Like many, I have been stalking this forum and getting so much information as I begin my kitchen reno plan. I currently have a 1970's U-shaped kitchen, complete with soffits, cabinets over the peninsula, particle board, etc. The time has come to bite the bullet and bring the kitchen into the 21st century. The kitchen opens to the family room and is adjacent to the formal dining room. We have a traditional center hall colonial. We spend most of our time in the kitchen/family room. The dining room is used at holidays, etc.
The peninsula shape is convenient, but doesn't give me a lot of room or storage and counter space. My KD is advising to get rid of the peninsula, do a partial opening with a knee wall to the DR, put in a 3x9 island that will have storage, room for prep and seating, essentially eliminating the kitchen table.
I've tried to attach both plans but haven't figured out how to do that. The only one you will see is the island. I will send the peninsula separately.
The peninsula plan is an older plan which is essentially just working with what I have now so there would be no opening to the DR and we would keep the closet with the washer/dryer by the kitchen table.
The island is the most recent plan, without the wall and without the washer/dryer. My concern from looking at the plan is that the island is not close enough to the stove or the fridge to justify the prepping function. Should that even matter if I get all that island and storage and open up the floor plan? If I center the fridge closer to the island, then what's the point of opening to the DR? Oh and we will be changing the seating on the island so that the seats are on the end closest to the DR going around the end of the island, instead of being in a row. Should I just stick to the peninsula, but still eliminate the washer/dryer closet to get more storage?

Your thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated!

Have you had a chance to read the "Layout Help" topic in the "Read Me" thread? It describes the information we need to help you find a plan that is right for you and your family.

I have a few questions:

First, though, the turquoise is very difficult read - could you re-post with the turquoise info in black?

1. How far off the floor is the bay window?


2. Are you open to changing any windows (over the sink and/or bay window) or adding/removing any?


3. If you remove the W/D Closet, where will your washer & dryer go? BTW...where is the W/D Closet on the peninsula plan? I don't see it.

BTW...there is also a "Posting Pictures" topic in the "Read Me" thread that describes how to post multiple pictures in a Message.

I'm assuming that the family room is below the kitchen table. Where does the upper doorway go? I don't think that opening up a ponywall into the DR is of any benefit.

I like the idea of the bottom plan and putting a pantry where the current washer/dryer is - but then where would they go?

If you only use your DR for a few occasions, do you still want it or can that space be included into the kitchen reno as well?

In the bottom plan - what about putting your sink in the corner of the peninsula which will give you a bigger prep area between the sink and range. More time is spent prepping these days than doing dishes. You would then be prepping in front of the window but your clean-up area still has lots of light with the bay window there.

Will you be able to find room for the W/D near the bedrooms (ideal) or in your basement (we did this to gain kitchen room as well)?

Is Blfenton correct that the DR is at the "top" and the FR the "bottom" of the layouts?

[OT - the new option for receiving followup posts really does work! I just tested it...]

Thanks for your responses. Sorry it took me so long to respond. Out for July 4th.
I will try to find a way to change the ink to black...not sure how?
The DR is to the right kitchen, right in front of the peninsula. The washer/dryer is in the unlabeled closet toward the bottom of the picture. It is in the location where we want to put the pantry, which you can see in the island plan. The washer/dryer will go to the basement for now. I say 'for now' because I'm not really happy about it, but with an older home, it's hard to find places for it. The door at the top leads to the hallway, which connects to the formal dining room, powder room and stairs to bedrooms. The family room is below the kitchen table, and it is a step-down also.
buehl: The bay window is only about 2.5-3 ft. off the floor. I don't want to change or remove windows as the windows are fairly new. They had to be replaced a couple of years ago due to water damage and I just duplicated what I had.
blfenton: I have thought about putting the sink in the peninsula, but worry about water dripping over the back and splashing onto anyone sitting at the table. Also, getting rid of the DR is something we thought about, but a relative that's a real estate agent didn't think it was a good idea for us. Since our home is a traditional center hall colonial, she felt that her clients look for that formal dining room when they are buying.
dee850: The numbers from the island to sink are 36", so the bare minimum. The aisle between the pantry wall and the island would be 42"...not sure if that's good enough for seating.

It's really interesting how you're all leaning toward the peninsula...that's where my head is at too because of the kitchen size, but I shared the plans at our family gathering today, and everyone thought the island was terrific.

I hope I answered all your questions? Please send me your comments. I really appreciate them!

What made me suggest a sink in the peninsula (I was thinking of the corner where your lazy is but it may fit in the peninsula proper) is because you already have your DR there and it looks like your peninsula is deeper than the standard 24" counter depth so I think you have room. However, just a suggestion.

So, I guess the functionality of the kitchen would be affected by an island because the kitchen is too narrow correct?

I'm making some assumptions here that may not be at all valid in your case. But, you're having trouble designing a kitchen you really like into that space. You have a lovely room for dining that you almost never use. Is the front living room what you think of when you look forward to getting home or also gathering dust?

Yes, center-hall colonials are tricky, but is the way your first floor serving you all you could want? If you could somehow sell seldom-used square footage for $50,000 and the promise of at least hundreds saved each year in expenses, would you? And be happy to live in the downstairs space still left?

