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susansaylors

Lonely cook in little kitchen!

susansaylors
9 years ago

We are planning a remodel of this space. I'd originally wanted to take out this wall, but the rerouting of HVAC and the cost of new flooring and ceiling made this cost prohibitive. I'd settled for a pass through that would be 40 inches wide on this wall 5ft9inches from floor under ceiling height cabinets. Now the builder says because of existing HVAC in this wall, the pass through can only be 24 inches wide, unless we spend the $$ for rerouting. Is this worth it? We'd planned to make this a "perch" from dining room side of the wall with a small 10 inch counter. I just want to see my table guests and grands in their high chairs when I'm at the sink!

Comments (25)

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Dining room side of wall.

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The rest of my cozy space.

  • bpath
    9 years ago

    Is that space-pac AC?

    Can you out blue painters tape around the area(s) your contractor says is available for a passthru? On both the kitchen and DR sides? That can help you envision what would basically be your kitchen window repeated.

    Can you simply widen the doorway, or are you planning to extend new cabinets toward the door?

  • practigal
    9 years ago

    Perhaps you could post a floor plan showing better where the doors are into the room, and the rooms around it. Are you planning on keeping the soffit? Where are you planning on putting the contents of the current upper cabinets that you are thinking of removing? Is there any reason that the lower cabinets cannot be extended out to the doorway? Would you consider putting the sink or stove under the pass-through? Can any portion of the kitchen extend into the dining room? What is the wall to the left of the sink? If you remove the cabinets on the wall to the right of the sink is there space to put the stove to the left on that wall? Right now it looks like you have to walk from one side of the room to the other in order to bring things to and from the refrigerator and stove as all of the prep area is on the the other side of the room. Are you interested in changing this? Marcolo (a frequent contributor on this site) has long recommended and I also recommend that the fridge, sink and stove go in the same order that you cook in where possible i.e., fridge, sink, prep area and stove.

  • practigal
    9 years ago

    Where my thinking is going...

    Here is a link that might be useful: Link to its the details kitchen reveal

  • funkycamper
    9 years ago

    I'm not good enough at deciphering your layout from just the photos. Practigal asked some good questions. Answers to them plus a diagram of your kitchen and dining room with measurements and marks indicating where items are located which can't be moved would be very helpful.

    If worse comes to worse and all you can get is the small pass-thru, it's still better than a wall, right? But I'm sure people here can help you find a better solution with more information.

  • junco East Georgia zone 8a
    9 years ago

    Do you mean you are going to leave the wall cabinets on the wall where the pass through will go? Or have cabinets mounted above the opening? I can't visualize that. Is the 5'9" the height of the top of the pass through? and will you be comfortable with looking under that? Find out how much it would be to just widen the pass through. At least that would remove the expense of new ceiling and floor. Bpathome's idea of widening the doorway might work also.

  • joyce_6333
    9 years ago

    Did your builder give you an estimate on rerouting the HVAC? Need to start there to see if it's worth it. Will you regret it down the road if you don't do it? If you plan on removing soffits anyway, maybe (?) it wouldn't be that much more just to remove the wall. Just my thoughts.

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    bpathome--painters tape a great idea. When we get more info from the GC re placement we will do just that. I don't see widening doorway would give enough room to justify the expense. Cabinets cannot go to doorway as that would leave no room to pass between stove and counter.

    practigal--we are eliminating the soffit to gain more storage by going up. The pass thru would be below replacement cabinets. We aren't extending to DR due to budget constraints. Moving the stove next to sink would leave no counter space for working on that side of the kitchen. I would love to have a prep area AND my stove/sink/fridge on the same side of kitchen, but don't see how.

    junco--the 5'9" height is the top of the pass thru and where the upper cabinets will start. Since I'm not that tall, I'm ok with that.

    joyce6333--we are waiting to meet with the builder to get details about our options. I would LOVE to remove the wall, but the price tag was just too high.

    The doorway at bottom of pic goes to hall for basement and back door. Our kitchen has 2doors and a doorway in its tiny footprint! More pics follow, can't figure out how to upload more than 1 per post.

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Specs

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Doorway to DR

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Stove and pantry (4 soup cans deep). The LR chimney is on the other side of the wall behind the stove.

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Stove and pantry (4 soup cans deep). The LR chimney is on the other side of the wall behind the stove.

