Counter space is more important than storage for us.

The problem is if you don't have enough storage, things end up "living" on the counters!

I must have lived with some awful kitchens over the years because I really don't think your kitchen is that bad. The cabinets look in decent shape but from your description, maybe the camera lies, lol.

Damn neighbors cutting your tree! Shame on them.

I also think you have quite a bit of storage in the kitchen. I've always had small kitchens. But then I've always lucked out with big pantries. Do you have a pantry anywhere? Is there any space where one can be added? Extra storage in the mudroom for items used less often could be handy. Or even in the garage (I assume that's on the other side of the mudroom?).

Your fridge will look less imposing if you inset it into the wall so it's poking into the room less. You might also want to put a cover panel on the side so you're seeing wood matching your cabinetry instead of the metal. And deepen your counters just on the fridge wall. All this will help make the fridge look more like a built-in and it will take up less visual space. Just make sure you allow enough space for the door to swing open.

I think my biggest concern with your layout is the range. It would be nice to have a bit more elbow room on each side. Particularly the side next to the aisle toward mudroom. It would make cooking easier with extra space and provide a bit of safety so things don't get spilled on anyone passing by. It would be interesting to remove the faux brick and see if that means you can have a wider space there.

To make your space lighter and brighter, you would obviously want to go with light cabinets, better ceiling lighting (both task and ambient), and under-cabinet lighting. All that will make a huge difference in how light the room feels.

If you could find some additional storage someplace, like in that mudroom, you might even consider widening the window a bit. But only if you can increase other storage elsewhere so you don't feel the loss of any upper-cabinets.

I agree with sjhockeyfan that you either need to make better use of all the storage you have or you need more storage to rid your counters of the clutter. Even if the appliances and other clutter on the counter doesn't take up work space, it takes up visual space and makes your kitchen seem more crowded and I think even contributes to a feeling of darkness. You really need to plan some better storage for those appliances.

If you can't place some of those small appliances elsewhere, I'd consider putting an appliance garage across that whole space, under the upper-cabinets, the whole way. You would need several openings for access but the removal of all that visual clutter would really help. However, I think you'd be better off to store most of those appliances in cabinets and have a shorter appliance garage so you retain more counter space.

You might consider putting your microwave on a shelf in the upper-cabinet area. Underneath it, put another small appliance garage for the toaster-oven. Or you might consider a microwave drawer instead. (And still hide toaster-oven.)

And move your magnetic knife rack. If you put it to the right of the stove on the side (hanging from the brick rather than the backsplash), this would further reduce visual clutter and I think actually be a bit safer.

I really can't stand cluttered counters. Maybe I'm focusing on that too much. Sorry, but it all really jumped out at me.

I have a very similar 90 year old kitchen floor plan as yours just a few of my 5 doorways are in different places! My stove, sink and dishwasher are all on my long run. My fridge is close to where yours is but with out a connecting counter for my hall and basement doorways are on that wall. Where your stove and peninsula are I just have an small L of cabs and counter. Although cosmetically I can not wait to rip my kitchen out and one day enlarge and make pretty and add all lower drawers I must admit to liking how my layout works for cooking.

A few questions. Do you like you curent layout for cooking in because I am only seeing cosmetic changes in your new plans. And if you are not happy with the function of your present layout is there money in your budget to move plumbing and gas line?

Can you move the refrigerator to where the stove is and put the stove on the wall where the fridge currently sits?

Bbstx just asked way I was wondering if you can move gas lines;).

When I redid my kitchen in my old house, I was pleasantly surprised at how little it cost me to put a gas line in the kitchen and move the water line for the fridge. It may not be expensive to switch places with the fridge and the stove.

Like funkycamper and sjhockeyfan, I'm anti stuff on the counter. Right now, sitting on the counter, I have a coffee maker, a stand mixer, a knife block, and a decorative beverage server - and I think that is too much. All of this to say, when you re-do the kitchen, in the area with the normal ceiling height, consider taking out the soffit and extending your cabinets to the ceiling. You can put infrequently used things up high and free up some lower shelves for stuff currently on the counter (canisters, food processor, etc.).

Your mixer is a tilt head, like mine. It will fit under the cabinets. There is no need to have one cabinet raised higher than the others.

On your drawing of the kitchen you have the lowered ceiling listed as 85 inches and the higher ceiling listed as 85 inches.

Be sure they are pricing out all drawers for your lower cabinets. Except corners. I am AMAZED at how much more we are fitting in our drawers vs cabinets.

WOW! Thanks everyone for the advice. Particularly the advice on the clutter...if you looked up absent minded professor in the encyclopedia it would be a picture of me. I often just don't "see" my surroundings.

My husband says he can tell where I have been in the kitchen because all the cabinets are still open! When I am working on a paper and go to get coffee I am completely in my head and don't notice. One morning he opened every cabinet and was amazed when I got my cup of coffee and went back to work. I completely did not even notice until he pointed it out.

I love the advice on drawers. I was worried that drawers would hold LESS than roll out shelves so this is good to hear.

Yes we can definitely switch the fridge and the range. Great idea. It would mean a real soffit on the high side to run the vent to the exterior due to some plumbing from a bathroom upstairs. So cabinets would stay at the level they are now.

