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stacy_eslick98

New Construction - looking for feedback and help with kitchen

11 years ago

Hi everyone! I have been lurking on these boards for the past six months and am finally ready to post :)

I would love some help with our home plans, we have a number of spots with "dead space" that I would like to maximize. Below are some of the wants and needs for our house. I have cross-posted with the Building a home forum.

The house is slightly bigger than we were hoping for, we wanted to have about 2200 sq ft

I think we have a lot of improvement needed in that area (we didn't get into many specifics for this with our designer). I want a flat island and a walk in pantry that is large enough for a freezer.

Garage has to stay the size it is, we are not allowed to have any storage sheds in the yard and we have 3 drivers in our home.

Thanks for your feedback!

Comments (19)

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    The drawing is small and difficult to see. I'd suggest putting the DW on the left side of the sink, out of the prep and cooking areas. Are you happy with the size of the kitchen? Is the DR table drawn to scale?

  • 11 years ago

    We have a table that expands to seat 12 and requested that the dining area be able to accommodate it fully open. I will see what I can do to try and enlarge the photo.

  • 11 years ago

    Increase the size on your computer to show only the kitchen then to print screen and paste it to paint. You'll now have a larger photo to post.

  • 11 years ago

  • 11 years ago

    We won't have a cooktop and separate wall ovens... a range works for us. I am concerned about the lack of counter space along the walls as well as limited cabinets on the walls. Perhaps with the pantry I won't need it?


  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Much better! The kitchen area seems small relative to the size of the house, and to the size of the office. Here's an idea:

    I recessed the fridge, made the oven into MW shelf, and added a coffee area where the office closet was drawn--it could also be a snack area or breakfast area. The island can be moved down, leaving more room for the extended DR table. As I suggested, the DW is on the left side of the sink, prep is on the right side. Moving the fridge leaves more room on each side of the range, for upper cabinets.

    In the laundry, I moved the sink beside the W/D, and the clothes rod to the right wall.

  • 11 years ago

    I agree that the kitchen seems small in comparison. I like the look of the built in along the office wall. I had recommended we have the pantry entrance across from the master bath by making a small hallway which extended the length of the counter and increased upper cabinets. The designer took that out because it cut into the master bedroom.

  • 11 years ago

    It looks like that freezer in the pantry and the indented wall which is in the kitchen is creating a choke point to get to the pantry shelves. Maybe move the freezer to the diagonal corner?

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Could the freezer be recessed into the large master closet?

    Here's another version, with the fridge closer to the original location, and closer to the DR, but there's a conflict with the DW door--with a French door fridge that might not be an issue. Trade-off is that wanderers rummaging the fridge don't need to enter the work aisle. This plan also has less space around the range, but more cabinet space in the area recessed into the office. I'd suggest making the pantry door narrower, but then the freezer wouldn't fit, and I'm not sure the door is wide enough as drawn. I moved the island out a few inches to make the work aisle wider:

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I don't see a closet near the front entry, so squaring off the diagonal French doors like this, if you work from home and need to greet clients:


    Or this, if you work from home, but still need to supervise small children:


  • 11 years ago

    Freezer - it's not going to open fully in either location. I don't know about you, but when I'm looking for something in the freezer, I need full access - which means the freezer cannot be up against a wall.


  • 11 years ago

    The freezer is also taking up valuable shelf space in the small pantry.

    Would you consider putting the freezer in the basement?

    Or, if you can add a couple of feet b/w the arched doorway (leads to/from Mudroom) and the Powder Room wall, you could move it to the hall and recess it into the Master Closet.

    You could move the arched doorway to the other side of the Bonus Room stairs...

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I'm not advocating having a freezer in a small pantry, but if the freezer can be recessed into the WI closet, or even the pantry wall, the door will open toward the pantry shelves. Actually, it looks as if the designer might have left just enough room in the pantry for the freezer door to clear the corner. And just enough room to clear the pantry door frame, with the freezer door removed. My freezer opens left-to-right, so I used the flipped pantry for this example:

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    The freezer doesn't have to be in the pantry but I do want it on the main floor. On the building a home forum they felt the master closet was too large and out of proportion. I may try to take some of that closet space for the kitchen. What if I moved the entrance to the pantry (by moving the powder room) to where the current powder room door is so I can increase the size of the pantry?

  • 11 years ago

    I think that's an excellent idea. I've been gobsmacked by the size of the master closet. It's as big as the kitchen!

    Maybe something like this? But I don't think that shape of pantry is the best for storage. It's a starting point.

    Even better so you don't have to take laundry anywhere. Laundry area in master closet. Awesome huge pantry and bonus closet or space to move fridge or whatever. If you moved the fridge there, some of the extra space could be an additional closet in the office.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Building on some of mama goose and funkycamper's ideas, what about something like this? I didn't draw in all the details of appliance locations in the laundry and pantry (like finding a better spot for the freezer or exact appliance locations in the kitchen). I just wanted to give an idea of how the spaces could be arranged. Sizes of laundry, pantry, and master closet can be adjusted as needed. Put a door between master closet and laundry. This gives longer stretches of wall for the kitchen both against the back wall and along the office wall. Refrigerator is recessed into office wall, but you still have a closet in the office. I would gladly have the pantry door around the corner to have more wall space in the kitchen, but you could also have the pantry open directly from the kitchen if you prefer.

    Edited pic to adjust some details:

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Laundry in the master closet? I don't know if I'd want my kids or house guests doing their laundry in my closet, but atmoscat's idea solves that issue. I'd still flip the island layout, and put the fridge closer to the FR, so that if one person has the fridge door open, someone coming from the hall has the choice to veer left and detour, and you still have the choice of either counter as landing space, and vice versa for putting away groceries:

  • 11 years ago

    I love Atmoscat's tweak to the laundry/pantry and MG's tweak to the fridge. I really like the uninterrupted kitchen wall without the door there. It would be no biggie to walk around a corner to access the pantry. I would probably take even more footage from the master closet for a bigger pantry but we are pretty minimalist regarding clothes so that solution might not work for everybody.

  • 11 years ago

    Thanksso much for all the ideas! I like the changes and an going to share on the building a home forum to incorporate with the rest of my design.