Discuss Let's help Scott with his kitchen on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. Let's help Scott with his kitchen - Need help with planning your remodel? Want a kitchen planner to review your ideas? This is the happenin' spot!.
Here is his answers to some of my questions and a description of the project:
That wall/roof structure on the main deck is going to be a summer (outdoor) kitchen. The house is built on pilings and has a view of Assateague Channel. Hopefully that will frame the location for you.
1. How much you like to cook?- We both like cooking, though not usually at the same time.
2. How much you entertain?- This is a vacation home so its likely to be family/extended family. Rarely will the entertaining be formal
3. Lot of family and friends over?- Mostly my wife, son (15) and daughter (11) Sometimes (50%) they'd be bringing along friends
4. Dogs?- Black Lab and Golden Retriever. With the water so close, its retriever heaven. We expect to have smelly, shedding, muddy (but deliriously happy) dogs sharing the kitchen space as they enjoy helping the cook (particularly pre-rinsing the dirty dishes). A whole house vacuum is a must along with a floor pan to sweep into in the kitchen.
5. Kids?- see above
6. Teenage boys?- God help me
You'll see on the current floorplan that moving clockwise from the left we have a LG cabinet depth stainless fridge with end panels and a cabinet above. We're trying for the "built-in" look. Next to it a Frigidaire Pro SS dishwasher. Then comes the sink. I like the double Domsjo 36" apron sink, but also like the very deep 24" SS sink I saw on my last trip to Ikea. The sink faces a large sliding window that is thought to serve as a pass-through. The screened porch would serve as the primary dining room as most of the time we're there it will be quite mild. Following the cabinets around, it terminates in a single wall oven cabinet. Here I was considering the Ikea 24" SS oven. The island is about 6'6" by 3'. We were going to put a 30 inch black electric (no gas on Island) cooktop and sit 3 chairs in front. We also like the SS pendant lights from Ikea arrayed over the island.
Here is my first take on this space. It is just based on the original plan. The only thing I changed was adding a pet feeding station on the end of the island.
Here is another take on the space. Because of the various problems associated with island cooktops - expensive ventilation, view blocking hoods, steam and smells etc. - so I put it on the wall. This plan also allows for a dramatic wall treatment around the vent hood. I also like the idea of the window being used as a pass-through to the outside area. But its usefullness as a pass-through is almost negated if the sink is there. A big expanse of counterspace will make assembling food for passing to outside much easier.
Because we're going for a modern look, but it is still a vacation home. I chose Nexus YB to go for the modern look, but metal toekicks. But because the house is about vacationing and the great outdoors, I thought a touch of something natural would make a great contrast. So I added the pebble backsplash.
Here is another set of materials and finishes. I went with the mosaic tile, and that led to another whole set of choices with the blue to contrast to all the neutrals.
Zeuss, I love the changes so far. A couple of things. First, the ceilings are 9 feet, so we'll probably go with tall cabinets. Second, regarding the pebble or tile backsplash, do you see that only on the wall with the cooktop or does it extend to the other wall as well. Does it wrap around the window and extend to the ceiling? What do you think of glass front wall cabinets? Do you think with the current configuration there's adequate storage space above the base cabinets? Is there a rule of thumb? Thanks so much to you and anyone else who adds their $.02
as the ceilings are 9 feet (but since its under construction can be adjusted slightly) does it make any sense at all to have a run of cabinets that starts above the over the refrig cabinet and wrap all the way around to the wall oven? I was thinking this may solve the issue of bringing cabinets to ceiling height and also provide storage space (or display space) and allow for placement of down lighting. Since the house is in design phase, windows can be resized and other structural elements moved to accommodate design considerations.
The description of your needs makes me think that you'll have many non-cooking users of this space at the same time, and lots of non-cooking activities and Stuff.
So, teenage boys...do they get in your way when either of you are cooking? One thing I've found is that dividing the light duty cooking from the heavy duty cooking can keep the "darters" out of your way. I would orient the microwave and access to drinks and snacks out of the main cooking traffic way- perhaps putting the micro in the side of the island end cab?
Is this the main family entrance to the house? Is there a natural place elsewhere or in this design for the coats, shoes, backpacks, mail, leashes, dog wiping towels? Do your dogs have their own bowls or share? Do you have other space to store all that dog food?
I don't mean to sound all dire, if you don't have solutions for all this you'll still enjoy your new kitchen and your lovely surroundings! Perhaps there is a porch between the door I see and the outside? That might be a great solution for the "shedding" that entryways bear...or you might think about how to increase your storage in other adjacent areas of the house to handle those things...
I've got one dog and two younger boys...and we all like to cook and help. So I am projecting onto your situation! We will be opening up a ground floor bedroom expand an entryway (lots of built in storage, closets, etc) when we build onto our home in a couple of years- to solve the very problems I'm contemplating.
In the meantime, we've created a filing and mail center in the kitchen, along with a built-in paper shredder. The micro and snacks are out of the main traffic pattern in the wall of tall...
I really prefer zeuss' moving of the sink to NOT in front of the pass through wall, and relocating the range to the wall instead of the island for exactly the reasons stated.
With regard to the cabinets, how much kitchen stuff do you have? Take a look at your current circumstances...are you busting out at the seams or do you have empty, unused cabinets? Try and translate that into a rough 'number of cabinets' figure and keep that in mind when planning. What about pantry space?
Yes, you want a cohesive, visually appealing cabinet layout, but if you don't need to cram as many cabinets into the space as possible, the design opportunities will become more interesting...
I think the glass front doors (assuming you mean the Avskit frosted/aluminimum) absolutely cannot be beat for value and a modern look that still allows for some interestingness. If you're looking for minimalist modern, then no, but if you like the look of a working, used kitchen, they're fab. And lighting them from inside adds a whole new layer of greatness.
IKEA - it's unlike any other furniture store in the world. How did IKEA start? What's unique about IKEA stores? Read about how a young man named Ingvar Kamprad began the largest furniture store in the world and became one of the richest men in the world.Read more...
