Agree on the dishwasher. I have a corner sink and the dishwasher is one trash cabinet removed from the sink. Leaves room to open the dishwasher while standing at the sink.

Inadequate! Flesh out your drawing to exact feet and inches for everything to include fridge and stair wall.. Show WHERE the other openings lead. Where is the garage entry. etc, the size of the dining area beyond, counter edge to WINDOW wall.

The raised counter "blocks" nothing, and closes in space visually, especially with arches and columns.

Regarding measurements, i will have to try to do it this weekend. I don’t live there and it’s being deconstructed (tornado cleanup). Didn’t want to be in the way of the workers.

When you get there use grapjh paper todo a to scaled drwing of that whole are , Show those supprt bems with those measurements . You show the space e mpty every meaurement clearly marked . If the plumbing is accessible form underneath then you do not show that. Right now the workers should be removing all the cabinets and appliances and insted of gaving the floor done now have enough flooring to do the kitchen completly after you have aplan. Store the extra flooring ideally in thebasement or a spare room.You have time to get an engineer to advise what can be done with the posts and you will need to figure out how much money you are willing to add to the insurance money. Post that plan here in jpeg format in a comment DO NOT start another post . We also need to know if you are going to have renters when the repairs are done. I ask becuse then this kitchen will need doing right now .

You aren't changing the layout on a budget with those support columns there. Focus on replacement of what exists. With minor tweaks. That is all that will be affordable or practical for a kitchen like that, even if you lived in it every day.

Thanks for the input.

No intention of removing support posts - a beam that long would be too much $. We will need to work around them -- I just want to make them look better than they do now. The dark wood with the large crown moulding is not my style.

As mentioned above, tenant has moved out until work is complete, so it's an ideal time to make changes. I won't be doing anything until I have a plan and will most likely hire a kitchen designer if I decide to go forward with changes. Only hoping for some general thoughts/ideas/inspiration/watchouts from the Houzz brain trust with this post.

The flooring has been removed. Fans and dehumidifiers are drying the house. Just waiting on granite company to come remove the countertops so they can get to the flooring under the cabinets. New flooring won't be put in until the roof and walls have been rebuilt - there are much bigger issues that need to be addressed before the flooring is installed.

Here is a drawing of the area without cabinets/appliances. Plumbing is accessible from below. Let me know if I'm missing anything. Thanks again for your help.

No design comment here but just wanted to say that I’m glad you and your tenant remained safe during a tornado.

Oh, forgot to mention - regarding the raised counter - I do not like them, I thought I mentioned that. I would only want to keep the one adjacent to the "entry hall" if I moved the sink to that area between the two posts so it would block any splashing from the sink. It may look odd, though so any other ideas are welcome.

"On a budget" begs the question of budget and location. But, nothing you've expressed so far actually keeps you to a low budget, so there's that.

Keeping all but sink /d.w placement

First, glad that you were not there during the tornado.

What all was damaged by the tornado? Your initial post makes it appear that there was significant damage - but then you only comment about the floor replacement being covered. Maybe I’ve misunderstood something.

Was more of the kitchen damaged = insurance money covering other parts of this renovation (in addition to the flooring)?

If we have an idea re: budget, people will be able to provide more help regarding redesigning your kitchen.

You're doing floors no matter what.

This might not be too bad $$$- in ANY case, make island level at 36” high, especially in a space with those columns.

You've got a ton of width from front entry- don't squeeze the other passages

Thanks Jan, I like that idea! Hadn’t thought of going into the entry. Lose some storage, but the pantry is a lot of space (IMO).

Dani, this is the first floor. Most of the damage is the second floor. The roof, attic and the bedroom right above the dining room were destroyed. Then water poured into the house while I waited for insurance to approve work that would allow the roofing company to just tarp the roof and walls. These photos are not recent - it looks like a battleground in there. Luckily, my tenants daughter was at her dad’s house (it was her bedroom that was destroyed). HVAC system was destroyed and the ducting will need to be rebuilt because of all the water. Unfortunately, the cabinets were not affected. 😁 They just need to be removed to get to the flooring. The same flooring ran throughout the house and it can’t be matched, so it’s all coming out. It was damaged upstairs and downstairs.

