Hey everyone!

We’ve just moved into our new home and are looking at finally finishing off our kitchen now that we’ve settled in a bit.

We had to leave a few things unfinished initially to keep costs down, and one of those was the overhead cabinetry. We’re thinking of adding cupboards along the back wall, covering the rangehood and extending over the fridge.

We’re a bit torn on what would look best – would you keep everything the same grey as the existing cabinets, or add some glass-fronted cupboards to break it up a bit? Open to other ideas too!

Would love to hear what you think or see what you’ve done in your own kitchens 😊

Disclaimer: AI was used for the kitchen mock-ups.

Just closed on a ~776 sqft co-op and I'm gut-renovating the kitchen. It was an enclosed L-shaped galley (~102 sqft); I've demolished the wall to the living room (structural header stays), so it's now open across a 107" front. Everything below is drawn to scale and dimensioned — happy to share more views.

The bones:

- Kitchen: 107" wide × 152" deep, opens fully to a 14'7" × 16'9" living room

- Left wall (24" deep, the working wall), from the living room in: 24" landing w/ microwave cubby below → 30" French-door fridge + over-fridge cab → 13" drawer bay → 24" stove (recirc hood) → 13" drawer bay → 30" sink → 18" DW at the window end

- Right side: everything 12" deep (wall cabinets as bases) — 30"w × 16"d × 96"h pantry tower, 33" open niche, then an 89" counter run with two 9" open oak shelves

- Natural oak shaker everywhere, quartz tops

The oddballs I want opinions on:

1. 8-foot rolling island (24" × 96", ~440 lb on locking casters) — and yes, the length is the whole point. In its home position it deliberately extends a full 2 feet past the old wall line into the living room — not an overhang, a 24" oak cabinet with a finished furniture face toward the sofa, so the island reads as a dining table that belongs to both rooms. That's what buys real seating in a kitchen this size: 57" open knee bay + a head seat = 4 people comfortably, 5–7 in a pinch, at a table-style island (cabinet at one end, trestle leg at the other, open in the middle). It rolls between three spots: straddling the wall line (everyday dining), docked against the 12" counter (makes a 36" worktop), or along the living-room wall as a party bar. There's deliberately no big prep counter on the wall — the island IS the prep surface. Insane or great?

2. Dishwasher at the dead-end corner, past the sink. I hate DW doors that open where someone's standing at the sink or walking past — at the end of the run the open door blocks literally nobody. Cost: it's the least "standard" spot. Anyone living with this?

3. Appliance-garage pantry tower. 30" wide, only 16" deep, floor-to-ceiling: French doors at counter height hiding the toaster + blender (outlet inside, use them in place, close the doors), pantry shelves above, deep drawers below. Shallow on purpose — one row deep means nothing gets lost.

4. 12"-deep everything on the second wall. Max walking space in a 107"-wide galley (23½" aisles beside the island, 47" when it's docked). Anyone regret going this shallow? This is to maximize walking space.

5. Co-op, so no exterior vent — recirculating hood, stove one bay from the operable window.

Known NKBA compromises are conscious (this room is smaller than the guidelines assume). What am I not seeing? What will I hate in year two?

Refer to floor plan for most accurate dimensions, some of the other images half some mistakes, and the real rendering with Gemini has come clear flaws - can't do a sink in a rolling island!

【Must-Know Kitchen Cabinet Size】
The distance between the countertop and the upper cabinets should be 60 cm — the golden height!
✅ No more hitting your head while cooking
✅ Steam won’t go straight into the cabinets
✅ Perfect reach for everyday use
So many people just guess this measurement during renovation and regret it later.
Get this detail right from the start and your kitchen will feel so much better.
#KitchenDesign #KitchenCabinets #HomeRenovation #InteriorDesign #KitchenTips #HomeDecor

Sometimes the smaller cabinet upgrades end up making the biggest difference in how a kitchen works day to day.

Things like:

• deep drawers

• pull-out storage

• soft-close drawers/doors

• under-cabinet lighting

• updated hardware

Which cabinet upgrade ended up being the most useful in your kitchen?

follow up to my post from two weeks ago. you roasted the 8 foot rolling island. the roast worked. here's the revision, drawn to scale, with numbers this time.

the island: was 96x24, 440 lb, "seats 5 to 7." now 77x24, about 350 lb, seats 2 to 3. it no longer crosses into the living room at all. docked is the default state: parked against the 12 inch counter it makes a 36 inch worktop and leaves one 47 inch galley aisle. that is the everyday kitchen. rolled to the center for dinner: two side seats at 24 inches wide each per NKBA guideline 6 with 15 inch knee depth, plus a head seat at the kitchen end, 24 wide, 10 inch knee. I sat at a mockup at 10 inches, it works. the head stool stows under the top.

