The new kitchen plans

New kitchen plans.  Here's what we are thinking.  The Lowe's guy suggested moving the refrigerator from its current location (to the right of the sink against the wall) to where the wall oven currently is beside the pantry closet.  Here are some sketches.

Here is the overhead view

The second one is the view if you are facing the window and sink (the east wall of the kitchen).  The refrigerator is not shown here, but it is currently to the right of this sketch in real life.

This view (of the north wall) shows the new location for the refrigerator.  The fridge would be placed where there is now  a wall oven.  The gas connection would be moved a foot or three so that there would be a little counter and cabinet space between the fridge and the new stove (replacing a wall oven/cook top with a range).  The micro-hood is a new addition to the kitchen.  To the left of the refrigerator is the closet/pantry that will stay where it is.

This peninsula will be a new area of the kitchen.  There will be a 24 inch deep cabinet below the countertop where we will keep the bigger portable appliances (two juicers -- we are from California; the rotisserie, the crock pot, the bread machine, etc.). We also plan to put a tiny personal computer in there, linked to a flat screen monitor/television that will be mounted on the center of this wall (the south wall). This way we can do the video conferencing with grandma from here, plus look up recipes on foodtv.com, plus watch breaking news on CNN or sing with Barney, depending upon who is winning at the moment. The shelves at the end of the peninsula are for cookbooks.

The doorways on the left in this view leads to the dining room. We are thinking about cutting out a few windows from the kitchen to the dining room on either side of the monitor to take advantage of the view and the dining room's south-facing window for some additional natural light. The doorway on the right in this view leads to the entry hall.

The wall not shown, the west wall, has a doorway perpendicular to either side -- the one to the entryway, shown above and a doorway to the family room that is opposite the entry hall doorway. There will be no furniture or cabinets on this wall because they would mess up the flow.

I want to put a chalk board on the bottom half of that wall for the kiddos to draw on.  On the top half I want a magnetic white board for hanging up kiddo artwork, a family message center and a family calendar.

The cabinets will be a light honey color. Countertops are Zodiaq in Lunar Pearl. And we are looking for a floor that looks like slate but is actually ceramic or porcelain (for easier cleaning).  After all this we hope we can still afford the stainless steel appliances and the gas range with convection oven.

Comments

[Aurelia]

Hmmm, I like the layout, and cutting out the windows sounds like a good idea, maybe frosted glass? Or glass walled cabinets so you can get the light, but still have nice dinners in the dining room without seeing the dishes.

I'm not a fan of microwaves over the oven because short people, AKA kids (or even me), can't take things out of it without burning themselves on the cooktop below, or spilling hot liquids on themselves.

Same with ceramic floors...I always wanted one until my kids got old enough to load and unload the dishwasher. A zillion smashed dishes later, I wish we had put in wood or vinyl or something with some "give".

Yours are a bit younger, so it may not be a big deal. Things to look forward to!

[magpie]

Sounds great! I agree with Aurelia about using a "soft" floor - we have hardwood in the kitchen and lots of things just bounce. Also, if you can, put in a real hood with a vent to the outside - it might not be possible because your stove is on an interior wall - but they really work better than the ones that just move air around.

[Artblog]

Thats really nice, like the table in the kitchen, I currently have a separate dining room but I'd love to have enough room in my kitchen for a breakfast table.

I prefer tiled floors myself, easier to clean but things do break easier!