I wrote the first check yesterday, so it’s official. Our kitchen renovation is underway! Walls should be coming down in a couple of weeks, and in the meantime, I’ll be figuring out a way to get the hood of my dreams and still send our kids to college. . . (Holy cow! Those things are expensive. . . The kids and the hoods.) So, first things first: the new layout.
I had mentioned in a previous post that the kitchen sink might move over in front of the windows. I was so excited about this idea until our designer (who’s also a mom) pointed out that the flow of traffic in and out of the door (shown above), between the sink and where the end of the island will be, would make me a crazy person. And, she was absolutely right. How many times a day do I already have to say “get out of the kitchen!”?? As pretty as it would’ve been, it just didn’t make any sense function-wise.
So, this is the new layout:
So, the wall you see here (where our stove is now) will become a full fridge and freezer. The pantry (right behind that shelving unit) will be removed to open up the space:
On the other side of the room, the range (and hopefully, my pretty hood) will go where the sink is now. The wall behind the fridge will be removed to open up the kitchen into the front room. A long island (with five barstools—yippee!) will go in the middle of the space.
This next rendering is actually a continuation of the same wall; I just broke it up into two images because it was so wide. The piece you see below will actually be where the front (black) room is now. The two tall cabinets are pull-out pantries.
I’ll put a pair of chairs in front of the TV here. I”m already banking on that becoming my new morning reading spot. :)
I love this layout. This really is going to be an incredible room! That stove wall alone is a dream! Can’t wait!
Shelley
I like most of the layout, but do you think it will ever annoy you that the fridge is on the opposite side of the island as the range and sink? I love the tv/reading nook!
I’ve thought about it, but I don’t think there’s a lot of other options. In my mind, I’ll just get the stuff out of the fridge and turn around and set it on the island. I think…
I have this same layout- island between the fridge and the sink and stove area. And you are right- I just always put stuff on the island and then slide it around to where I need it. Its not a problem! This is going to be a great kitchen for your family! How fun!
This is good to hear! Thanks.
Design looks great! I love that you have a nice seating area so the family can all be gathered together in the same vicinity while the cook is in the kitchen. My husband’s biggest gripe with ours is that he has to drag a chair in to hang and chat with me while I make dinner instead of their being a nice nook or something to relax in with a glass of wine. Very excited for you!
Your kitchen is going to be beautiful – and huge! Have you considered building in a banquette near the kitchen table? You could add extra storage underneath too. I like how the drinks drawer is kept out of the main kitchen space. That sitting nook will be so nice to have.
What kind of designer are you working with? One specifically for kitchens? Did she just do the layout or will she be working with you the whole time?
Yes, she does kitchens and baths and is also helping me choose some of the other elements.
That herringbone wall is going to be fantastic! Our island has the stove in it and is between our sink and fridge. It’s not bad, just some extra steps walking around it a lot. I think it will be better for you with the sink in the island. How exciting, can’t wait to follow along in the process!
Love the new layout. Looks like a really great space. Could you swap the eating area with the pair of chairs? That way you have a beautiful siting area in front of the windows and maybe a round table that can be seen from the front entry?
We had actually toyed with that idea, but then I didn’t feel like I wanted our ever-messy table right by the front door :)
Hi Emily! Where is that shelf from? I love all of your dishes out in the open like that, wanting to do that in our kitchen – even though we have good storage – I love the look and accessibility!
Can’t wait to see your finished kitchen!
LA
It’s from Birch Lane. Super sturdy–I love it. I’m thinking of using it in our master bath after the reno.
https://emilyaclark.com/2015/10/adding-extra-shelving-in-our-kitchen.html
The layout looks terrific, Emily. I did want to ask about the island and having to walk around it to get to the fridge. Just looking at it makes me want to have two islands with some space between them. However, I have no spatial intelligence at all, and I might be reading the plan totally wrong.
See above comment :)
Everything looks like it will be beautiful but I will say that my aunt and uncle have the exact same layout with the fridge on the other side of the island (and they worked with a kitchen designer too) and they absolutely hate it. They host us on Thanksgiving every year and every year my uncle- the big cook- says that every day he feels like he just does laps and laps around the kitchen island to get to the fridge (and they have the sink in the island too). I don’t mean to be negative but just wanted to mention it because its their biggest regret. I’m sure you’ll do what is right for you in the end though. Best of luck!
I am so excited to see how all of this turns out – I think the design looks fabulous! Since you’ve had more than one question about it, I just wanted to reassure you that walking around an island isn’t a big deal, especially if you keep in mind how grateful you are to have the storage and seating in the middle of your kitchen. :-) I have a large square island with the stove on one side, the fridge on another, and the sink across from the corner of the other two sides. I don’t think I ever even think about the fridge to sink walk. I DO sometimes notice going back-and-forth between the sink and the stove. If you can put a pot filler faucet above your stove I would recommend it. But if not, strap your fit bit on and it’s not really a big deal. Good luck!
