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Old 10-20-2014, 10:20 AM
 
99 posts, read 109,366 times
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We are remodeling the kitchen and living room. The living room will eventually be turned into an informal dining room. We have figured out most of the kitchen, but are having a problem with how to do some sort of peninsula/island with storage and stools.

The new fridge(which will be either a 25 cu ft FD or CD FD) will be where our old fridge is now, between the windows and the new gas slide in range will be where our old stove is right now in the corner and new undermount sink will be where the sink is now next to the range.

We wanted the range/stove between the windows, but putting the fridge anywhere else takes away a lot of counter and cabinets/drawers. There will be a 20" deep counter on the left wall(basement wall) about 54? inches long. The basement door is on the basement wall between where the counter will be and the window. The counter can only be around 54" long in order to have room between the fridge(with narrow cabinets around it) and the counter on the basement wall to get into the basement. I go down a lot to do laundry. We do have an outside entrance to the basement also(we get W/D etc down there from outside.

We originally wanted a peninsula at the beginning of the kitchen by the basement wall, but now seeing that the counter on the basement wall cannot go all the way to the end of the wall where the basement door is, we wouldn't have much room if any for a counter and cabinets on that wall if we put a peninsula there(we need all the counter/cabinets we can get, which no matter how we do it will not be a lot).

We wanted the peninsula with seating on both sides with a wood slab top on the peninsula which originally was going to be 42" high. The wood top was going to be about 34" deep with the overhang on both sides, but we realized 36" high is better and it just won't work to have peninsula and basement wall counter/cabinets there. Plus, having the peninsula there crowds the corner where the main door to the house, the bathroom door and the steps to upstairs all are. The stairs were taken out for new ones. The 2 doors and the steps are staying. We wanted seating on both sides of peninsula with big(deep) top since we won't have a table of any kind until we change the living room into the informal dining room(which won't happen until other rooms are remodeled). Even after we have the informal dining room with a table, we still want to have the peninsula/island/table(not sure what to call it). My husbands wants to have seating on both sides because when we do sit there for dinner, he wants to sit looking out into the other room to see the TV(do not want TV in kitchen which I know some do). We generally watch TV or a movie during dinner. It's just 3 of us. My husband, myself and our 12 yr old daughter.

Since it won't work to do what we originally planned with a peninsula by the basement wall, we've been told by our carpenter friend, to do peninsula/island attached to the wall on the right(there will be a counter and cabinets on that wall). It would stick out somewhat into other room. He said to do a 5-6 ft long/2 ft wide counter facing the sink with storage on the sink side and an overhang on basement side and living room side with 2-3 stools on basement side and 1? in living room.

My husband likes that idea, but I do not like it for a few reasons. Although we'd have more counter and storage as well as landing area by the fridge, we still couldn't see the TV in the other room, I don't want to sit facing the sink or have anyone else sitting facing the sink while I'm working at the sink/stove(I want my space and with such a small kitchen, I'd feel like they were right there in my space), plus I don't like anyone(guests) seeing me doing prep/cooking/cleaning up and seeing all the mess, and prefer my private space or at least further away from anyone sitting at the island/peninsula. That's why there is a wall to hide the cooking/cleanup area from the other room. I also do not like the tight space in a kitchen between the sink, fridge or stove and "island" and having to walk around it, especially when it's attached to the prep wall. I'd only have one way to go around it. I like having my space to move around in the kitchen, even though some people say that there would be a lot of unused space where I could have something with counter and storage(an island). We need something, just not sure how to do it.

I don't mind if something goes a bit into the living room(not too far, since then the stools would be way into the living room). I've been trying to think outside the box and be creative with it, by not having it go to far into the kitchen and have it somehow go into the living room a bit and have a curved or partly curved top on living room side, but I can't seem to come up with anything that would work. I even considered having the whole thing angled somehow so the part in the kitchen would be facing the corner where the stove is, but don't think that would work. We definitely need to have storage in it, a deep top(about 36" or more with overhang) and a way to have at least 1 maybe 2 seats where you can see out into living room. My husband insists on having seating in the kitchen either facing the living room or sink so he/we can look out into living room.

Between the counter on basement wall and the wall on other side between LR and kitchen is about
7' 3"(need at least 36" of that for entrance into kitchen) and from the entrance of the kitchen to the fridge is about 7' 10". I prefer not going more than 2 1/2 - 3ft into the kitchen with it.

Yes, I know most people love an island in the middle of the kitchen, along with an open concept, but I do not.

BTW, our cabinet guy is coming again either tomorrow or Weds., so we need to have an idea of what we want. Oh, and KD...What KD????? That's me. Cost of a KD is not in our budget

Any ideas or suggestions of what we could do would be appreciated. See attached photos.
Thanks!
Attached Thumbnails
Need help with part of kitchen design-p1011317.jpg   Need help with part of kitchen design-p1011309.jpg  

Last edited by Kathy246; 10-20-2014 at 10:30 AM..
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Old 10-20-2014, 10:43 AM
 
1,166 posts, read 1,376,135 times
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Design the kitchen for function, sit in the dining/living area.

If there's no way to comfortably put seating in the kitchen without compromising your workflow, then don't do it. I know kitchens are a nice place to congregate and socialize, but it has to still primarily function as a kitchen. Figure out your storage and prep space and then go from there.

You mentioned the living room would become an informal dining room, so why not just put a counter height table and chairs in there?
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Old 10-20-2014, 11:16 AM
 
99 posts, read 109,366 times
Reputation: 37
We will eventually putting a table in the now LR once it becomes the informal dinging room, but once the remodel is done, all the LR furniture will be back in there with no space for a table. As I mentioned, we can't turn the LR into dining room until we remodel other rooms. It will still be the LR for quite some time. Plus, my husband insists on something("island"/peninsula) he/we can sit at where he/we can look out to LR and we need it to have a decent size top and storage. We really want it for more usable counter/table top, we like the idea of stools and really need the storage.

