What about putting in a pocket door and a counter on the side for a couple of stools something like this... it would open up the space more...

i think it's not a good idea to put the kitchen door near the bathroom door. you need to put them at a distance. either move bathroom door to left side or kitchen door to right side

did you ever consider making an L with long window wall and side of L alongside dishwasher...extend that short side down further and eliminate the lower wall by the ovens. then put in a banquette on that lower fridge wall. The current pantry location can house your ovens..... get the fridge, sink, and cooktop onto the L. You have all that dimension, I'd have a cozy banquette built in.

I don't like the counter idea either - but a comfy chair in that spot might be just the ticket.

If you can move the kitchen door (the one toward the entry) over just a bit, you could put 12" or 14"-deep pantry shelves on the whole wall behind the door.

Also - put drawers under the cooktop.

So I don't know if you'd consider questions beyond the remit, but why not a nice banquette in the pantry area.... it's 6x6 ish it looks like. Seems like it could be such a cozy spot for breakfast, etc. Do you need the door to the living room from the pantry?

Oh, and I love the wide galley style... had one, everyone that came in loved it. All thought the kitchen was very spacious and bright.

Also love your wall with windows and no top cupboards :)

And to the original question, I would do neither the tall pantry nor the seating in that spot. I like a landing spot on each side of the frig :)

I have always liked to have a breakfast area in or right outside the kitchen. In the first rendering, I would consider putting a small table and chairs where you show the small pantry cabinet for quick meals and added work surface. You have the big walk-in pantry for storage, although the door to the living room seems odd and reduces the storage available in the pantry. The 7-8’ between the sink and the refrigerator seems distant, but it will be good exercise. If you need to take five or six things across to the sink or stove, a small rolling cart could serve as a mini-island on wheels.

I like option 1 for looks and function. Option 2 is a great idea, but I think it might look like an after-thought. I could also see it becoming a catch all.

I like where Rawketgirl moved the kitchen doorway to. However, a counter facing a wall I don't find appealing. You don't really need the tall pantry since you have a walk in pantry, do you?

You always want a bathroom door to be in a hallway and not from a main living area if at all possible, so keep that door right where it is. It affords more privacy and less sound transfer.

What about a small bench/banquette with a round table there for a cup of coffee or someone to hang out while you're cooking? It could just be a bench placed against the wall with a round table, may be a chair.

I'm also curious why there's a door leading from the family room into the pantry? Do you anticipate a need for access there?

And my final question is are the short walls separating the kitchen from the dining area needed or wanted? If you desire a peninsula and some separation between the 2 rooms, the ideal location is where the dishwasher is. You could move the dishwasher to the left of the sink and then remove the walls, and bring the counter in there to form a peninsula.

Oops, one last thing.... You state that there is 7-8 feet between the walls of cabinets, but it looks like much more. Is there room for a moveable island or kitchen cart in the middle of this kitchen? Depending on the space, you could put stools at the island.

Good luck!

Neither really work, where is your prep Zone? If you shift the door at the bottom to the right so it is right beside the current fridge, you could move the double ovens right beside the pantry door and add a run of counters along the left wall, then have the fridge and more counter space along the bottom wall. This will at least give you some landing space for both the fridge and the ovens.

In option 1, get rid of the pantry next to the fridge and put the fridge where the pantry is. Then add countertop with cabinets above and below.

Congrats on going for the extra-deep counters under the windows, I did the same thing in my kitchen. Suggest you re-think the opposite wall. This galley is just too wide to be practical and the "jog" in the oven / fridge wall isn't helping matters...so get rid of it. Build a new wall (in front of the old one) such that your countertop will be even with the opening to the dining room. I would plan for the new wall to have an "inset" so that a standard depth fridge looks built-in. My aisle is 5 feet wide (countertop to countertop) and believe me, that's plenty wide enough for two cooks to work comfortably. Sometimes shrinking the space is the answer.

Funny, I think 5' is too small for a galley if you have the room :) I guess it just depends on what you like! I loved mine being spacious... not really a true "galley" I guess. But it worked very well for me.

I like the first option. 1. I agree with pocket door to entry, and to pantry. (Do I recall correctly that your pantry is also the laundry room? You may want to forego the extra door to family room if so.) 2. Agree with drawers under cooktop. 3. You have some opportunities on the fridge/oven wall. Imho it will look better if the base cabinet is even with the rest of the cabinets. Just be dure the fridge will open fully. What if you make that wall the 30” depth of the window wall ? That might mean you have enough depth for a standard fridge, while reducing the space between the fridge and sink walls a little bit. (The downside is that one upper cabinet, but perhaps that can be spaced forward as well.) Maybe the pocket door can fill the void behind the pantry. Good luck!

Thanks for all the suggestions!!

To address some of the points --

This is a complete kitchen remodel. Currently, the kitchen looks like this:

Totally different layout! Main point is that it's currently an eat-in kitchen, with enough space for a table and chairs. We are eliminating this space in favor of a larger kitchen, since we eat all of our meals in the adjoining room.

And yes, the walk-in pantry is currently a laundry room. We are moving laundry upstairs, and also adding a door from the walk-in pantry to the family room. The walk-in pantry will have a tall pantry cabinet and a small adjoining counter with a window over it - a little coffee/wine area, or something like that. It's a nice little "back access" to the kitchen, and also allows us to access the backyard easier (door to backyard is in family room).

So, some of the changes being suggested are actually things we are purposefully un-doing. :-)

I have thought about moving the kitchen door from foyer along that wall. However, that will put the kitchen door in direct line with the house entry door. I think I prefer having slightly off-set doors, so that the kitchen is not immediately on display upon entering the house. But, it seems that moving the door does open up more options for things to put in that corner...like some comfy chairs.