Your designer did a wonderful job. It’s going to be a great space. I can’t wait to see which fridge/freezer you choose. I want the same thing in my kitchen, but am having a tough time finding ones with good reviews.
Have you received any insight to how long this project could take? I can’t imagine living through a kitchen reno with all your kiddos. But your design is beautiful & will be worth it in the end. Kinda like a pregnancy, right? Lol.
Now I need to do my daily vote for you. Have a great day!
Emily, I know you’re probably tired of all the fridge comments but I felt like I needed to chime in also! We bought our house with the fridge around the island. Others brought it to my attention, but I was so in love with the finishes of the kitchen that I thought it wouldn’t bother me. Almost three years later, it’s the only thing about my kitchen I do not like. I have two toddlers and I feel like I’m a constant yoyo between the table, stove and fridge!
Well Hello two dishwashers! That makes up for the a window over the sink! No time to get lost in the view because you can be super quick clean up! I know you have weighed every possibility and come up with a plan that works for you and your very active family and your desire to balance function with beauty. I hope it works as good as it looks. And, yes, those hoods are $$$$ suckers!
I’m also going to chime in on where the fridge is. Perhaps you cook differently from me, however I find I am always getting something out of the fridge (e.g. butter) and then needing to put it back. Just need some milk….need to put said milk back.
How exciting! I love the little sitting area with all the built-ins at the front of the house. I can’t wait to watch the progress and see all that you do with this space!
Wow, I can’t wait to see the new kitchen!! Double dishwasher, and full size fridge + freezer!! And glad you went with the microwave drawer! I love how there’s a small “entertainment” area in the kitchen also! Your kids will love that too! With your huge family, do you think you may have space for a prep sink?
My fridge is on the other side of the island and it doesn’t bother me at all. I guess I don’t mind the extra walking- it burns more calories so I can eat more of whatever I’m baking!
Hi Emily! The new layout looks great and I know you will LOVE having a full size fridge & full sized freezer right next to each other. The really nice thing about their location is that 2 cooks can work efficiently & not be bumping into each other opening/closing the fridge/freezer doors. I also know you will enjoy the microwave drawer and 2 dishwashers (woohoo!!). And, personally, I believe a beverage fridge is a necessity in ANY kitchen as it keeps people away from the big fridge for individual drinks & snacks. Ooh, and your range area, SWOON!!! :) Please remember, no matter what we all say, go with your gut because it’s YOUR kitchen. We all know it’s going to be lovely!! blessings to you on this journey!
Cannot wait to follow along!!! It is going to be beautiful!
I’m terrible at space design and I’m also reading this in a hurry so I apologize if reading this incorrectly. Are you going to walk into your kitchen from the front door? I see a pantry facing the front door? I have not done a kitchen reno yet nor do I have the kitchen of my dreams (yet) but there seems to be a lot of concern regarding the fridge/freezer placement. I think it warrants a second thought before you pull the trigger. With that said, I know you will make it fabulous and I can’t wait to see it all completed!
So dreamy! I’m so excited for you…and for me that I get to watch the process!
Love the plans, really looking forward to seeing the details as the work goes ahead. On the fridge issue….we moved into an old cottage last year and unfortunately our fridge was to tall for the small space allocated in our very small kitchen. We had no choice but to put it in our dining room, which is probably about as far from your stove to your fridge placement. Whilst it’s not perfect it’s actually fine, it’s not the end of the world. I would prefer it in the kitchen but I really like the size and layout of our fridge so I’m not prepared to change it for a smaller one just so it fits. For me the compromise is worth it. Hope that helps.
Sorry, continuation from my previous comment. Perhaps swap the pantry location for the fridge/freezer location and move the family area down toward the entrance?
I mentioned this forum when you initially posted about your kitchen renovation but I strongly suggest you post your proposed layout on gardenweb kitchens forum before you go any further.
It can’t hurt to get some feed back from kitchen design obsessed people and for free at that!
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath
It’s going to beautiful! So excited for you and to see it come alive!
Same concern here about the fridge because if I am reading the plan right the kids could all be lined up on bar stools along that other side of the island. My big question with that is would the doors open fully with them there and would you be able to sit stuff over and do so with out getting elbowed in the face or the items spilled? This is the point where I would have ordered them all out of the kitchen. I am also picturing hurried mornings and trying to get out the door with them in the way of the fridge. Just some Mommy thoughts.
