My concern is that when entering the kitchen from the dining room, you walk around a cabinet, rather than a straight shot into the kitchen. It seems most kitchens tuck the "wall of talls" into a corner. Is it awkward, or less than ideal, especially when taking food into the dining. But maybe I'm concerned over nothing?

The empty space in the bottom right will have a freestanding desk.

We've considered getting rid of cabinet with the wine storage, moving the fridge down, and making the middle cabinet larger with more counter space.

IMO I would give up the desk to make the kitchen work better , by desk do you mean a l piece like an island or an actual desk? If you draw out an detailed floor plan of the whole space including the empty space maybe we can get some ideas flowing

Dear Amyandeli,

Your perspective drawings look cool but they're not very helpful. You'll never see your kitchen from this vantage point. Therefore you won't be able to "feel" the mass on the interior walls until your kitchen shows up.

Even if you don't like it you'll live with it. There is also about 7 feet from sink cabinetry to your refrigerator and to your cook top so this layout isn't the most efficient and will cost you your most valuable asset. Time every time you use it.

You're doing what most of us do when remodeling a kitchen... worry about the wrong things. Everyone planning a new kitchen project should worry about just one thing.

Do You Have The Absolute Best Plan that provides the best solution to justify the expense?

Are these drawings your absolute proof you'll be thrilled with your new kitchen Forever? Or will your new kitchen be dated and dysfunctional after the newness wears off in 8 to 12 years when your appliances start to fail. So is this kitchen an investment in the value of your home and your life in it or an expense you're going to bear...It's your decision.

Will it retain its value long term? Trendy, new, and wow is the solution most offered to solve all of your kitchen design dilemmas. If this kitchen has been designed to meet the latest trend when the trend changes the value of your kitchen will plummet to Zero. Not what you want if you're expecting long term value.

Let's dig a little. How Efficiently does this kitchen work at performing The Five Basic Tasks, of Storage, Preparation, Cooking/Baking, Providing Service, & Clean Up?

Let's evaluate your proposed kitchen. Your work triangle is large which means you'll do a lot of walking every time you use this kitchen. You're a little light on dish and glass storage with only one wall cabinet right of the sink. I don't understand the tall doors on the counter standing cabinet to the left of the sink. Is your tall pantry cabinet the best solution for back up pantry storage? There is only 27" between the ref and the ovens and 7 feet to the next nearest counter. When you entertain working in this kitchen will be challenging.

Did you try an island to give you the ability to separate work space from gathering space so when your friends and family congregate in your kitchen it won't make working in it such a chore.

How many different combinations of appliances and cabinetry did you try before settling on this plan? In my experience you should have as few as 5 and as many as you can come up with. Your plan is the key to your kitchen project success. Once you have a great plan making your kitchen look how ever you want is simple.

I don't mean to bring you down from your getting a new kitchen high but the value of your home and your life in it are what's at stake here. Hate to see you end up with a kitchen not much different than the one you're replacing.

New Kitchen = New Life if you do it right.

If you'd like help and /or advice you should supply a floor plan of your kitchen that includes the adjacent spaces your kitchen supplies food and beverage service to.

Demand Better Performance

The kitchen is part of a larger renovation project. Here is our first floor master plan from our architect. Maybe this will help put things into perspective? Also a bit about us - we're a family of 5 (3 boys), a dog and we have people over often, formal and informal entertaining. We both cook a lot and often. The home is a 1920 shingled colonial, in a town setting of similar dated homes and styles. Thanks!

I think I'd switch the cooktop to a range and then on the fridge wall, put the shallower cabinet (with microwave and wine fridge, I guess) closer to the dining room and embed the fridge in pantry storage instead. That would look better from the kitchen as well as from the dining room, and I think it would make that little piece of counter actually useful (near stove, near dining room). If you're worried about having a "landing space" for taking things from the fridge, you already have that long strip of counter/peninsula right across from it.

Wait, your elevations don't match your floor plan. Which is the current layout under discussion?

the second plan.

Can you move the basement doorway?

Dear Amyandeli,

Considering your circumstances...two cooks,
family of 5, entertain a lot. Unless you are the exception most of us who like
to cook, live in our kitchens. A kitchen layout like your current one doesn't
allow for hanging out in your kitchen with family and friends without being jammed
up making entertaining a nightmare.

There is no separation from work space and
gathering space. There is no breakfast table as shown in your architects plan
but a desk. So there is nowhere for guests to hang out comfortably but everyone
is going to be standing around commingling cooks and guests. Or since your
kitchen is segregated from the rest of your living space you'll be in the
kitchen while your family and friends enjoy your hospitality without you. To me
that doesn't seem like much fun.

I had a kitchen very much like yours when we
moved into our condo (thank God it's gone). It was a no choice, choice because
it came with the place, and it was a nightmare to work and entertain in.

There is
a kitchen design pandemic that exists in this country (US). It seems that every
home you want to buy comes with a dated dysfunctional kitchen that needs
replacing. What a shame.

Sorry, back to you. If you live in your kitchen, it's design is critically important to the value of your home and especially to
your life in it. If you spend just 5 minutes more twice a day because your
kitchen is inefficient you'll spend over an hour a week, 52 hours a year just
10 minutes and you'll waste over 104 hours each year.

It's too bad you didn't design your kitchen
first because if you had an additional 24" in width you could have gotten that
kitchen you really want. And are hoping is waiting for you on the other side of this
kitchen remodel. Whatever you get you'll love because it's new and that's why
the state of kitchen design is so sad and why everyone is a kitchen designer. Who can't produce trendy, new, and wow?

But That's Not What You Want! This kitchen is for
the rest of your life and spending money is serious business.

Having not interviewed you I have no idea what you’re trying to
accomplish. So I have created your kitchen design with this in mind. A kitchen’s purpose is to provide food and
beverage service. If you design your kitchen well it should last 50 years and
remain current and valuable regardless of changes in design trends. Being a
simple machine with the only moving parts being whoever is working in it. It
should perform its purpose as efficiently as possible and look great while
doing it forever (50 years).

I believe you should buy your kitchen once, use it, enjoy it,
and reap the benefits of owning a kitchen that doesn’t need to be replaced in 8
to 12 years when your appliances start to fail. If it’s designed to meet the
latest trendy, new, and wow, and most are. The Impact You Expect your kitchen
project to have could be extremely short lived. And you’ll quickly find you own
a kitchen much like the one you so desperately wanted to replace.

My Suggestion:

It's not the only solution to your particular design
dilemma but it works within the space you have. It's not great but I think you'll
live much better than you will with your
current plan.

If you'd like more info on designing your
kitchen go here: http://www.kitchendesignco.com/planned-obsolescence-report/

If you get a copy of this Planned Obsolescence Report and read it you'll understand why designing a kitchen and getting what you really want is so difficult even though kitchen design is simple practical science.

Demand Better Performance