[jabelone]

Hi all, we've finally begun demo work for our kitchen reno - tearing down a wall between a pantry and the kitchen etc.... Hoping to get it planned out and purchased before the cabinet sale at Ikea ends March 30th. Like others, we're very frustrated that we can't use the Ikea design online and have resorted to the little cut-outs from the kitchen brochure. Does anyone see any glaring errors or have any thoughts to share on this *very rough* plan? We're finding it so difficult to design that we're sometimes tempted to pay twice money as much and have a cabinet place do all the work. But then we price out Adel medium brown and go back to the drawing board. Thanks in advance.

[Zenoforum]

Please see my linked drawing and since I don't know where the windows are here goes:

- I changed the fridge with the tall cabinet so appliances are on that side so all 3 stick out on the right side;

- I would try to balance the base cabinets symmetrical, notice on both sides of the stove, the corner and the island;

- Please try to align wall on the left side (12" deep cabinets) of the island with the wall with the stove, I mean the ends;

- Now about the wall cabinets, you could use symmetry like same cabinets on each side of the stove and so on.

Good luck with your kitchen.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4...3032008wh3.jpg

[nigel-bigel]

I have a Mac too, so I totally empathize with how frustrated you are!

You are lucky to have such a nice big kitchen! It would be helpful to know where the windows are. However, assuming one is over the sink and none on the other walls, I do have several changes to suggest.

Overall your work triangle is very spread out. The range is eight feet away from the sink! The area between the sink and range is your prime prep area so it is nice if it is roomy, but when it is toooo roomy you will be walking back and forth a lot.

And then the other part of the triangle, your fridge, is on the other side of the room. It is over 13 feet from the range, plus you have the island in the way. You are going to need roller skates in this kitchen!

Lastly, why do you have the dishwasher across from the sink? That is a lot of twisting and dripping water to load the DW.

I suggest you move the DW to the left on the sink. Then move the range to the island (Are you are cook that needs a lot of ventilation? If not, a downdraft fan could work for you here.) Then move the fridge over to the wall the range is on now. Put your tall pantry and maybe a desk on the same wall as the washer/dryer.

I haven't given much thought to your cabinets, but it seems you have a lot of skinny cabs where nice big roomy wide ones would fit.

I'll check back in later after I have had time to think about this some more...

Nicole

[jabelone]

Thank you both for your replies. You've hit on several of the issues we were concerned about too. We can move the fridge over, as suggested by Zeno, and have tried to line everything up as symetrical as we can. We do have roller blades to get around Nicole LOL. Seriously, we have discussed (debated?) the size of the work triangle and that was one of the reasons for getting some fresh opinions. You confirmed my fears that there might be too much moving around. It makes sense to move the dishwasher to the left of the sink. The DW is one of the main reasons for the renovation as there currently is not one (we've gone five years without one!!). Do ranges work well in islands? It is quite expensive for a downdraft slide-in range so we were hoping to keep it were it was on the outside wall. If we move the fridge to the range wall, it becomes very visible from the entrance to the house (open concept) which we're trying to avoid. Also, on the current wall (left), we can sink a standard depth fridge back in the wall so it looks built in. It's quite difficult to explain all the tiny influential factors. Regardless, it is great to get some objective opinions so please continue to share any thoughts. Those are really helpful comments... and we need all the help we can get.

[bgs]

Here's a couple more ideas... Try sliding the stove towards the diagonal wall as much as possible to tighten up the work area.
Add a small prep sink and undercounter refrigerator to the island so that there's a second work area.
You can get old fashioned about the process of designing and use graph paper to lay out your walls and windows and doors and all the permanent givens in dark ink. Then lay tracing paper over that and play around with any ideas you can think of - just keep using more sheets of tracing paper - it's a whole lot better than trying to keep those little tiny pieces of paper lined up and sometimes better than trying to use a planner that doesn't do diagonals well, for example. I worked up your kitchen in the planner just for fun although I realize you can't access it - perhaps some kind person can post it as pictures - - I don't know how to yet.

[jabelone]

Thanks bgs. The paper cut-outs aren't really the way to go, are they. We tried Sketchit (or whatever it's called @ google) but learning curve was too much so have to keep going "old school". Unfortunately we can't see your work on a Mac. Can't even open the file you attached. If any one can help with that, it would be great to see. Now.... where did I put that paper stove?