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Daydreaming about kitchen layout
We're sort of planning our new kitchen (last room to re-do, yea!). The cabinets are warped plywood and have to go, probably in the next year or two. I'm daydreaming about layouts. Want to play? WWYD? The oven stays, and I'm drooling over a stand-alone wooden ice box replica (i.e. not built into a run of cabinets at all).
Not visible, but there's a window above the sink that stays.
I'm pretty sure we're ripping out that weird pantry area and bringing that whole corner into the kitchen. We'd put a run of cabinets between the stove and the wall and put the air return in the corner cabinet, turned towards the living room. Basically, everything stays pretty much the same, just all new cabinets (and losing the soffit above the existing uppers), new fridge, and reclaiming that pantry corner for the kitchen.
Overhead layout of my idea (not to scale at all, and the weird wall jogs are necessary because of the layout in the rest of the house):
Problem with the plan: No more pantry! I had hoped to put open shelving above the new run of counters, just because it's more period-appropriate and because i wanted things to feel more open. But having all the food out on shelves doesn't sound great. I guess I could move all of our plates and glasses from the cabinets around the sink onto the open shelving and keep our food in the upper cabinets near the sink. Maybe move some seldomly used things (liquor, crock pot) to the basement.
I also want to tear down the cabinets above the stove; I was thinking just a hood, but that's even more lost storage. Bah. WWYD above the stove and new cabinets?
I could have a run of cabinets under the windows, but I'm dying to have an antique bin table over there once I find one.
Basically, it seems like I want a lot of cabinets without having to have a lot of cabinets, haha. Any other suggestions on layout? I'm open to dramatic change, I just can't think of anything I'd like better than our current layout, and if I can keep it pretty similar, that'll be cheaper. We had our architect draw a few things, but that was before I bought my stove (which he protested against strongly), and none of them will work with the stove.
Re: Daydreaming about kitchen layout
Oh, good idea! I've got the microwave there now, but maybe I could figure out how to integrate a microwave into the cabinets somewhere.
Well your only two options for a pantry are in the corner next to the row of windows or next to the oven. If you don't need counter space next to the stove (like you have now) the whole area next to the oven could be floor to ceiling cabinetry in a straight line minus the L. The pieces closets to the stove could be pull outs with the cabinet closest to the refrigerator being just a door since it will be semi blocked. Is there any way you can move the wall the refrigerator will be on a few inches so you have full clearance there?
I'm sure a bin table would be nice but a run of tricked out custom cabinets under all of those windows would give you so much more storage. Think nice deep drawers that could hold anything from small appliances to dry goods that would normally go in a pantry. The corner could have a two tiered pivoting pull out and you could even have a lift for your kitchen aid mixer to get it off the counter. The microwave could be built in there too. You could give those cabinets a feel of bin table too. Think about it that could be so much more useful space. Freestanding pieces are nice but take up space and in a small kitchen you need every inch to be as functional as possible. Is there any other place in your house you could put a bin table? I've seen them used in many different rooms.
Over the stove I'd put a slim hood that is concealed and then build it out with cabinets. If you want a bigger looking hood I've even seen it where the hood it bumped out and lined with paneled wood but secretly there is more storage up there since you'll only need a 6 inch duct or so. The hidden doors had push button latches so there was no hardware to be seen. It would be a prefect place for lesser used items.
You could always add a little open shelving over the door or the refrigerator if you wanted it too but I personally wouldn't sacrifice cabinet space for it.
What year is your house?
My grandmother's house was built in the late 1800s, and they had work done,(I can't remember if they changed the kitchen when they made some changes) in the early 1930s. They had the tallest upper cabinets that I have ever seen, and no open shelving. It was the most incredible amount of storage,all along one wall, but I could never figure out how my very short grandmother reached it, since I could stand on the counters and still have a bit of a stretch to get to the top cabinet, and I am 5'6"-ish with super long arms.lol
The the stove wall was completely open, no cabinets or shelves, and was kind of bare looking, but I think cabinets wouldn't have worked very well over her big old range that was hotter than hot....probably why they didn't have them then.
TBM: The cast iron oven is from the 30s or 40s and does get super hot, so that's also a reason not to have anything too close. House was built sometime between 1906 and 1910, the records aren't clear. We did uncover a carving in the living room trim that says 1909. I think built in cabinetry (vs. stand alone furniture) increased dramatically between 1900 and 1930, but I have seen lots of uppers in some of the higher-end earlier homes, so it's not unprecedented (though our home could never have been considered "higher-end").
FNF: I like the big-hood-concealing-storage idea! They did have monster (passive) hoods in a lot of the photos of period kitchens I've seen, so concealing some storage in there might be a great idea. Our contractor built a nice wood hood concealer for the house next door, so maybe I could talk to him about adding hidden storage. Cabinet disguised as period detail, I like it!
I don't have room anywhere else for a bin table
Tiny, tiny house.
I'm not sure if you mean bump the fridge wall into the kitchen, even with the other wall (doable, but it makes the kitchen smaller) or bump it out so that the fridge is all the way in a nook (not doable unless the ice box is really shallow; it would totally block a different entrance to the living room). I can't picture how I could have a pantry next to the oven and not have it toally looking weird with the fridge sticking out. I'll ponder that.
I might compromise and do either cabinetry above the new run of counters or a run of cabinets under the window. I love the old kitchens where you can actually see the walls, and I think doing either of those things, combined with the new cabinets, would give me the same amount of space I have now. If I needed more I might do both, but I don't really need anymore storage than what I've got right now, and it would give me some of the openness I want.