Help!! Remove window from kitchen design plan?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hello!

We are almost ready to finalize our kitchen plan but completely stuck on the best way to create a visually appealing / symmetrical space for one of our walls!

The image below shows the current layout. We are limited on how wide we can go to the right of the window due to a door that opens which leads to the basement. For safety reasons we are wanting to keep the door in the plan; a pocket door is not possible due to the layout. As you can kind of tell from from the photo below, the window view is not that fantastic and is overlooking the home next-door ;) About the overall design plan --- We are taking out a wall in the kitchen and will be adding in an island. This will allow the natural light from the large bay window in the living room (opposite side) to fill the kitchen.

Which plan is better for the window-side wall:

A. Just add a skinny pantry to the right of the window?

B. Remove window from plan and add more cabinetry / pantry and fake shutters outside to close off window?

C. Other??

Featured Answer

sheloveslayouts

8 years ago

It's not what you'll want to hear, but your existing layout is actually the best. I would not create a pass through. I'd definitely widen the opening to the dining room, though.

I think sacrificing the even distribution of countertops around sink, range and fridge will reduce the function of your small kitchen. Aesthetically, I think you'll be compromising your living room by putting a passthrough and bar stools in it.

We had a similar layout. Widening the doorway to the dining room was a HUGE improvment and doing so made me realize a sight line between kitchen and living was unnecessary.

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Comments (9)

sparkinthecity
Original Author
8 years ago
@benjesbride hmmmmm.... very interesting! Here is my original post with other photos for reference. The dining room is actually right beside the kitchen and the living room is fairly large. Does this still line up with what you are thinking? http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4944726/kitchen-planning-how-does-this-kitchen-design-functionality-look
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chispa
8 years ago
How about moving the window to be behind the open basement door? Since the basement door is glass, even when open, it would still let the light in from the window. Make it a tall and thin window to kind of mirror the size of the door. The view might not be great, but you will appreciate still having some natural light in this area.
sheloveslayouts
8 years ago
I had looked at that previous post before my comment. I'll hop on the Ikea Planner and show you what I suggest.
sheloveslayouts
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I tried a few different approaches, but I'll land here first. Corner cabinets don't really add much in this small space, so I treated it as an efficient galley style layout.

To gain 4-5 more inches, in length I figured you could totally remove the walls between the kitchen and dining.

Regardless of what layout you choose, don't crowd the back door too much. The National Kitchen and Bath Association recommends at least 18 inches of clear floor space on the knob side of an in swinging door and 60" of clear floor space into the room from the door jam.

The 30" cabinets to the left of the fridge would be good for dishes. The 30 " cabinet between range and sink would be good for tools/pots/etc.
sheloveslayouts
8 years ago
upper cabs on the working side:
sheloveslayouts
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Sorry for multiple posts. Here's the above plan in case you'd like to take a closer look at it: Open the design

I checked by NKBA book to make sure I was giving you correct info: "For a standard hinged door, the clearance on the pull side of the door should be the door width plus 18″ × 60″"
emilyam819
8 years ago
I would not close off the window, put a skinny pantry to the right of the window, put an angled upper cabinet to the left of the window, or make a pass through to the living room... but it’s kind of hard to tell. Can you post a sketch of the layout of the whole floor?
caligirl5
8 years ago
I really like the version benjesbride drew! It lets you keep the range and sink on the same run.

If you do decide to go with the pass-through, I wouldn't do either the narrow pantry or the closed-up window. Just let the uppers die into the wall and not wrap around the window wall. You could still consider the galley idea and not wrap any cabinets around that corner, just I think it's not as effective when the range and sink are across the wide aisle.