So, is the room something like this?

Can you please tell

-- where basement door and mudroom are,

-- width of the walkway,

-- what you have on the right side of the kitchen

-- if table can go to the area in front of alcove?

I think you need more room b/w the sink and the range for prep and if fridge can go somewhere else it may be easier to convince your partner to help you in the kitchen-:))

The layout gurus will want to see the kitchen in relation to the other rooms, and prob the existing layout. You'll get some great advice.

Good luck!

Here is a drawing of the kitchen and the alcove area and how it fits into the rest of the first-floor floorplan. Thanks for any advice you can give!

On the drawing above each square is one foot.

Or should I ditch the peninsula and have an island instead?

If you don't like the blind corner you could use that space in the bathroom behind the kitchen. Someone here did that and it's very cool.

There are so many possbilities here, you could go in any direction. Start with the budget. Figure on spending maybe 10% - 15% of the home's value, as a rough guide, depending on your market. For your current plan, I'm going to take a wild guess and say 20k - 30k, with Ikea or Home Depot cabinets, a basic appliance package, budget counter tops, and no big changes to plumbing or electrical.

FWIW, that whole alcove/closet screams "walk in pantry" to me. If that's the case, I would put in open shelving, and skip upper cabinets. That might leave money for an island, maybe a repurposed antique Victorian table, for character. Then spring for a better stove, and decorative items.

At any rate, I urge you to try to keep your design compatible with an 1889 house. It will look better, have better resale, and can be quite functional.

For the blind corner under the sink you can use a Lemans. It's easier to access.

I like Meris' idea about using that blind corner in the bathroom for storage but it depends on your layout there. Scone has a good idea with the pantry in that alcove.

Thanks for the comments so far, please keep them coming.

Meris, the bathtub is right behind the blind corner, so we can't really use that space in the bathroom, but I appreciate the creative thinking.

Scone, our budget can go up to about $30k. We're able to do a lot of the work ourselves which will help save. I have a bid on frameless cabinets in the drawing for $11k installed.

I want to have a walk in pantry, but it needs to have a door on it. Our animals have incredible powers to open cabinets (even child locks will not stop them). Our thought is to put a door next to the door to the basement and have a walk in pantry in the 5' deeper alcove next to the basement stairs. Just outside the pantry door we would probably put the dog bowls so that they're out of sight.

I think you should skip the bar. It looks too tight for the hallway space and I don't think an island will fit well. Perhaps you could recess the fridge into the future pantry. That would allow you to move the stove further to the right so that you have more room between someone standing at the sink and stove. Your two person table in the alcove sounds cute. You could put a small entry table or buffet table on the hallway wall.

Karenseb, thanks for the ideas. You may be right that we should move the stove down. I don't think I'll be able to recess the fridge. My girlfriend wants the walls to stay where they are. : ) I think I'll need either an island or a pennisula to have enough prep counter space and really want an area for "hanging out" while I'm cooking.

What about this drawing with an island with stools around two sides?

I live with smaller than recommended aisles, and I think the aisles in that drawing are too narrow. I really like Karenseb's layout, and I'd think about recessing the fridge a few inches. To recess a fridge, you don't need to remove the wall, just build a header, as if you are framing a door. We actually recessed a fridge into a door frame when we relocated the kitchen door.

Your kitchen reminds me of another one posted this week, and I suggested a mobile cart, stored under the window, to be pulled out when more prep space is needed. (This thread.) The cart could have a folding counter, for hangout space, or extra prep space.

And now you've piqued my curiosity--what kinds of animals do you have? barbja99 just posted about a determined Savannah cat.

There's just not enough room for an island there - you would need to put in the aisle measurements, but it looks like a box is a foot, so 24" is half of what you would need for you island and stools. I'd prefer the openness of the L shape kitchen and a small mobile cart to assist with prepping. This also has more prep space where you want it - between sink and stove. The U looks more cramped and harder for more than one cook - it would be helpful to see your plan drawn in the space with aisle widths, etc though.

I'd seek more pro opinions on replacing the radiator. It is likely there will be a solution and you need the options that opens up.

Some more ideas.

1- I tweaked the U. Left corner has 36" corner cab. On the right, either void the corner or use from the bathroom or do as deedles did.

I have the fridge in the alcove, but not sure if can use it comfortably there (maybe a french door fridge and changing the door swing of the basement door can help). Even if you keep the fridge in the kitchen as in your original layout, you'll get some more extra prep space b/w the range and the sink by changing the other corner.

Since there's just the 2 of you living in the house I added a cab at the end of the bar.

2- A variation of Karenseb's idea. I have a small rounded bar, but there'd be only about 3' b/w the fridge and the bar, so it will be tight.

3- I have moved the fridge next to the range and have a 48x46 peninsula on the 50" wall (30" wide, 24 deep cab facing the kitchen and 21" deep cab facing the hall and 16 for o/h). Again it will be tight, but you can consider narrower cabs or 12" o/h if you aren't very tall or if it will be just for perching.

Thank you all, and especially sena and mamagoose for the great ideas! This is amazing! There's so much to think about here.

The former owners had the fridge in alcove the way you've pictured it in #1. Part of why we're reno-ing the kitchen is because it just seemed too awkward there. The rest of the kitchen was one wall of upper and lower cabinets along the wall with the sink; the stove was in the middle of the wall against the bathroom (without a countertop or cabinets around it). Next to it sat a portable dishwasher.

I'll think about these ideas and look at the aisles more tomorrow. The kitchen I just left, which I loved, had aisles this size or smaller, so they don't seem too small to me, but I know it means that you can't get by if any of the appliances' doors are open.

Also, and maybe because it's because I've never had the space, but I don't usually prep the food on the counter between the sink and the stove. In every house I can remember cooking in, I've always transferred it to an island. I think I feel a little claustrophobic working on a countertop below an upper cabinet -- which is odd because it's not like I'm tall -- I'm just over 5'. I think I also like facing the room (and others in it), whenever possible.

Mamagoose, you asked about the animals. My gf has 2 large dogs that will eat anything that they can find and two super-intelligent cats. The cats kept opening the upper cupboards so she tried installing child locks on them, but they had figured them out before she was even done with the install. I also have 2 cats who are wonderful in that they don't exhibit the slightest interest in human food. All of them together make it a zoo.

Thanks again everyone, please keep the ideas coming!