Looks amazing!! I think keeping the kitchen table by the windows will be very cozy. A question about the two chairs: do you think your kids will fight over them? I know you have a family room with seating for everyone by the TV, but I know with my 5 kids it would be a nonstop fight if there were only 2 chairs. Also, have you considered disguising the drink fridge as a cabinet? The glass-front drink fridges are so cool-looking, but I think that an obvious fridge would look very awkward below a big TV. The two just don’t go together. Just thought I’d throw my unsolicited two-cents in the mix. With your eye for design and great taste, I know the room will turn out beautiful.
This plan looks amazing Emily! I see what everyone is saying about the fridge being behind the island but it seems because it will be recessed you will have plenty of clearance to open the doors and still have people at the island. Love the long island and two dishwashers (?!) – I would love that!!
How exciting Emily! Just wondering if you could keep the current sink location and add window above? Perhaps this has been addressed already :)
Never mind ! Just saw that the garage is there :)
Emily, this looks fabulous! Everything from teh herringbone wall to the layout is just perfect. And I know you will find a creative (and thrifty) way to get that hood. Can’t wait to see/hear about it! Have you considered doing a large double pantry for EVEN MORE storage to the right of the garage door entry or a buffet style built in there? In our last house, that is something I totally wish I had gone ahead and done.
Oh, Emily…dream kitchen! SO exciting. Looking forward to following along!
Hi Emily,
Beautiful plans! I know you must be frustrated with the fridge/freezer comments but I think you should try and rethink the fridge/freezer closer to the sink/stove. It should always work in a triangle — sink, stove, fridge/freezer. Otherwise – can’t wait to see the final result! Best of luck!!
Hi Julie, not frustrated. I welcome the feedback from readers, although the layout is pretty set at this point and I do feel good about it. Although we’re knocking out a wall, we do still have some space limitations to work within. I’m just going to bank on liking it as much as the commenters who have this set up that seems to be working for them.
You could just have one of your kiddos help you get stuff from the fridge to the island, if you want to take fewer steps. It makes sense to me that you would have to give up some things to get other more important goodies. I can’t wait to see the finished product. The drawings really helped because until then I couldn’t picture why you’d have 2 sitting chairs facing a wall, in the kitchen. Now I see it will have a little bit of a living room feel to it when someone walks in the front door.
Love it all!
It’s absolutely lovely! Love the space and the storage. Will you have electricity to the island? Best thing we did was to add that. It really made every space multi functional.
Yes! I’m making sure.
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I’ll probably never have a new or renovated kitchen in my lifetime, so just getting to follow along and drool over yours will have to suffice! Can’t wait to see the progress along the way. Everything you touch is gold!
Hi Emily!
I love your kitchen, I too can’t wait to see it. Can I ask how you found a kitchen designer? I live in a small town and when I google it I get Home Depot, etc. I do live about an hour from 2 big cities though. Thank you, Taryn
She works with our contracts on a regular basis and that’s who he recommended. So worth the extra money to have her help.
This is gorgeous! Since I’ve been following your blog for a few years, I have no doubt that you have worked out EVERY possibility for how you want this kitchen to look and function. What I love is that you’ve managed to fit in multiple zones, five (!) barstools, and a full-size fridge and freezer. How you will adore having that extra cold storage space right in your kitchen, without having to run to the garage or basement for the extra gallon of milk! You have designed the perfect space for a large family, and, short of building from the ground up, I don’t know how you could have done better. Can’t wait to see the progress shots!
So excited for you and your double dishwashers! We are a family of 6 and it is frustrating how fast our dishwasher fills up. I was just talking with my husband about adding another dishwasher, but it just won’t work in our layout. Have to stick with using lots of paper plates!
You must be so excited! I’m dying over here seeing the plans! It looks amazing and the reading nook area is now a must have for me in my next kitchen. Can’t wait to see it all come together. xo, Camila
Good lucK! You will love it when it’s done! And I’m sure you can do it all for $30,000 just like on fixer/upper…
Hi Emily! I am excited to see how this is going to come together:) So two things: 1) I would LOVE a post on how you found your contractor/kitchen designer. We are going to begin a house remodel, and I am stumped as to how to find people to help with our house, particularly an architect to help with a proposed addition and a kitchen designer to help with layout. Where did you look? What types of questions did you ask to determine who would fit your style and budget? 2) I know you mentioned in you post about wanting the hood of your dreams- take a look at the hood on simpledetails blog (no affiliation), she had a really ingenious way of faking a stainless/brass hood:) Thank you for sharing the process!
To be honest, I stopped and talked to a contractor whose truck was parked in our neighborhood. Then, later, I went and talked to the neighbors who were working with them. :)
I would seriously reconsider the fridge/freezer placement. Best kitchen design is having the stove, sink & fridge in a triangular pattern to make for most efficiency. Maybe swap the fridge & pantry locations? As someone who spends half her life in the kitchen, I would go bonkers running to the fridge on the other side of the stove/sink/island. You have a good eye, so I’m sure whatever you decide will look amazing!
