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ellen_short

Help on kitchen layout

8 years ago

My husband and I are in the process of designing our retirement home. I am looking for feedback and ideas on kitchen layout. The drawing is just what the architect suggested. 1 square = 1 square foot. The brown rectangle at the bottom of the kitchen is stairs going to the basement. Thanks in advance.


Comments (12)

  • 8 years ago

    Are the stairs open or closed?

  • 8 years ago

    They are open.

  • 8 years ago

    Is there a fridge in that drawing?

    I'd consider continuing low cabinetry, even 12 or 15" deep, along the left wall in the dining area -- it could serve as a buffet and provide a ton of additional storage, which appears to be at a premium, even if you use it as pantry or for low-frequency serving dishes.

    Ellen Short thanked acm
  • PRO
    8 years ago

    It would be helpful to see a plan of the whole house. There seems to be a lot of empty space, but it's hard to tell without seeing everything.

    Ellen Short thanked RappArchitecture
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago


    Here is the whole house. It is a walk out ranch so this is the main level only.

  • PRO
    8 years ago

    My first question is the same as acm, it's not clear where the refrigerator is. And my second is about the stair location and why it's shifted to the right and blocking the dining room. If it's totally open it doesn't matter so much I guess, but even so it would seem logical to push it to the left closer to the hallway and allow the dining area to be more part of the main space. And your entry comes right into the dining area, so I'd think about creating at least a partially separate foyer, preferably with a hall closet.

    But your question was about the kitchen. Acm's suggestion about extending the counter into the breakfast area is a good one. The island seems quite large, about 5x10 if I'm counting the squares right. You should think about storage under and what goes where. But I would start by thinking hard about the stair location and design.

  • 8 years ago

    Also, do you really need a door out of the tub area into the hall? seems the jack and jill doorways are planty of that. lots of space wasted in hallways all over this plan, but that's a bigger fix than I'm up for this afternoon...

  • 8 years ago

    In this drawing, the fridge is placed at the end of the counter before the eating area.

  • 8 years ago

    Sorry, there is a hall closet there and I missed drawing in that wall behind the tub. I fixed it.

  • 8 years ago

    Kitchen design suggestions really depend on how you use your kitchen. So my comments may or may not help you. Do you like to cook? Do you expect to have more than one cook in the kitchen? I ask because I like to have at least 6' of contiguous linear counter space when I cook. The current layout makes the counter runs fairly short, other than the long island beyond the sink. I can't tell if you intent to use that space for bar stools, casual dining in addition to the eat in space. If not, it does provide sufficient surface, but its location on the far side of the island will not be as convenient a space as the counter closer to frig and stove. If I left the sink in the current island, I would move it to somewhat off center to yield one larger work surface.

    There does seem to be some excess open space. I have 42" between my kitchen island and two runs and 48" between end of island and cooktop; yours looks like 54". Same thing with distance between stairwell and island; looks like you have 78". If you are wanting to assure wheelchair access in that walkway space, it takes a 60" circle to provide turning radius for a standard wheelchair. Many electric chairs have a tighter radius (one I saw recently was 42"). So, I think you have some space you could use to improve your layou.

    You may have enough space to use a slightly bent island configuration (not really an L, but with an angle). If the space works for that, you might consider putting the sink in the shorter bent area, facing the eat in area. Do you expect to use both a dining room table and eat in table frequently? If not, if it were my kitchen, I would consider using the eat in space for more true kitchen space and would make some of island/peninsula counter into a lower seating height which could be used for either casual dining for 2-4 people or a cook that needs to sit.

    Ellen Short thanked DG
  • 8 years ago

    DG, thank you for taking the time to comment. I like your ideas!