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It took us a while to design our cabinets. Each cabinet is free-standing and movable, light wood grain with dark walnut trim and black wrought iron hardware [to match the rest of our home].
The counter tops are made to my Dw's preferred working height and they have room for each appliance to have it's own spot [in the idea that they will not have to be pulled out/put-away]; kitchen-aid, microwave, blender, deep fryer, crock-pot, dehydrator, coffee maker.
The upper shelves have see-thru lexan doors to display glass jars with all of our dried spices and herbs [about half of which we produce].
Our kitchen table is a full 4'X8' of 3/4" mahogany standing on 4"X4" legs. It is big enough to do many chores on. Last Saturday we butchered a boar hog on it, and again Monday a sow.
Today I am rendering lard.
My wifes idea of a kitchen is a wet bar with takeout menus posted on the walls. Want to eat? Call someone that cares....LOL
It took us a while to design our cabinets. Each cabinet is free-standing and movable, light wood grain with dark walnut trim and black wrought iron hardware [to match the rest of our home].
Would you consider posting a photo of your kitchen? I can't envision how custom movable cabinets might look. Your kitchen sounds great
Would you consider posting a photo of your kitchen? I can't envision how custom movable cabinets might look. Your kitchen sounds great
I will see if I have any photos of them.
4' wide. 7' tall. At 38" high is a counter top of 3/4" plywood with heavy poly-urethane.
Under the counter-top is two doors [each are light wood-grain with dark stained trim], inside are flat shelves on roller-guides. So they each roll out. They are 30" deep.
On the counter-top are power outlets for appliances, with a 6' electric cord poking out the back of each cabinet.
16" above the counter-top is more shelving, these shelves are 12" deep. They are enclosed with two doors made of clear stuff [lexan not glass] and dark wood framing [1"X2"] to give a good display of the herbs / spices inside.
I did the same basic thing for our bookshelves: 4' wide, 7' tall, 30" deep. A counter-top at 38". With pairs of doors above and below. All light wood-grain with dark stained trim. The upper shelves are 12" deep, the lower shelves are 30" deep and on roller-guides, so they roll out.
Our closets are also 4' wide, 7' tall, 30" deep. The doors are light wood-grain with dark stained trim.
In the case of the bookshelves and closets two lined-up side-by-side form a nice partition which is used as a 'wall' not unlike office cubicles.
In this manner we have partitioned a spare bedroom, and master bedroom.
Our home is a single room, with a high ceiling. On three sides the exterior walls are mostly windows, big panoramic windows with opening sash windows between each large window. We are set in a forest with river frontage, our home overlooks a marsh-meadow that empties into the river.
Nope! Not havin' it. I don't care how well designed they are, no galley/pullman kitchens for these retirees. Ours is a comfortably large, rectangular kitchen with lots of counter and cupboard space and room to move and maneuver. Those are essential to us because we're well-outfitted and appointed in terms of pots, pans and other necessities and we very often cook together so room to move and prepare without getting in one another's way is an imperative. Now, with children in the home who want to help with the baking and other fun things, maneuver space is all the more necessary. Grandpa can get snarky when crowded!
Several of us lived for several weeks in a large apt in a large farmhouse in Tuscany. We had the tiniest kitchen imaginable--when you opened the oven door, there was only room for the door-opener between the stove and the wall. Two people in the kitchen were practically touching. Depending on who those two people are, it's actually quite romantic cooking that way. We turned out three fabulous meals a day in that kitchen with the large gas stove, meals of the kind not had since. It's all in the kitchen attitude, and small can be bellissimo!
I like the design. Very much like our last home. The changes I would make:
1. Master bath. A private toilet room mandatory. While not clear, a jetted tub for my wife, big shower for myself.
2. Door from galley to bedrooms 3&4 to make for privacy going to the bath from the bedroom(s). Maybe even a pocket door. Enough wall length behind kichen wall to do a pocket door. Our new home is smaller and we have several pocket doors. They really increase useable room size, especially into a walkin closet where one would have to shut the door after entering to see what is behind it.
3. French doors from master bedroom to porch. Maybe even from Bedroom 2 to porch also. I like big and bright even at the cost of privacy.
My husband and I are quite open about "toilet stuff" And he basically uses the master bath for that - and I use the guest room bath. One change I would make today is doing away with the toilet and separate bidet - and going with one of those neat Japanese Toto toilets (great fun when we took a trip to Japan).
We would have planned the house differently if bedrooms 3 and 4 were both used as bedrooms and the household had more than 2 married people. Since only 2 bedrooms are ever used as bedrooms - we built it like we did. We did leave the option of making the place more "user friendly" for a larger family - perhaps one small child or two - but not a large family (e.g., we put a shower in the guest bathroom - and a place for a door - so it could serve as a full bathroom for what is currently now another home office). For the most part - we built for how we live - not how some eventual buyer 20+ years down the road might live (we've been in the house 15 years now).
With regard to French doors - they were in the original plans. But we wanted to build to south Florida wind codes (we're Hurricane Andrew survivors). And - at the time - there were no French doors that met south Florida wind codes. So we wound up with sliders and regular windows that met south Florida codes. Think there are more options in that regard today than there were 15 years ago. Happy New Year, Robyn
I like that floor plan, Robyn. A lot. Lots of square footage, all on one floor with privacy for the BRs and/or guests. And a formal DR. Must have one of those. Who cares who it suits in 15 or 20 years if you need to sell. What matters is now.
Robyn, I'm with you on larger living quarters. We have a larger house as well. We often have people staying over, and I too like the "default" bedroom available for escaping a snoring DH.
We have a large kitchen, and it makes entertaining so much easier. People tend to congregate in the kitchen while I'm making dinner, so it's nice to have room to accomodate that.
While DH and I do lots together, we both like our quiet times and having the extra space makes it easy to do. He's also a bit hard of hearing, so the TV volume is way too loud for me - I like the ability to get away from the noise.
I think if I were on my own I would have picked something a bit smaller, but for the two of us, we both enjoy the extra room.
We don't entertain a whole lot. And - when we do - most of the time it's for 1 or 2 people - and/or in restaurants. We have only had one dinner party for more than 10 in the last 15 years - my late FIL's last Thanksgiving - when all of his family came down to see him. And we rented tables and chairs and the like and set them up outside on the porch (luckily - the weather cooperated). Robyn
1. Master bath. A private toilet room mandatory. While not clear, a jetted tub for my wife, big shower for myself.
P.S. Neither of us is a bath person - and our shower is fairly large. A subsequent owner could put in a really big tub if that was desired (perhaps eliminate the bidet and/or make the shower a bit smaller. All the necessary plumbing connections are there.
FWIW - in our last condo - which we renovated before we moved in (although it had never been lived in) - we got rid of the tub in the master bath entirely - and put in a large shower. Wound up selling it to a couple who weren't bath people either. Robyn
We have put in large showers with two separate faucet controls on opposite walls and multiple shower heads, in a few places we have owned.
Each time it seems that when other couples see that feature, they seem to like it, for some reason.
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cooking that way. We turned out three fabulous meals a day in that kitchen with the large gas stove, meals of the kind not had since. It's all in the kitchen attitude, and small can be bellissimo!
