My contractor is going to stop over this week and open them up and look inside.

Congrats on the remodel -- it's a fun but stressful process. I have a couple thoughts:

Is that tiny pantry in the diagrams your only pantry? If so, I would move the microwave to somewhere on the other side of the kitchen and significantly enlarge the pantry.

I can't really tell from your diagram but it looks like you have room for an island. Have you considered one instead of the peninsula?

Do the cabinets on the fridge wall go to the ceiling? (If not why not -- they should since they look so close to being able to). Is the soffett above the other cabinets removable?

Are the samples on the bottom picture your potential cabinet colors, and the flooring your flooring? If so, I like the two middle ones. The second from the top is dark enough to create a nice contrast with your floors (unlike the bottom one) and the third one down is a nice warm white that looks good with your floors (unlike the top one, which looks too stark/cool).

I also like the two middle colors.

The two middle colors are my favorite too! We definitely want a contrast from the floor and not look like we’re truing to “match” it.

Good point about the pantry....if I increase to 30” would that be better? I just don’t know where to put the microwave. Any suggestions :) I’m hoping to have the soffits removed but not sure if possible. The fridge side should go to the celing. I will double check.

re: the island. We want seating since we’re expanding into breakfast nook and I couldn’t really see a way to get an island with seating. What were you thinking ?

Three questions:

1. Could the opening to the dining room slide down to the corner?

2. To fit an island in the kitchen, are you willing to eliminate the fridge area/cabs?

3. Can the window at the penninsua be moved toward the family room or even eliminated?

I'd go with a single sink.

I'd look at induction ranges slide-in if possible. Frigidaire at the lower end and Bosch a bit higher.

The cabinet to the right of the range can be drawers.

As far as pantry sizes go, 30" is the smallest I would recommend. The bigger the better IMO. If you made the pantry 33" then you could have the 33" pantry next to the dining room entrance and place the fridge next to it. In this configuration, you could keep your 27" micro next to your fridge and still have 24" left over on the end of the run for drawers (actually a little less because you will need a filler between your micro and fridge to allow it to open all the way). Not having your fridge on the end of the run will also open up the space visually. I would be tempted to make the pantry even bigger, but that's up to you and whether you value pantry or drawer/counter space more highly.

You're probably right that you can't fit an island with seating in your space without sacrificing other functional aspects of your space, so it is probably best to stick with the current plan.

1. The dining room door cannot move bc that corner has a laundry chute that runs from basement to second floor.

2. Not willing to eliminate the fridge side for an island.

3. We are raising the window in the peninsula area but don’t want to eliminate it as it would make the house way to dark.

I currently have gas and was planning on keeping it...although an induction would be SO MUCH easier to clean.

re: the pantry wall—I’ve toyed with it so many different ways...and am still unsure. I really want more counter space so I think 30” is probably the biggest I’ll go in order to maintain as much as possibe. I get what your saying about moving the fridge down to open the space.. I saw this photo and really likd it

Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions!

The floor plan you have drawn out is not the same as the perspectives you posted... is there a reason for that?

If you can get rid of the soffit, then go for it. Now a days everyone wants cabinets with molding up to the ceiling... I actually prefer the shadow line left when there is just a little space...

Please make sure they order you the deep ref panels... Kraftmaid makes 2 sizes - better to get the deeper ones and trim them as needed to fit your particular ref.

Keep in mind ( unless you are doing the drawer model ) microwave doors swing left so you may want to switch it next to the pantry...

Just pay attention to the small details - do the doors flow in size? Do you have the right kind of cabinet ( ie drawers vs rollouts in the right places ) ? When you are cooking a huge holiday meal can you easily get everywhere you need to be in a couple of steps or are some things too far away?

Now is the time to imagine yourself in the space and move things how you need them to be....

Good luck!!

You mentioned the microwave...have you considered a drawer microwave? I have one and love it.

A microwave drawer would be nice but we’re trying to keep costs down which is why we’ve decided on just a basic microwave on a shelf.

I like the plan overall. However, your sink won't be centered on the window. From the right corner, the cabinets measure 54" exactly and the distance to your window is 54.75". So you need either a 3" filler or switch to a 36" sink base.

ETA, look closely at the first perspective and you'll see the sink is towards the right side of the window.

Zmith—you’re right! I just noticed that. I also just caught in my op that I’m “100%” sold—-it should say I’M NOT. Oops! He perspective is different than my drawing bc I asked for the change. Still trying to decide what I like best—works best.

If it were my kitchen, I'd lose the corner susans, move the trash to the left of the dishwasher and add a pots/pans drawer to the right of the sink and a 3 or 4 drawer base to the left of the range (don't forger fillers!). You could keep your wooden spoons, potholders, etc. in this cabinet. Not everyone would agree with that approach, but the way I see it, you want to keep the trash out of the prep zone and accessible to others who are not involved in meal prep activities.

Any chance of you getting a counter-depth refrigerator? Your regular one is going to stick out SO far and kind of spoils the clean lines of the kitchen.

If you decide to change the pantry, you may think about two narrow cabinets rather than one wide one, if you’re doing pull out shelves. Wider requires two doors, which is a pain with pull outs....

Wisco—that’s a great idea. Maybe 15” or 18” pantries flanking the fridge? Anglo-YES to CD fridgd. We already have one (old fridge needing replaced last year and purchased Samsung CD French door). Zsmith—playing around with eliminating one of the corner cabinets.. I need to really evaluate what will go where and how much storage I need. Thanks!

You can do one wide pantry with two doors, and then do split shelving so you only have to open one door to access the pull outs, but you lose a lot of space because of the hardware.

The rendering and the hand drawn plan aren’t the same. The fridge wall is completely different, so which one is the accurate plan?

So depending on how much you use a microwave, you could put it in the pantry. It can be hidden or exposed.

Anette—you’re right, they are different. I’m still tweaking that side. Mainly due to pantry size/microwave concerns. I’ve thought about the micro I pantry but not sure. I really like that configuration in your second photo. I wonder if that can be done with semi custom cabinets?

I'd remove the cabinets on the window wall, or reconfigure, to make the windows larger and lower, and let the light in. You have a lot of cabinets...

Mrs. S—I agree there are lots of cabinets. Enlarging them is not in the budget. I wouldn’t mind removing some. I’ve thought about open shelves in the corner-connecting the cabinets. Like this ..

If the soffit cannot be removed I would consider bringing the crown to the ceiling on the other side. I agree with the above comment about imagining yourself in the space. If you would like one of our designers to take a look at this please check out our website at Click Cabinets