Everyone! I am planning to remodel my kitchen and laundry/bath. I would appreciate any help you all can offer. My home is currently a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath but we have a cottage out back that my son lives in that doesn't have a bath attached so I thought another place to bathe would be nice and I really can't stand sharing the bathroom with the laundry. The house is ranch style with a hallway running the width of the house. As you can see from the plans, I would like to take out that wall and add a cased opening to the living room off the front door.

I am hoping to do the reno for as little as possible simply because I worry that the comps won't support a more substantial investment. Despite this, I would still like to have wood floors, not laminate and a high end solid surface countertop that looks like carrara or close to it.

Please let me know if something is not clear. I know I've been looking at this way too long. Time for some fresh ideas.

Pic 1 - The original kitchen
Pic 2 - Original/current floorplan
Pic 3 - Planned floorplan
Pic 4 - Inspiration

Featured Answer

Carol Johnson

9 years ago

It looks like a costly remodel to me. Your center of the house wall is often a supporting one.

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Comments (12)

faefrog
Original Author
9 years ago
This was my inspiration for the shower... I was thinking that wall opposite the door should be about 60" tall with glass above.
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faefrog
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
When I purchased the house the inspector said that the wall I want to remove was not load bearing. I knew I wanted to take it out even then. I'm budgeting $15K for this and the other bath. I would like to keep the existing cabinets, remove the fur down and raise them. I will probably do all of the demo and most of the finish work. Other than the electrical, plumbing and cabinet work, it will mostly be DIY. I have had quite a bit of experience so that is a plus.

My house sits on just over an acre in the downtown area and there are only a handful of properties that have sold with this amount of land as most of them are in subdivisions. I also have livestock, a well, irrigation and I am in an unincorporated portion of the county so there are some pluses, they're just hard to measure in dollars from comps.
sandradclark
9 years ago
I like the floorplan, but what bothers me is you need to go through both the kitchen and the laundry to get into the bath. The fact that you aren't planning to change the placement of the toilet is good. No window in the bath. Add adequate venting to the exterior. I would check with a structural engineer before you start this. Good luck. Huge undertaking. Hope your son or hubby helps. You will also need adequate venting to the exterior from the stove.
faefrog thanked sandradclark
faefrog
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Great suggestions Sandra! I know it's kind of weird to go through both the kitchen and the laundry/mudroom but I really really didn't want the bath off of the kitchen and my space is very limited. The bathroom actually has a glass block window that I would like to replace with an opening window. The exterior of my house is sandstone block so I am a bit concerned, but I suppose the worst that can happen is I have to get a custom window. There is a vent fan above the toilet currently that will be replaced with a newer model. The range currently doesn't have a hood/vent but I will definitely put one in when I move it.
faefrog
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
If anyone can think of better ideas for the bathroom that don't open directly into the kitchen/dining, I am open to suggestions. My sister has a powder room just off the kitchen for guests, and... lets just say, it's not all rosy. It also can lead to some very embarrassed guests. My house isn't large so using the other hall bath as a guest bath is certainly an option.
Irene Morresey
9 years ago
Can you put washing machine and dryer in a cupboard like in pic and it looks like you are just in the mud room, keep entrance to bathroom the same
faefrog thanked Irene Morresey
Irene Morresey
9 years ago
Or you could make bathroom bigger, using those windows for bathroom and have washing machine in a cupboard, keep a smaller area as a mud room with door going off mud room to bathroom,so you don't feel like you are using bathroom straight off kitchen, hope that makes sense
faefrog thanked Irene Morresey
faefrog
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My plan is actually very similar. Because they are under a window I wanted to put a counter top over with doors just closing over the machines themselves. So they aren't visible generally, it just looks like cabinetry. Something along this line but with the window above. Maybe open shelving on the wall to the right of the window and possibly flanking on either side. I always like to have as much storage as is possible.
faefrog
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Another consideration is that there is 3/4 or so of an acre behind the house, just off of this back door. There is a large covered patio, the woodworking shop, the horse barn and the chicken coop, a hot tub and a firepit in addition to the cottage living quarters. It just makes sense to have the laundry right as you walk in if you've been cleaning out the coop or mucking stalls. I am hoping to be able to fit a couple of "mudroom cubbies on the opposite wall from the bath if there is room. I thought it would be a good place for work/riding boots and whatnot.

Also, here is an updated floorplan with the window in the bath.
Irene Morresey
9 years ago
In one house we had, we had laundry in kitchen behind folding doors, even had tub in there, no one knew it was a laundry
faefrog thanked Irene Morresey
faefrog
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The first pic is the closest thing I've seen to my situation but my window is bigger. I think there will be about 1' of space for shelves on either side. I'd even thought of doing shelves across the window opening maybe like the second... What do you think? I also think they would fit under the counter to the right of the range, do you think that would be a better placement?