Is there a reason why the cabinets stop at the window? If you ran cabinets all the way down that wall you'd have a lot more options.

Christina222 - Good question. Unfortunately the bottom of the bay window falls 6" lower than the base cabinets. Having the cabinets go straight across would be my top preference but, unfortunately, the $ for replacing window would be too much.

I should also add that the rest of the wall on side of fridge/oven is unusable since it's broken up by doors: pocket door (shown), basement, pantry, laundry room.

I don't think you have enough room for the luxury of wall ovens. With the ovens and fridge taking up the whole wall, you don't have a good landing space for either the oven or fridge.

If you scrap the ovens, you can build in a MW in the cabinet next to the fridge, and put a venting hood over the range. I would make that cabinet the depth of the fridge, to increase storage/counter space.

What's the dimension to the right of the stove? You only have 9" in that corner - my old kitchen had 12" to the left of the stove (sink on the adjacent leg, like yours), and it felt really tight. But you don't seem to have a lot of room to spare on the right side.

I also don't think you have room for an angled upper in the corner. I had two of them - and they were black holes. Yep, you can put a lot in, but it's hard to gt it out, because you can't see what's in there, and you have to move things to get to the back. And the tiny cabinet between corner and range hood will be virtually useless, unless you do a pull-out. I suggest an Easy Reach upper, with the range side leg longer than the other.

What does your kitchen look like now?

With respect to your island how wide are you doing it?

Kitchen is 12' wide and you have 2' wide counters on either side which equals 4' total so now you're left with 8'. If you go with 3' aisles which is really, really narrow that equals 6' and you are left with a 2' wide island. You haven't taken into account the depth of the countertops themselves which usually have overhangs of anywhere from 3/4" to 1 1/4" and a fridge that is definitely, even if its' CD deeper than 24" when you start adding in the handles.Hopefully you went french doors.

And depending on where that door goes that is on the same wall as the range, if that is a major traffic way it makes that aisle as you walk by the fridge doors even more important to be wider than 33". Just make sure you understand what kind of measurements you are dealing with in putting in your island.

Annkh - I really like your suggestions, especially about the angled upper. I know what you mean about 'black hole' as that's my current situation. I didn't even know what an Easy Reach upper was but, now that I've googled it, I see what you mean and love the idea!

The base to the right of the stove is 15". If I ditch the wall ovens, I could swap out the cooktop with a double-oven stove to get the same functionality. In case it gives more info, it doesn't show in the kitchen drawings, but I was planning on a lazy susan in the corner.

What are your thoughts about the island and half-wall cabinets?

Pix of my current kitchen are below...Really not too terrible, but not my style and lacking in counterspace/storage.
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

Hi blfenton - I just posted pix of my current kitchen to give a better idea of kitchen layout. The doors in the drawings actually are pocket doors, so no concern with walking space.

With my current layout, it is very cramped particularly between island/fridge. I am planning on CD fridge, but haven't picked out anything yet....didn't think of advantage of French doors until you brought it up, thanks!

For the island, it would be a narrower than what I have. The plan would be 2ft to give more clearance. The walkway is busy since it leads to our office, but with CD fridge and 2ft island, I would have at least 36". Given this, do you think it's better to nix the island or do something different?

If the aisle widths work for you now and you are making the island narrower then perhaps you'll be fine. Really, your only other option is to make a peninsula and with the window where it is I'm not sure that is an ideal solution for you, as I suspect you will lose counter space.

Just make sure that you don't put the island in front of the fridge because you don;t want to block your way from the fridge to the sink. And I wouldn't make the island any longer than what you have now.

If the proposed counter overhang will be into a sunken room please double check the height and usability of that counter from that sunken room, ease of getting stools, sight lines into the kitchen, etc.

On the half wall, were those 12" cabinets? Will you still have the dinning table in the kitchen?what are your clearances for the table with the proposed 1/2 wall of cabinets?

I too have a small kitchen. So I know the struggles to find storage and a few inches of prep space! A true counter depth frig made a big difference in my small space. Good luck!

Honestly, I think the breakfast bar area may not be very useful, being separated from the rest of the kitchen by a regular table & chairs.

Also, I would definitely play around with extending the island towards the eating area.

Do you need both an island w/ seating and a table-seating?

If not-- you could make the island much longer, and add seating on two sides at the family-room end (the short bottom side, backing up to the family room, and the bottom part of the longer side) And then, you could add hutch-style storage (or even just a bookshelf) to the left of the window, and a window seat w/ deep drawers below the window.

