What's that empty space between the two toilets?

That's a staircase that goes from the upper unit to the basement. The duplex is a little particular in that the basement is divided into 2, with each owner having their separate entry into their respective part.

I'm also curious to know what's in the empty space next to the main bath.

Have you allowed for spacers between cab runs on either side of the range? It doesn't look like you did, which means you may have difficulty opening drawers without banging into adjacent drawers or cab doors.

Also, have you allowed for a cab side next to the DW (you need something to hold up the counter)?

Hard to tell what your aisles are, especially the aisle between top of island and wall and bottom of island and wall. 36" is the minimum I'd go, especially because this seems to be a main aisle.

You don't have a lot of island counter but you do have a nice, long stretch of counter between fridge and range. I'm assuming that's where you intend to do most of your prep.

If you're okay with leaving the laundry in the basement (I'm assuming you have more space for it than in the planned tiny bathroom/laundry area), here's a way to add a powder room that provides a wee bit more separation between kitchen and bathroom.

It's a small bathroom, no doubt about it but it can be done as seen in these images of a 28" x 58" powder room.

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[Traditional Powder Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-powder-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_713~s_2107) by Toronto General Contractors Norcon Home Improvements

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[Traditional Powder Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-powder-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_713~s_2107) by Toronto General Contractors Norcon Home Improvements

The above is a bathroom in Toronto. See the link below for more images and info.

If you can eke out another inch or two in length, that would help.

Reconfiguring the powder room to be off a hallway meant that you'd no longer have door conflicts between exterior door and bathroom door. It also creates more room for pantry cabs (Are you in Quebec province? I ask because the plan is in French. I'm going to start calling my pantry "garde manger." :) ). This move means that you can ditch the 24" tall cab to the left of the range, gaining more counter to the left of the range.

The other possibility is to ignore that angled wall and go with a galley-style kitchen plan like this:

Clearances are tight for opening a drawer in a cab against the wall on the sink run but you can always do a narrow open base cab next to the wall and use it for wine storage or cutting board storage like this:

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[Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators Fiddlehead Design Group, LLC

HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Interior full remodel, Swansea, Toronto, ON

Where's primary prep?

Wow, thanks for the feedback lisa_a!

I think you're onto something and I've made a few revisions to my design. I think I'm going to stick with an island instead of a peninsula because I want people to be able to circulate in and out of the kitchen without too much blockage.

I've gotten rid of the high cabinet and will instead put the microwave on a shelf where the high cabinet used to be. I've also added some measurements which I hope will clarify things.

The empty space is a staircase which belongs to the upstairs unit.

For the two cabinets beside the range, they'll actually be open shelving. I plan on storing cutting boards on one side and cookbook on the others.

The island measurements are a little rough, but there will be a cover panel on the side of the dishwasher (or possibly a countertop waterfall)

I've incorporated your suggestion for the hallway/bathroom and I think things will fit nicely. I've also added a door to the hallway which should help make things even more separate.

I'm indeed in Quebec and there's something to be said about French kitchen terms =).

GauchoGordo, the main prep area will be the run of countertop between the fridge and the range.

Keep the suggestions coming!

{{gwi:1989097}}

It's preferable to have a sink and primary prep on same run of counter. Otherwise you're constantly making 180 degree turns traveling between sink & prep and dripping on the floor as you transfer wet food and hands to & fro, which gets old.

I suppose I could transform the last 30" cabinet before the range into a 15/15 combo with a prep sink in one of the cabinets. That or I could make the cabinet run 36-36-18, with a prep sink in the 18.

Thoughts?

I'm glad I was able to help!

Your latest image doesn't show up for me. If you can see it then perhaps you need to adjust the photo's privacy settings so that we can see it.

Are you allowing adequate aisles at each end of the island so that circulation is able to move freely? As I wrote above, I wouldn't go less than 36"; that's counter to wall, not cab to wall (you lose some aisle due to counter overhang). Less than that and I think an island kitchen would feel more cramped than a peninsula/galley kitchen with more generous aisles between counter runs and between peninsula and lower wall.

