Layout for a long Kitchen wall with no windows

9 years ago

Greetings!

GW was helpful on initial feedback and now I need to give the next round of input on placement of drawers/cabinets and appliances. I've made the list of where I would store most things etc. I have a set of questions that I keep mulling over in my head and since my DH has no opinion, thought I would try a little discussion here.

Questions about the main kitchen wall:
- I'm thinking I may need to invest in a fancy hood to create a focal point. Any other thoughts on how to break up such a long wall that has no windows?

- I can't really figure out what I would place in glass cabinets on either side of the range top - ideas? I know the serve a purpose to break up the wall but it also seems impractical.

- I don't think I actually need all the upper cabinets - not sure if there is a natural break in taking out cabinets. Maybe delete them down in the clean up zone and tile all the way to the ceiling?

Questions about the island:

- Based on GW feedback I moved the prep sink in so there is a landing space across from the fridge. Now I'm thinking on the end of the island (across from the fridge) I would have a pull out drawer with toaster / lower level bread drawer. Any better ideas?

- Debating a microwave drawer or put a cheap one in the pantry.

Questions about walk in pantry:

- Appliance question I will ask in that forum but will also mention here. I'm putting in a steam oven (wall) and I'm debating if I forgo a regular oven all together and just stack a convection/micro with the steam oven. Dumb idea?

- Next to the steam oven stack - right now there is a cabinet for food. I'm thinking maybe I should make it open shelves with '12 inches deep for dry food storage and forgo the deeper cabinet with drawers.

- What should go under the windows? I'm thinking of getting rid of the sink. Maybe putting a wine fridge or recycling pull outs.

Comments (5)

M Frederick
Original Author
9 years ago
Picture of the island
M Frederick
Original Author
9 years ago
A overview picture
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blfenton
9 years ago
I can't tell how long that stove wall is but rather than putting glass in the cabinets on either side of the range they can go other places. They can go at the two ends, or you can put glass in just the uppers.

If you wanted to lighten the cabinet load visually what about putting two shelves above the sink. You can use them for either decorative purposes for displaying collectibles or day to day useful displays of decorative mugs, bowls, etc.
berryjam
9 years ago
Hi Fooling!

I'm not one of the expert layout gurus but I have 18' of kitchen without windows too. My kitchen is getting installed now so no pictures but my suggestion is with your uppers some being 14" deep and then 12" deep and then the 12s beside your range hood which I assume will be 24" may get a bit fussy. I would probably keep the ones beside the hood the same at 14" deep.

I made my hood my focal point with smoked glass in the uppers beside the hood and didn't do glass above the sink. But my hood is more centered than yours so I chose to focus on one thing on that run. However you have a nice balance with your hood and glass above the sink that I don't think you need the glass beside the hood, especially if you have nothing to display.

Some may recommend that you put your DW to the right of your cleanup sink so you're not prepping over it. However with the DW being further away, it's a longer trek to put away dishes and I like that the trash is accessible to other people without coming into your cooking zone. I've prepped over my DW for 8 years in two different homes and I'm ok with it. I guess you can think about that.

As for a microwave...I guess it depends on how often you use it and for cooking purposes or just reheating. I'm going to try to eliminate my microwave because I only use it to reheat food. I'll have a steam convection oven that is suppose to reheat food better, but it just takes longer. So my children and I will be learning "patience." I don't know how that will go as the kids get older but they're still young so they may not know any difference by the time they're able to reheat things by themselves. However, I've read that the microwave drawers are well liked on the appliance forum. Another suggestion would be a speed oven (combines micro and convection oven in one). I think if I spent more time thinking about this, I should have done the speed oven and steam convection combo. Voila, 2 ovens and micro and steam!

I just now noticed the windows in your pantry. Are you sure you want to close off this light source from the kitchen with the walls and pocket door? Could you not incorporate this space into the kitchen proper without the walls and door? It would probably mean shuffling of appliances and sinks and then maybe we could incorporate the open shelves. As I said I'm not one of the layout gurus and maybe they'll chime in with great suggestions. With that said they'll need more info from you like how many in your family, what is your style of cooking, etc.

This is my first reno so I'm learning a lot here and thought I could pay it forward by sharing bit from my personal experience. Good luck on your reno!
M Frederick
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you Jams for taking the time to layout your thoughts. A couple of take aways:

- Yes, I was wondering if the varied cabinet depths would appear too fussy for me. Given you called that out...I'm thinking it will be.

- Great idea on the DW - will plan on moving that to the right.

- I'm thinking the glass next to the range needs to go. Maybe open shelves.

- A few other people have asked about making the pantry more of part of the kitchen. I guess I have a hard time visualizing what this would look like (besides my fear of a 24+ foot kitchen wall ;). I will go back to my scratch paper to see if I can take another run at it.

Thanks again!