Looking For Feedback On My Kitchen Renovation Design
The Context:
This is a center hall colonial in the Northeast. The kitchen sits in the back corner, connected to the dining room, main hallway, and a secondary guest entrance. Since we usually enter through the basement/garage, this guest entrance is high-traffic only during entertaining, but we do have a small reach in pantry there as well. The kitchen does contain the only interior exit to our deck, so maintaining an uninterrupted flow is a priority. We are a family of four.
Orientation: The back wall (French doors) faces WSW and the right wall faces NNW.
I've included the floorplan from my Sketchup model at various angles include the first couple with shadows on for a Morning, Mid-Day, and Evening representation. Note - Haven't used shadows before, but figured out how to set my location and align my model. Although looking again it looks like I need to adjust the front windows in my model and add a roof, but not hide it like in the evening capture.
My Plan:
Entry/Exit: Swapping the existing 70" slider for a 60" Outswing French Door (Exterior Deck is 34' x 14'). This extra 10" of wall space seems critical for the cabinetry run, but I’m curious if anyone foresees issues with natural light. I did widen the window above the sink for better symmetry and to bring in more light to that corner.
Cabinetry: Running to the ceiling with finished 3/4" panels, including 3/4" gables for the fridge surround. Planning for a 3/4" finished top panel for 3" crown with 1/4" reveals.
Aisles: Maintaining a 42" minimum on all work aisles. The aisle behind the island overhang is intentionally wider to facilitate flow while people are seated at the island. Right now is a 13 1/2" overhang and 48" aisle.
Island Alignment: The island length is currently set by a sight line from the countertop edge to the French door window panes. This currently puts the island base inset ~3 1/4" from the wall cabinet run.
The 'Dead' Space: To the right of the island, there’s a transition area that’s too small for a dining table but too large to leave empty. I’m leaning toward a tall pantry cabinet and a window bench to utilize the space without blocking natural light or the path to the deck.
Questions:
- Does the island-to-door alignment make sense visually? With the overhang only the counter will stick out ~5" past the door jamb. This is also a reason to switch to the French Doors.
- Thoughts on the window bench vs. an alternative in that transition area? Counterspace would require raising/shortening the double window there, but it faces North and looks out towards the neighbors.
- Thoughts on dishwasher placement vs. to the right of the sink and in the path of the sink-to-range portion of the triangle. Seems better than blocking this flow or a down door and boiling pot of water.
- Do I go wider on the window? I think this is the best balance of cabinet layout, as going wider and having the sink and range fall in alignment would shrink the rightmost cabinet to a 12" and also make it difficult to have vertical alignment of the pendent lights while still feeling centered with the island. I do have about 2.5" of filler on the run.
- Any flags or things to consider?
Structural Note:
The wall between the kitchen and dining room is load bearing. Removing would definitely open the space and we have two large cottage style windows in that room, but cost\feasibility of doing such is a concern given the point load would fall in the middle of the garage.
Thank you in advance.
Edit:
I forgot to mention that the fridge gable ended up only 3.5" from the outside corner wall that turns down the main hallway (currently 41"). I thought about furring out the wall 2" and it looks far better on the model. The hallway is very open to the left side, and the longest enclosed run with a wall on both sides is 4'.