(I'm about to begin my kitchen remodel that will widen the DR/kitchen doorway from 27" to 32" and the hallway/kitchen doorway from 29" to 47". I'm tired of turning sideways while carrying things (groceries, platters, etc) through the doorways. If I don't, I smack my elbows. every. single. time. And I'm not a big person.)

Given the size of your kitchen, I would be less inclined to give up counter and storage to add a prep sink near the range. It's all about trade-offs and only you can decide which one you're willing to make. If you haven't done so already, make a list of all your kitchen items, measure them and determine the most logical place to store them in your kitchen. Doing that will help you determine whether you can give up a cab for a prep sink. Personally, I'd rather drip across the aisle now and then than have to run to the garde manger =) to grab prep utensils or pots and pans on a regular basis.

I'd also consider putting the trash under the sink and using the 18" space next to the sink for silverware, dishes, glasses, dish towels, etc. Sure, it would be nice to have a trash pull-out cab but that might not be the best use of storage in your small kitchen.

I forgot to provide tips about how to make a small bathroom work. The recommended minimum between toilet and sink is 22". To achieve that in a small space, you'll need to purchase a shallow depth (front to back) toilet and pedestal or wall mount sink.

Toilet and sink that would work (not sure about availability in Quebec):

Kohler Rialto one-piece, round front 25 1/4" deep toilet

Pinoir wall-mount sink, 18" deep

The above two fixtures will provide 22 3/8" between toilet and sink (toilet sits 7/8" away from wall). The toilet's small profile and the clear floor below the sink will make the powder room feel larger than it is. As I wrote above, if you can eke out an additional inch or two for the powder room, that would help. Is that proposed powder room wall an existing wall? If not, can it be moved towards the exterior door by a small amount?

If you can, opt for a pocket door for the door between the pantry and powder room area and the kitchen. One less swing door in this area would be a good thing.

(My hubby spent 3 wintry months in Montreal more than 2 decades ago. He liked the city a lot but he would rather have been there when it was warmer. One of these days, I'm going to make him take me there to show me all the sights and restaurants he talked about back then.)

I've fixed the picture and it should work now. I believe the aisles will be more than adequate.

While I'd love to get an extra 18" of cabinet space, I absolutely hate having the garbage under the sink. I wouldn't mind putting it under a prep sink, but then I'd still need to find space for a recycling bin (the 18" would be a combined trash/recycling).

I was planning on putting utensils into the 30" cabinet closest to the dishwasher. This would also put it next to the upper cabinet where I will be storing plates and cups, which I think makes things more efficient when putting together place settings.

For the doors to the toilet area, I'm concerned that pocket doors won't provide enough sound insulation. Given that the bathroom is right off the kitchen and dining room, I'd rather have more than less. Maybe a barn door for the small hallway and a real door for the powder room?

I'm probably going to use one of those small sinks with the faucet to the side (Ikea and Homedepot both carry them) which only extend out 10". That should leave me with plenty of room for the toilet.

Montreal is a wonderful city and you should definitely have you husband take you back. There's a certain something about a Montreal summer that's hard to pin down... but whatever it is, it keeps us here through the winter =P

We had pocket doors for at least 2 bathrooms while I was growing up. I don't recall them being any less sound concealing than a standard door. They are harder to lock, if you have arthritis, though (my grandparents always had problems locking the door).

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting a pocket door for the powder room, I was suggesting it for the little back hallway leading to the powder room. A barn door would work just as well and would require no structural work, which is a good thing.

Wow, a sink only 10" deep! Do you mean the Whitehaus sink or one like it? I've never seen one of these in person. Are they large enough to wash up easily without splashing water on the floor? Pretty cool if that works for you.

So I did a wee bit more playing with your kitchen and came up with an idea that puts a prep sink on the same run as the range, without sacrificing storage or counter space. It's a galley lay-out, which I know isn't your first choice but it has a lot of pluses going for it so perhaps you'll consider it anyway.

The fridge stays where it is with a 30" cab between it and the sink, centered on the wall between the windows and the DW to its left.

You could put open shelves on the wall above the sink. Ikea's EKBY MOSSBY SS shelves would fit between the windows (I'm guessing you're going for a contemporary/modern vibe since you talked about a waterfall edge for your island). Here are a few more ideas about how to handle a sink facing a wall:

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[Industrial Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/industrial-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2113) by Fairfax Station Design-Build Firms Kingston Design Remodeling

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[Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by San Francisco General Contractors Mascheroni Construction

You could also install shelves that span the whole wall, including in front of the windows.

