Kitchen Redesign

This is the original kitchen plan. Note the abubpt left turn from the mudroom to the kitchen and the narrow island with little circulation space around it.

This is the latest version: We've removed the door between mudroom and kitchen and angled the wall of the closet to allow a more gentle transition from mudroom to kitchen. We've also eliminated the cabinets on the wall adjacent to the mudroom and moved the refrigerator against the outside wall. This arrangement allows for a bigger island and more space to move around.


East elevation of the kitchen cabinetry


At work in the house, on the house

Nancy and I have long had the sense that the kitchen plan has seemed okay, but not quite right. Over the last few days we've spent a bunch of time redesigning the layout and have made some progress. The primary issue is the island in the center of the space. As drawn originally, the island would have had to be pretty narrow and there would be inadequate space to circulate around it. Additionally, there was a doorway between the mudroom and the kitchen which we were feeling more and more wasn't really necessary. The first plan meant you looked right at the closet door when you entered. With the latter version, there is a more inviting and gentle transition between spaces.

The end wall of the closet in the first version was going to be deep shelves. This was okay, but it felt a little removed from the actual kitchen space. As we've conceived it now, the shelves will be near the dining room table on the wall with the stove. This feels like a more natural transition between kitchen area to the dining area.

There may be more changes to come, but for now this feels like an improvement.

Following on the heels of reconfiguring the kitchen floor plan, I've also been drawing the elevations to give us a sense of the cabinet layout.