Or, if you want to keep table seating, you could do a banquette under the window and on the half wall. Chairs on the other two sides. W/ this (as opposed to a free-standing table), you could probably still make the island longer to gain counter space there. Plus, you could use the benches as storage. (Even if it's just drawers that you access from the ends, rather than the long sides)

Here is a link that might be useful: [Window seat next to long island[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/roof-top-penthouse-transitional-kitchen-omaha-phvw-vp~3523605)

more pics-

window seat in front of lower window - https://www.houzz.com/photos/window-seat-eclectic-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~235653-Seat-eclectic-kitchen-boston

window seat running into hutch - https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-dining-room-eclectic-dining-room-san-francisco-phvw-vp~45619-dining-room-eclectic-dining-room-san-francisco

drawers in ends of banquette - https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-nook-contemporary-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~2478483-Nook-contemporary-kitchen-san-francisco

I like that you're taking your new cabinets to the ceiling - make sure you get extra shelves for the uppers, so you can put things away without stacking.

12" and 15" base cabinets are tough - not wide enough for functional drawers, but deep enough that things get lost in the back of cabinets. A 15" is big enough for a trash pullout. One 12" base is good for cookie sheets and cutting boards. I have a 9" base for those things, with a tiny drawer above. If I did it again, I'd have a shelf instead of a drawer, and use it for aluminum foil, rolling pin, other long things.

If the island is in front of the fridge, make sure there is room to install the fridge, and to pull it out. And since CD is still sticks out more than 24", I'd make everything on that wall the same depth as the fridge surround.

You don't have a lot of options on the sink wall - you've already squeezed the sink base down about as much as you can. Perhaps the 12" cabinet on the end can open from the side, instead of the front? Then you have 12" deep shelves, 24" wide.

Make sure you get the best use of the space above your fridge. I put pullouts in mine, and I love them - perfect for lightweight, bulky things, like cereal boxes, paper plates, paper towels, and my giant stock pot.

Corners are tricky too. I've never used a 33" lazy susan. I recommend a Super Susan - the turntables sit on a shelf, instead of a pole, so they can support more weight.

My kitchen was built by a custom cabinet maker, so I could get everything exactly as I wanted it, down to the 1/8".

It's a nice, basic kitchen...with limited potential. With a little out of the box thinking, I believe it could be a lot more useful and very inviting!

What if you moved the fridge to the wall where you currently have the range...and put an oven/microwave in the current fridge location?

Then you could rework the island...adding a round seating area to the end (same height as rest of island) and put the cooktop on the island.

Yes, you would need an island vent (more expensive) or a downdraft...and a backsplash behind the cooktop (at least I would want one) but your seating is far enough away to avoid splatters. And you would have more prep space!

Instead of a table, you would have a couple of stools and room for a comfy chair in the bay window (perfect for looking through recipes) and a little table for coffee/tea. Of course, I would probably have to have a plant next to it...which would just fit into that little empty space.

For the half wall...extend it for extra stools and add a prep/bar sink. Now you have access to the family room AND seating in the kitchen. Hope this helps :) {{!gwi}}From Kitchen plans

Cooktop with island.... {{!gwi}}From Kitchen tables and vintage kitchens

Another island with seating at end.... {{!gwi}}From Kitchen tables and vintage kitchens

This post was edited by lavender_lass on Thu, May 29, 14 at 16:51

Could you post the dimensions of your space with the details of any architecture in place that will not move: windows, walls, doors etc. Maybe you would get other creative ideas for your space?

LL, I always appreciate your outside the box input.

Jen- Thank you! :)

Wow! Thanks everyone for all your great ideas! This is exactly why I love this forum.

Lavendar_Lass- Your redesign is something that I haven't thought of before, but definitely leaves me interested. :)Really like the rounded end of the island.

Jennifer132 - I modified the kitchen layout to try to give more dimensions. The doors/windows are things that I need to keep due to budget. But I'm open to replumbing/rewiring.

Elizardbethday - I'm not committed to having island w/ seating and a table-seating. My original wish was to have a long island with seating at end, but KD said that a 2ft wide island wouldn't allow this. With some of the great suggestions here, I think that maybe I could revisit this.

I think a 2ft wide island would be fine for seating, as long as the seating end has legs rather than cabinets. And I would probably choose stools with no backs, so they could be pushed under the island for higher traffic times.

The rounded-end island seatings are nice. I have a similar layout as your kitchen, and have placed a priority on preserving straight traffic patterns. So I would choose storage along wall (hutch + drawers under window) + straight island w/less roomy seating. Over roomier seating that juts into traffic aisles. But i have high traffic on both sides of my island, and you dont really. so that may not be as big a concern for you.