How exciting! I can’t wait to see all of your choices, I know it will be beautiful!
After we moved into our house we refigured the kitchen, which meant taking out a desk area that was on the other side of our island, and putting the refrigerator there and then adding a new lower and upper cabinet next to the stove, where the refrigerator started out at. At first it seemed a long way to walk from the sink, (probably 6 steps at the most lol!) compared to practically being able to reach the refrigerator door from the island, but within a week, I didn’t think a thing about it. I was just so happy to get rid of the useless desk area, and have the added cabinet space that it was never a second thought.
I think the same thing will happen in your new kitchen, you’ll be so excited to have a beautiful new kitchen, that you won’t give it a second thought either. :)
Suzie, I think so, too. In fact, I feel like seeing the fridge from the front door would make me feel a lot more crazy than the extra steps I’ll have to take around the island :)
You’re amazing Emily! I’m a long-time reader (who never comments) but this kitchen is going to be gorgeous and I wanna share how happy I am for you! What a plan! I feel myself getting defensive of others suggesting you change things:) I’m sure you’ve put more than a little thought into this and I’m so happy for you to carry out your plan! It’s all in the perspective-we could analyze and find a fault in every kitchen if we’re looking for it. I think this kitchen will work wonderfully for your family as you choose to embrace it and all that it offers.
Anyway, now I’m rambling:) Cannot wait to watch it become real!
You’re very sweet. I’m not offended by their suggestions at all. I feel like we landed on the best layout for our space, but all of my posts are always open for discussion. Thank you, though, for your very nice comment :)
Oh, amazing! That huge island is going to be so great with the kids and I love the TV/reading/pantry area with the beverage fridge! Bachelor and wine for you? ;)
Beautiful layout. I’m an interior designer and mom of three. Having read all the comments, I will say this – the work triangle in the kitchen is an outdated notion. As we have started viewing the kitchen as part of our living space and not just for cooking, other considerations have come into play. You have planned it to work for your family and your lifestyle. I don’t see the fridge being an issue at all, I also did double dishwashers, yay, and a big island with that much seating is a dream! The only thing I would be hesitant about is how open it is to the front door, but if you feel you can live with that, go for it! I’m not saying don’t take any advice, and gardenweb is great, but you know best how you live. Good luck, it’s going to be beautiful!
So exciting! Congrats! We’re in the middle of a whole house reno and I, too, was shocked at the price of range hoods! If you’re interested there are several tutorials to be found on Pinterest for some DIY ones similar to what’s in your plan. Also, if you don’t already have you fridge/freezer picked out: In the kitchen in the house we just sold that we re-did 4 years ago, I had a full fridge and full freezer like in your plans. They were Frigidaire Professional Series with a trim kit to look built-in and I LOVED them! They are absolutely the best value in regards to fridge/freezer space/built-in look/quality. Nothing compares. Unfortunately, they won’t fit in my new kitchen, so I had to pay WAY more for a “real” built-in with less cubic feet. Best wishes as you tackle the disruption of a kitchen re-do! (From a mom with 6 kids and 2nd reno in 4 years- I feel for you, but it will all be worth it!)
That’s the exact fridge/freezer we’re looking at. Good to hear you liked it so much!
I think the fridge is in a great spot for a big, busy family. I think of how many times someone is getting into the fridge at my house! This placement seems great for keeping all the hungry and thirsty people out of the cooking space.
that’s exactly what I was thinking! We have a 48″ fridge and my boys just sit in front of that thing! Glad its out of my way a bit!
So since you’re open to our two cents, I wonder if you’ve thought through the first view for a guest walking in your house being a TV. What about reversing that & the gallery wall? That way the first thing to greet someone is a beautiful display & not a big screen & the backs of chairs.
I love it! It feels thoughtful and functional. I’ve been planning to remodel our kitchen for the last 6 months, but am paralyzed over the layout. Thanks for the inspiration!
How in the freakin world did I miss this post originally?!? Its going to be amazing! So excited for you!
Hi Emily,
I just came across your awesome blog trying to find inspiration. You have some really great stuff here and I’m glad I found you!
This might be a strange question but where/how do you get those paint colour blobs I keep seeing throughout your posts?
Thanks, Nicole. Just Google Image the paint color :)
Hi Emily, i just sent you a dm through instagram about DIMENSIONS of your kitchen. I read all of your Blog and got other answers 😄 Our reno is in the design phase now and one idea is similar to yours! Knocking wall down to dining room, specifically. Do you know the width of the space thats Towards the front of the house and most of your island? Also dimensions of the island? Thanks!!