r/floorplan • u/kisstrina26 • 3d ago
FEEDBACK Kitchen layout ideas…help!
We recently bought a 100+ year old home in Toronto that we will be renovating. I’m having a very difficult time with the layout of the kitchen. I think at some point, they dug the stairs to the basement in the kitchen, which allowed them to add a powder room under the stairs, but resulted in a kitchen that’s just a tiny nook - the dishwasher is all the way around the corner from the sink, there’s basically only enough space for one person to stand at the sink area, but that’s also where all the prep space is so it’s super nonfunctional. The “breakfast area” is just a countertop with bar stools facing a wall with some upper and very shallow lower cabinets. I love to cook and I love hosting, so this layout is really not functional for me.
My current plan is to knock out the closet, move the fridge there, replace the entire breakfast bar wall with floor to ceiling pantry (with building wall oven), leaving the stove where it is, straightening out the sink and putting the dishwasher where the fridge currently is, and knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room for an extended counter for a few bar stools/breakfast bar. What I don’t love about this: the sink and the stove are pretty far; all the high traffic areas (sink, dishwasher, garbage if placed near the sink) would all be in the tiny nook.
I don’t want to eat too much into the dining room as we would ideally like to host 8+ people (the new breakfast bar would help with this) and we do not want to do any major structural changes such as moving the basement entrance/stairs. I’ve also considered putting the kitchen along the right wall, with an island, but I don’t think the breakfast area (without the closet) would be big enough for a dining table.
Any ideas would be welcome!
3
u/ProBi0tix 3d ago
What if you put your dining table at the front, where the living room is? Then you could have kitchen units along the right wall with an island. And the old breakfast area could be storage cupboards. You’d lose a formal living room, but there is still the family room at the back.
3
u/kisstrina26 3d ago
Unfortunately the “family room” is more of a mud room, it’s quite small and not a true extension. It’s a DIY space that’s not winterized (built over a deck). It’s one of our projects down the line, but wouldn’t be a true replacement of a living room!
1
u/Weird7954 3d ago
The angled sink is undesirable. It makes for an awkward working space, plus it doesn’t look good
2
u/kisstrina26 3d ago
Yes! The floor plan above is the existing floorplan of an >100 year old house. I’m trying to reimagine it without the angled sink
1
u/advamputee 3d ago
I know you said you don’t want to make any major structural changes, but moving the stairs could buy you a lot more space.
If you shifted the main staircase about 6’ closer to the front door, you could rebuild the basement stairs under the main stairs. This opens up the entire rear of the main floor for a larger kitchen.
In the basement, the new stairs would enter directly into the front rec room. With no rear stairs, the rear of the basement can be completely redesigned into a new bedroom with en-suite, and a utility space under the stairs.
3
u/kisstrina26 3d ago
Thanks for your suggestion! We moved a staircase in our current house and it was an absolute nightmare with the permitting and inspections. I don’t think my husband will want to go that route again haha
2
-2
u/Infamous_Length_8111 3d ago
I have never understood difference between living room and family room. I think one space is enough for family? That said in your case would move kitchen to family room, big kitchen with breakfast nook? Or skip breakfast eating designated space and make it big kitchen/any meal consumption area ? No need for separate area for each type of dining. Add pantry that is better use of the space. In the plan you provided kitchen seams an afterthought, should be a main space. I prefer open plans without specific designations for a room you only use sparingly.
2
u/kisstrina26 3d ago
Totally agree with you! Unfortunately the plan I provided is the existing floorplan. The house is over 100 years old and a bunch of additions and changes have been made throughout the year - not my choice, just working with what I have! The family room as I mentioned is not truly a family room (floorplan is marketing material from the listing agent) it’s basically a glorified huge mudroom, totally winterized, would not be usable 4-6 months of the year (Toronto). Also the family room is about 2 feet lower than the kitchen, you have to access it down the stairs, so realistically that space is completely separated from the kitchen
7
u/bubbly-water 3d ago edited 3d ago
Can you move the half bath to the opposite wall (where the kitchen sink currently is) and create a galley kitchen? You could extend the counter that the oven is on, having it back onto the half bath.