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marthastoo

Feedback on kitchen plans - island too tight?

marthastoo
10 years ago

Hello all - after reading for a bit, I decided to take the plunge, join, and ask some advice. We are currently in the planning stage of a kitchen remodel, but will have to make a decision in the next week. We are most likely going to use an Amish cabinet maker, so everything can be customized to fit. The kitchen is 14'2" x 21'1" and I really want this island seating to work. What do you think - too tight?

Also, I realize I am no kitchen designer, but I was trying to make the cabinets fit with 2 mullioned cabinets by the window. If I do, the sizes are just off. I was up 'til midnight last night trying to get the numbers to work. Do you think I have too many skinny wall cabinets?

TIA! (I just realized that the diagram is really hard to read. Sorry!)

Comments (8)

  • annzgw
    10 years ago

    Ya, I agree about posting on the kitchen forum. In addition to what kirkhall pointed out, my concern with the location of the seating is that access to the frig and ovens may be hampered by people sitting there.

    Double check your measurements since I noticed that if you add the depth of your microwave drawer (which is ~24" deep) plus the overhang of 15", it doesn't add up to the 36" depth of the island .
    When calculating distance between cabinets and island, be sure to allow for the overhang of the counter top.

    Also, revisit the cabinet between the frig and the double oven. One of my previous homes had a kitchen with a similar layout and I found it to be a total waste of space and not usable for anything. If you're going to make it a coffee area that will probably work, but IMO it can't be used for much else.

    Maybe it's just me, but I found it difficult to read the measurements on most of the diagram. Are you able to enlarge it or post with a higher resolution?

  • marthastoo
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    kirkhall - I get the barrier island, but there isn't really a feasible way around it ... is there?

    annz - yes, I changed the island length to 39" but didn't change it on the diagram. I've go to figure out how to make a better jpeg from a word doc. I know it's fuzzy, but have yet to figure out how to fix it.

    I thought the space between the oven and fridge would be a place to place items from the freezer, etc. I have something like it now and I do use it.

    Thanks for the feedback!

  • _sophiewheeler
    10 years ago

    You need a peninsula, not an island. Especially with the rangetop protruding into the aisle space and people trying to get into the fridge behind the island seating. It's just too tight.

  • marthastoo
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Holly- thank you for taking the time to make up the altered plans. That is basically the current placement of the kitchen now.

    A couple of things: 1.) the middle of the kitchen seems positively cavernous right now (with the peninsula) and 2.) I don't have an island in my current house and have been dying for an island all of my adult life. I will cry if I don't have an island in my new house. :(

  • Nancy in Mich
    10 years ago

    I can understand your desire for an island, and I can see that you appear to have scooted the island as far "south" as far as you can. (at least on the diagram, I have no idea what the direction would be IRL)

    I have a huge island with tight clearances. I cheated all of the "proper" clearances for my island. Here is the official stuff: You should have 48" between the island and the counters. In a pinch, 42" is okay. I have a mere 38" between the seating side of my island and the desk part of my kitchen. It is tight. One must be careful not to hit things on the desk if someone has left a coat hanging on the back of their counter stool. The 42" between the end of the island and the sink counter works well if there are not too many people in the kitchen. The clearance on the other two sides of the kitchen island work fine. There is about 42" on the end people walk past on the way to the family room, and that works fine because there is nothing to get in the way there. There is more room between the fridge and the island, and that is good, because the cook top is on that side of the island.

    My island gives me a landing place for things coming from the fridge and out of the pantry next to the dishwasher. It allows me to mix up a meal on the end of the island where I can just twirl around to use the sink. In that way, the short clearances are good. Turn, take a step, I am at the sink. Turn, take a step, I am at the fridge. It is a very usable end of the island.

    Yours will be the same way, but you may need to shorten the island just a few inches so that you can get more easily around it to travel from the fridge to the sink. Mine works that way because mine is a triangle. The pantry in my kitchen is in the same position as the fridge in yours. When cooking, you don't need to take things from the pantry to the sink like you have to take things from the fridge to the sink. Shortening that end of the island in your kitchen will give you a little more clearance around your cooktop, too. That is good as a safety measure. Anybody walking around the cook will have room and not bump the cook. I would suggest making the base cab next to the microwave into a 30" or 33" cabinet. You need to have room in the area of the cooktop.

    You have a great clearance on the space between the island and the wall with the fridge. I worry that the 36" between the island and the sink is too small. Is that going to give room to service the dishwasher in the future? I don't have room to stand at the end of the open dishwasher door in a 36" space. Standing beside it is usually okay, though. Just think about it more.

    These are my opinions. When you go over to the Kitchen forum, you will find a thread for newbies. Read it. It will teach you a lot. I also recommend taking the Sweeby Test.

  • debrak2008
    10 years ago

    You've always wanted an island, why? Please be specific as it will help you clarify what you want/need.

  • rwiegand
    10 years ago

    I went with several measurements smaller than recommended (intentionally, not due to lack of space) and get along fine with them. In particularly I like to be able to pivot back and forth between the island where I do most of my prep work and the range without having to take a step. Depending on how you cook having the fridge further away may not be an issue. I'm very happy unloading the things I need from the fridge to one side of the island all at once and then walking around the other side to do prep and cooking. I don't go back and forth to the fridge enough for it to be an issue. Given your close-by seating area I'd devote the kitchen to work space and lose the seating, which could let you narrow the island by a few inches if you wanted. Perhaps just keep one stool in a niche there if someone wants to visit for coffee. Having a whole bunch of people sitting at what will probably be your primary work space is just a pain. I'd strongly support your desire for a island rather than a peninsula (perhaps a shorter one than you've drawn). Having that open work space that can be accessed from all sides is great, it can also allow two people to work at once comfortably from two different sides, either adjacent or opposite.

    In designing our last kitchen I made a full size mockup of a peninsula and lived with it for a few weeks-- completely hated it. It was a long way around and created a very claustrophobic space for two people and kids in the same general area. A much smaller island (about 36x40 if I recall) worked out much better.

    Resist the idea of cluttering the island with extraneous stuff (seating, rangetops, sinks) and just give yourself the luxury of an open workspace where you don't have to work around all the appliances, containers and everything else that seems to accumulate on counters.