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Help! Feedback on our kitchen reno.

last year

Hello everyone! My partner and I are embarking on our first kitchen renovation and would greatly appreciate your feedback and insights on the design from our cabinet designer to ensure it's both functional and has an efficient flow. Previously, this was a narrow galley kitchen.


We plan to have countersplash with counter shelving at the top (inspo picture attached). We gravitate towards minimalism and airy kitchens, but want to ensure we have enough storage. We plan to put cups, plates, pots, etc. into drawers.


My immediate concern areas from this design mock:

  • Stove Uppers: I feel like we don't need uppers around the stove as we'll have the countersplash shelving. There will also be an exhaust, which is not in the mock. Is it a mistake to remove these cabinets?
  • Ceiling Height Cabinets: The cabinets all the way along the ceiling feel inaccessible. I'm thinking we could either remove them entirely and add upper trim in their place, or change these to a single custom tall cabinet door encompassing the whole upper (vs. separated into two separate doors like it is currently). Thoughts?
  • Pantry: The pantry cabinets, found to the right of the design, feel too wide and sacrifice counter space on the window wall. Is it a mistake to reduce its width and push it flush long the right wall? This would give more counter space to the right of the window, but it would remove the symmetry around it.
  • Island: We designed the island to have "wrap around" / communal-like seating. Would it be better to have three seats in a row instead? Thoughts on this design?

What are we missing? If you have any suggestions, tips, or ideas based on your own experiences or expertise, I'd be thrilled to hear them. Thank you in advance for your valuable input!


Photos: https://imgur.com/a/nWzBv2q







Comments (9)

  • last year

    A fridge can't be against the wall like that because the doors won't open fully. Additionally when we cook, we normally take food out of the fridge/pantry zone, then bring it to the sink (zone) to rinse, then prep (zone) between sink and cooktop and then bring it to the cooktop (zone) to cook the food. And ideally we don't cross zones so it flows from one to the next.

    So what you have is no space to the left of your sink to prep since 36" would be the absolute bare minimum.

    You have 60" to the right of the dishwasher. Why the 3 small cabinets when you could have two large 30" cabinets which can hold much more?

    Again on the island you have two 18" cabinets and one 30" cabinet. You'd be better off with 2 33" cabinets for better storage.

    And what's with the tall cabinets to the counter to the right of the sink? Why?

    Where do the doors on the left and right lead to? Can the one on the left be moved?

    Show the space as it is right now with all measurements. There is a better design for you.

    You said you had a KD design this space. Was it an independent KD or someone in a showroom?



  • last year

    How does the kitchen relate to the rest of the house?


    I would put the range on the outside wall (so you can vent directly outside), to the right of the sink. From left to right, I'd have 24" drawers, 30" range, 30" drawers, sink base, DW, 36" drawers. I'd move the fridge to the wall where the range is shown, with either a 36" pantry cabinet or 36" drawers and uppers on one side.


    Have you developed a storage plan yet? Figuring out exactly where everything goes in a kitchen is a great way to determine what kind of storage you need, and where.

  • last year

    I keep my oils, vinegars, spices, salts, etc, in the cabinets next to my stove. Would you want those on the shelves (or, for spices, in the drawers?). There's no wrong answer but I like having them out of view. When you've made something at the stove and you want to transfer it to a serving dish, where are the serving dishes? Are they in the drawers to the right of the sink?

  • PRO
    last year

    what's this little space here? just move it all over


    if you want to do uppers down to the countertop, do it like this



    Or try something like this w/the open shelving and sconces.



    you will have to check on whatever fridge you buy to make sure those doors will open in an enclosed space.


    maybe move the fridge to where that large door/pantry is?


    or, what if you switched stove and fridge like shown here







    you stove area could look like this


    or you could modify it like this


    or do some open shelves around it


  • last year

    Can you change the window? I would want a taller window, so it would be more proportional to the height of the ceiling. I have 12 ft ceilings and my windows over the sink are 5 ft tall.

  • last year

    In answer to your questions:

    Stove Uppers: Keep the upper cabinets, it helps balance the Kitchen. It also provides storage for things you need near the stove/range. Don't put in open shelves near the range b/c FOGSS (fumes, odors, grease, steam, smoke) that aren't caught by the rangehood will land on the shelves as well as the items on the shelves. Regarding open shelves in general -- the fad, for the most part, is ending as people now realize that unless you use everything on the shelves every couple of days or you enjoy dusting & washing dishes over & over, they are more work than they're worth. Ideally, the rangehood should be at least 6" wider than the cooking surface and 24"D to cover the front burners. However. if you flank the hood with cabinets AND you don't do a lot of high-heat/high-smoke/high-grease cooking, a hood the same width will probably be OK; but it should still be 24"D to cover the front burners. If you forego the flanking cabinets, then the hood should definitely be wider than the cooking surface. Oh, and do not get a flat hood, you want one that's concave so the FOGSS can be captured and held in the concave space until they're exhausted to the outside - your last picture shows a concave hood. In addition, be sure you install it per the specs and no higher (usually no more than 30" or 36" above the cooking surface, depending on the specs & that's usually dependent on the size and fan strength).

    Ceiling-height cabinets: I recommend taking them to the ceiling but leave about 6" or so for crown molding. The crown molding will help disguise any issues with uneven ceiling heights and give the cabinets (and the Kitchen) a more finished look. Store items that are rarely used in the top cabinets/shelves and, when needed, use a step stool to access the contents. The aesthetic of stacked vs one tall cabinet is up to you.

    Pantry: Get two 18"W tall pullout pantry cabinets instead of cobbling together uppers & base cabinets. The counter in front of the ones you show is practically useless, so don't waste storage space with them or pay for expensive counter material that's just going to be covered by the cabinets. If the pantry cabinets are standard depth (24"), then don't get pantry cabinets wider than 18" as things get lost in wide/deep cabinets, regardless of shelving type, especially above about mid-chest height.

    Island: Two sides for seats are better than one when there are more than 2 seats. As you stated, seating on two sides is more "friendly" and more conducive to visiting and conversation.

  • last year

    Better idea (in my opinion):




  • last year

    Notice the focus so far on function - function - function. You do not need to give up on your countersplash - shelf, which I'm very fond of, but consider putting it on your sink wall. The shelf just under the window would be a great place for herbs in pots. You won't have the concerns about heat from the back of the stove marring your quartz.

    I second AnnKH's recommendation to assign all of your stuff to storage in your kitchen. It was very helpful to me that I had storage of the right size for my pasta pot, tall glassware, etc, and the right amount of storage I needed. We replaced our upper cabinets with cabinets that went to nearly the ceiling (allowing for molding) and thought we'd do the little windowed doors at the top, but our cabinetmaker suggested we consider one taller door for a cleaner look in a smaller kitchen. I'm glad we made that choice. I need a stepstool to reach the upper half of the cabinets but that's fine, storage is precious.

  • last year

    The advantage of a single door on upper cabinets is that you can add a shelf to each one, and locate them however you wish. I am 5'4", so I put the lowest adjustable shelf pretty low, so I can more easily reach the shelf above it. Organize cabinets so items the same height share a shelf, to minimize wasted space between shelves.