Knocking out a wall-weird kitchen layout?

11 years ago

Hello all! I have been lurking here for years, and we are planning on finally doing our kitchen reno this year(yay!). We have a small kitchen adjacent to a small den, with a wall in between(not load-bearing) that we plan on knocking out to make a large kitchen. Our goals are to:

1. Increase counter/prep space
2. Provide seating and entertaining space in the new room
3. Open the space visually

We are having difficulty accomplishing all of the goals, particularly the seating/entertaining space. I have been playing on Chief Architect's Room Planner app, and am attaching my ideas. The current kitchen is a small "L" that is located on the new range wall and cuts the entire space room in half, almost in front of the fireplace. I am particularly interested in deciding the placement of the appliances. We plan on switching to a counter depth refrigerator, especially if it stays near the doorway to the dining room.

I welcome all suggestions!

Thank you!!

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Comments (9)

live_wire_oak
11 years ago
The fireplace is a problem. It needs to go away or be moved. And that ain't easy if it's a masonry unit. If it's a gas firebox, then it gets easier.

Show the adjacent rooms and current house layout. Maybe some of the doors could be moved/eliminated. Or maybe it makes more sense expanding the kitchen into another room. Or maybe it makes more sense to not expand the kitchen.
texasgal47
11 years ago
I second Live Wire Oak's comments and suggestions. The fireplace would look out of place in that kitchen. What are you hoping to include in your sitting area? Please show total floor plan of the house.
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camphappy
11 years ago
Hmm, depending on how the fireplace looks I think it can be incorporated. My GC told me to get rid of my FP or move it but it wasn't something I could make go away very easily. I opted to keep it and it works wonderfully in my kitchen area (though it is really in the dining area of my kitchen.) Look up fireplace in kitchen in Houzz and there are some beautiful kitchens w/ FP's that might give you some inspiration.
herbflavor
11 years ago
where is the living room or family room? anyway, eliminate the peninsula and use the couch wall shown for the back of a banquette that can even have small sides to it. I'd do a big island with sink in addition to the long fridge wall.....the two runs lined up against the walls as shown are too far apart. Coordinate a great island with the banquette-style wise, and with seating in a couple spots, you get the"living"aspect you want.....but where is the family/living room?
lavender_lass
11 years ago
I'm guessing the living room is on the back side of the range wall, due to the location of the dining room.

What kind of fireplace do you have? Is it raised? Gas or wood? Does the hearth stick out into the room quite a bit?

If you can work around the fireplace, it could look great in the room, but you need it to not interfere with your traffic patterns.

Since you have seating on the peninsula, what if you take the sink area and move it closer to the range wall...as an island without seating on the other side. This should give you room for walkways and maybe even a window seat next to the fireplace. Then, keep the sofa or replace it with a small table and chairs. Just an idea :) {{!gwi}}From Cottage house plans
sarahbob
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks to all for the ideas. It is a masonry fireplace which currently has gas logs, but we have never turned it on because of the weird placement. It doesn't intrude into the space and is flush with the wall except for a few inches of mantle.

The living room is on the other side of the range wall. We don't have a separate den other than the area we are incorporating into this kitchen, which is one reason we are trying to make this space more livable.

I really like the island idea, but was concerned that the room wasn't wide enough. Love your thought to include a window seat!

I will add our other rooms as soon as I can get the ipad back from my daughter:-)

Thanks for all the suggestions!
sarahbob
Original Author
11 years ago
I just added the rest of my downstairs to the floorplan. We are open to additional suggestions. The little den adjacent to the kitchen is pretty useless right now. It houses a computer and a few dog crates. I hate to waste that square footage like we are doing when we don't have the biggest house already.

We have plans to bump the dining room wall into the alcove. If the dining room wall adjacent to the hall wasn't load-bearing, we might be able to configure things a little easier.

Old houses are so great!

Hope this helps! Thanks again to you all. It is nice to hear unbiased opinions.
dilly_ny
11 years ago
I'm not sure if you're open to other ideas, but I think I would be inclined to put your new kitchen in the current dining room space and open up the family room to the existing kitchen space which would become the new dining room with a side seating area by the fireplace. If you did that, you would have uninterupted wall space for your new kitchen.

BUMP! Hopefully, some layout experts will help you.
sarahbob
Original Author
11 years ago
I am open to all suggestions. I don't prefer the kitchen to face the front of the house but otherwise that is an excellent idea. Maybe I could get over it...