I will play with moving the fridge and make sure we can open the doors (french door upper).

Thanks for catching the error in my dimensions -- the high side is 95in for the ceiling.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Here's an idea, don't know if it would work for you or not. If you could sink the fridge into the corner of the office so that the fridge doors would swing toward the sink wall, you could get a lot out of your kitchen. You could put in an island running perpendicular to the sink wall. A pantry, bench, or extra counter could go where the stove currently is. The stove could go on the run that the fridge is currently on. Lots of options. I tried to draw it up for you, but my computer and GW aren't cooperating right now. : (

Hi D & T,

I'm with the switch-the-stove-and-fridge folks. My sink and stove are in an L and I like being able to pivot between. The DW would ideally go to the right of the sink, to get it out of the sink-stove lane, but would be more of a trip hazard in that location.

A picture being worth a thousand words, I set this up in IKEA - the software I know. I looked at the Shenandoah, thinking they would have a similar tool, but alas, no. Not even a list of cabinet sizes. A caveat - IKEA is changing to a different line in February - different sizes and different options, so who knows if these cabinets would be available. An FYI - these cabinets, handles, butcherblock counter, sink, faucet, cooktop and oven, + dishwasher, add up to about $8000.

I squeezed a 12" pullout pantry between the fridge and peninsula - I'm assuming you can open your fridge doors with that set up. In current IKEA, that would be a combination of a few different cabinet components.
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To the right of the sink (each 15" wide), I show a trash/recycling pullout, a bank of drawers, and a cabinet for an appliance lift.

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA Planner File - plan expires in 5 days

This post was edited by tbb123 on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 16:55

First off... wow, your kitchen is HUGE compared to mine. Mine is 11x8, but fortunately it's open to a larger dining room space so I can have a full table and a couple shelf bits outside the kitchen to hold stuff like microwave, coffee pot, and toaster.

That said... if you like how your kitchen layout is currently working, why not just keep that? I mean yes, update your cabinets to best utilize storage space- so you can have the most free counter space. And update your counters too if you don't like them or if updating cabinets won't allow you to re-use the counters.
I like your cabinets, but that means nothing if you don't like them, or if they aren't as functional as they appear.

Depending on what you got going on above your cabinets along the sink side- you could adjust your cabinet height to make open cubbies out of what is currently walled over. Like those few inches between the cabinet tops and the ceiling. Just those few inches could provide an amazing amount of display storage space. Cookbooks, lesser used dishes and such, and so on. Your soffit area you have marked might be usable for this sort of thing too.
I suggest this because I am short- so having extra tall cabinets is not as worthwhile for me as having open display cubby up top. If you guys are taller, having cabinets all the way to the ceiling might be the better option.

Something kind of missing in the pics... Do you have a central ceiling light? I mean smack dab in the middle. If not, adding in light there can help considerably with the darkness in your kitchen. Just remodeling the lighting might make the biggest impact. And when you install a hood, make sure it's a lighted hood. I didn't notice a light over the sink either, not sure if it just wasn't on or if there isn't one. If there isn't one, install one.

Not sure what's going on with your chimney, and you might need to as a contractor.. but if you can get rid of the fake box in and just go with naked chimney- that can give you inches to your plan. You could divert the current outlet that is on the false face to under the peninsula.

I think tbb's LO is your best option. It keeps you from needing to cross the aisle with hot/heavy pot of water. And keeps the open space open while still keeping the fridge usable w/o getting into cooking space. Also keeps cooking area from a walkway.
Check out an easy access cabinet for the upper corner area and drawers, drawers, drawers for the lower cabs.

You might consider a cab or 2 with glass in doors.
the 'peninsula' counter allows the space for kids to help or do HW and talk to you - and to set things going in/out of fridge.

high up cabs are better than empty space. store things seldom used then use a step stool (or tall family member) to get things when needed.

If there aren't cab boxes, then replace them. My sister has the AW cabs and I love them. Or do you have any Amish woodworkers around your area? If so, get a price from them for the cabs.

You might consider using maybe 2' on the R end of the sink run (by door) as a shallower floor to ceiling pantry cabinet (doors opening out for access when no one is coming in back door). Would give you more storage plus open up that corner and access in/out both doorways.

I did think about a shallow pantry near the exterior door and then compared it to what is currently there. What's there now seems to be working for D & T - counters and space for shoulders and arms. A shallow pantry would give the lower body a bit more space, but I'm not sure that's what is needed.

Desertsteph makes a great point about not crossing traffic with that boiling pot. This also gets the stove out of the corner - one of D & T's beefs with current kitchen.

Bee's lighting suggestions are right on.

Would you please post a layout of the whole floor this kitchen is on? Much easier to get creative with the whole picture.

Hi all -- THANK YOU for all the great ideas so far. Keep em coming. We are checking on moving the range and I think the lighting ideas are great. We plan to put in recessed lighting, some fixtures and undercab lighting based on info I learned here.

Jillius - as far as the layout goes I don't have a first floor plan drawn up but will try and get that up today. The kitchen is open to our family room. Might be ways to use the two spaces better.