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Well, after putting our kitchen remodel on hold for several months we are now moving forward again.
I have been working on this plan for so long that I would love some input/ feedback from others.
I saved it to Ikea
username: txmomcooks@houston.rr.com
password: ikeaplan1
Our kitchen is 155" wide on the sink wall, 134" wide on the shallow pantry wall to the edge of the door to the dining room and 196" on the cooktop wall from the corner of the sink wall to the edge of the breakfast room window.
The door on the shallow pantry wall is a pocket door to the dining room.
The other door by the breakfast table is a door to the utility room(opening into the utility room ).
We have two 35"wide and 10" tall windows in the backsplash on either side of the cooktop and want to keep the cooktop centered between these windows.
I am planning a prep sink in the corner of the island closest to the fridge- a 21" cabinet (the planner would not let me put it there).
We do not want stools in the kitchen because the breakfast table is so close (they are really one big room). The large window on the wall beyond the breakfast table is a 6' cased opening into our family room.
The door beside it in the corner is our exterior door to the driveway and garage.
I took a look at your plan. You have a big space! I like it.
You've got a good mix of cabinets with drawers and shallow shelf space, plus a nice sized pantry area. Looks like you cook for a crowd, in which case you might want to add a second dishwasher to the island where the prep sink will be. And I'd suggest a trash container somewhere in the island on that side as well.
I'm not crazy about all the horizontals simply because they are not the most efficient storage, but you've got plenty of storage elsewhere so it might not be an issue for you. I'd be inclined to lose the wall cabinet to the right of the oven cab and expand that window more.
While I would love to expand that window over the sink, it is not going to happen because that window is on the front our our brick house and the facade is symmetrical. Would you still change that cabinet if the window will not change? I was thinking about that cabinet next to the sink for glasses and the drawers behind the dishwasher in the island for dishes. I have also considered the space by the fridge though for dishes or glasses. Anyone have an opinion on what you would do?
I will look at switching the horizontals for regular cabinets. I liked the idea that I could open the cabinets and work in that space without dodging the doors, but I can see how the storage space might not be as efficient.
Our ceilings are 9' high. We have the space to either stack a 15" high cabinet on top of a 30" cabinet for uppers with some filler above or use a 39" cabinet and have more filler above to the ceiling. Does anyone have an opinion on these two choices?
Also realize I didn't discuss our thought on colors etc. I am thinking Lidingo cabinets (Adel White is another possibility) with either soapstone or slate slab counters. I am wanting a white fireclay apron single bowl sink and Oil Rubbed Bronze cabinet hardware. The island I am debating between Tidaholm and Fagerland and painting the cabinets either a barn red or black.. The island countertop will either be butcherblock, marble, or Okite (a quartz material) that looks very much like marble. The island sink will be either a round or rectangular fireclay sink. I am not sure about the backsplash but am leaning toward white subway tiles. The appliances will be stainless steel and possibly some paneled.
I have considered adding a second dishwasher or adding a single dishdrawer but am unsure if we need it or not. I think I would place it on the other side of the kitchen sink though and change the corner cabinet to a blind cabinet with the Lee Valley pull-out. I think I would prefer to keep one set of drawers in the island for prep stuff while I work at the island.
I had planned on having a trash and compost under the prep sink and a trash/recycle in the 18" pullout beside the main sink. If I add the second dishwasher then the main sink trash/ recycle would have to move under the kitchen sink. We are also planning a trash/ recycle pullout in the planning center in the breakfast room. That is where we keep the calender and bring mail in etc so I think we will like having that there. Any thoughts?
I know this is a long post. I have uploaded screen shots of the planner and floorplan to my photobucket account. I also added photos from the previous owner and then after photos from our minor redo before moving in. The tile floor will stay and be patched where necessary in this kitchen remodel. The backsplash will most likely go and be replaced. The trim and doors will be painted white to match the rest of the house and new white cabinets.
I agree that I would remove the cabinets next to the window if you can. But I totally understand wanting to grab every bit of possible storage possible!
Thanks NBeth. I am open to removing the upper cabinet by the window over the kitchen sink.
