38 people over that day! Hubby’s dad died

I think I would eliminate the peninsula and go with an island that runs parallel to the sink. I would keep the part of the peninsula next to the sink and turn your thing on the peninsular (is it a trash compactor?) parallel to the wall. You could also run your cabinets to the ceiling as right now it is really empty space above the cabinets. I have narrow (9# and 12") pull out cabinets for some canned goods and bottles that really help me from having to reach to the back of cabinets. Also have a narrow floor to ceiling pull out for misc broom, mop, dust pan, etc.

I would consider removing the peninsula and running base cabinets all of the way to the corner under the windows. This gives you lots of storage and counter space. Then you could add an island, make it narrow to give feeling of space. Maybe open shelves on the island facing the sink? Or consider no island and instead put an eat in table. This could still be used to prep on if needed but also gives a casual, friendly dining area.

I like idea of taking cabinets most of the way down with island parallel to sink. Could have a drop at the end with seating there in front of windows. Need a measured layout.

Do you want a table in the kitchen? Our old kitchen was a similar layout to yours, and we decided to eliminate the breakfast bar area and go with a long skinny island. Part of my thinking on that was I want to encourage people to sit at the table to help open up the space. Before, if folks sat at the peninsula, the people at the table felt closed off. I think it gives the room a better flow too since you don't have to go around a peninsula to get to the table. For daily living, my kids can sit at the table and do homework or perch on the end of the island, and they should be out of my way while making dinner. Our kitchen isn't finished yet so can't comment on how that actually is working...

Before

After

The dining room is right past the kitchen. So for breakfast and lunch everyone sits at the counter, dinner in the dining room. Our daughter just moved home from colorado. So most nights there are 3 of us. So no don’t need the table in the kitchen

Jackowakib: I have included a measured drawing. It’s on the yellow paper

Stiley: how many inches do you need around an island to move comfortably??

There isn’t room for an island. A peninsula is the best layout for the space.

Yes there’s 43” between countertop end and cabinet begin. I’m not going to worry about someone in a wheelchair cooking in here

So it look like there should be 42” for a single user ??

Ours is 42” from edge of island counter to the cabinets. We don’t have multiple cooking all the time. If we do, I have a kid in one area cutting veggies etc while I’m in another area. If you don’t need a table in your kitchen, I say do an island. Imagine all the glorious horizontal space!

I know!!!

Jan Moyer::: thoughts?

How big is the room from the window wall to the ref wall? It does not appear that there is enough room for an island unless you do a narrow one and do seating at the end.

It’s 12’feet from the window to the cabinet wall. Not enough room??

Not cabinet wall. But start of the cabinets

Debbi if I am going to do that I might as well keep the counter, right

Sorry - not enough room for an island - stay with the peninsula. I would push it out though - get some more room between the stove and the peninsula and you can resize to fit your needs for walking around it. The best place for the ref on that back wall would be somewhere in the center of the ushape. That way you aren't trapped in a walkway when you want to open the doors

So the room is 14' wide overall?

212” inches wide,

Debbi I was gonna swap refrigerator with double oven position and we are in the fridge way more than double oven. And yes bump it out like 2 1/2 feet

Like this

It’s 142” from window wall to oven wall cabinet

It’s my 65 bday today and tomorrow I pick up my mom from the hospital and we start hospice……

Oh Kathy - so sorry to hear about your mom! At least she can spend the rest of her time here with you.

Thanks it’s been a long haul starting in 2014 with pancreatic cancer that was cured! Went into IPF

@Jan Moyer

Oh Kathy, I am so sorry about your Mom. May God ease her journey. And give you strength and peace. ❤️

Kathy, it sounds like you want an island and would like help figuring out how to get one. For example, would you be willing to trade the cabinets on the oven wall and just have a smooth wall there so you could have an island? If I read your drawing correctly, you have 168" of width from window wall to oven wall with no cabinets. If a bank of cabinets  on the window wall takes up 24-25 inches, and you want 42" between it and the island, and you want 48" between the island and the oven wall (without any cabinets), that gives you a 58" island. What am I missing Debi and Verbo?

Kathy, I think switching the refrigerator and double oven in your current footprint will make you frustrated much less often, but then you are set up for a potentially dangerous situation where you are trapped between a hot oven and a peninsula perhaps holding a hot turkey pan. 

