Apartment kitchen design - please comment

9 years ago

I'd love to get comments on the kitchen design of this apartment. Everything in the old kitchen is going to be replaced. Since it's a small, windowless kitchen, we're thinking of white shaker cabinets with light gray subway tile for the backsplash; not sure yet about counters and floor tile. A couple of likely changes to the drawing: a shorter cabinet over the sink for more room, and probably replacing the trash base cabinet to the right of the sink with drawers (we'd just put a couple of trash bins under the sink).

The big change to the current layout is removing most of the wall between the kitchen and the LR/DR area, in order to open up the kitchen and bring in natural light. We want to keep part of the wall to screen the refrigerator from the LR, though. The kitchen drawing shows a couple of cabinets which would have a stone counter, possibly with enough overhang for seating (if we did this, not sure which side to have the seats on -- maybe the kitchen side for the view out the windows). Other ideas: Take out most of the wall and not have anything there. Or put in more of an island piece. Or put the cabinets and counter on the side wall, opposite the fridge and range. With the cabinets on the side wall, possibly keep the end part of the wall, because it has an electric outlet 4' above the floor and 2' away from the closet. Which option would be best? (The apartment's ceiling is concrete, and the walls of the closet and the wall to come down are not hollow. Any lighting for the new counter may have to come from overhead track lights.)

Many thanks.

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Comments (5)

acm
9 years ago
Uh, hard to parse all that. If you do seating at your peninsula, do it on the outside, so (a) sitters aren't in way of kitchen work, (b) sitters are in good position to chat with cook, (c) sitters aren't in way of opening the cupboards, nor kicking the fronts of the cabinets.
PRO
Lisa Williams
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The overall layout of the kitchen seems to be efficient. I've seen many windowless kitchens with no cabinets in front of the sink, where a decorative mirror or art could be hung for an open feeling.

As for the peninsula, it really only works in its current position and the seating should face INTO the kitchen. If one person is preparing dinner, the other/s can sit at the counter and visit while the meal is being made. Having seating inside the kitchen will only crowd the space and you'll have unwanted bodies in there when one is cooking! (No room for an island unless you're extending the room into surrounding areas.)

Regarding your flooring, are you putting new flooring in the kitchen only or will it extend into the adjacent living areas? I would suggest running the same flooring throughout the main living areas. It will give continuity and better flow. A laminate wood product will serve all areas well.

As for the wall next to the fridge, you may be better served with cabinets that come forward more over the fridge and then just a cabinetry panel in place of that wall. It will still conceal the fridge without being as heavy as a true wall. Also, with the cabinet above coming forward more, the space is more reachable and usable.

Solid surface counters, and a drop-in sink...even on a budget, these are worth the investment! A nice pendant light over the sink (with no cabinet) would be nice too :)

Please provide updates as you progress :)
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rantontoo
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Post on the Kitchen forum and also provide a diagram of the entire apartment (can be hand drawn) to show traffic patterns and how the rooms relate.
a b
Original Author
9 years ago
OK, I understand why the seating should face the kitchen.

The LR and most of the apartment have parquet wood floors, but the kitchen will be ceramic or porcelain. Great ideas about the sink & fridge areas. Thanks for the encouragement.

OK, I'll post on the Kitchen forum.

Thx to all.
mark_rachel
8 years ago
How big is the walkway into the kitchen? Seems a little tight to me. Are there 2 entrances?