I really hate those columns. I double hate them in wood /stain.

Maybe get free of them entirely! Lets face it......it's a poorly designed but common layout from two decades ago.

I hate them also, but I imagine a beam that size would cost a fortune. I definitely want to make the disappear visually. The oversized crown seems to make them even worse.

YES...... agree!! But getting free of them with the island, die the crown INTO the ceiling and painting to white as window trim, or even wall color would help immensely!!

To be clear….. when I suggested being free of posts , I meant free the ISLAND from the posts. Seems you have room

Stilll plenty of clearances :)

I got your meaning. Thanks again for your expertise. I am having someone over to give me a rough estimate today!

That looks so much nicer!! and much more convenient! GLAD the plan worked!

One thing? Do you know how how they supported you island overhang, and lies beneath? Is there steel?

In ANY case? I'd go one teeny step further, lose the look of the country table leg "support" for a straight trimmed leg. More shaker as the cabinet, When I see that? I honestly think they make have cobbled a dining table? Especially since allll the deep drawers are slab front with no trim

For safety.....ask what is under there?

The kitchen looks beautiful!

I made sure it was supported with steel with that overhang. Thanks again for your help!

Looks great! Made your house look very up to date and so functional. What a way to make a disaster turn into a blessing in disguise. As usual @JAN MOYER had a beautiful design that's functional!

First - thanks for coming back to post photos of your renovated kitchen! I wish more people did that when their projects are finished!

Second - it looks amazing! So much better than the "before" - Jan's idea to "remove" the posts from the island made a HUGE difference! I knew that her intention wasn't to remove the posts completely when I read through her comment (a beam to replace those three posts would have added a bit of $$$). Having the posts the same color as the trim vs. stained wood really helps them fade into the background visually.

I also am happy that you did a counter height island (w/ no bar height element).

It's funny because when I built my house MANY years ago - everyone had a bar height section to their islands/peninsulas. When I told my builder that I wanted my island all counter height, he thought it was an odd request.

He actually commented about how the raised bar height area helped to block a messy island + the view to the kitchen sink (even though this wasn't an open concept house). I told him that I clean up + put away pans/dishes as I cook. I'm like Jan - I don't want to eat dinner and then have a mess waiting for me when I'm finished.

We actually had to purchase bar height stools and shorten the legs because it was difficult to find counter height ones back then!

When my sister built her house 7 years later, I tried to convince her to lose the bar height section + make her island rectangular instead of a sort of "batwing" island.

She didn't listen to me - and regretted it after after about a year or so.

I'm finishing my scaled kitchen drawings (every inch measured for all walls, windows, doors, openings into adjacent rooms, fire place, etc.) + adding surrounding rooms - I am ready to get this kitchen renovation plan set in motion!!!!

@ Dani

A floor plan........because as you see? I knew she didn't have budget to remove posts from get go/See "detach"...." Get free of posts!!" from posts and those little dark squares on the graph paper....yup the posts!

Just as it worked in the end, complete with scale back on crown molding on those heffers...

INCHES!! Damn inches, lol

Regarding the posts: we really wanted to remove them altogether. We asked several contractors for bids, and no one wanted to do it. They wouldn’t even give us a bid. The contractor who we finally hired brought in an architectural engineer who said he wouldn’t recommend it. So I don’t even know what it would have cost. For me, just moving the cabinets away from the posts made a huge difference and I am happy with the outcome. We also made the posts a bit smaller - the studs were covered with drywall, then the wood, so we had the contractor strip out the drywall which made them a little bit smaller. We didn’t touch the structure, just the decorative covering. Placing the island away from the posts helps draw your eyes away from them also. Really appreciate all the help I got here.

Ya had to remind me? : ) how badly I want to straighten the posts and literally mimic in scaled down version, that which is right next door.......

@JAN MOYER - I will post a floor plan so that the adjacent rooms are there + add every single inch for all walls/windows/doorways/fireplaces/etc.

As you have drilled into my brain - it's all about the inches - not pretty drawings!