This is why I generally like the island idea to get traffic out of your work area, a long standing tennant of good kitchen design. I think your instincts are on-track. You have indicated you are willing to sacrifice your kitchen eating area. Perhaps you are also willing to sacrifice your cabinetry on the current oven wall if you can move it somewhere else. You'll also need to figure out where to put your refrigerator. Which direction do you come in with groceries?

Good luck, Kathy. I hope I don't lose track of your thread. The last project for my own home is the kitchen. I will look to see what solutions you find. I also have traffic through my kitchen, but I actually don't have enough room for an island. I have only 118", so I plan to shift the doorway between the kitchen and dining room to get traffic out of the dangerous part of the kitchen.

Kathy, I don't know if this knowledge will come in handy or not, but I find it exciting: https://invisacook.com/

Did you see this story, Kathy? https://www.houzz.com/magazine/how-much-room-do-you-need-for-a-kitchen-island-stsetivw-vs~52264430

She died Flo last night. Sooooo much harder than I ever thought…..

Oh my gosh... I am so sorry.

Thanks Debbi, rough weekend

It is hard! My dear Mother passed 20+ years ago. It was so hard so I can relate. I think of her fondly every day. Lots of difficult moments ahead but somehow we get thru it. God Bless you.

Thanks Flo. It’s been a long, long haul. I literally could not have done one more day. Hospice for 6 hours and she was gone. She got pancreatic cancer in 2014 and had a Whipple and was cured. Then IPF. The last year was just horrible. My dad died in late September. So relief mixed with immense sadness and very traumatic to watch her die…..

Mom went thru a year of radiation and chemo and was clear. 3 months later, brain cancer. We tried rotating to stay with her (2 sisters and I). We were in cities as far from her in MICHIGAN as possible. After a couple months of this we had no choice but to put her in hospice. We just couldn’t handle her. She wasn’t mean or demanding. She just lost her short term memory. So she thought she had to use the potty every 15 min. We still rotated staying a week each. It was awful. She finally passed 3 weeks later one day before her 77th birthday. We had just rotated and I had just gotten home. Had to turn around and go back. So count your blessings. That’s all you can do. Been a rough patch for you to be sure. My heart is with you. 💕

And very demanding but soooooo sick. Oxygen 24/7 for 3 years

Oh Kathy. Well, peace at last. Poor thing. She suffered so. Just try to be kind to yourself now. Sending big hugs!! She was so beautiful! That’s how to remember her. The tough times do fade. 🤗🤗🤗

Thank you Flo. I imagine it will take a while….

Sympathies, Kathy. Anyone who has lost a parent can relate. I was spared the caregiving part but have witnessed how it can completely drain a person. I'm trying to figure out how to spare my family when it's my turn. All my remodeling projects are an effort to prepare for the final days, but I realize there is no way I can. Thank you for sharing pictures of your mom. A beauty indeed. I'm glad you are remembering that time of her life.

I am sorry to hear your mom died. It sounds like you and your siblings did the best you could to ease her discomfort and final days. It is so hard when our parents are sick and we are now their caretakers. Know that you were a good daughter and will remember her as the beauty she was in the photos you shared, more than the sick older person she was at the end of her life. Sending you healing love as I get ready to fly to FL tomorrow to visit my 95 year old mom who is still in her house, but can manage because she has an aide that comes for several hours a day. But her independence will diminish at some point I’m sure.
Others are thinking of you and your siblings, with great understanding.

Oh we had caregivers but not 24/7 and I did every doctor appt and we all visited as much as we could. Paid all the bills, it was really hard. Dad died 9/21 at 95 1/2 of CHF. Getting the house ready to sell, super busy but I cry my eyes out at times and I’m 65!!! It’s just very final and that’s painful, and now we’re orphans

And my father in law died in feb. I have written 3 obits in 8 months !

Kathy, your statement that "now we're orphans" speaks truth so clearly to me and probably many others. We found comfort in grandchildren and feeling the beat go on. I hope you are blessed with grandchildren to help you through this empty feeling.

Nope! But a wedding next summer

Mom 4 years ago

Weddings are a hopeful sign! Going through pictures is helpful too. I have a picture of my mom that captures the way she looked at me when I first arrived to see her. I keep it handy.