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nancyjwb

I need your expert layout advice!

nancyjwb
9 years ago

Hi, I am new here and I feel like I've discovered a whole new world! You are all so passionate about kitchens and so knowledgable. What a resource.

We are moving to this house in a few weeks and while there are things I love about the house, the kitchen is not one of them. It is all interior, no windows and a main walkway from garage entrance to the main part of the house. To the west, there is a large room with 3 windows that would make a great kitchen. It is not completely ideal since it is quite a distance from the dining room, but it is IMO the best option without getting into major remodel: tearing out walls, etc. It is an almost completely blank slate; the 3 windows are below countertop height but my handy DH and his dad can move them fairly easily.

We are a family of 4; an 8 month old and a 3 year old. I cook most meals from scratch without help (at least from an adult!). We will not put in this new kitchen unless we do decide to make this our forever home. We do entertain frequently (ish). When we do it is semi formal in that we eat at a dining table. So I do want some room for help and/or company in the kitchen, but I don't mind being isolated from the living area while cooking and cleaning up.
At some point I wold also like to tear out the laundry closet and the exterior door that is adjacent and put in a banquette seating area for everyday/family meals and for kids or guests to sit and keep the cook company.
I have put a lot of thought into this layout and gotten a lot of ideas from reading other layout threads. But I'm sure there are things I am missing. Please critique away!

Comments (13)

  • nancyjwb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    That's if you can see anything on my crappy diagrams!

  • _sophiewheeler
    9 years ago

    What's your location in the country? What's your budget for your project? What foundation type does the home have? Moving everything is not going to be cheap or easy, and I'm not loving the relationship of that space to the rest of the home. It's a dead end space away from the action of any family room or dining area. It's not social. Not unless you also tack on a big family room addition and now you're at a 200K project.

  • annkh_nd
    9 years ago

    What would you do with the existing kitchen space?

    Do you need a formal dining room? I see a space 16' x 22', if you move out the laundry. That would be adequate room for a kitchen/dining room. My kitchen/dining space is 11' x 24', and while not huge, it's plenty big for us.

    The door from the kitchen directly to the bathroom is a bit awkward. Is that the only bathroom on this floor? If not, you could move the door to the bedroom.

  • Buehl
    9 years ago

    I would not recommend removing the Laundry Room unless you plan on moving it elsewhere (near the bedrooms where most laundry comes from would be ideal).

    What I don't see here and that I recommend, is a Mudroom with cubbies for your children's backpacks, jackets, a closet for the family coats, and, possibly, a Message/Command Center for keys, purse, mail, etc.

    Before being able to comment on the move of the Kitchen - could you post a layout of the entire first floor? Where is the Family Room/Living Room?

    I do see what you mean about all the traffic going through the center of the existing Kitchen...it would probably drive me crazy! (Actually, we had a situation close to that and it did annoy me! That's why we have two peninsulas now - they direct the traffic away from my main work area (Prep & Cooking Zones).)

  • nancyjwb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    hollysprings- Thanks for your input! We are in western Kansas. I don't know how costs are compared to other areas. But we should be able to do almost all the work ourselves except for major electrical and a gas line. We want to keep it at 20K. The room is an addition in the last 5 years with a basement underneath. No it is definitely not ideal in that it is separated from the living areas, but if we add in banquette seating we would not have to use the dining room more than a couple times a month at most. That end of the house does look out over the large vegetable garden so I think that will be nice.
    annkh- Thanks for your input! I had envisioned the existing kitchen space as a mudroom area: a bench, hooks for coats, maybe a closet, an all around landing area. If we move the laundry, that would be the spot for that too, but behind closed doors. Maybe a 4 foot deep closet to contain clutter. Won't be the handiest for getting food to the dining room, but I think if we have family seating in the kitchen, I can handle that every now and then. The living room is a small formal space at the front of the house, so the dining room will be an extension of that, with a piano and a dining table for projects and kid art. That is not the only bathroom, there is one more centrally located between the bedrooms. That is the master bath and it is open to the bedroom through the closet.
    I would welcome your input on the layout and flow of the proposed new kitchen.

  • nancyjwb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Badly out of scale, but this is the idea!

  • nancyjwb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    buehl- thanks for your input! The laundry would go to the existing kitchen area and that would also be a landing area for coats, shoes, etc. I think it would be hard to cook in that dark alley kitchen with traffic back and forth when that large bright room is up for grabs. My aunt and uncle lived here and added this space. They used it for a sewing room, office, etc. But I think I would rather have a large kitchen! Even if it is off the beaten track!

  • Buehl
    9 years ago

    Just a thought - what about making the center bedroom the kitchen and moving that bedroom to the addition? The bathroom already opens into the addition and you could move the closet door to the other side.

    That would make the kitchen more central to the house and closer to the DR and LR, but out of the main traffic area. The Laundry could stay where it is and you can turn the old kitchen into a Mudroom/Command Center.

    You wouldn't need the extra seating - you could use the DR every day - which means you would not have a room (the DR) that was unused space most of the time b/c it's rarely used.

