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fourhappy

New kitchen/home remodel

fourhappy
9 years ago

Hi there - I"m new to the site and this is my first time posting. I've been lurking around for a while gaining some valuable information. I was hoping I could post some plans for our upcoming remodel to get some feedback. Here is a bunch of background.

We are starting a remodeling project soon working with an architect right now and about to start getting bids from contractors. We are finalizing the plans with the architect. I am looking to expand my existing kitchen and create a mudroom/laundry room off of the kitchen/garage (in the floor plans the "pantry" is actually my existing mudroom/laundry room combo that comes in from the garage...). We are also doing a bit of an upstairs remodel as well...

DH and I have three children ages 7,5 &2 and # 4 (and final) is on the way due in the spring. This remodel is all for them ;) In the first picture are three possible options for the kitchen area - I think of them I am liking option C the best as the doorway from the mudroom doesn't break up the kitchen flow and allows for more cabinets. In the 2nd picture, its an older version but it shows the full layout of the first floor. The mudroom/laundry in the 2nd photo (which is bigger /longer than the first picture is the one I wanted.

For the breakfast area - we do most of our dinners here and I would like to make that table bigger to a 6 person table so need that updated in the drawing. I prefer a 4 stool counter but not sure if it's too tight, just b/c we will have 4 kids, so for some reason feel the need for 4 stools?? The dining room we actually don't really use that often - for the occasional formal dinner, birthdays maybe and we host Thanksgiving for a pretty large crowd so use it then as well (with tables extending well past the front door to accomodate everyone).

I will have more specifics probably in other kitchen layout posts but don't want to get too wordy (too late?).
Just hoping to get some feedback on the layout as it is and what people think or what I should consider that I haven't...

Comments (14)

  • fourhappy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    House pic #2.

  • desertsteph
    9 years ago

    I'll start with a few things - going on 'C', you have your sink, stove and fridge all on separate walls/counter runs? That's a lot of walking around... The island barricades the sink and stove areas from the fridge.

    Do you plan on a range/stove or cook top and wall ovens?

    Is the table showing to the left of kitchen in the DR or is that just an eating area (part of kitchen)?

    Just that 1 small window in the kitchen?

    Did the architect do up these kitchen layouts?
    From what I've seen posted on this forum by architects they really don't know what works in a kitchen...

    the back door/mudroom area is congested with doors. Are those 2 closets with doors in the mudroom? more doors... how big is the mudroom? is there room for more than 1 person at a time? 4 kids... a tiny mudroom - sounds like trouble to me (I had 4 kids too).

    Is the bdroom in the lower right corner your master bdroom?

    Is the large area on the left the LR (lower part) and DR (upper part)?

    There are no measurements showing for any rooms, doorways, windows, aisles etc.

  • fourhappy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    thanks for posting - here are comments to your questions:

    -I plan to have a cook top and double wall ovens (which aren't shown in the plans)

    -the table showing is an eat in area - the kitchen is open to the family room and that are is in btwn the two (there will be doors there going out to the deck and on the other side are stairs that go down to the basement)

    - the window is two windows currently side by side. I can make it bigger though if I have the space.

    - architect did these plans, have not yet worked with a kitchen designer or gotten to that point yet.

    - the mudroom, i've asked them to make that wider and bump the wall out but haven't seen those plans yet. i think it's narrow too and those are two closets showing (if you look on the 2nd pic it's a longer mudroom showing more cubbie/bench area and 2 closets). I would ideally like 4 spaces for the cubbies for each of the kids and one closet coats and maybe the other utility. but i agree it seemed narrow.

    - no bedrooms on the main floor - all upstairs. when you walk in the front door on the right side is dining room, bathroom, kitchen...on the left is a living room (more formal, rarely used) and a double sided fireplace with the family room on the other side.

    we use the back side of the house more than the front (dining room/formal living room).

  • desertsteph
    9 years ago

    I'd probably put the fridge on the left end of the sink run, move the sink more to the right. And use where you now have the fridge for the ovens/mw and make that a baking area. And definitely I'd have a huge window over the sink area! love lots of natural light.

    I'd also probably rearrange the bathroom/pantry/access to DR.

    Maybe some others will post with some ideas for this - and placement of the fridge/sink/cook top/ovens. Specific measurements will be needed for that.

    How wide is the mudroom? length?

    Will you need a coat closet by the front door?

  • scrappy25
    9 years ago

    Desertsteph's idea would work best with B, esp if the entire counter run is made deeper so that the fridge would not stick out (if not using a counterdepth fridge). That would be a bonus becuase your main prep area will be that between your fridge and your sink.

    Agree that the double ovens can be on the far wall. You could have the MW undercounter on the island closer to the fridge and easier for the grade schoolers to operate.

