HELP! My new kitchen doesn’t work.
I LOVE this house, except for the kitchen/dining/laundry room.
It’s poorly laid out. It has very little storage. It has NO work space.
The cupboards look OK, but they are low grade in quality. Same with the floor.
I’m trying to decide what to do. Add a cart? A few wall shelves? A smaller table?
There is so much that is awkward.
The big window. Lovely, to be sure, but it takes up precious counter and cupboard space.
The doorway to the “foyer”. That’s in quotes because it’s the original foyer and the door there isn’t used. The whole foyer is dead space, and it’s right behind part of the kitchen.
The powder room. Miniscule, cute but, maybe the space would be better used for the kitchen.
The entry way. Two square feet, truly. Ouch.
So, I’ve been looking for shelves, island carts, hidden storage.
The dimensions are 21′ x 10 ‘. Bumping into the foyer would add about 4′ by 6′ with the stairs there. Bumping into the powder room would add 4’ to the width.
Photos below in the gallery.
And, I’ve been looking in Kitchen Magazines! John found this one. The style suits the house.
What do you think? Any advice for me? Interior designer? Architect? Both?
Tracey?????????
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintagechica/4732121448/
Sorry – try this – they made it from pallets and a bit of bucher’s block
Holy smokes, Karen has some great ideas!!
I think if you decide on new cabinets, you need to make the most of your vertical space, and go to the ceiling wherever possible. I would plug your kitchen dimensions into the Ikea kitchen planner online, and start moving things around – they have EXCELLENT product and service, and I cannot recommend the whole thing more highly. For realz. You can even use some of their deeper cabinets to fashion a kitchen bench for beneath the window, as Karen suggested. (You get extra storage that way too.) They always offer a shaker-style cabinet in white, which seems to be what you like, and it goes with your house.
That being said, if you just cannot live in this kitchen until you can undergo such a change, I would 1) get seriously ruthless about parting with whatever you can do without, and 2) really think about what it is you like about the photos you see. Is it colour? Is it flow? Is it “restful?”
I’ll tell you what works in the magazine pics you like: the dishes are all white, and everything is displayed in a wonderful way. If you do not have all white dishes, or artful creamery, your glass-fronted cabinets will just look untidy and dishevelled. So, go for solid doors, or change your dishes, and edit everything. (The first idea is far easier, right?)
It would be an investment, but if you redesign, look into a counter-depth fridge, and then have cabinets to the ceiling above it. Stashing stuff on top of the fridge always makes it look cluttered, no matter what you have up there. Counter-depth would also give a better visual to the rest of the kitchen, but that’s all just a bonus.
Yes, if you can put your washer/dryer back in the basement, your problems would be half over.
Do you have a floor plan? Send it to me…
Good house! Good luck!!
t. xox
Whoa Karen! You’re awesome….and you’re so right Erin – that is lacking some storage! the window is incredible though…hmmmm I have no insights except to say I love the picture of the kitchen you’re thinking of. I have NO sense of interior design style….
Wow Karen,
Thanks for all your ideas.
I love the Young House blog! The flickr link didn’t work though.
To answer your questions. There is almost no food prep space. I realize there is a lot of stuff on the counters now, that’s because there’s nowhere to put it. That long pantry cupboard that’s by the washer/dryer doesn’t have shelves! John’s working on putting them in but it’s not done yet.
The window is huge and low to the floor. Lower than counters and a cart, so a cart would block some of it. I’m looking for a cart on Kijiji, I don’t want to buy an expensive new one if we do decide to renovate.
I would love to put the laundry back in the basement. The previous owner, who is our friend, moved it upstairs and removed the connections from the basement, so I would have to price that out.
There’s definitely lots to think about here.
The modern cabinets don’t suit the house, it’s a 1920s kit house from Eaton’s. Kinda Arts & Crafts style.
Oh I love playing this game.
What is it that you need to store in your kitchen that you can’t at the moment? What do you need more counter space for… prep? storage? appliances? I’d start there.
For short term solutions:
~I’d put up a second pot shelf, or a rack, over the stove, and use that space efficiently to free up cupboard and drawer space.
