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stevecho

Tweak a Betz Kitchen? (Kandon Place)

Steve Smith
9 years ago

Hello all,
In the hunt for the workable house plan, we've found our way to the Frank Betz Kandon Place plan (http://www.frankbetz.com/homeplans/plan_info.html?pn=4131&vw=3).

It's an open floor plan, which we like, but the lack of counter space and small pantry have driven me to attempt to rethink the kitchen.

We definitely use our kitchen, and often my wife and I are in the kitchen at the same time. We aren't attached to any particular layout.

Kinda seems like a blank canvas situation, and I've just got a bit of writer's block.

Help? :-)

Comments (12)

  • chicagoans
    9 years ago

    Here is the original layout:

  • Texas_Gem
    9 years ago

    Two issues immediately jump out at me that I just remodeled my kitchen to get rid of.

    One, you have a flow of traffic right through your work zone. Anyone doing laundry or coming in from the garage is going to walk through your triangle. Plus the closest pantry door impedes traffic.

    Secondly, you have no windows in the kitchen, only windows at the end in the dining room.

    You could flip the dining room and kitchen placement, take out the door leading to the deck and instead of big windows in the living room, have french doors with sidelights leading to the deck.

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    ^^ I like it!!!

  • gr8daygw
    9 years ago

    Our house is a Frank Betz plan, we reconfigured it by combining a couple of their plans together. I loved the house but not the master bath or the family room fireplace on the back wall of the house. I wanted a wall of windows instead of the fireplace in the middle with small windows on either side. I put the fireplace on the inside adjacent wall and now have soaring two story windows on the back of the house that overlook the wooded small backyard. When you open the front door you see through the house to the back yard which I love. We had to downsize the plan to fit on our lot, too. We also took storage space in the garage and put it into the laundry room. Their plans are easy to modify. We did it through the Betz company and got new plans from them. I think now you can do it online. Anyway, in the master bathroom I wanted separate closets instead of the one huge one and we were able to have that redrawn and make separate vanities and move them to either side of the room. We lost some room in the bedroom and the two closets are smaller than the one big one, but it was definitely worth it. My husband is not a neat freak and as much as we can have our separate areas and still be together the happier we both will be. Marital bliss ensues⦠: )) I would look at some of their other plans and see if you can find a kitchen that would fit into the space in your plan in a more agreeable configuration. Sometimes seeing it in place is so much easier. Good luck!

    This post was edited by gr8day on Tue, May 20, 14 at 8:03

  • Steve Smith
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks everyone so much for your comments!

    @Texas_Gem -- I really like your idea from a practical standpoint, but I worry about the eating area being away from the windows. We have a really nice view out the back and while the kitchen being there would be nice, meals would have to be enjoyed with out any (or many) windows.

    All these comments have been create food for thought, and I feel like I have a jumping off point now.

    I'll probably sketch something up and reply to this thread for further comments/critiques.

    Thank you!

  • bpath
    9 years ago

    Would it be possible to move the garage, mudroom, and powder room forward? It would create a passage to the stairs and living room without going through the kitchen, takes the powder room out of the immediate front door area, lets you double the original pantry, and creates circulation.

    With the garage shifted forward, I added some windows on the dining room wall to help out the kitchen.

    Something like this?

    This post was edited by bpathome on Tue, May 20, 14 at 13:52

  • bpath
    9 years ago

    Oops, I should have looked at the elevation and second floor, first. The above won't work. But, instead of shifting rooms forward, what if we shift the dining room and kitchen back? Same net effect downstairs, and upstairs you can expand the master, or widen the hallway just there (which is rather narrow).

    Maybe?

  • bpath
    9 years ago

    Oh, and you should rework the mudroom closet, too. That configuration isn't very usable, things will get shoved into the dark recesses. You'd be better off with cabinetry and hooks.

  • Steve Smith
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Wow, GREAT ideas! Love 'em. I was actually just sketching up a possibility where the mudroom gets moved to the rear of the garage and current mudroom turned into a big pantry. What do you think?

  • huango
    9 years ago

    THAT's what I was thinking.
    I like this much better.

    Now, where's your trash and microwave?

    Amanda

  • bpath
    9 years ago

    Much simpler :) Is there still room in the garage for the cars, bikes, and trash/recycling bins?

  • Steve Smith
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    It's a little snug -- the depth of the garage in that mudroom area comes down to only 18 1/2'. It's workable but a little snug. Trash cans, etc can live on that back wall and bikes and such on the side.

    Regarding kitchen trash and m-wave locations, I'm not sure. I guess my inclination is to put them both towards the eating area.

    Thoughts?

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