Discuss Kitchen Advice Needed on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. Kitchen Advice Needed - Need help with planning your remodel? Want a kitchen planner to review your ideas? This is the happenin' spot!.
We are looking to remodel our kitchen. We live in a bi-level that was built in the early 80's. We would like to achieve a clean more modern look for our kitchen. We bought stainless steel appliances when we moved into the house 4 years ago so we have a little bit of a head start. We would like to have white cabinets (not sure exactly which finish yet) with a dark color (gray) countertop. We currently have a small round table in the corner where I put the island in my drawing. We would prefer to have more countertop space in the new kitchen. I would strongly prefer not to have to relocate gas \ water. In my mind I can not think of too many ways to change this up. I am looking forward to other peoples suggestions. Thanks in advance for all of your help.
I opened your plan, and immediately noticed you've got your range going the wrong way and it's right up against a tall cabinet. That's not ideal...you want to have counter space on both sides of the range. You've also got a heating unit shown along both sides of that corner...is that the case? Your fridge is also a bit on the smaller side...we recommend building in a 36" wide opening since down the road when it needs replacing you probably will not be able to find many choices in a 30" size. Fridges are getting bigger all the time.
Here's a plan that gives you some seating on a contrasting island, as well as a great functional layout. It uses the BD36 in the corner (use the Lee Valley insert) and gives you a lot of great drawer storage. I used Abstrakt White on the perimeter with Numerar Gray countertops, and Nexus BB and white countertop on the island. Aluminum plinth throughout ties it together, along with aluminum pulls. The island might have to get a bit smaller (use two 15" drawer units plus one 30" instead of the 18/26/18 shown) depending on the accuracy of the measurements, in which case you would comfortably seat 2 people rather than 3. Each seated person needs 24" of width. Ideally you want at least 36" for passing space on either side, preferably 42". Let me know what you think!
Eva,
Thanks for all of the help and suggestions. This was my first stab at using the Ikea Home Planning tool. My stove really is the right way around in real life I noticed that you used the 39" cabinets. Currently our kitchen has 30" cabinets and the space that would normally exist on top of them has been boxed in with sheetrock. I am planning on stripping this room to the studs so it could certainly come out. I don't think it serves any purpose other than to take up space. The island with seating is exactly what we were looking for I just couldn't figure out how to do it with the tool. My last question for now is about the corner base cabinet, it appears as if the right half of the cabinet is obstructed by the other cabinet. I assume this is just a bug in the planning tool and the cabinet will really be boxed in. Thanks again!
Soffits sometimes contain ducting or wiring chases, so you'll have to open it up and see if you can get rid of it. If you can, I strongly suggest you do! The extra space is quite valuable.
The corner cabinet uses a Lee Valley "magic corner" pullout. It gives you access to the entire cabinet area so you don't lose the back corner space. You use the BD36 cabinet with one door and a bit of filler. It's a great solution for a tight corner and lots of people here have used them successfully.
Where does the door depicted to the right lead? Is it a main entrance, e.g. the garage? One thing to think about is the traffic flow in your kitchen- so will an island encourage people to enter the space and get right underfoot? If that's the case, you could consider connecting the island at that end, and creating a U shaped kitchen which gives you a bit more storage, and "flow control."
I'm also a fan of counter height islands and penninsulas vs raised because I don't love bar stools ( love a good bench!). The downside is that you can easily see the workspace from the adjoining room. I've solved this by having a massive sink!
Kelly,
The door to the right leads into the Dining room which we rarely use. There is not normally any foot traffic coming out of that room into the kitchen. 99% of the time we are coming through the doorway at the bottom of the picture. I do like your idea of turning into a U though. I think we might play the island by ear when we are getting ready to install it.
I think I am going to start demo'ing the old kitchen soon so I should have a better idea.
Unless you have another kitchen (like a ktichenette) I highly recommend having a plan BEFORE you demo your kitchen. At least, don't demo your sink until the last possible moment.
Once you have a solid plan, and maybe even have bought your cabinets, THEN I would demo. At that point, you have a great opportunity to use blue painter's tape to layout the kitchen to make sure that you really have the room you think you do, and that your measurements were accurate. You can tweak at that point.
It is satisfying to demo, but less satisfying to live without a sink for an extended period of time.
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I noticed that you used the 39" cabinets. Currently our kitchen has 30" cabinets and the space that would normally exist on top of them has been boxed in with sheetrock. I am planning on stripping this room to the studs so it could certainly come out. I don't think it serves any purpose other than to take up space. The island with seating is exactly what we were looking for I just couldn't figure out how to do it with the tool. My last question for now is about the corner base cabinet, it appears as if the right half of the cabinet is obstructed by the other cabinet. I assume this is just a bug in the planning tool and the cabinet will really be boxed in. Thanks again!