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[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Seattle Architects & Building Designers Bosworth Hoedemaker

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[Modern Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Amy Lau Design

The range moves to the interior wall (not sure how that will affect venting) with a 15" cab between it and the wall. That should move the range out from the wall enough that you can open the range door without banging into the angled wall.

I wasn't sure how wide the wall is here so you may need to widen it in order to get the range and hood against a wall.

I put the trash pull-out at the end but you could also put it below the prep sink since I'm suggesting a 24" sink cab for this. A decent sized prep sink will be so much more useful than a smaller prep/bar sink.

This prep sink could double as a bar sink, convenient to the peninsula seating. You could also fill it with ice and drinks, like an ice bucket, for parties, too.

Lastly, if you can, widen the entry between kitchen and DR/LR area. 32" is doable for a doorway but wider is better, IMO.

Oh, one more thing. I don't know if there's an IKEA hack for this but if you can manage it, adding toe kick cabs will increase your kitchen storage:

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[Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Durham Kitchen & Bath Designers emma delon

(I didn't realize IKEA offered 36" wide cabs. I thought the widest they had were 30", other than corner cabs.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Whitehaus Isabella sink

The sink I had in mind is something like this:

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/boutique-collection-high-gloss-space-saving-vanity-linen-faucet-not-include/853578

I've ruled out the peninsula option, even though it's quite appealing, due to doorway concerns. The post that's drawn in the plans cannot be moved so my doorway is limited to 32". I can live with 32" if there are two doorways to the kitchen, but not if it's the only one.

I have however come up with an idea for the prep sink: I will convert the last 30" cabinet before the angled wall into two 15" cabinets. The one furthest to the angled wall will be a standard drawered cabinet. The other one will be a trash/recycling pullout. I will essentially cut out the entire left side panel of the pullout cabinet in order to get access to the dead space at the end of the run (the left side of the pullout cab will be reinforced with a 2x4 frame). I can then install a prep sink in the dead space, with access through the pullout cab.

This is going to take a serious bit of DIY, but should be manageable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Small sink

You're better off putting the prep sink next to the fridge so that you have counter space to prep on between sink and range. Putting it in the corner won't give you that and it will steal valuable counter space next to the range.

I will encourage people to add a prep sink when I think it makes sense but I think you can do without a prep sink. At least, I wouldn't give up counter and storage for a prep sink and certainly not where you're considering adding one.

btw, that's a cool sink!

This post was edited by lisa_a on Fri, Dec 5, 14 at 0:43

My kitchen and laundry share the same room and I wish that they did not. if the laundry can be moved, the best location is as close as possible to where people wear their clothes as this means the shortest distance between where the clothes come from and where they go back to. If it is a choice between a laundry in the kitchen or in the basement I think that I would select the kitchen rather than go up and down stairs with clothes in my arms all the time (or I would want to add a dumbwaiter) I really like the layout of the pictures in the last posting. Can the space marked "armoire" fit instead a washer and dryer behind a door...or a dumbwaiter?
With respect to the little bathroom I think that is an excellent idea. I personally think that toilets and sinks that hang from the wall look institutional and so I would likely find small fixtures that go to the floor as they do in most residential installations. There is a downside to this. Given the small space that you have available having something go to the floor means that you will have to clean around it, which likely means that you will be on your hands and knees as a mop will probably be difficult to use in such a small space. If the fixtures did not touch the floor you could likely get a mop in there or you could even possibly get one of the little electric floor cleaners that just goes right under everything-all you have to do is push a button. Something to think about.

In the last bath/pantry arrangement, would you consider shortening the lenght of the bath hall and move a part of the pantry outside of that area. If you keep your most frequently used storage there, the bath would be more private, especially when visitors are using it.

{{gwi:2141857}}

For the kitchen, I wonder if this is possible if cabs are pulled forward in the short wall next to the angled one. You may have to shorten the island a little, so ther'd enough to pass when DW door is open.

{{gwi:2141858}}