Here is the fridge and oven wall. I like how my designer staggered the cabinetry so it won't look like a big SS cube.

Are you ok with prepping in front of the dishwasher? I had it that way in my old kitchen. It was ok but I switched the dishwasher and sink in the remodel. I realize that you probably want the sink in front of the window, though.

Like it.

I know that prepping over the dishwasher may be less than ideal, but I'm sure it was placed here to avoid putting it in the corner, which causes problems with upper cabinet access.

I like the sideways bookcase.

I do not like the wine glasses on the end of the cabinet. All I can see is broken glass on the floor every time someone carries a grocery bag a little too close.

I didn't want to move plumbing, so it stayed it the same place - I am used to it. I am also limited to moving things because of an eight foot patio door and four other doors in the area.

My wall ovens are currently where the MW will go. The fridge is not moving, and I have a hutch where the wall ovens are going. The hutch will live on the EIK side of this room.

Do you have a big walk in pantry elsewhere? Because there is zero easily accessed hidden storage here. Everything is on display. Are you OK with dusting that much?

Looks very nice. I love the offset fridge/oven cabinet and the shelves on the side. I don't see the problem with prepping in front of the DW. The only misgiving I would have is those high horizontal open display shelves on both sides...I just think "unreachable dust collector."

There are only two of us, and I mostly cook from scratch. I do have a pantry right off the kitchen from one of those four doors that go into the space for canned and paper goods.

I want open space. My prep dishes and mixing bowls were mostly bought from art shows, and I have Le Creuset, that I have collected over the years. These things are too pretty to hide behind doors.

I also want to quickly grab what I want while I am cooking, so I should turn over items enough so they won't get dusty.

I think keeping the same footprint may cost you too much, LoPay. You really need to think about what YOU want ideally, not what you are used to, since you are going to be spending a lot of money on this kitchen. I started thinking I was going to save money by not moving anything, and I ended up spending $1,200 to move my sink. I found the money in my budget by spending less on other things that mattered less to me. That single move improved the entire kitchen. Sometimes it's money well spent to move something to make the entire kitchen more efficient and useful.

Personally, I could not stand to prep in front of the dishwasher. DH cleans up as I cook, and there's no way he could do that if the dishwasher were in the prep area. You could get dishdrawers and move the dishwasher into the space on the right side of the corner cabinet next to the stack of drawers that contains the microwave (assuming you have 24 inches there). Dishdrawers don't pull out as far as a regular dishwasher, so they are easy to use in a corner situation. That's what I had in my old kitchen, and what I'm getting in my next kitchen. For me it was perfect. I absolutely hate leaning down to open and close and fill my regular dishwasher!! Moving the dishwasher wouldn't cost that much, and it could make your kitchen much more efficient.

I'd think about all the open shelving. It would mean a lot of dusting. I hate dusting, so that wouldn't work for me. Also, do you have enough storage? Open shelves can be pretty, but you can't store a lot of stuff on them.

I am not crazy about the pot rack. It looks dated to me, but I've never used one, so it may be very practical. And it's open, so you don't lose much light.

Have you thought about putting the cooktop on the peninsula? If you did you'd need a hood, which would block light, but it would give you a lot of open prep space between the cooktop and sink and you could leave the dishwasher where it is. You could raise up the eating bar just a few inches to separate it from the cooking area. If the floor joists run the right way, you could route the vent straight out the outside wall (assuming nothing's in the way). That might not be that expensive, and would add a wow factor if you have a snazzy island hood over the peninsula.

If there's enough space, I would put the fridge where the wall ovens used to be. That won't cost anything because you just plug in the fridge, and you can get water easily to the fridge from the sink. Then I'd put a counter and upper and lower cabinets next to the wall ovens where the fridge is now so you have some landing space for the wall ovens and some storage space for baking materials. You could put the microwave on a shelf above the counter. I'd loose the bookcase next to the wall ovens because it's inefficient storage, and make the counter wider so you'd get more storage in upper and lower cabs.

I'd swap out the wine rack for a bookcase at the end of the peninsula. I love to cook and have a lot of cookbooks, and never enough space for them. I like glasses and wine at eye level or higher. Could you squeeze the wine rack in above the fridge (if you put it where the microwave is now). It would be more practical there, or maybe over the counter next to the wall ovens (in my imagining of your kitchen).

If the fridge won't fit where the microwave is now, I'd leave it where it is, but put the wall ovens back where they were in a stack with the microwave. I really don't like putting the fridge next to the ovens with no landing space. Plus it's very energy inefficient, especially if you like to bake and use your ovens a lot.

HTH!

I think it looks charming! The open storage is great and I would do a lot of the prep at the peninsula...where you can talk to (and have help from) people on the stools :)

If the fridge and ovens have a handy 'landing' spot, I think you have a winner!

