Thanks.

Your silly concern is a big concern of mine, too. I want to try to keep with the older architecture but have modern appliances, etc.

I started off with the island but changed to the peninsula because it would give more room in the dining area. The more I thought about it, the less I like the idea because it will be too crowded in the kitchen.

I'm trying to find some large boxes that I can set up and move around to see how things will flow.

Thanks for your ideas.

I'm coming in from left field, and exiting out the back fence, no doubt, but it's a standard issue in remodeling: That back corner. It's a prize location sadly wasted for most of us these days on a place to strip off muddy clothes.

Direct access to the outdoors and potential views on TWO walls, views and angles of sun exposure available from no other place and potentially available not only to that corner but to any space adjoining it. This is an especially important issue in a small home.

Although personal needs can make it inappropriate, a good remodel usually moves the utilities (to space-efficient laundry and storage closets in a small home) and turns the corner into a place people will like spending time in. Further, a second living place with a very different orientation will make a small home not only live better but feel much larger. And should you ever wish to sell this home, a pretty, sunny sitting, dining, cooking, ?, space there would be a strong appeal point over the laundry rooms in competing homes, which is why speculative remodelers so often change it out.

kntry
NOt sure I'm totally understanding your space -
My main kit is 20'x10' then I have brkfast knook - I knew an island would not work, so never had that rendered in any of the numerous plans - I did try for penninsula and realized that in gutting the kitchen I was really wanting to open the space up - so each time something encroached the open space I removed it -
If what you are saying is kit is 10' wide my rec would be to get big boxes to scale & do a trial to determine if it's workable

I always preface my posts by declaring my anti-island bias:

But my house is about the same size as yours, so I know how small it really is. And I just took down a peninsula, and previously took down an island.

And the other day a friend and I walked through the open space and remarked on how much space they not only physically took up, but how much space around them they rendered useless. Get a couple of people around that island and you can't move anywhere in that area.

The diagonal island and the peninsula, as you fear, I think, balkanize the space and leaves very little room to walk around them.

Bmore's plan looks like a good option: not too big, still lots of room to move around. It would be particularly good if it was a piece of furniture that could be picked up and moved, not attached to the floor or plumbed in, so if you wanted to move it a bit, or even change it later, you could, easily.

If it was on wheels, you could even move it off to the side for entertaining and have a clear path from kitchen to table, or a server exactly where YOU wanted it, instead of an obstacle. (Don't imagine a cheap trolley, imagine a nice, normal wooden island with discreet, lockable wheels.)

Just my contrarian view.

I'm sure it will be beautiful. My house looked just like that not long ago. Now it's getting quite civilized again!

I didnÂt think it would make a difference so I didnÂt mention this in the first post. WeÂre adding 12Â to the back of the house. Off that back kitchen door will be a laundry/mud room.

YaÂll have confirmed my thoughts about the island/peninsula. I removed several walls and moved some things around to open up the space so I donÂt want to close everything in again.

My hubby & son are picking up some furniture boxes today, hopefully, so I can arrange them as cabinets to see how it will work. So far, the furniture store hasnÂt had any out this week.

Growlery, can you post pics of yours? WeÂre your floors as bad as this kitchen?

Thanks for the comments.

I don't actually own a camera. Which is kind of funny ...

But my house is almost 200 years old and has its original floors. Yours look like Versaille compared to mine!

Yes, 3-D will give you a better impression. It "looms larger". And crowd around it, like you would while entertaining, and see if it is manageable. (Or just decide to put the cheese platter somewhere else!)

I am so completely in love with how opened up my house is now. It is also shocking how, when everything is so filthy and horrible and dark now, the drywall goes up and in a day you have a ROOM and you can really see how everything is going to be!

kntry... the home we're going to remodel is about the same size as yours. My kitchen to be will also be right around the same size. I'm incorporating the old laundry room which will give me 5'4" additional length on one side. As much as I longed for a island in my kitchen; I (after many many layouts) decided on a galley style kitchen which will best serve my needs and fit within the configuration of the odd shaped house. (not saying yours is odd... mine sure is!) I don't know if it will be of any help but here is the basic layout I"m going with.

My dear MIL was talked into a peninsula in a similar situation and always hated it because of the bottleneck it created at the end of the kitchen. Because of her experience when I had to deal with a similar layout I chose Growlery's recommendation of a movable island. Mine was from William's Sonoma and cost $700 about 15 years ago. It was 48" x 30". The top was butcher block. It had two drawers that were very useful for utensils and the base was open slats. I used the open area in various ways as my children were growing up. Sometimes it had all the paper goods---napkins, paper plates, paper towels---that we used constantly when they were young. In a later years it held bottled water, water containers and all the things they needed when loading up their bookbags or team bags before they headed out the back door. In it's last stage of use it had large stock pots or large wicker baskets that didn't fit anywhere else in my small kitchen. Although it didn't have wheels and was fairly heavy, it was easy enough for two people to lift and reposition whenever I wanted to move it. That island was one of my favorite things in that old house. Probably Williams Sonoma or John Boos would have something similar if you are interested.

