https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5972404/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first-2020-interim#n=1

^This first, please.

Congrats on your new home! People will be able to give you ideas if you post a 2D overhead layout showing all measurements for walls and doors, and indicating adjacent rooms. We'll also need to know if you are open to moving plumbing, walls, or anything else, and if there are things you want to keep (e.g. locations of appliances, etc.) What about the current layout feels awkward?

Here's a great place to start: Read Me First (click here)

ETA: Was posting at the same time as @anj_p

I'd consider putting the range on the same wall as the sink/DW and keeping the opposite wall as tall storage. You could also create an "L" countertop/base cabinet configuration between the kitchen and dining areas, with a couple of counter stools on the dining room side. On the storage wall, get a built-in fridge so it looks cleaner.

Something like this with the stools on the dining room side:

Lo-Hi Residence · More Info

NIce! Thanks

P.S. I'd also think about removing the window and door on the sun room side and putting in a slider instead.

I'd take out the wall and storage closet between the kitchen and living room. Also probably the small wall between the dining room and hall. Move the entrance or door to the sunroom all the way to the front corner. Take out the window between the sunroom and kitchen. Now you've got the walls for an L kitchen with the range on the sunroom wall. Induction with a hood. Switch the sink to a single 24" in a 24" sink base. That size is 21" interior width. It can be strap mounted. All lowers are wide drawers. Put the frig at the dining room end of that sink run. You now will have space for an island without seating if you want one. You'll need your husband to install good work zone task lighting. DMF recessed are designed by electricians. Home - DMF Lighting

I think I'd close up the window on sunroom wall...the passage to the sunroom is enough. I think I''d narrow the opening between kitchen and dining....with these two adjustments you can have a nice wide U shape kitchen using the long rear window wall and two shorter sides. Then I would create an opening between living room and kitchen...about between range and pantry ....you can have a coffee/ entertainment style set up over in lower left corner of kitchen...good relationship with dining room and living room both. .....get a couple configuration ideas and throw up your favorites. the wide galley which is really a traffic lane is something to redo for sure. dont rush w a plan.....you can miss doing the best for the space.

I like Sabrina’s L idea, especially as it could possibly give you the option of having a buffet/service area on the dining room side.

I’m wondering whether you wouldn’t get more out of having a narrow baking table in your space. I’m thinking of something utilitarian and not necessarily fixed to the floor, with shelves or drawers. You don’t have a ton of counter/prep space. An L will help, but a table might help more. One nice thing about an unfitted piece is that you can change it as your needs change, or as your style changes. Just make sure to choose something narrow (20” perhaps) so you have enough room to circulate, and you don’t want it to be a barrier between the sink and the stove, so don’t place it too close to the door.

I’ve made some tall pantries to the left of the range, and uppers and lowers to the right of it. These help define your cooking zone, and give you the option of placing your microwave, toaster, and coffee maker in that zone.

There are many styles of baking table to fit whatever your aesthetic. I prefer something you could work pastry on, like marble or soapstone, but if you are not a baker, you might prefer butcher block.

Your space could use a major upgrade in ambient and task lighting. Whether you stick to the basics, recessed and under cabinet lighting, or mix it up with decorative flush mount or articulated fixtures, it will eventually look like a warm, inviting space to cook. Luckily, your husband can do all of that, and give you a new panel if you need one.

Where are you flexible? Can windows, doors, and/or walls change, be moved, added, or even eliminated?

What is the "Storage" closet used for? If it's not already, could it be a pantry?

We really need more information. We need the actual measurements of your space, not an estimated size of the overall Kitchen. Without the actual measurements, everyone is guessing at what will/will not work/fit. They may be good guesses, but they're still guesses.

Taken from the Featured Answer of the "New to Kitchens? Read Me First!" thread (same link Anj_p referenced above):

Please post a fully-measured layout of the space under consideration . It can be either hand-drawn, computer generated, or drawn up with computer/app tools.

By "fully-measured", we mean a layout with the widths of each wall/window/door/doorway and the distances between each wall/window/door/doorway labeled. See a sample below. If something cannot be moved or changed, label it precisely on your layout (see post in sample) and tell us why it cannot be moved/changed -- we may have some ideas for you.

Regardless of how you draw it up (by hand, computer, etc.), please be sure all measurements are labeled. (Note: Computer generated layouts often lack key measurements and, sometimes, measure to/from things like the middle of a wall or the middle of a window. Neither are useful. Measure each item and the distances between each item.)

Other questions...

• Tell us about you and your family and how you plan to use your Kitchen. All-adults? Empty Nesters? Children (now or in the future)?
• What appliances (& their sizes) do you plan to have?
• Where are you flexible? Can walls/windows/doors/doorways change (move, change size, add, delete)?
• Do you have a basement under the Kitchen or are you on a slab?

FYI...this is almost identical to my space!

My design and it works GREAT!!!

Dining Room on the left, Family Room on the right, Foyer "below".