The fridge is standard-depth, so to make it appear built-in, all the adjoining cabinets will be pulled forward. This means the counter next to the fridge is also a 30" counter. The pantry cabinet ends up being 16" deep, which hides that little jog in the wall. I am hesitant to move the fridge along that wall because that will place it too far from either cooktop or sink. Right now, it's more or less centered between the two.

I do like the idea of a kitchen cart placed in the center. Maybe I can stash some stools underneath it and call it a day?

the main thing in your examining your choices and changes is the eliminating any eat in area. You say you "eat all main meals in the adjoining room". If you are doing a gut remodel, and have no seating/island/peninsula/banquette/ etc ...and yet have the space ….I think at time of sale, when other similar sized first floor layouts are compared to yours there will be a dampening of interest here. Of course..do what you want....of course it will be a good big kitchen for you. But you have generous sq footage, and a large footprint to the entire first floor. Why you feel that in social situations, and generally, a place for people to sit [ island/ peninsula/ etc], is not warranted or not worth working into your plan, when you easily could, seems regrettable.

Sorry, I know you have worked on it for a while, but I would still start over. You are not going to like the kitchen cooking for a family of four. Even though I understand why you have the bathroom where it is, if nothing else I would switch the pantry and the bathroom so you have almost a whole wall to use on that side of the kitchen. IMO a way better kitchen is a reasonable trade off for less than ideal bathroom placement.

Maybe this will work for you, gives you eat in kitchen area in existing room (obviously check for load bearing walls before touching) has increased counter space around appliances ( always a plus), ...and has a rolling cart, you could even create a space over on wall next to door for the cart storage in new wall pantry area. Door is off set from front door.

Dear sweteverve,

Taking on a new kitchen project is Exciting! And I know you want to get this done.

I believe that if you are going to take on a new kitchen project your Ultimate goal is Home & Life Improvement. And as dramatic an improvement in Home and Life, for the money, as possible.

However, price shouldn’t be the Determining Factor. Why? Because you are NEVER going to renovate this kitchen AFTER it’s done. No Matter What Happens! You will be living with it, for better or worse, for as long as you own this home.

Imagine, you’re in this home just 10 years from now. Will it matter then that you saved thousands of dollars, but have lived with disappointment and regret that you didn’t get to live your new life you were hoping for all that time? Or that you spent thousands more to get the new life and new kitchen you still love and enjoy living in every day?

I don’t care for either plan, I believe you are making mistakes you’ll regret. Why?

This kitchen layout doesn’t feel good, it feels antiquated. It feels to me like it’s from a 1980’s spec home. It’s not inspiring. It lacks finesse, purpose, and performance both esthetically and functionally.

Esthetically this kitchen isn’t pretty. It appears like you’ve got all of this space and hardly any appliances, cabinetry, or counter tops. The only thing missing is a table in the middle of this kitchen. I don’t believe you really want this kitchen, because even if everyone else seems to love it, it really doesn’t work for you.

If you analyze it, it doesn’t really work well for anyone.

Functionally there is too much real estate between cabinets on the interior and exterior walls. Forcing you to do a lot of walking and waste a lot of time, and when you entertain everyone usually hangs out in the kitchen.

Making a difficult situation much worse, like how are you going to prep trays on the sink wall and get them into and out of your ovens across the room with guest jammed in.

There’s not enough counter top area. You have one wall cabinet and very little counter between your ref/f and your ovens. Your pantry is shallow. The other pantry area I don’t quite understand.

And you knocked out the possibility of having an eat in kitchen, and buyers won’t like that either.

Architecturally you’ve eliminated the door to your back yard from the laundry. If you entertain outdoors or BBQ you have to travel from the kitchen all the way through the family room. Just to get to the door to the outside.

That’s quite a trip to make from your ref/f to your outdoor grill or patio if you have either of those (home buyers will want them if you don’t).

I believe your kitchen wants to have direct access to your back yard. Or at least access from your dining room to the back yard.

You have a formal Living Room open to your entry. Very few people live formally anymore and have no desire to decorate a room they would never miss if they didn’t have it.

You may want to get a pair of doors similar to your DR/LR doors and install them in a new smaller living room/entry hall wall opening. So you can close off your LR from your entry.

This way your LR could be a LR, Library, Office, Formal DR, or whatever you or your future home buyer needs it to be.

Thoughts to consider, does the DR/Kitchen wall really need to stay? Do the double doors between the LR/DR need to stay. Would your new kitchen be better suited to being in the DR area, and the DR in the kitchen area of your home?

I believe you need to make your mistakes on paper, all of them. I don’t believe this kitchen has been well thought out, well planned, and rehearsed by you to verity Exactly How you’re going to be living in it AFTER it’s done.

Have you figured out where all of your kitchen items from your existing kitchen are going to go in your new one? Do you have room for all of your stuff? Will it fit? Do you have the right cabinetry configurations, and accessories to store and get your items efficiently?

You can find a DIY Solution by clicking the following link. https://www.kitchendesignco.com/new-kitchen-doesnt-work/

This new kitchen layout, in my opinion is not going to deliver the life you truly want and are expecting to be living in it, after it’s done.

Your original kitchen layout is actually better.

Hope this has been helpful.

Joe Brandao

Kitchen Design Company

Thanks so much for the tough love, Joe! Your comment came one day before we were planning to go ahead with the cabinet order, and made us pause. Rightfully so!
We've since re-worked the layout (see my most recent post if you're curious), and incorporated a lot of your suggestions.
Thanks again!!