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jcostello_gw

Floor plan advice

JCostello
10 years ago

I am in the earliest brainstorming stages for my kitchen remodel. I have attached a picture of the floor plan and would love any thoughts.
A couple of thoughts, presently, the sink is on the top wall in the of the attached pic under that window and the gas stove is presently faces the exit door on a wall that runs through the room (that wall is not shown in the pic as I intend to have it removed). I am certainly open to moving both the sink and stove. With respect to that, although not shown in the pic, in the bottom right of the pic there is an exhaust to the outside and the gas line runs under there, so initially it is my thought to situate the stove over there.
Finally, the pic notes if standard height counters were in front of the one set of windows, about a foot of that window would be hidden. I would prefer not to make any changes to either windows as the exterior of the house is brick.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Comments (21)

  • deedles
    10 years ago

    You could draw in some possible layouts in your current thinking and post them, rather just an empty floorplan. You'd probably get more input. Sometimes too people ask for the whole floorplan so as to see how the kitchen relates to the whole house. Just some thoughts.

  • Ram1
    10 years ago

    Whether you prefer single story or multiple stories, and all the kitchen on the top floor choosing a perfect plan can be stressful. Here are the tips to help you decide on a plan right for your family.
    Choose a floor plan that suits your lifestyle.
    Do you entertain often or rarely?
    Do certain functions of your home need special accessibility?

    This post was edited by Ram1 on Tue, Jul 30, 13 at 7:07

  • herbflavor
    10 years ago

    can the dining room be switched with the kitchen?

  • dilly_ny
    10 years ago

    Can any if the doorways be moved to the left or right?

  • debrak2008
    10 years ago

    Attached is the "new to kitchens" thread. It will answer a lot of your questions and tell you need to post to get the most help.

    Here is a link that might be useful: new to kitchens thread

  • tracie.erin
    10 years ago

    I'm seeing fridge with tall pantry cabinets in bottom right corner, range in bottom left corner, and sink and DW in an island. You can swap the fridge/pantry and range if you like since the gas line and exhaust is already at the bottom right.

    You have enough room to have seating at the island if you like. 15" minimum for that overhang so island sitters are comfortable. If it will be a big hangout spot, put the overhang on 2 or 3 sides instead of just one - it's better for conversation than sitting all in a row.

    Your aisles would be: 48" left, 48" right, 48" top, 46" bottom. You can adjust these if you like.

    Your island would be 126" long by 40.5" deep. If the range is in the bottom left corner, I suggest the following layout for it from left to right: drawers, and cleanup sink then DW at the very end. FLIP that layout if you put the range in the bottom right corner instead of the left. It's important to separate cleanup from prep and cooking.

    AnneNJ had low windows like yours and also did a floating island in front of them. Her kitchen is less wide than yours but I hope this helps you visualize somewhat. You would have an adequate walkway between the island and the window wall.

    Here is a link that might be useful: the rest of AnneNJ's finished kitchen

  • JCostello
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the thoughts so far. I think maybe leaving a complete blank canvas may have been a bit silly on my part. That stated, tracie.erin pretty much landed on what I had been thinking. I have attached a drawing for some thoughts. Not shown in the pictures is that I think I would have the side of the island away from the appliances be an overhang for seating rather than cabinets.

    As for a few of the other points/questions people brought up, I am willing to do some serious changes, moving the kitchen to another location is not one of them (its a center hall colonial and changes like that would throw everything off). As for the moving of doorways, the door to the dining room could be shifted along that wall or widened. The other doors are stuck where they are.

    Two of my concerns about the floor plan that I've included are (1) the relative lack of wall cabinets, and (2) that aesthetically, I'm not sure of the look with the windows. Again, the one on the left of the drawing is low like the ones in the pic tracie.erin posted, which I like. However, the window on the right is a countertop window presently in front of the sink. Would it look okay with nothing in front of it? And would it look okay next to the lower window?

  • herbflavor
    10 years ago

    might consider closing up the upper right window. the 8 or 9 feet of window on the left along with a door which could contain glass and at least part of the year sit open with a screen[storm] door along with widening passage to dining area is a lot of daylight streaming in for a smallish space. Then you'd have about 9 feet and can form an L on the upper right, giving you more options. Is bricking in a window very expensive or tricky or anything?

  • tracie.erin
    10 years ago

    I personally would not mind having the windows being different sizes. You can always put a shallow console table (maybe a half-moon style) under it and style it, or maybe a cabinet, or even just an extra stool with a vase of tall branches like AnneNJ.