With this sort of scenario in mind, to me the first plan makes expensive changes with absolutely no promise of genuinely expanding living into the space available. Enlargement of the kitchen should shift at least one daily meal into the space currently occupied by the dining table, but would it? Or would it just perch you guys on stools and damage the DRM's elegant ambiance? I know the bay is new, but it also looks like a former kitchen and breakfast room that underwent an unfinished transformation--that outside wall an obvious remnant of its previous life. (If you did this, how about doors to a nice brick or stone patio outside instead?)

The second plan is a simple spiffing up of the parts of your house that get heavy living, so I agree it's a good choice if you like the way you live in the rest your house just fine as is. Small kitchens are greatly underrated and can be truly excellent, so once you work out the details to get what you want--excellent. I'm also guessing the coziness of your kitchen dining area is one of its big assets, so that part doesn't need to be larger.

If this were my remodel, though, and if the front rooms were mostly unused, I'd be not be happy with the allocation of my space. People do find ways to make good use of center-halls without ruining their character. Those that do tend to sell very well in most markets. After all, a lot of people who like their look won't buy them because of their space-use issues.

For my own list of wants, I like halls for themselves and would definitely want the center hall as a major feature--with nice views in both directions. I would not want a large kitchen, but I'd want a bit larger one laid out just the way I like it. I'd like two places to dine with different moods, but only if they were both used a lot. One would be decorated nicely enough for seating guests to dinner, but so formally that it repelled us most of the time. (We have this, BTW.) I'd want a living area that multifunctioned for daily living and allowed guests to separate--in actual chairs!--into different conversation groups. If it had to be in 2 different rooms, I'd want good circulation and communication between them. I'd want an inviting, comfy area I could go read while my retired DH watches drag races, and vice versa--he splits while I watch Design Star, (one of those embarrassing things I wouldn't normally admit to). I'd like one living space to be sunny, with doors to the garden, and I'd like another to be just right for snuggling up inside when it was horrible out.

All this in a center-hall with those great corner rooms and a kitchen remodel opening up possibilities, and I'd start by erasing their labels.

I was thinking that if you were willing to change the bay window to a window that's 36" off the floor (if it isn't already), you could move the kitchen proper to where your kitchen table is now.

Then, if you took the wall down b/w the DR and kitchen, you could expand your DR into the kitchen somewhat.

Does the patio go as far as the smaller kitchen window? If so, you could open that up and add a door to the patio there.

Having two eating areas - kitchen table + formal DR is fine if you have the space for both and for them both to be comfortable, but if not, then consider just a DR. Make it a little less formal DR/a little more formal daily eating space. You end up using all the rooms in the home. We did just that. Our kitchen table space was small and when our children reached their pre-teen years we outgrew it. So, when we remodeled, we claimed the table space for the kitchen by replacing our bay window that was 22" off the floor with one that's 36" off the floor and putting counters there. We then took down the wall b/w the kitchen and DR, put a peninsula b/w them and now use our DR for all our meals rather than having the DR rarely used (major holidays only) and ending up a dumping ground for mail, etc.

Where is the sunroom?

Budget...talk to someone about how much it would cost to do some of your ideas. Until you know how much something will cost, don't assume it's too expensive. It might be, but look into it first. In addition, there are other things you can do to save money. For example, you can save quite a bit on cabinets if you get IKEA cabinets (is there an IKEA near you?) If you don't like the doors, you could either order doors from a place like Scherrs or, if it isn't in the budget after the other changes, go with their doors for now and order replacement doors later.

...

Here are two ideas...
(Note: Measurements are approximate since I could not read the turquoise text.)

Layout #1 with an island:

Layout #1 zone map:

...

Layout #2 with a peninsula and opening up the DR completely (cooler and an airier feel):

Layout #2 zone map:

My DM is in surgery so might not be back on right away.

What is at the lower end of the kitchen?

My thoughts are to use a smaller island without seating. Move one functionality to the island. (cooking or cleanup) to get a longer counter run.

Then put bench seating in the bay window room - our GC put our bench under the window and the back will have a piano hinge on it so we can fold it down over the bottom cushion to have full window view.

This is our incomplete bench before back and cushions. The pillows are leftover cushions.

Other ideas to follow when back home.

I wish I had found GW before I started the project but had a good KD that wasn't afraid to express her opinion.

She did a plan with a peninsula at my request and then asked if she could show me her ideas. We tweaked together and she didn't even go ballistic with mid reno ideas including a full height pull out pantry(GW love or hate but perfect for our sports foods and snacks) and adding a pocket door to our real pantry.

Search for a2gemini for many pictures.

If you think any potential I can play with hand drawn ideas.

Lots of fun and decisions downstream. Just when you think you made every possible decision GC will want another choice.

:-)

Normal iPad cryptic and completion matching errors

I am going to be meeting with my KD next Friday. I send him all the wonderul information that I like from GW and I will send him all your wonderful opinions. I think we have to go back to the drawing board. I have reached out to an architect friend to see his opinion also. But I am worried about budget. I hired the KD and already gave him my hiring deposit, so IKEA or anything else is out of the question at this point.

I just want to say how amazing it is that all of you have taken the time to help me with this. I wrote my inquiry on a whim and wow! Thank you so much. I don't know what I will do, but you've all given me so much to think about and investigate. Keep them coming!!