    If you wanted to take that entire space for the new (master) bedroom - that would make a very nice size bedroom. Depending on the size of the garage, you could carve out a space for the Laundry Room - insulating it, of course!

    Like this:

    (I don't know where the door to the center bathroom is, so I put in two possible doors. Personally, I'd rather have it on the "bottom" wall so it's accessible without going through the bedroom on the right.)

    You did not show any stairs, so I'm assuming the first floor is it - with no other bedrooms. However, you mentioned a basement under the addition - is it accessible from inside or is it only accessible from outside?

    Is there a basement under the rest of the house?

  • nancyjwb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Buehl- thanks for putting some thought into this. I've posted a new layout- much closer to scale and adding in the stairway (up and down) that I forgot! There is a large multipurpose room in the basement, and upstairs is two more bedrooms and a bath. Your idea is a great one.. If my layout had been accurate.:/ But that bedroom is smaller than I showed it, plus separated from the dining room by two stairways. So it would still be isolated- but more cramped! It had been suggested that we put the kitchen in the dining room space, but I don't think I would like that: too central, too many openings, etc. I actually think my original proposed layout can work with the addition of an everyday meal area. Could you comment on the flow and function of the new kitchen as I have it drawn?

  • tracie.erin
    9 years ago

    I also really don't like having the kitchen separated from the rest of the house. I wouldn't buy a home that had this layout and I think you will grow to hate it.

    Is there any way the kitchen can go into the top right bedroom? I'm thinking an island galley or L + island layout that would be open to the living room. According to your first layout, the house is 23' deep, and if 1 square = 2' in your most recent full-house layout, that bedroom is 14' x 10'. You can do an island layout by putting the fridge and range on upper wall and sink/DW in island, or I believe you can do an L + island layout by putting a corner sink, DW, range and fridge all on back and left or right wall, then leave the island clear or add a prep sink.

    You would lose two closets by opening that space to the living room, but making the current kitchen into a mudroom as Buehl suggested would make up for that.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    i think you ought to live there for a period of time...

    and decide if the investment will repay itself ....

    it looks like you want to put a very expensive kitchen in a two bedroom house ...

    when you will need a 3 bedroom house in the future ...

    unless there is a second level i am unaware of ...

    you clearly stated: We will not put in this new kitchen unless we do decide to make this our forever home.

    until you make that decision.. its not worth putting 10 or 20 thousand dollars into remaking this a 2 bedroom house.. with a designer kitchen ... you may never recoup your investment ....

    my best suggestion... first.. keep dreaming .. if nothing else.. this little dream kitchen.. is part of the next house ...

    but right now ... figure out if the neighborhood is kid friendly.. including schools.. traffic.. neighbors .... etc ...

    if in a year or two... you decide to stay.. that is when you decide to gut half the house.. and build your dream kitchen ...

    you dont mention if the 2 kids are of the same gender ... but mine finally made the teens.. i can not contemplate such in one bedroom ... even if they were of the same species ... think about it... boy/girl.. i dont think so ... teen girl/girl ... good luck with that. .. two boys.. hmmmm... depends on the boys ...

    try not to get caught up.. in the possibilities of peeps who have 4000 sq foot houses.. and unlimited budgets ... been there.. done that ... its wasnt my reality ....

    live there.. enjoy life.. dream about that kitchen.. and when you can move.. make sure the next place.. has a better kitchen to start with ...

    i wish you luck with the babe ... the toddler.. and the new house ... and never lose your dreams [which sorta happened when mine turned teenagers.. lol]

    ken

    ps: maybe in a few years you can bump up.. for a master bedroom up.. and that kitchen out back ...[you dont mention if there is a basement either].... but not if the neighborhood cant handle it.. you NEVER want to end up.. with the best house on the block ... you will never be able to sell it ... in the sense of recouping your investment ...

  • Buehl
    9 years ago

    Ken - this is a 4 BR/3BA home. In the latest post, Nancyjwb stated she left out a key item - the stairs to the upstairs and basement.

    "...and adding in the stairway (up and down) that I forgot! There is a large multipurpose room in the basement, and upstairs is two more bedrooms and a bath..."

  • nancyjwb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Ken- thanks for your thoughts. This house is a 4 bedroom house, potentially 5 if we would do some work in the basement. So it could easily accommodate the family we plan to have.:) It is in the neighborhood where I grew up and is very close to family, so that isn't any question. The only thing that would make us reconsider this house is if another opportunity came knocking that we couldn't pass up. This rural neighborhood house market would not support a kitchen remodel for resale, so if we do this it will be for us only. So resale is not a concern in determining the location of the kitchen.
    Tracie- thanks for your input. I like the idea of the kitchen being so close to the living areas, but I don't want it so far from the garage entrance and backyard with vegetable garden. It is far from an ideal floor plan, but there is a few things I love about the house. Original oak floors and trim, location in the country near my family, plenty of closet space and bedrooms, several baths, etc weigh in on the positive side.