I think my biggest dilemma is still where to keep the dishes and glasses. I could move them next to the refrigerator but then I don't know where to put the microwave.
Also I am still weighing between the 15" stacked on 30" uppers and going with 39" uppers.
You have soooo much more space than we do, I must admit it's hard to see the problem What about all those cabinets in the corner between the cooktop and sink? Esp if you swap your dishwasher to the other side of the sink....
I chuckled when I read your response because right now the dishwasher is to the right of the sink which puts it is the corner and the dishes are kept in the upper cabinets between the sink and the cooktop.
This is one of the things I really wanted to change in the kitchen because the dishwasher is very akward to load and unload being in the corner and the cabinets above are hard to put the dishes in without unloading the dishes onto the counter, closing the dishwasher, and then putting them away.
I was trying to make that area in the new design a baking / secondary prep area and was hoping to keep the dishes and glasses in another area.
I guess I am really trying to design this kitchen with zones and I can't figure out the best place for serving ( glasses and plates). To me it seems like we have lots of space in the wrong areas.
I think this kitchen is harder to redesign because of its dimensions and window placement. Smaller kitchens that we have had in previous houses are easier to work in than this one. The layout now has me waking around the island in circles and paths cross back and forth through the main, narrow work isles. If this kitchen was either narrower, wider or more open I think I would have come up with a better layout much more quickly.
If that corner is a baking prep area, why not use a traditional range (maybe dual fuel) instead of sticking your ovens over in the other corner? Then you would have room for dish storage where your oven wall currently is....
I do see what you mean about limitations of the space even if it does seem so huge.
We really looked at a range in the plan for a long time but have decided to go with a cooktop or rangetop and the double ovens for a couple reasons.
We are a tall family and leaning down to put things in the ovens in a range is not our first choice (have done that in previous houses)and we want to raise the kitchen counters above 36" which is much harder to do with the range.
The other reason was cost though. The ranges we were considering were much more expensive than the double ovens and cooktop/rangetop combination that I was interested in. We found and have already purchased (last week) a set of Fisher & Paykel Double ovens from an authorized seller on ebay. These were a discontinued iridium color so we got them for a great bargain.
This makes my dilemma harder and I appreciate your thoughts.
One plan I considered was to take the shallow pantry wall and make it look more like a shallow hutch with glass cabinets on top for the dishes and the lowers would be pantry.
Another plan I have considered was to put glasses in the upper cabinet by the fridge and plates in the lower drawers by the fridge and then put the microwave under the counter in the island.
Well, we have started talking to contractors to get estimates.
I am working on fine tuning our layout. I came up with island plan b. Please let me know what you think.
The small appliance in the end of the island will be an undercounter icemaker ( we use lots of ice in Texas), the one next to the prep sink will be a possible single dishdrawer or second dishwasher. I am still unsure about whether we would like that or more drawers for storage.
The microwave will be in the lower 24" cabinet to the right of the cooktop. The 24" cabinet to the right of that will be 24" drawers for dishes. Glasses will go in the 30" glass upper right above that.
Trash will be under the prep sink in the island and in the 18" pullout to the right of the main sink.
The perimeter counters I am still thinking soapstone or slate slab counters.
The island counters - I am thinking will probably be Okite (a brand of quartz counters) that looks like marble or a whitish granite.
I would love to paint the Tidaholm doors for the island black or red but I am not sure if I will try to attempt that before installation or just keep it in mind if I want to change the island later.
We have 9' ceillings and I really would love opinions on whether you think 15" cabinets stacked over 30" cabinet is better or whether the 39" cabinets are better.
I hope that link works.
I tried pasting the pictures into the message and I also have the floorplans and views in my phototbucket album. I also saved the plan to ikea.
username: txmomcooks@houston.rr.com
password: ikeaplan1
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. I have uploaded screen shots of the planner and floorplan to my photobucket account. I also added photos from the previous owner and then after photos from our minor redo before moving in. The tile floor will stay and be patched where necessary in this kitchen remodel. The backsplash will most likely go and be replaced. The trim and doors will be painted white to match the rest of the house and new white cabinets. 