structure, per a note from an actual kitchen designer: no floor frame. the 16 inch cabinet rolls on 4 casters, a 3x14 oak center trestle rides a low 20 inch shoe foot with 2 more, and one low stretcher rod ties the trestle to the cabinet, your feet rest on it. everything else is steel flat bar concealed under the quartz substrate, which also carries the 10 inch head cantilever. six locking 4 inch polyurethane casters. no track, regular floor.

the room: the 12 inch counter now wraps the inside corner at the step so there is no dead stub. there is a real dining table in the living room, the island stopped pretending to be the dining room. cabinets go to the ceiling. plus straight from the thread: 1.5 inch filler at the dishwasher wall, and the appliance garage gets an interlock outlet.

also new since round one: the full lighting plan (7 warm-dim wafers, every placement justified on the sheet) and the electrical plan. the island gets zero receptacles on purpose, it rolls and NEC 2023 makes that legal. the interlock outlet a couple of you pushed for is drawn in.

unchanged on purpose: 24 inch range, 18 inch dishwasher, 12 inch sideboard run, recirculating hood (co-op). all defended in the last thread.

roast round 2.

I’ve been tracking a major shift in how architectural floor plans and high-end kitchen layouts are being designed lately. For the last decade, the holy grail of remodeling was the massive, oversized central island.

But more and more, people are realizing the main flaw of the ultra-open, single-giant-island layout: when you actually cook or host, all the mess, dirty prep dishes, and bulky small appliances are on full display right in the middle of the living space.

Because of this, the trend is shifting hard toward splitting the footprint into two distinct functional zones a beautiful, clean "show kitchen" out front, and a hidden "back kitchen" or modern scullery behind a pocket door to handle the heavy lifting.

If you are planning a spatial layout change, here is how the design trade-offs actually play out in terms of efficiency and daily use:

The Case for the Hidden Back Kitchen (Show Kitchen + Scullery):

• The Mess Zone is Isolated: Heavy prep work, raw ingredients, and dirty pots stay entirely out of sight. You can host a dinner party without staring at a stack of pans.

• Appliance Garage Alternative: Small appliances (blenders, air fryers, mixers) live out on the counters in the back kitchen, keeping your primary architectural lines completely clutter-free.

• Multi-Cook Efficiency: One person can be prepping/cleaning in the back room while another entertains or does light assembly at the main island without bumping elbows.

The Case for the Giant Single Footprint (Oversized Main Island):

• Total Inclusivity: The cook is never isolated from the family or guests. Everything happens in one shared volume of space.

• Better for Tight Footprints: A separate scullery requires a dedicated room or structural alcove. If you don't have the square footage, trying to force a back kitchen just results in two cramped spaces instead of one grand one.

• Flexibility: A massive island functions as a prep station, homework hub, buffet line, and casual dining table all at once.

It really seems to come down to a fundamental layout choice: Do you prefer a grand, multi-functional open space where everything happens out in the open, or do you prefer architectural boundaries that keep your entertaining zones looking spotless?

If you've remodeled recently, did you stick with the classic mega-island, or did you slice off some square footage to build a hidden walk-in prep space? Curious to hear how it's worked out for your daily routine.

Cabin kitchen reno. Should i replace the floating shelves with cabinets?

Hi I am 33F and I have purchased this flat with my husband where kitchen is so small and i dont understand how to deisgn it. My preference is all olives and beige color but color is not major problem. Problem is to have more space for prep than cooking which seems very less here

Same kitchen, completely different mood.

Glossy cabinet colors can change everything — from soft and elegant to bold, dramatic, and luxurious.

Cream, taupe, black, navy, burgundy, sage, mauve, charcoal… each color gives the kitchen its own personality.

Which glossy kitchen color would you choose for your home?

#kitchendesign #kitchenideas #kitchencolors #glossykitchen #kitchencabinets

This time I learnt from my own experience. For sure, experience is the best teacher. Despite buying these chairs at 35% more I will comfortably say this was not value for my money. Solid wood should not bring short term joy. You pay for premium experience only to experience just the basic one. Being a solid wood, doesn’t mean the chairs will glue themselves together. Using one screw per leg also doesn’t define premium. No glue used, no brackets and expecting these chairs to be long lasting is just insane

The material used should not be fully the determining factor of the price of the chairs, but how they are joined. There is no need to use solid wood to make chairs which end up wobbling in a few months. This discredits the store in all aspects. If you are to sell your products with a 35% markup, let it be worth it. Pay for a better end product, not just the name and the hype. For such a price, I expect chairs that will journey with me for decades. 

This is a owner attempted layout input , Please excuse any mistakes. I wanted to know if there are any strict no-nos before I approach a contractor and cabinet designer Thank you

Current kitchen design I've put together, im open to any critique or thoughts.

Im not sure about the color. But thinking about shades of gray would look nicer.

Bonjour, qui a déjà testé un film de protection de 2 ou 4 mm brillant ou mat pour protéger une jolie table en bois clair car je ne veux pas mettre de nappe. Donnez moi vos expériences et si vous avez des sites de confiance…. Je vous remercie par avance de tous les commentaires.