    The cooktop in "B" needs to be moved sot hat there is adequate counter space on both sides.

    Very exciting for you!

  • fourhappy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    To answer some of the comments.

    Re: coat closet by front door - there really isn't space for it
    On the floor plan the dotted lines by the front door and stairs indicate that it's open to the 2nd floor. I have a center hall colonial as soon as you walk in dining room is right there and living room on other side so no walls for a closet.

    It bugs me that we have to walk around the bathroom to get to the dining room, which is why we prob don't use it much but I can't see anyway of reworking where to put the bathroom.

    The pics are hard to read sorry about that.
    The mudroom is 16'11" in length and 7'7" in width (that's before the closets and built ins/. Of that 16ft number 5'4inches is laundry length

  • fourhappy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    To answer some of the comments.

    Re: coat closet by front door - there really isn't space for it
    On the floor plan the dotted lines by the front door and stairs indicate that it's open to the 2nd floor. I have a center hall colonial as soon as you walk in dining room is right there and living room on other side so no walls for a closet.

    It bugs me that we have to walk around the bathroom to get to the dining room, which is why we prob don't use it much but I can't see anyway of reworking where to put the bathroom.

    The pics are hard to read sorry about that.
    The mudroom is 16'11" in length and 7'7" in width (that's before the closets and built ins/. Of that 16ft number 5'4inches is laundry length

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago

    It bugs me that we have to walk around the bathroom to get to the dining room, which is why we prob don't use it much but I can't see anyway of reworking where to put the bathroom.

    What is the little area facing into the hall and taking up part of the powder room?

    Do you hate the location of the powder room because you can't go straight from the kitchen to the dining room? If the dimensions work, I'd be inclined to get rid of that little closet, make the powder room and the main pantry smaller, and create a corridor (like a narrow butler's pantry, with cabinets or shelves on one side) to provide direct access between the kitchen and the dining room.

  • lavender_lass
    9 years ago

    Maybe something like this?

    I added a prep sink to the island and made the pantry larger. You could open up the pantry to the dining room and make it more of a butler's pantry on one side...if you want an alternate route, away from the powder room.

    Just a few ideas :) {{!gwi}}From Kitchen plans

    This post was edited by lavender_lass on Fri, Oct 24, 14 at 15:39

  • fourhappy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks lavender lass for the work. I will look into the prep sink and adding the fourth stool on the side. I am not sure though about moving the mudroom entrance, the way I am seeing it that cuts off a good amount of our garage which I am not wanting to do. The hall to the mudroom isn't ideal but the other option is making the entrance right into the back of the kitchen breaking up the cabinet line.

  • christina222_gw
    9 years ago

    What's under the stairs? If not a stacked stair going down you've probably got room for either coat closet or a little powder room under there.

  • brightm
    9 years ago

    I've read the thread, but I'm only part way through my first cup of coffee, so forgive me if I missed this.

    Is the footprint of the house basically staying the same except for the addition of the mudroom/laundry which is being added on to the back of the garage?

    Lavendar Lass' (Lass's?) path through the kitchen is so much more workable than the others, I'd do something to make that work. You're afraid to lose room in the garage, and I absolutely get that. Is there a way to figure out what kinds of things you'd be losing space for in the garage and work that in to what is being added on?

    In every plan, the mud/laundry addition is not as wide as the garage. If it were the same width, could that make up for the interior garage space lost, whether some of the items are stored on the house side or whether that ended up being a bump out from within the garage, a garage closet so to speak for sports gear or something.

    We just remodeled our kitchen and there are just two of us, so we felt much of the advice about traffic etc. didn't apply to us. But...two big Australian shepherds prove to be obstacles in just the wrong place quite often. I'm thinking with a family of 6, traffic needs to be one of your number one concerns.

  • fourhappy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    the stairs on the kitchen side go down to the basement so that is all stairwells there so no room for closets or bathroom.

    the footprint is mostly staying the same, we are expanding onto the back - pushing back the kitchen wall and possibly the family room wall towards the back yard /deck and adding on the mudroom.

    in lavendar's drawing moving the mudroom towards the garage so that the entrance is flush actually cuts off about 1/4 of the garage. it is a 2 car garage with not much room on the sides as it is so that would take away the ability to have 2 cars and not something we want to do. moving the garage the other way towards the front of the house, also not sure if that's something we can do either or would want to do from a cost perspective. I can ask the architect if it's even possible going out that way to the front of the house just so that i know.

    I know that hall way entrance isn't ideal but i figure i could make it work with maybe some spots to place keys/hooks or whatnot and a wall for notes and other stuff.

  • marcolo
    9 years ago

    You can use lavender's plan without cutting into the garage simply by adopting the mudroom configuration from your plan C.