~put corner shelves in that space between the window and the cupboard and use it for… spices? cookbooks? baskets to hold onions/potatoes/apples? mugs/teapot, coffee cannister and teas? I’d consider carrying it above the window, adding a few smaller shelves on the other side of the window and them more over in that corner by your stove. I’d keep them open and use them for display or use baskets. I’d try to stain them a similar colour as your existing cupboards.
~ put a small cupboard or deep bookshelf in by your fridge (where the plant shelf is now) perhaps turned towards your table to maximize space, and use it for “pretty” pantry storage if it is open (baskets/glass jars holding dried goods) or perhaps dishes if it is closed storage (makes it easy for the kids to help set the table and frees up cupboard space in your food prep area without it being too far from the dishwasher/sink).
Alternately a small rolling cart could go there (like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintagechica/4732121448/) with shelves below for cookware storage.
How much space is there by the ladder/small chair by your tall cupboards?
Could you do something like this http://goddesshobbies.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-sweet-1940s-kitchen.html (about 1/2 way down).
I’d consider a smaller oval pedestal table with chairs that can push all the way under and out of the way – more visual space. I’d also swap out the light fixture over the dining room table for something lighter.
I’d also consider swapping your fridge and stove to give you a better flow and more counter space. It might make a difference now (short term if your electrical set up works) and allow you to use carts or islands more efficiently to increase usable counter space. Like this for your work triangle…
http://www.younghouselove.com/2008/01/113-days-later/
There’s lots of stuff going on in your kitchen. It might feel more organized/spacious if you grouped stuff together – so all your big bowls/platters together over one cupboard. Use your hutuch counter space to make a baking centre – collect your cookbooks, cannisters, and have that as a secondary prep area. Or make that a place for morning stuff – toaster, bread box, coffee pot, mugs etc. so that you aren’t on top of each other in the morning.
Over the tall pantry shelves, collect all your baskets esp the ones that hide stuff (like the one on your fridge). Use one to help control laundry clutter too (iron, stain remover etc).
Could you hang your ironing board on the back of the door to your 2 piece bathroom to get it out of site? It looks like your water/electrical is in between your washing machine and the wall – can you move the machine over closer to hide that a bit?
Longer term – without moving walls, I would:
~ use the young house love kitchen as a starting point for the work area. Your space actually looks bigger than their’s and you could probably get a nice layout and plenty of storage/counters in that space.
~ consider a built in bench under the window for seating round a smaller table (and have storage build in under the banquet). I’d still use 4 chairs but the bench would give you options when entertaining
~run floor to ceiling cupboards from your big window where the table is around the corner to the smaller window and then integrate a bench under the window that goes with the banquet where you could sit to take off boots etc. In those cupboards I would make a smallish coat closet, space for your washing machine and dryer assuming it has to stay in the kitchen, vaccum and ironing board, and laundry baskets, and pull out pantry shelving for food and appliance storage.
I’d probably do a similar hutch type thing as what you have now – with cupboards that go to the ceiling and only have the centre ones open with glass shelves for displaying your favourite things. The outside ones I would use closed cupboard doors so you can hide some things. Underneath in the hutch I would consider using one cupboard for back packs, or laundry baskets, or recycling bins – the type of things that may be in the mudroom if you had one. The other side I might reserve for art supplies for the girls (if you use your table like we do).
You could play with the configuration of that hutch area- making a coat/shoe closet that faces the window beside the washing machine, but is nicely finished on the side/back, so that it becomes part of the hutch arrangement, giving you a mini entrance way/mudroom space. Depending on what’s opposite your back/side door, you could wrap cupboards around there to integrate the space, especially if you can knock out that doorway so it feels like you walk into a more open space. Or just hang some hooks there for sweaters, back packs etc. but paint and accessorize it so that it feels like an integrated space.
I personally wouldn’t give up a main floor powder room for kitchen space. I think you can probably work with what you have to make the space work for you. 21′ x 10′ is a good sized kitchen/dining space.
Depending on what is opposite your stairs, and whether that wall is load bearing, you might be able to do something groovy with that space but I would imagine traffic flow to the stairs would make it challenging. Perhaps you could consider knocking out the top half of that section of wall to open it up a bit more, making it sort of island like but it probably won’t improve storage or counter space to do that.
Good luck!
Karen