Proposed Layout

Always draw the chairs and stools.

Always open the doors/drawers.

36" can be very tight for an aisle - particularly one with a dishwasher or refrigerator in it. Dishwasher doors project into the aisle space anywhere between about 20" and nearly 30" for big tall tubs.

Even so called counterdepth refrigerators are rarely 24" deep. Normal refs are about 36" deep and counterdepth - think 30" deep plus the handles. For both sorts, usually the entire depth of the door has to be in front of the counter. Refrigerator doors open to the side of the refrigerator body so they have to be in front of each side. That 36" aisle will already be reduced by 3" for counter top overhangs and then by about another 6" for the ref doors. Other people will use the refrigerator all the time. And the micro all the time - using one prevents use of the other.

Figure out where you'll store the dishes.

Stuff like this can always be adjusted. For instance, exchange the ref and ovens or the pantry and the ref. Or move the stove and ref down the wall, move the pantry over by the ovens. Move the dishwasher to the other side of the sink.

Ask yourself if you have a table and chairs right beside your kitchen, do you actually need the stools or do you need more storage? If you don't have stools, you could have a double depth island.

Does this give you a view from the kitchen sink? Where are the windows?

Do you need a formal dining room as well as a table with full seating in the kitchen, plus seating at the island?

An idea: Can the fridge and or pantries be sunk into the wall between the kitchen and the family room?

I've spent months trying to figure out how best to use our 13' x 14' something kitchen (It always feels like I want just a little. more. room!). 13' feels like it should be big enough to stick an island in it... until you actually try to force it in there. It works, but it has to be skinny, and your aisle widths end up being compromised somewhat.

Here is something that might help if you can push through the walls a little bit. Would you be interested in opening up the wall between the kitchen and formal dining room? This would let you get the clean up sink off the island and keep it as the good prep space that it should be, while providing a nice view while cleaning, if wanted.

I pushed the fridge and pantries through the wall of the family room. Without a whole house layout, I'm not sure if this works or not. I also slid the doorway down between the kitchen and family room. It might be nice to get the microwave into a upper cabinet (or in a MW drawer) next to the fridge with a small base cabinet for landing the food coming out of the fridge and micro. With 4 hungry boys, I'll bet the MW sees a lot of use, so it could be helpful to have it where they can use it without interfering with the main cooking zone.

Since the walkway along the fridge would be narrowed while the fridge door is opened, I eliminated the seating under the island across the way and replaced it with 12" deep storage cabinets. These would be great for canned goods, cereals and snacks. Deep enough to hold a lot, but shallow enough to keep things from getting lost.

If you can sink the fridge into the wall of the garage, I'd consider swapping the fridge and wall ovens, possibly making a baking zone where I stuck the fridge instead. You'd have to evaluate whether it's more important to have the fridge by the cooktop for your convenience, or more important to have the fridge out of your zone so that fridge lurkers would not be in your work space. Or if you use your ovens a lot, then maybe you'd want them more protected behind the island than out in the walkway to the dining room.

Deleted double post. Sorry about that.

{{!gwi}}

This post was edited by laughable on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 14:41

How about a galley?

Garage wall has 15" pullout pantry, 36" fridge, 27" pantry (+MW), 24" cabs on each side of the 36" range and 30" double ovens.

Storage bench for the dining table. 12" deep pantry cabs accross the garage entry. In the island 36" drawers, 15" trash, 36 sink, DW and facing theDR wal,l 12" deep cab for plates, glassses. If you can enlarge the FR doorway island seating would be more comfortable.

I like the idea of flipping the kitchen and breakfast area! Since you have several very good versions of this already...I thought I'd try one that's closer to your current layout.

While I also like double ovens, I think you might benefit from a larger range with two ovens. There's still a pantry on the end by the fridge and a bank of shallow pantry cabinets by the table. I'm hoping you can steal a foot of space in the family room for this and have book/media storage on the other side, facing the family room.

The clean up sink and dishwasher stay under the windows, but now you have a prep sink on the island. I think I'd put the microwave here, too...under the counter.

Just another idea...have fun with your planning! :)

This post was edited by lavender_lass on Sun, Nov 23, 14 at 1:33

Here's another variation that I thought of while making supper last night. I was thinking along the same lines as Lavender, that a large stove with double ovens under it might work better in your kitchen than a separate cooktop and double oven stack. Then you could get the fridge on the long wall with the stove.

The walkway to the dining room could be lined with with a wide (long?), shallow pantry. (If you're comfortable sneaking some space from the family room.) This can be more useful than a smaller, deeper pantry. If you did do this longer pantry, you might not need the 12" deep lowers under the island. Also, since there is no fridge opening into the walkway, you might be able to squeeze in some more seating along the backside of the island.

Just a few ideas. : )

Thank you so much to everyone! You have given DH and I a lot to think about. I agree with Laughable that 13' is just not quite enough for a nice island and acceptable aisle widths. But the idea of sinking things into the family room or moving the opening could be a great solution. Lots to think about ...

Also, it never ceases to amaze me at how generous this group can be. It is no small amount of time and effort to post alternative layouts, detailed analysis, and even computer mock-ups. Thank you so very much!