I need to figure it out, otherwise my husband will just decide how it will be and tell our cabinet guy what he wants, which would be something that would go way into kitchen with seating facing the sink. I would not be happy with that. I don't want the kitchen as a place to congregate/socialize. That's why I don't want it coming way into the kitchen. I wish our first idea of a peninsula by the basement wall would have worked, as it would have been on the other side of the kitchen away from my work area(sink, stove) and would not be way into the middle of the kitchen. Unfortunately, for reasons I stated above, that won't work. We BOTH want something, but I'd like to come up with something I like that he will also be happy with.
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Old 10-20-2014, 11:40 AM
 
Location: Johns Creek, GA
17,446 posts, read 65,798,103 times
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If the basic overall dimension is 7'/3"X7'/10" you don't have room for an island or a peninsula.

You could have all kinds of possibilities if you changed the windows to 3/2's instead of the 5/2's(?) they are now.
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Old 10-20-2014, 11:46 AM
 
99 posts, read 109,366 times
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Unfortunately, all 3 windows were just replaced and staying and if I don't come up with something, we will end up doing what my husband wants, which I don't think is right in such a tight space. If we could do something on the basement wall with maybe a smaller angled base cabinet with a smaller bank of drawers in the corner and have the peninsula connected to that so the first stool wouldn't be right in the corner, but I don't know if something like that would work.
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Old 10-20-2014, 12:32 PM
 
1,166 posts, read 1,376,135 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathy246 View Post
Unfortunately, all 3 windows were just replaced and staying and if I don't come up with something, we will end up doing what my husband wants, which I don't think is right in such a tight space. If we could do something on the basement wall with maybe a smaller angled base cabinet with a smaller bank of drawers in the corner and have the peninsula connected to that so the first stool wouldn't be right in the corner, but I don't know if something like that would work.
How about until you can remodel the rest of the space and turn the LR into a DR, get a kitchen cart on wheels with drop down leaves as a temporary solution to your husband wanting seating and for extra counter/prep space when needed? Then it can be pushed aside out of the way when not needed.
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Old 10-20-2014, 12:48 PM
 
99 posts, read 109,366 times
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Even after we get the LR changed to the DR, we will still want a peninsula/island with seating, plus as I stated before, we need more storage(cabinets or drawers in it). Even with it, I'm wondering if we'll have enough storage, so we absolutely want it/need it, not only for having seats at, but workspace and storage.
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Old 10-20-2014, 01:39 PM
 
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As K'ledgeBldr said, the kitchen space is too small for any kind of functional island space, and if you can't do the peninsula on the basement wall, then really, you're left with the contractor's suggestion doing it the other way, but really, if you're not going to be happy that people will have to face your sink, and your husband won't get to face to watch tv, who is going to be happy with that arrangement?

I'm going to stick with my previous assertion that you design the kitchen to maximize storage and prep space and maintain the workflow. If watching tv is such an important part of mealtimes in your family, buy some foldable TV dinner tables and just sit in front of the tv.

If you are your own kitchen designer, do you have a mockup of the design done with the adjoining space. If there are any other workable out of the box options, having a floor plan will help people to help you figure them out.
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Old 10-20-2014, 03:29 PM
 
99 posts, read 109,366 times
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As I said before, we need more counter space and lower cabinets/drawers. I actually have a counter height small 20" by 30" "island" on wheels with a drawer and doors with storage below the drawer. I don't like having that in the middle of the room and will not have any wall space for it. Even with that, we need to figure out how to get more counter and lower storage, because it's so small. If we can add seating we would really like to. We like the idea of somewhere we could put some stools. We like the idea of a peninsula with stools and storage on the other side, but as I've said, since we can't put it connected to the basement wall(too crowded by the 2 doors and stairs and there wouldn't be any room on basement wall for counter and cabinets unless someone came up with a way to do it-which we would love!).

I am trying to figure out how we can get the most counter and storage space with the best workflow, but I'm not coming up with a way to have more lower storage without adding a counter or peninsula to the wall between the 2 rooms. I originally had a corner sink in that corner(right of where the sink is now) with counters to left and right with fridge in corner where stove is and the stove where the fridge is, but realized the fridge would crowd the window and should not be in a corner, so I switched the stove and fridge and the cabinet guy had too many little cabinets above the corner sink, so we put the sink back under the window.

I've seen much smaller kitchens with more counter space and lots more storage(upper and lower) with an island or peninsula with stools. why does this have to be so hard to figure out? I know the 2 lower windows don't help, but we have to work around them.

If anyone has any idea of how to get more counter space and lower storage without putting a counter in front of either window, since we do not want to block either one, I'd love to hear any suggestions!

Last edited by Kathy246; 10-20-2014 at 03:39 PM..
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Old 10-20-2014, 04:37 PM
 
Location: CO
2,453 posts, read 3,590,551 times
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I agree that you don't have room for an island without building it out on a diagonal from the basement wall which could look awkward. The main issue seems to be seating so that the TV can be viewed from the kitchen. Why not put one of those bar height pub tables with bar height stools in the space between the fridge and the living room? Your husband gets his seating, you can push the stools out of the way under the table when not in use, and you can plan storage and countertops along the basement wall and the area by the sink?

There are many styles and sizes of these pub sets out there. Here's one example.

TMS Belfast 5 Piece Counter Height Pub Set & Reviews | Wayfair

Form and function. Good luck in your planning!
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