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zone4newby

Just getting started with kitchen design

zone4newby
11 years ago

I'm attaching a rough sketch of what I think we want to do. I used the ikea kitchen planner, but we will have custom cabinets, so please ignore the "filler" cabinets I added. Also the island will be basically square with the ledge by the stools at bar height.

This is for new construction-- the red boxes on the walls are where the walls are actually not there (sorry for not figuring out how to use the planner correctly). The smaller passageway next to the fridge leads to the mudroom, and behind the stools is open to the dining area and then beyond that, the family room space.

I'm thinking that I'll store dishes in the wall cabinets closest to the dining area, and keep snacks in the pantry, so that I can keep traffic in the main part of the kitchen down to a minimum. We plan to have a small beverage fridge in the island, facing the bottom of the page. We'll have some storage in the mudroom around the corner for rarely used and bulky items. I'm worried about having enough space.

One odd thing in our plan-- we are hoping to put a downdraft range in front of a window (anyone have any experience/reviews of jennair ranges?).

We do cook dinner from scratch almost every night. We have three kids at home, and they will sometimes help, so a kitchen that can work for 2 cooks is ideal. We bake only occasionally, and when we entertain it tends to be fairly causal. We will have 9 foot ceilings and the tallest wall cabinets I can get.

Thanks for any feedback! It's easiest to fix things when it's all on paper. :)

Comments (11)

  • Fori
    11 years ago

    I think I'd want the DW out of the corner, even if it means swapping the range and sink.

    Also, since this is not a huge kitchen (I approve) and you're doing custom cabinets, consider extra deep cabinets, like 18" uppers over 30" lowers. Looks mostly the same, but the additional storage and counterspace are useful in a smaller kitchen.

  • _sophiewheeler
    11 years ago

    Put the DW to the left of the sink, and place windows to either side of the range, not behind it. You could also do a to the counter hutch type storage to the far left and just unload the DW straight into the china storage there. I'd swap the pantry and fridge so that the fridge's doors can fully open, as well as narrow it up to make it a pull out. That's more efficient storage than a swinging door type pantry, and you really need a bit more room around the range. Put a small prep sink on the island and you now have a kitchen that at least 3 people can work in without stepping on each other.

  • dilly_ny
    11 years ago

    I don't know about range in front of window, but I think you should swap the fridge and pantry so that you have counter next to the fridge.

    I have a similar sink and range layout. If I had placed the DW to the left of my sink, then I would have put the trash on the right. This left a narrow space between corner cab and trash and I would have a filler. I opted to keep the DW on the right side (I am right handed and that's my preference anyway) rather than have the filler. Plus my table is off to the left and I like the trash, sink, DW lineup for ease of clean up (scrape, rinse, DW).

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    You can use a conventional range hood in front of a window, you know:

  • zone4newby
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Angie-- what hood is that? Most hoods seem to either be really wide and meant for an island or need to be attached to the wall right at the level of the blower.

    The reviews we're finding for Jenn-air has led us to rethink the idea of using downdraft venting.

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    Zone4: It is a Miele da249-4. It was pretty expensive, but I got a deal on eBay. However, I don't think the mounting was all that unusual. What I did was to extend the board upon which it mounted a few inches below the top of the window. I used a 1x12 (I think) for the mounting board, screwed that to some studs, and screwed the hood to the 1x12.

    Here is a closeup. You can see the 1x12 hanging down below the top frame of the window:

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    Oh, one more thought. I have linked a thread that shows a number of ranges in front of windows. This thread was my inspiration as I was designing mine.

    In looking back over that thread, I notice that many of the hoods are mounted quite high. I like that my mounting is able to position the hood at a normal height. (I think mine is 32" from the cooktop.)

    Here is a link that might be useful: thread on ranges in front of windows

  • deedles
    11 years ago

    Of course, Angie. Duh.

    Thanks!

  • mrspete
    11 years ago

    I'd move the dishwasher to the left of the sink. As a couple other people have mentioned, having it in the corner is problematic because you can't stand there and reach the upper cabinets.

    I would not move the range under the window, as some people have suggested. I think the glass would always look grimy from grease splattering.

    Finally, I'd switch the pantry and the refrigerator. I HATE my current refrigerator in the corner because the door on the wall side will not open up all the way. This means I can't get the crisper drawers out, and I can't pull the shelves all the way forward. In your plan, I don't see that the pantry in the corner is positive or negative -- but moving the fridge out of the corner is a huge positive.

  • zone4newby
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the feedback everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long to come back to this. The sink-dishwasher-corner set-up is identical to my current kitchen, and it works for me. I use the upper cabinets between the sink and stove for ingredients, so I don't need to get into them while unloading the dishwasher. My plan is to keep dishes in the upper cabinets to the left of the sink, because those are closest to our dining area.

    We've decided against the downdraft range, but still plan to have the range under a window. I want two windows in my kitchen-- one over the sink and one over the range. Placing the windows anywhere else will mean losing storage and I don't want that. I'm not too worried about the grease splattering issue-- if it looks grimy, I can wash it. Thanks for all the inspiration pictures!

    The fridge isn't actually in a corner, it's at the edge of our kitchen, but next to a hallway (I couldn't see how to show doorways with the software I was using). I will be careful that we can open the doors fully, however, I lived with that a couple houses back. I'll take a look at the different pantry options.

  • Buehl
    11 years ago

    I strongly suggest moving the DW to the left side of the sink - it's in the middle of the Prep Zone. That means no one can cleanup or get to the DW to load/unload it while someone else is prepping. In addition, it's not fun to work over/in front of a running DW!

    In fact, I would also move the DW and sink to the left to gain more prep space in the Prep Zone (b/w the sink and range).


    Just b/c you have something now and you can work with it, does not mean it's the "best" layout. I think you will find that if you move the DW to the other side of the sink that your layout will be even better! Isn't that the goal of designing a new kitchen - making it better than previous ones you've had?

    One can learn to live with/work with just about anything and, sometimes, not realize that we're "making do" b/c we can't do anything about it. When we make it better, we later wonder why we put up with the old for so long or at least realize that we were making do!

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