Wow! I am so grateful to everyone for your help! I almost cried when I saw all the responses. We are open to getting rid of the awkward window and adding some additional cabinets and counterspace. We are almost empty nesters. Our son has the basement to himself. I do enjoy bread making, so I really need a smooth top counter and/or island. The other side of the wall to the living room has a large tv and stand. We do have a basement under the kitchen. My husband can create a sketch of the kitchen showing more dimensions. We are going to get a larger refrigerator, larger sink and new lighting. I prefer a wall oven, but I think the range will work just fine. Big enough for a turkey :) We moved closer to family, so we will have large get togethers for the holidays. The DR is pretty small, so the idea of having a bar with stools off the dining room would work out great.

Beuhl - Is there a way to enlarge the sketch? I would love to see how your kitchen is laid out.

Again, thank you to everyone for your advice!

Here's a quick layout -- based on my layout 😊, but not exactly since our Kitchen sizes are different. My Kitchen is wider (mine 22' vs yours 12'9"), but yours is deeper (mine 11' vs yours 13'3").

Note that in this layout, the prep sink is what makes the layout "work". Take away the prep sink, and the layout no longer works.

Caveat: Actual dimensions as well as actual locations of doors & windows may affect the layout, but assuming the 12'9" & 13'3" measurements are correct, this should work.

If you can remove that 6" stub of a wall I show to the left of the Ovens and are OK with a smaller aisle, the peninsula could be longer.

I strongly recommend that you do not take any space from the Dining Room -- it's rather small as it is and I don't think you can afford to "steal" any space from it, including for seating. (Unless you want a banquette in the DR, but that is not easy seating as we age unless it's only 2 seats "deep" and the table is light enough that it can be easily moved even for an older person.)

Are any of these better? (Click on the pictures to see a larger version)

You’ve got some of the best of the kitchen design crew looking to help you, but I just have to add that it would make me crazy to work in a kitchen with such a large work triangle. Having to carry pots from the stove to the far away sink for example. My friend’s kitchen is large and open like this and it seems you have to walk a million steps when cooking. I would need an island with a sink, even the main and only sink and have one long counter run where the sink is now.

That's why there's a prep sink and why I said the prep sink makes it "work".

I see that now, but it's still a hike from stove to refer and DW (for loading and unloading stuff needed for the stove area), and with the prep sink in that counter, there's less counter space. Just commenting that I would want a much smaller work triangle.

Some suggested an island, but the reality is that a decent size island (to be functional) will not fit in this Kitchen. A rolling cart would be better, but then you need to find a place to put it when it's not in use that isn't in the way of anything else.

See what I mean:

Keep in mind that the Kitchen is the only way to/from the Sunroom from the rest of the house, so it will potentially be busy when friends and/or family are visiting. Therefore, a wider aisle would be needed to accommodate that traffic and, hopefully, encourage people to use the path along the bottom rather than the top and getting in the way of others working in the Kitchen.

The window on the top wall is a big question -- where is it, exactly? Can it be moved?

If I'm cooking 3 meals or more a day and walking a million miles around the kitchen, I would not worry about designing a kitchen that might get a bit crowded when I entertain. Move the door to one side, offset the island, have one pathway to the sunroom. (edited for clarity).

I think all of this depends on budget I do agree well designed U shaped kitchen would be ahuge plus but that requires a big change so if budget is not an issue Jan s idea to change the space around is IMO the best .. We actually changed the kitchen for the DR in out house we have now and never regretted that expense ,

A large tv can go on the stairway wall. Then, take down the wall between the kitchen and living room. Plenty of room now for an island with all the counter space that it includes.

I guess a cottage kitchen is not what you are looking for. Yes, the cabinetry is currently making the most of 1950’s or 60’ that is there presently, so updating layout and to a shaker door style with a modern counter will go a long way. Personally the floor looks great to me and could be a great feature under a standalone table style island. I wouldn’t do sliders to the sunroom, but would consider a larger opening with French doors, either full glass or 3/4 glass.

Great ideas! I do realize that the stove is not situated correctly in this kitchen. I need to move it closer to the sink and make an area for a larger fridge. Jan- I never even thought about utilizing the dining room for kitchen space and making a seating area in the kitchen! I did think about getting an island and maybe putting in a prep sink. That may help or putting the prep sink where Buehl suggested. So many great ideas! Thank you all! I will go over all of these ideas with my husband this evening. I feel better now that I know it can be changed to a more workable area.

I can't tell you what to do. But I have a galley smaller by a lot, and there is nothing I can not make in it. A u shape can be even MORE efficient.....and really, 10 x 10 is a really small dining room and is going to look it's best with not much larger than a 54 inch diameter /round table for six since is is literally..... a square

There are a lot of cute, narrow, wheeled islands you could add to this below. Open and airy.

If the kitchen were used for the most part by me and maybe by and for one other person - such as a spouse - I would get a countertop cooktop and convection oven or air fryer to use in the counter areas where the sink, fridge and dishwasher are. I’d only use the range for situations where i have to cook extra for a ton of people. And, in fact, with the money I would save from the cost of extensive renovations - for large gatherings, I could cater everything for the rest of my time in the house. I’d leave the fridge where it is, and just get a smaller fridge...

But - this is my overall thinking. I have a new place with gas stove, and don’t plan to use it much. I’m getting an electric cooktop and a toaster oven/air fryer.