#1) YES on the prep sink. If you have the trained sous chefs (nice job!), make it easy for them to work! :) I'm not sure where would be the best spot...I feel like the stove side is probably better - bottom right corner as I'm looking at the picture.

I think the fridge is fine on that wall...it's close to the water source, in a decent walk path to the island/stove without the island being an actual barrier...I would think about how people who aren't prepping are going to use it, too. Do you see people coming in for a drink/snack from the peninsula side or the side labeled 'open'? B/C imagine you are prepping or cleaning up. If someone wants a drink or snack, you will want them to get to the fridge easily without walking through your space. Another pro to it's current placement - it's close to the m/w there (heating up leftovers, frozen veggies, etc).

One thing - I think you'll want more space next to your cooktop. You only have 12" between it and the oven cab. I'd think about taking out that corner susan and 'eating' the space by making two longer cabs on either wall. I did that with one of my corners and I have a pretty small kitchen - don't miss the susan at all! The corner cab kept me from having a large pot/pan drawer. So we got rid of it (in the plan) and I got a big pot drawer on one side, and a nicer size cabinet on the other side. If you do that, you could go from two smaller/less useful cabs on either side of the cooktop to two 19.5" cabs/drawers - oh the possibilities for storage!! :) And then the other side can become 2 33" drawer bases.

Kathy-thanks for the ideas. People will be coming from both sides to get to the fridge. The kitchen is now the true center of our home. The new family room and deck doors will be on one side and the dining room and living room are accessed from the other. I'm not sure I follow you about the cabinets near the cooktop. ?

I'm going to post a better pic later.

.bump!

I agree with Kathy in that you do need a prep sink closer to the cooktop ... maybe in the island? That is a long way to go between the present sink and the cooktop ... I go back and forth between the sink and stove dozens of times while cooking!

The fridge: Then I think you have to just decide which area you'd prefer it connected to. Personal preference.

Cooktop wall: You only have 12" of counter space between the cooktop and the wall oven. That's too small. Guidelines suggest 18" and people here will say you can live with 15" if needed. And certainly there are those layouts that simply do not physically allow for more. But if at all possible, then you want to try for 18" on either side. That is the space you need to put a hot pan down should something drastic happen. Allows things to be on the counter without bring too close to the hot surface, as well.

Additionally, a 12" cab is considered about the least practical by GW standards. I think people dislike the 12" even more than a 9". It's too big for a 'small' space items (spices, step stool, etc) and too small for big space items (not many sheet pans or cutting boards can fit).

So I'm suggesting you loose the lazy susan and move your cooktop down that wall a few inches so you get 18" cabs (or drawers) on either side. You then could either do a blind corner cab on the other wall (with a fancy pullout thing) or you just sacrifice the corner as dead space. The function of the cooktop wall outweighs the the loss of space in the corner.

Below is mine. That corner - nothing in it. Dead space. I could have put a blind cab, but the cab opening would have been smaller and I would have had to pay for a fancy pullout. And I wouldn't have had a place for my cutting boards and sheet pans. And if I'd had a lazy susan in that corner, the cab next to the stove would have been really small and my pot drawer too small for my stuff.

Just a quick sketch...would something like this work?

The oven and microwave with prep sink are by the fridge, making this a second prep, snack and baking area. The main sink and dishwasher are looking out over the peninsula, with more space around the range/cooktop.

I made the island just a little smaller. How do you plan to use this? I thought rounded corners would be safer...maybe with a butcher block top for cutting veggies and other prep? Just an idea :) {{!gwi}}From Kitchen plans

I seldom disagree with lavender lass but I will this time.

I would put the main sink and DW back where they were and put a prep sink where she has the main sink currently drawn. I would also put a pull-out trash there. I think your natural prep area is going to be in the corner by the cooktop and that area will become very crowded with the DW and clean-up sink added to the area.

In your original drawings put a prep-sink in the BD18.3 cabinet on the left arm of cabinets and pull-out trash to the right of that. You can prep to the left and have easy access to the fridge.

If there is eating on the peninsula and perhaps in the area to the left of the kitchen which may become a homework area then the fridge is in a good spot. How wide is your peninsula going to be? Where it says open, to the right of the kitchen, what is that space going to be?

Blfenton- That's also a good plan. To get more room around the cooktop, I moved the ovens. It just felt too cramped, with dishes in the baking area...but I do a lot of baking.

I'm not really sure how the island will be used. Is that the prep area (looking out to the DR?) or the area with the peninsula? Is the peninsula one level or two? I kind of assumed it was raised, due to the upper and corner cabinets.

It would be nice to have a little more information...is the peninsula the full length of that counter top? Or only up to the upper cabinet? Did I miss this?

Good call on questioning the length and design of the peninsula. Hopefully annam68 will back with more info on that.

jellytoast, I agree...the question is where! It's about 7 steps from the cooktop to the sink. It doesn't seem like much but multiply that by all.day.long. The island size is not set yet. Right now it is drawn as 54x58 but it may get more square, like 54x54. Too small for a prep sink?

Kathy, okay, got it! Sorry. That is what I was thinking you meant. There is no room to move on that wall so...I like that idea! Thank you for the picture.

LL, that's what I was trying to do...just re-think the whole layout. I've never been fond of the wall oven location and the small space on either side of the cooktop. I didn't think it a huge deal since the island is directly across from it but I'd still like more space. I assume the island will mainly be a prep and stopover-to-the-cleanup-sink area. The peninsula will be raised. The length of the peninsula is 73 inches and starts when the upper cabinets end. It will look out to the family room/undecided open area.

blfenton, the prep sink on the peninsula is the latest change we're considering and what brought me to post here! Would it be a good idea to have pull-out trash next to the MW? It's in the end of the peninsula. The area that says "open" is my current kitchen and dining room. It measures 12'3 by 24'3 (we knocked out the wall). It will be our main eating area. The area to the immediate left is pretty much undecided between some easy chairs/end table or homework table. The latter will probably win out. The other is for 20 years from now when we are empty-nesters :-)

I love this. You are all incredibly helpful!!

I hope this drawing is more helpful.

I forgot...the raised part of the peninsula will have a 15 inch counter.

What wall oven configuration are you planning? Is there room to put the MW in that stack? And what are you planning for the island. Or could you put a MW drawer in the island.

This post was edited by blfenton on Tue, Oct 8, 13 at 20:59

The wall oven configuration is just 2 30 inch wall ovens. The MW will go in the peninsula. The island is just cabinets...36 inch drawers and basic 18 inch cabinets. No MW drawer.

In case I read the dimensions right you can have the ovens next to the fridge and then have a 30" cab, 36" sink and the DW. I think the ovens would be less of an obstruction in the clean up area than they would be next to the cooktop.

I would prefer to have the prep sink on the peninsula, but with multiple cooks it might be better to have it on the island, on the top right (your 1st layout) so anyone can use it without disturbing the others preping on the other side of the island or on the peninsula. Maybe one can do all the washing of veggies, potatoes etc. for the others.