Cabinet Layout

The one thing that was really important in this kitchen was to make the most out of the small space that we had to work with.  The existing kitchen had very little cabinet and countertop space, and it was imperative that the new layout took advantage of every nook and cranny.  I love to cook but, as Nate loves to point out, I really like to "spread out" while cooking.  (A.K.A. I am a messy cook).

OLD KITCHEN LAYOUT

OLD KITCHEN LAYOUT

As you can see in the first photo, the right corner was complete cabinet dead space and was not being used.  You can also see the extent of our countertop on the first photo.  Yep, that is all the countertop space that there originally was.  Can you imagine!?!?  The existing cabinets also stopped about 12" from the ceiling which was also space that could be used but wasn't.  The second photo shows the other wall of the kitchen and the existing layout with the dead duct space and the old pantry (that was touched upon here.)  The cabinets above the refrigerator were so shallow that they were barely usable.  That is one of those things that we talked about earlier. The builder used a standard cabinet size, so the space for the cabinet is actually much larger than the cabinet itself.  What a waste of space!! (The cabinet, not the builder. Well, maybe both.)


Anyways, here is what we came up with for the new layout which tried to maximize the space.

NEW KITCHEN LAYOUT

As you can see in the new layout, we took advantage of the corners by adding a lazy susan on the bottom cabinet and a corner cabinet on the upper cabinet.  We also ran the cabinets the entire way up to the ceiling to maximize our cabinet space.  The duct that was originally above the microwave was abandoned (we have another air vent below the sink space) and now a large cabinet sits above the microwave.  By building the cabinets ourselves (yep, we built them ourselves, more on that here) we were able to make the cabinets deeper than standard and gain about 3" of depth. I know that it seems minimal for cabinet space, but this allows for a larger countertop, and any bit helps!
We moved the oven slightly to the right to gain some extra space on the left, which resulted in a tiny upper cabinet on the right, which ended up being perfect for spices!  We also added a really deep double farm sink to hold all of those dirty dishes that I create while cooking!

When the small wall was removed (talked about here) we were able to add a very large upper cabinet to the right of the sink and some small lower cabinets below.  It also now allowed us to add a peninsula which gave us a huge amount of lower cabinet space but more importantly a HUGE amount of added countertop space. On the backside of the peninsula (where the bar stools will go) we took advantage of the "dead corner" and added a hidden liquor cabinet (shhh...don't tell!).  You can kind of see it in this photo on the bottom right.  Nate added some rope lighting inside to be able to find the correct bottle, God forbid he grabs the Coconut Rum instead of a 12 year old Scotch.

On the other side, by removing the old pantry we gained even more countertop space and a HUGE amount of storage area.  It was important to me to have deep drawers for the pots and pans that have been accumulated over the years.  The space was the perfect location for a set of very deep, very long drawers, and one shallow but very long drawer to hold cutting boards, etc.  The cabinet/drawer to the right was especially made to house the KitchenAid mixer (where the heck else are you supposed to put those things!).  The upper cabinets provided a perfect place to put all of the plates, bowls, etc. and the three small drawers underneath the upper cabinets were an awesome idea from Bob the Builder.  They make for a great place for take-out menus, coffee filters, and mail.

So, in a very big nutshell, that was the idea behind our new kitchen layout!  It took a lot of planning and consideration for how we I use the space and in the end we are very very pleased with the result.  We gained a ton of storage space, and enough countertop space considering what we started with.  OH, and did you notice that the refrigerator is going to have a built-in look.  Aren't we so fancy?!?!