    If it really bothers you.. I know you said the exterior of the house is brick, but maybe you could think about replacing the window on the upper right with one that matches the left. I would think that removing brick should be less expensive than adding (and matching) it. The visual connection to the outside would be amazing.

    edit: I would center the fridge on the pantry wall. It looms over that doorway and it and the dishwasher open into one another.

    This post was edited by tracie.erin on Tue, Jul 30, 13 at 12:35

  • herbflavor
    10 years ago

    not sure about mismatched looking windows, tracierin. A lot depends....but in the inspiration pic you show I think it works because there are 3 equal windows. the threesome is a strong design statement.....get down to two windows and they don't match at all and all bets are off.

  • tracie.erin
    10 years ago

    I just have a hard time imagining an 18' wall filled with a 9'ish and a 6'ish window looking bad :) Perhaps I have an ideal situation pictured in my mind's eye.

    OP, would you post actual pictures of the window wall as it exists today so we can help you decide?

  • JCostello
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    First window - on the left side of the drawing.

  • JCostello
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Second window - right side of the drawing.
    You can see the wall in both that will be removed.

  • tracie.erin
    10 years ago

    Well, darn. A bay and a double hung.

    Honestly OP I would want the best kitchen I could get out of that space and I STILL would not care if the windows didn't match. Put a console or extra stools under the shorter window to ground it, maybe put drapes on the one but a roman shade on the other, and call it done.

    If it still bothers you in a few years you can change it around then. I would not close up either window because I don't think it would do much for the kitchen. I might consider putting in two tall, matching (width as well as height) windows.

    If you really want to do something about it now I would consider nixing the door on the bottom right and putting a french door where the shorter window is. That would give you an L for the range at the bottom right (or better, a longer straight run of counter on the right wall), keep the rest as is.

  • RoRo67
    10 years ago

    Without knowing the exact location and size of the windows, doors, and cased openings, it is difficult to come up with a plan. I did one where the stove is where the gas line is with a lazy susan in that corner, then a cabinet, then the refrigerator. Next to the stove on the other side (by the door going into the hall), there is another small cabinet. I Next on that wall, I put a tall pantry 18", then a 36" cabinet or desk (could be used as a coffee station also), then another pantry. That brings us to the cased opening into the other room. If you could expand that, it would make the room feel much larger. Under the windows on the back side of the house, I put a small table. Next to that, between the two window units, I put a cabinet, the dishwasher, the sink, then another cabinet. This makes for a functional kitchen. It can be any decor depending on your choice of cabinets, flooring, countertops, plumbing, appliances, etc. The kitchen isn't really wide enough for an island and a peninsula, I think, would cut it off. Now if you were able to take that entire wall out where I put the cased opening, you might be able to have a peninsula to separate the two rooms, but then you have the bay window that wants a table and chairs in front of it.

  • JCostello
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I am continuing to play with ideas. I would love people's thoughts on this plan. That is the sink in the upper right and the oven in the lower right. My thought would be to have seating around the island on the top left and left sides. The main issue of course is the space between the island and the other counters - 3 feet at the top and bottom- which would be a couple inches shorter for where the refrigerator is. This is with an island that is 39 inches wide. In searching on this forum and elsewhere, I have seen some people say 3 feet is the minimum. Has anyone had any actual experience with that amount of space?

  • palimpsest
    10 years ago

    It's a pain to Fill In when changing window sizes, but not as much of a pain to cut from the window sill Down to lower the sill height of the window. Is That a possibility?

    With 13.5 you don't have room for an island + 2 counter runs.

    132" - 51" (two counter runs including overhang) =81"

    81" - 72" (a Minimal aisle on each side of island 2 @ 36") = 9 inches of depth for an island.

  • JCostello
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Or maybe this one makes more sense. With this, I do not have the island braking up the work triangle, and the narrow cabinets on the upper right (13 inches deep) would make the window there make more sense. With this plan, the island would still be 39 inches, but it would allow for 3.5 feet between the island and the other countertops.

  • JCostello
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    palimpsest, I have been thinking about putting in a new window so it has a lower sill like the other one and then match a bit better in terms of scale. One thing with your numbers, you note that my kitchen is 13.5' wide, but then start with 132", but 13.5' is actually 162", so that adds 30" to your final number, meaning the final number would actually be 39" for the island rather than 9". Or am I missing something?

  • palimpsest
    10 years ago

    You are right, sorry. I started with 11.5 for some reason.

  • angela12345
    10 years ago

    Not shown in the pictures is that I think I would have the side of the island away from the appliances be an overhang for seating rather than cabinets.

    You could have 24" cabinets on one side, 12" cabinets on the other side, with an additional 12-15" overhang for seating. You would store rarely used items in the 12" cabinet side that you access by sliding the stools out of the way.