Something's Cooking in the Kitchen!
So, we're beginning to save money for and plan our kitchen remodel. We know it's going to be a long and expensive process, so we are trying to do as much research and planning and saving as possible!
Unfortunately, we are unable to salvage any of the cabinets or countertops from the existing kitchen. The cabinets have been painted multiple times with visible brush strokes, and they also don't have any design aspect to them--just plain doors. Some spots of the countertop are actually detached from the lower cabinets!
We CANNOT wait to get this process started! Every time I have to cook something in this kitchen, I get excited about having more storage and more counter space someday. Currently, we have to keep all extra small appliances in the spare bedroom closet downstairs!! We also don't have any storage for any serving dishes--those are in a box in the garage. We currently only have one upper cabinet for food storage, and the rest of the few cabinets are dishes and pans. We've had to use some of our limited counter space to store utensils, since we don't have enough drawers. The kitchen is driving me bonkers!!
Here is our current floor plan...roughly:
Here is a picture of the current cabinet situation:
So as you can see, we have limited storage and workspace. There is also a lot of wasted space, and it's a very awkward room layout, since we have to walk through the living room to get to the dining room.
Here is a digital rendering of our current layout:
I've been working up some new ideas using IKEA's kitchen planning tool on their website. Without further ado, here is our proposed new floor plan:
As you can see, we have removed the door into the living room and added one across the dining room. We think this makes more sense for the flow, and as an added bonus, gives us more space and furniture options in the living room, since that opening is no longer there.
There in the center of the room is a new island, and #12 is the kitchen sink, with the dishwasher right next to it on the left. Off on the left wall, #15, is the refrigerator (under a cabinet). And on the closest wall at the bottom is the "cooking" wall...a cooktop in the center (#8), and a wall oven and microwave in the cabinet on the right (#4).
Here is a 3D view of the cooking wall:
Lots of storage on the right side of the cooktop, as well as under the cooktop. You can see a glimpse of the door to the basement. (The tall cabinet next to it is where the opening to the living room currently is located).
Here is a view of the island and opposite wall:
We like the idea of a couple of glass door cabinets, to store some of our prettier items. We hope to find a storage cabinet that goes all the way to the ceiling for that back corner, but I was struggling to find one in the kitchen builder tool. That cabinet will probably be for small appliances that we don't use every day, as well as serving dishes we only use occasionally. (Also, that lower cabinet beneath the glass doors will be the same color as all the other cabinets, I just couldn't get it to change for some reason). From this view, you can also see the dishwasher, as well as the under-sink storage and drawers. We might actually get an apron sink, but it depends on what we can find. That white door you see will be the new opening to the dining room...we might do a pocket door so that we can close it off, or we might just leave it open.
Here is a view of the fridge wall:
The cabinet above the fridge will hopefully reach all the way down...if not, we'll buy a filler piece or something. We would also put a panel down the left side of the fridge to make everything look finished and built-in. The cabinets on the right side of the fridge will be a dry goods pantry and a broom closet.
Here's a nice 3D view of the entire room, to get some perspective:
You can vaguely see the outline of the new door/opening to the dining room. Back in the left corner is the existing door down to the basement that we will obviously keep.
Here is another view from a different angle...like you're looking in from the street:
Unfortunately, we are unable to salvage any of the cabinets or countertops from the existing kitchen. The cabinets have been painted multiple times with visible brush strokes, and they also don't have any design aspect to them--just plain doors. Some spots of the countertop are actually detached from the lower cabinets!
We CANNOT wait to get this process started! Every time I have to cook something in this kitchen, I get excited about having more storage and more counter space someday. Currently, we have to keep all extra small appliances in the spare bedroom closet downstairs!! We also don't have any storage for any serving dishes--those are in a box in the garage. We currently only have one upper cabinet for food storage, and the rest of the few cabinets are dishes and pans. We've had to use some of our limited counter space to store utensils, since we don't have enough drawers. The kitchen is driving me bonkers!!
Here is our current floor plan...roughly:
So as you can see, we have limited storage and workspace. There is also a lot of wasted space, and it's a very awkward room layout, since we have to walk through the living room to get to the dining room.
Here is a digital rendering of our current layout:
I've been working up some new ideas using IKEA's kitchen planning tool on their website. Without further ado, here is our proposed new floor plan:
There in the center of the room is a new island, and #12 is the kitchen sink, with the dishwasher right next to it on the left. Off on the left wall, #15, is the refrigerator (under a cabinet). And on the closest wall at the bottom is the "cooking" wall...a cooktop in the center (#8), and a wall oven and microwave in the cabinet on the right (#4).
Here is a 3D view of the cooking wall:
Lots of storage on the right side of the cooktop, as well as under the cooktop. You can see a glimpse of the door to the basement. (The tall cabinet next to it is where the opening to the living room currently is located).
Here is a view of the island and opposite wall:
We like the idea of a couple of glass door cabinets, to store some of our prettier items. We hope to find a storage cabinet that goes all the way to the ceiling for that back corner, but I was struggling to find one in the kitchen builder tool. That cabinet will probably be for small appliances that we don't use every day, as well as serving dishes we only use occasionally. (Also, that lower cabinet beneath the glass doors will be the same color as all the other cabinets, I just couldn't get it to change for some reason). From this view, you can also see the dishwasher, as well as the under-sink storage and drawers. We might actually get an apron sink, but it depends on what we can find. That white door you see will be the new opening to the dining room...we might do a pocket door so that we can close it off, or we might just leave it open.
Here is a view of the fridge wall:
The cabinet above the fridge will hopefully reach all the way down...if not, we'll buy a filler piece or something. We would also put a panel down the left side of the fridge to make everything look finished and built-in. The cabinets on the right side of the fridge will be a dry goods pantry and a broom closet.
Here's a nice 3D view of the entire room, to get some perspective:
You can vaguely see the outline of the new door/opening to the dining room. Back in the left corner is the existing door down to the basement that we will obviously keep.
Here is another view from a different angle...like you're looking in from the street:
So, what do you think? Thoughts? Suggestions? We'd like to keep our current dark brownish-gray floor tiles, and do a dark countertop. We will keep the walls a light gray, and probably white subway tiles on the wall behind the cooktop, all the way up to the ceiling surrounding the hood vent. I'm so excited!! Just seeing it as a 3D rendering makes me want to rip out the cabinets and get started now!
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