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Old 04-09-2014, 04:12 PM
 
Location: From the West to the East
37 posts, read 53,542 times
Reputation: 24

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For the OP focusing on the kitchen is crucial since that is, generally speaking, where you would "can/dry/grind/butcher/cook food." We do not do a lot of entertaining so to us a huge kitchen is important.

And like what someone else mentioned, take into account the size of the place you are living in now, and consider if it needs to be bigger or could be smaller. Smaller = good for the budget but maybe not so much for when you have people over. Just weigh the pros & cons I suppose and go with what feels right to you.
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Old 04-27-2014, 04:19 PM
 
1,166 posts, read 1,376,287 times
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The functional design and layout is as, if not more, important as the square footage. I can never understand 3,000 sq ft homes with tiny kitchens and massive bathrooms.

Counter space and storage space is obviously critical, but you can also make your dining table counter height and build it with a non-porous surface (like a nice slab of soapstone) so that during times when you need extra prep space, you have an entire table's worth, at a comfortable height to work with.

I personally hate deep pantry shelving. Stuff gets lost at the back all the time unless it's built with fully extendable drawers. I turned our built in pantry into storage for appliances and bulk goods (dog food etc.) and put all my canned and baking supplies into 11 inch deep bookshelves (good ol' Ikea) with doors on the front and nothing gets lost and it's floor to (almost) ceiling storage without wasted wall and minimal floor space used.

In your situation, I would definitely have a basement for storage, if not an actual root cellar for bulk storage of food. Summer/outdoor kitchens are always nice, too, especially if you get a good 3 seasons of agreeable weather.

You may find that a larger barn structure serves for a lot of your extraneous needs and storage, especially if you're keeping livestock versus hunting.
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Old 04-27-2014, 06:59 PM
 
Location: WMHT
4,567 posts, read 5,641,792 times
Reputation: 6758
Lightbulb Mormon-style rotating canned food shelves

Quote:
We(my wife and I) are looking at building a very efficient and purpose-built home on a limited budget(read: no debt). Now, we have cash, and I have all the skills and tools to do the build(I am a contractor by trade), but we want to spend no more than necessary to end up with a quality home that suits our needs.
Personally, I would go with a cube-shaped conditioned area, but add multiple porches/barn/garage space, so you keep your energy use down but have a much bigger footprint to work with when you get tired of living in a tiny box.

You could even build a little house first, designing in doorways and prepared flat areas surrounding the main house so you can expand cheaply by turning a bare slab "patio" into 3-season porch or a large garage at a later date.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ozgal View Post
I personally hate deep pantry shelving. Stuff gets lost at the back all the time unless it's built with fully extendable drawers. I turned our built in pantry into storage for appliances and bulk goods (dog food etc.) and put all my canned and baking supplies into 11 inch deep bookshelves (good ol' Ikea) with doors on the front and nothing gets lost and it's floor to (almost) ceiling storage without wasted wall and minimal floor space used.
For canned goods, IMHO the optimal configuration is the rotating can storage, like you see in some groceries or a Mormon pantry.

I do find it difficult to keep track of my baking supplies, might try your bookshelf idea.
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Old 04-27-2014, 08:54 PM
 
1,166 posts, read 1,376,287 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nonesuch View Post

I do find it difficult to keep track of my baking supplies, might try your bookshelf idea.
Even though I prefer glass/stainless/ceramic storage, I've found that these containers fit perfectly into the Billy 11" bookshelves to maximize the storage: Modular Canisters | Rubbermaid

I have the 16 cup ones to hold 5 lbs of flour, sugar etc. and the smallest size for specialty flours and ingredients like flax, coconut and what not. Then I have a few smaller baskets for bits like spices, extracts and the rest.
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Old 04-28-2014, 12:49 PM
 
Location: Backwoods of Maine
7,487 posts, read 10,460,988 times
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Last summer we built a new 28' x 40' ranch on our Maine land. At 1120 sq ft, it is not large, but northern Maine is a very cold climate and one needs to be careful with the heating bill, which for us is wood. There is also a 2-bedroom, 1-bath bunkhouse there for guests, not quite finished.