    {{gwi:2135696}}

  • bpath
    9 years ago

    If you can widen the door, you won't have to do the hip-swivel when you walk between the rooms, and you'll have a better view both ways.

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    bpathome--these ducts are what have discouraged widening the doorway up to now. We've been trying to avoid doing any moving of these ducts.

  • debrak2008
    9 years ago

    I would really try to move the ductwork. If you are on a basement or crawlspace it should not be hard at all to move the ducts. Perhaps you need to get a new estimate or consider moving the ducts yourself.

  • bpath
    9 years ago

    Oh, I didn't see the floor vents. And the space-pac pipe goes up through the wall?

  • judeNY_gw
    9 years ago

    You don't want to spend all that money, energy and time replacing the kitchen and then have a new version of what you don't like now. I think it's really important to find out the cost of a wider pass-through and locating it in a place to give you maximum interaction with folks in the dining room. 24" is skimpy and you'd have to be standing right in front of it to communicate with the dining room.

    When you know the cost then you can make an informed decision to forgo it or downgrade your cabinets, counters and/or appliances to get a bigger opening. Standard sized appliances and counters are the easiest thing to upgrade in the future if you chose to.

  • funkycamper
    9 years ago

    If the ductwork to the vents go under the floor, why would the vents prevent widening the door? I've been in many houses with a sturdy, attractive floor vent cover that is walked on without any problems. What am I missing? (Not to argue, but to learn.)

    I agree with judeny. Find a way to get what you really want even if you have to reduce costs in other areas or you will never be satisfied with it.

    In my current remodel, I'm reusing my cabinet boxes and drawers and just getting new doors and drawer fronts. I'm moving them around in my kitchen to improve my layout. I'm going to some of the bigger Habitat ReStores out of my area next week to see if I can find the cabinet boxes and drawer units in the size and configuration I need for my additional cabinets and will likewise order new door/drawer fronts for them. I'm saving $thousands$ by doing this.

    My cabinets are in good shape though, besides the ugliness of the doors. If your cabinet boxes and drawers aren't in good shape or aren't reparable, this probably wouldn't work for you.

    I hope you find a way to make it work out!

  • susansaylors
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    You all make such valid points, you've given me much to ponder. Have any of you lived with a pass thru and how did it change the feel of your kitchen?

  • practigal
    9 years ago

    To me a pass-through makes you into a short order cook. That's why I really like the picture where they removed as much of the wall between the kitchen and the dining room as possible so that you're really part of what's going on in the other room. Do you use the door to the left of the sink with great frequency? Or could you recapture that wall space?

  • practigal
    9 years ago

    To me a pass-through makes you into a short order cook. That's why I really like the picture where they removed as much of the wall between the kitchen and the dining room as possible so that you're really part of what's going on in the other room. Do you use the door to the left of the sink with great frequency? Or could you recapture that wall space?

  • lyfia
    9 years ago

    A pass though that is under cabinets is useless. You have to bend down to actually see through it which you won't unless your eye level falls underneath the cabinets by a good margin.

    I would look at moving the stove out of the traffic path instead. Either put it where the paled pass through is or switch the location of fridge and stove. Maybe put the fridge on the sink side instead. Looks to me like you have the chance for a better layout than your current one and I would concentrate on fixing that.

  • llucy
    9 years ago

    I've lived in a few kitchens with pass thru's and always appreciated the feature. A couple looked out into the living room and I could watch tv while I cooked. Another looked out on the screen porch and pool beyond it - nice view and convenient for passing out drinks/snacks from the kitchen. Another was over a sink looking into the dining area and that was handy for passing plates back to kitchen from the table. The pass thru's also had a 'bar' of sorts on the non-kitchen side that could be used as a small buffet.

    What I like best about the feature is that it gives you some of the privacy of a closed kitchen, yet an open enough feeling that you don't feel isolated in the kitchen.

  • judeNY_gw
    9 years ago

    The galley kitchen in the 1 bedroom rental in my house is tiny. What saves it is a 4' wide (almost full height) pass through to the dining room in front of the sink and prep counter. There are no wall cabinets on that side of the galley.

    I lived there when I first bought the house and designed it for myself. The kitchen mess was contained while letting me talk with my guests and look through the dining room window at the garden. Tenants have always commented positively.