LoPay, I agree with nixing the wine glasses, but I like the wine bottles in that spot. I am a creature of habit and have always prepped between my sink and range/cooktop. In my kitchen that area is really small, so I often end up finishing prep work on the other side of the sink, in front of the dishwasher. I don't find that to be a problem at all. Where is your landing area for the fridge and ovens? Is the peninsula close enough to act as one? Overall, I think it looks really functional and well designed.

looks great!!! is your pull out trash bin in between your dishwasher and range? you can consider have a drawer on top (for saran wrap) and bottom is trash. I found it super convenient that my prep space is 1. next to sink, 2, in front of cabinet that is top drawer with saran wrap, and bottom is trash. in that case, I can throw away anyway right away when i finish cutting.. and i can pull out saran wrap right away to wrap the left overs stuff.

Depends on how much u like to display all your cookware, your kitchen will probably look bigger and more open if you don't do the cookware rack and just put them under your range.

'I do not like the wine glasses on the end of the cabinet.'

do you have any pets? kids that visit?
pretty things can be seen behind glass cab doors too.

open shelves would never do for me - too much dirt/dust here.

i'd never be able to reach those pots on the rack - or anything on the 2nd shelves.

your fridge/oven area does need a landing space.

Wow! That's going to be a very distinctive and attractive kitchen, LoPay. I don't recall your layout but assume the oven wall's fairly close to the peninsula for landing? In any case, I really like the way the cabinets wrap around and over, also the bookcases.

And I'm definitely admiring the way shelving is used to pull together what could have been a work wall with rather awkwardly mismatched window and hood elements. It's so nicely balanced and is going to be very handsome. What will you display on the upper shelves?

(Regarding the open storage, for those who wouldn't do it, it's worth noting that overall those very simple shelves aren't exactly going to turn that trim, low maintenance kitchen into a burden. Note also that this kitchen has none of the usual recessed or raised panels, no turned or carved wood anywhere, no fancy toekicks with hidden nooks, and so on.)

Did you end up doing 30" counter anywhere LoPay? DW placement may not be optimal for everyone, but cleanup is certainly going to be a breeze.

I'm especially looking forward to pictures on this one. Do you have an installation date yet?

Lovely rendering. Looks like the designer listened to the client, no "there there dear you don't want that".

Hopefully you've informed her that your putting cast iron on the shelves so they can be installed to support the load without exposed brackets.

Not crazy about the exposed stemware. Might put glass doors, stemware on shelves and then use racks as shelves or mount them on the shelves (depending on brand of cabinet- pic of rack attached.)

Might think about a round pot rack - as drawn half is pretty inaccessible. Round is easier to get at, less intrusive to seating and with drawers under cooktop and shelves, I'd expect good storage for pots and pans.

Overall, just lovely.

Thanks for all the ideas folks.

The peninsula is close enough to the wall ovens to work as my landing spot,so I'm good there. I tried a small counter between the fridge and ovens, but didn't have enough room for it to look balanced. I really wanted to keep with wall ovens because I have had both of my hips replaced, and a range would have been difficult for me day in and day out. Stacking the MW above the wall ovens was nixed by DH. Also, I am a short person, and the MW would be difficult to use at that height.

My current fridge is 33" inches wide, so I would have lost that run of counter space moving it to wall along the cabinets.

Sadly, the area between the cooktop and ovens/fridge is not large enough for me to put in an island. However, it does leave enough room for me to open the DW door and still walk around it. I am going to have a deeper counter along the wall with the window to make up not having an island. This will also solve having to patch in the floor tile there. Still need to figure out how deep the counter will be.

The pot rack is it its current location. I used to have pendant cabinets there, and had that rack made for that space about 10 years ago. I can't see living without it, it is incredibly functional for me and easy to reach my cookware. It doesn't collect all that much dust either. Every day mixing bowls, LC Dutch ovens, plates, and my cooking spices/oils will go in the open shelves so they are easy to see and reach.

I'm not worried about breaking any wine glasses with new design. I usually only use cheap glasses, so don't care if they break. They will be stored upside down on a hanging rack, so they shouldn't shift around. I have a stand alone wine cabinet now with the same configuration, and don't have any problems. I'm just concerned that this isn't the best use of this space. I would like to see a drawer above it to hold corkscrews, bottle openers, and cocktail napkins. Or, have another cabinet there. I could always put doors on it at a later time.

Our kitchen is smack dab in the middle of our house, so moving any walls or doors would have had a huge effect on the other rooms and our 20K budget. Hoping to start work in late September after AC season so we can close off our HVAC during the work.

Love it! I prep in front of my DW and it's never been a problem. In fact, it never entered my mind until GWers said it was. I can't prep AND load the DW at the same time.

Are you keeping your 33" current fridge?
is the new space for the fridge 33" also?
I recommend making the space 36.5" just so that you are not limited to the same size fridge when this one dies.

In my old kitchen, when the fridge died, I had to get a 32" fridge since that was the largest fridge it could handle. There's not a lot of options for fridge smaller than 36".

My current renovated fridge space = 37", but the fridge is only 32" (from the old kitchen). So I'm building a "temporary" "drawer" for the 4.5" as filler (holds broom, zip loc bags, etc).

Amanda