Kitchen Plan Showdown

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

In my years of looking on Garden Web/Houzz, I've never seen my terrible layout tackled! I have a sunken living room that steps up into the kitchen. Circulation is TERRIBLE, with walls all over and no truly usable prep space. The main entry from the front door drags you down a narrow path through the dining room. Below is a tweak of current plans (so not 100% accurate) to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with:

Below are the current finalists (with adjustments noted in red). One has an induction cooktop on the island (which I know Houzzers hate) and the other has it against the wall but because we're going to need header support, we might not end up with enough space to fit the double ovens by the fridge (and with a 6'5" husband and my bum back, I reeeaaally want to keep the oven raised). In these 2 plans, we would be closing off the dining room ingress and rerouting circulation around an island.

My priorities are: 1) improved circulation 2) prep space 3) raised wall oven

Is there a clear winner or are we missing another obvious option? I'm trying to keep costs low by sticking to one major remodel element (the header) instead of options that reroute plumbing. We will be using Ikea cabinets.

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Comments (5)

mama goose_gw zn6OH
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I don't care for a cooktop on an island or peninsula, but--given your constraints, I think it's the better option. You'll have adequate space behind it and on the sides, but with no wall behind it, you'll need a stronger (more expensive) island hood, even with induction. And possibly a make-up air system, depending on the cfm moved by the hood. Do you have any gas appliances in the house?
partim
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Your drawing doesn't sound like your description so I am confused. Where is the step down in your proposed plan, and is your dining room still in the same place? Are you eliminating your living room?
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Yvonne Martin
5 years ago
Do you really need a table in the kitchen, or is that the only dining table?
calidesign
5 years ago
I'd use a narrow rectangular table with actual chairs along the windows instead of the bench and round table. You can only seat 4 at that table and all the bench space is wasted. Then eliminate the overhang and high stools so you still have usable space in your sunken area. I'd also turn in into a galley kitchen, keeping the walkway from the dining area so you don't need two walkways from the sunken room.
Ellie
Original Author
5 years ago
Mama - No gas appliances in the house, there’s only electric

Partim - the sunken living room and dining room are labeled in the first one, the vertical line that runs between the living room (just after the French doors) marks the change in elevation

Yvonne - no, we could use the formal dining room as an actual dining room

Cali - yes, the plan is to swap it with a rectangular table so there would be more usable space around it. I don’t really like having the dining room entry as a thoroughfare, we have our dining room table shoved out of the way right now (and it is not oversized) in order to give a wider berth for the constant traffic. This early drawing is kind of close to what you’re talking about, I think