Remodelfla, what program is that? I need an updated one.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm leaning more and more towards not putting an island or peninsula. It would only add 6' of cabinets but sure would close everything in again.

Growlery, you can't really see the kitchen floor. LOL You can see the ground under the house in places. I've pulled up 3 other layers of flooring to get to the 1st floor which was probably gorgeous in it's day. It's bead board. The den and front bedroom flooring just needs refinishing. The dining area and back bedroom need to have some boards replaced. There is a sunroom across the back that will be part of the addition so I'm going to use the flooring out of there to patch the other 2 rooms.

kntry... it's just powerpoint. Very few programs are compatible with my Mac

You should count on 36" of space on either side of the island.. I'm not sure it will fit. I love galley kitchens-- I think it is such an efficient configuration. I'm not sure what an island would add to it.

If I put the island in the place where I have the boards laid out with the styrofoam at the end, I would have 3' of walk area on each side and 5' between the back of the island and the front of the cabinets.

The only place that would be really tight would be between the island and table.

speaking of moveable islands (forgot to mention this in the other post).. Costco occasionally carries John Boos... I got a 2 x 2 end-grain, maple butcher block/island w/ a towel rail for under 200. It retails for over 1200, so it was quite a deal. Some people here have also integrated some interesting vintage pieces into their kitchens. If you do end up with something, definitely make it moveable.

We have a galley kitchen and realized an island would not work well with our dimensions. We did decided to go with a peninsula with a raised breakfast bar. We are very happy we made that decision.

Here are a few pictures:

The dimensions from the stove wall to the end of the peninsula is 16' 6" x 10' 3"

IF you decide to go with a movable island, you might also check your cabinet line. Some of them have movable islands that you can get to match or complement your perimeter cabinets. I know, for instance, that KraftMaid does as my KD showed one to me when she was trying to talk me out of my mini-peninsula...she thought it would be more useful. [I love my mini-peninsula, btw! It protects my cooktop and has become my Baking Center.]

I'm someone who went from a small "L" shaped eat-in kitchen to a 2-peninsula kitchen and I definitely do NOT regret it...as a matter of fact I think I gained an amazing amount of counter space, in particular...and I then had room for a Prep Sink...all pluses!

There is a lot of anti-peninsula sentiment on this Forum, so you will probably not get much support for it. Most people (not everyone growlery!) prefer islands...stationary or movable.

If you go w/a stationary island, I don't think 36" is a big enough clearance on the sides...I think 42" minimum, preferably 48". There will be a lot of laundry basket carrying through there as well as, I think, the traffic from the back yard (I can't tell for certain on this point).

I'm guessing there's no garage so groceries will be coming in from the front door (is that correct?). You also need to have enough room to carry those groceries into the kitchen.

I meant to show you my kitchen. The "mini peninsula" my KD tried to talk me out of is the one at the "top" of the picture. There's no seating at that peninsula. The only seating is at the longer one on the "bottom" of the pic...b/w the kitchen & DR (it's a little over 5' so there's really only enough room for 2 seats.)

The peninsulas were one of the best things we did in the remodel to dramatically increase the functionality and counter space in our kitchen.

Here are some layouts with a peninsula:

With a Prep Sink to have a water source near MW and so others can easily access it w/o coming into the kitchen proper:

Table clearances are pretty good...figure 3' from left & top walls...that leaves at least 6' of clearance on the kitchen side.

Buehl, thank you so much for the layouts! That really helps.

If I leave the peninsula coming off that wall like you have it instead of making an "L", that would definitely work much better.

I forgot the diagram was in that group of photos. Since then, I've changed the wall where the refrigerator, freezer and appliance pantry is. I'm putting the freezer in the laundry room and putting the appliance pantry, refrigerator and 3' pantry on that wall.

I'm thinking about moving the stove to the end of the wall against the window to give me more continuous counter space. What do ya'll think about that idea?

Thanks for all the suggesions.

I could see scooting it down to maybe 15" on one side and a longer prep space on the other but I wouldn't butt it up against the window. I had a thread awhile back asking if people tended to prep on one side only. The response lead me to the notion of moving my range down so I will have 15" on one side and increase to 30" on the other. I'm not a symmetry person so it should work for me.

Dear jtsgranite4us,

Would you mind sharing the measurements of your penninsula/breakfast bar piece?

I'm especially curious about the length of the penninsula and the overhang width of the bar piece. Due to my kitchen's rectangular shape and space considerations, I'm thinking of doing something similar in my kitchen and your pics come the closest I've seen so far to matching what I think would work in my space.

Thanks in advance!

la koala - here are the dimensions:

Lower peninsula is 17"x54" counting the edge. The overhang on the side is 6" (it is also wider there to reach the back of the cabinet.

The riser piece on the back of the cabinet is 4 1/2" high and 4" deep.

Raised bar is 17"x54" counting the edge. The overhang on the front side is 2" while on the back side it is 10"

Hope this is what you wanted.

Here is a picture from the front side:

Thanks for the dimensions! Much appreciated.