What we did was to design 2 decent-sized bedrooms and one comfortably-sized bath (wife and I both in our 60's) on one end of the ranch. The rest - an area of 24' x 28' - is an open "great room" that houses our kitchen, dining room, and living room. It has vaulted ceilings, a couple small skylights, and being all open, lends an air of spaciousness to the small ranch. We feel that space is what you make of it.

While we expect to be canning (a shared activity we both enjoy) and doing other food processing, we feel that a small but efficiently-designed kitchen would work well as it can be expanded into the dining room with folding tables and wheeled carts. Most of the time, we will not be engaged in these activities, and the rooms will mostly revert back to their normal usages.

During summer and autumn, when most of the harvesting and meat-processing takes place, we will be using the "summer kitchen", an outdoor screened-in area with outdoor sink, lots of table space, and a propane stove. I also hope to upgrade it with an outdoor brick oven, of a size to accomodate a 30 lb turkey on holidays. This will keep a lot of the mess out of the house. Not all of these activities need to be done inside; you needn't pay to enclose space for them if you schedule your activities.

I hear you about storage. For now, we are renting a storage container of 8' x 40' that was just delivered to the site. If it doesn't require heated storage (ladders, garden tools, extra cookware, extra linens, etc) then it goes onto shelving in the container. It should hold a lot.
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Old 04-29-2014, 03:58 AM
 
Location: Moku Nui, Hawaii
11,048 posts, read 23,950,049 times
Reputation: 10901
Why does it have to be the smallest possible? If you're a contractor and are building it yourself, you can build it pretty inexpensively and build as you get the money. Sometimes folks go overboard in what they think they want and then when they get what they think they wanted, they see that it was a bit too extreme. Go for the most comfortable space and don't worry too much about it's actual size. (I consider minimal costs of upkeep as part of being a comfortable space.)

You may want to investigate areas that are multi-purpose. Design it so your areas can be used for more than one thing depending on what you are doing at the time. If heating is expensive in your area, then perhaps some core areas that are either heated or cooled and accessory areas that aren't.

For your kitchen, figure the largest meal or project that you do each year and design your kitchen to suit. That should then give you a kitchen that can handle the whole year easily.
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Old 04-29-2014, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Where the mountains touch the sky
6,753 posts, read 8,541,972 times
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Smaller homes are far more efficent for heating and upkeep, the taxes are lower, and if it is just 2 people, you don't need huge amounts of space.

However, one idea did pop to mind when I was reading this thread again....

If your kitchen/dining area are attached by say an Island or counter, if those items are mounted on wheels you can move them back along the wall, or out of the way to add folding tables for more room when you are doing your work, but then the tables can go back in the shed, the island or counter is moved back into position, and you are back to your cozy home instead of a production area.

In my cabin, the kitchen counter looks over the living area, but the table/dining area is just on the other side of the woodstove so that entire area is basically one long room. With the stove in the middle, you could do your cutting, chopping, cleaning on the kitchen/sink side, cook/can whatever on the stove, move the hot items to the dining area to cool and you don't have to use your counter space.

Same for wild game if you are cutting/cleaning around the sink, doing the wrapping in the dining area.

Maximizes small space with no conversions.

Just an idea.
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Old 04-29-2014, 12:24 PM
 
Location: Vermont
5,439 posts, read 16,832,985 times
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Pick an increment of 4 or 8 feet, somewhere around 24x24= 24x32...24x32 is = 768 sq. ft. 16x32=512 but I think that is a little skinny.
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Old 05-02-2014, 06:47 AM
 
Location: Not on the same page as most
2,505 posts, read 6,141,960 times
Reputation: 1568
Always nice to have 2 bathrooms!
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Old 05-06-2014, 06:16 PM
 
148 posts, read 228,102 times
Reputation: 279
Just sleep in the kitchen and have an out-house!
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