Kitchen Design

[Larry]

Thought I post a pic of my kitchen design for our new house.  What better place to get excellent suggestions and comments than FOOD! FOOD! FOOD! on the FF.



This is about version #7 and I still need to put the finishing touches on the design.  The island will have tempered safety glass in the side visible...Kathy wants to display some of her antique glass there.  The other side is a trash compactor along with a slide out trash can.  The box thing next to the fridge is supposed to be a small pantry...I'm not real happy with it but right now we can't think of anything better.  Feel free to make suggestions.

[Dave Shepard]

I would put big rolls of concertina wire around it, I hate having people in the kitchen when I cook. : I think it looks good so far.


Dave

[Tom]

It might be real handy to have a small salad sink in the island with running cold water.
......and some power available too.

[pigman]

That box to right of the fridge would be handy until the fridge has to be replaced. It always seems the replacement fridge has to be larger. The rest seems very functional and if the boss likes it, all  is well. ;D

[Loghead]

Are you going to have enough room to pass by the dishwasher when the door is open? Do you have a fan/vent in the microwave where will it be vented to?

[metalspinner]

Larry,

I have a similar space next to fridge.  This is what I came up with...






The slides I used came from Lee Valley...

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=50505&cat=3,43614,43616

The lower drawers do not use metal slides...just wood drawers on maple runners. They are full depth of the fridge and can be filled with canned goods.

[Jeff]

Put the fridge and da pantry on the udder side, turn the island a bit and it looks a whole lot like the Kitchen Tammy and I put together about 4 years ago.

[Sprucegum]

I have a window over the sink - facing west - I can't do dishes til the sun goes down  :-\

[clif]

When ever I have replaced lower cabinets with deep  and wide drawers instead of shelves for pots, pans, lids,baking dishes etc. ; they usually wish they had more.  They must be built strong and heavy drawer slides used.  Clif

[WDH]

Metalspinner,

Most people are thinking about how functional that design is and about how much you can store in a small space.  Me, I was thinking, "What kind of wood is that?".

I am truly afflicted with wood :.  (BTW I love that oak burl you sent me ;D)

Larry,

I really like your lay-out.  With a few of the Metalspinner-esque pull out pantry drawers, you should be cooking with gas ;D.  Having that island makes all the difference. 

[Larry]

metalspinner, I was thinking about something similar to what you posted for the pantry.  Thanks for the link as it gives me a place to start looking.

Jeff, in version 3.0 I had the fridge and pantry just like yours, but I needed another 18" of space which I didn't have to make it work.  I really like the angled island...I'm going to start version 8.0 this morning with a new island.  It might even have a garden sink...just for Tom.

[breederman]

Hi.... Craig made me look at the kitchen for suggestions as I did kitchen design for a couple years. I think it looks great. They always look a little cheesy in the "cartoon pictures." My only suggestion was with respect to the pantry you aren't happy with. If you ask you can usually have the depth on the cabinet above the refrigerator extended so that the refrigerator looks built in. It also should give more continuity to the pantry. The best part of it is you can actually get to the cabinet without a chair. Some people put a wall end panel on the left side of the refrigerator to complete the built in look. (Our cabinet suppliers price those ridiculously high but if you are making your own cabinets it isn't too bad.) It is possible with you "wood working types" to do but if you are ordering cabinets from someone ask to buy a quart of stain. It will save you bunches and your home made end panel will match perfectly. It also is convenient if you nick them or damage them you'll have it.

Any additional suggestions for the pantry space is difficult because the pictures don't leave dimension. Double door pantrys are more expensive but may look more symetrical. I don't know if you have enough space. You probably wouldn't want a double door cabinet less then 30 inches wide. I really think altering the refrigerator cabinet will ease your concerns.  Send finished photos .... they are always way better than the cartoons.

When you get ready to do countertops let me know... could be lots of help there. All my best..... Mrs. Breederman  (Yikes...not happy with that but you know who I am) T

[metalspinner]

WDH,

Those boards came from a silver maple. We cut about 600bf from two logs. The two top panels shown were the last boards left over at the end of the project.  Didn't have enough to make the crown. :(  But, I have some drying right now and should be ready to go by the summer. 8) 

They must be built strong and heavy drawer slides used.

You have that right.  After I assembled those pullouts, I extended them all the way, then grabbed hold of the end and hung on it for a bit.  They didn't give a bit.  The cabinet these pullouts are in are lag screwed to the studs is many places to put my mind at ease.

[Jeff]

Yep, we like the angled Island our over hang is along the length. It gives you more top space, and also more seating at the island.  Our Island has big doors with roll out shelves. This is where we keep our pots and pans. More convenient I think that big drawers.

[Tom]

I'm hesitant to say this 'cause when a woman wants a place to showoff her stuff, it's counter-productive not to give it to her.   But, that glass showcase is in the way.  One of the neatest things on our island is a drop-down, 2ft shelf on the outside away from the kitchen where we sit and eat..  and visit.  It wraps around two sides of the island and is at a height that you can use regular dining room chairs.

There is electrical power on the island wall between the shelf/bar and the top of the island and we use both surfaces for toasters, mixers and the like.  It's also a good place to charge phones and batteries for cameras.  Gael has lately taken to plugging the laptop in there and playing her games while I watch "The Military Channel" in the other room.   ;D  It's a good place for her laptop too, 'cause she can keep up with here recipes, and that makes her happy.

[Jeff]

Yep, Tom's setup is real conducive to coffee and conversation. There's several of us that have sat there.

[Dave Shepard]

The most important thing to do is get final approval from the person who is going to use it the most, whoever that is. ;) I had a wealthy client that redisigned the kitchen as a "surprise". It was a very expensive remodel, but designed from the husbands viewpoint, not the wife's. There were cabinets everywhere, and no view into the dining area. It was like cooking in a closet. Cooking can be a very social activity, and allowing people to get sort of near the kitchen, but not too close! ;), is important.


Dave

[metalspinner]

The most important thing to do is get final approval from the person who is going to use it the most, whoever that is.

Yep.  Better get that taken care of.  When we did our remodel and the room was framed in, I brought in lots of sheets of cardboard and mocked up as much detail as possible.  We must have changed the island a dozen times.  But walking around and getting a real feel of the area was criticle.  As part of the entertainment, we got several people meandering around as if they were preparing a large meal to make sure plenty of room was available between the island and wall units.  We ended up with 38" between the island and wall units.  With the dishwasher open, we still have 18" of walking room.  This also let us adjust lighting placement in the room to accomodate the new cabinet layout.