SFGate

Dytecture 10 foot ceiling would be more ideal with the current kitchen configuration.

One option is to have a double island in order to open the kitchen up to the living room. Extend the kitchen wall a bit towards the foyer to gain back some of the lost cabinet spaces.

Tri-County Lumber It looks as though your space in the dining area is a little tight. Do you already have a dining table in mind or are you planning to buy to accommodate this design? I suggest either pushing the back exterior wall out, or shrink the kitchen to allow for more space.

You may want to take a closer look at the master bathroom shower and tub layout. I am concerned you may have a tight entry into the shower. I often have my customers choose their tub early in the design phase to be sure I can accommodate the size.

I see a pocket door going from the laundry to the main hallway. Pocket doors don't typically get closed as often as a swinging door will. So with the pocket going into the laundry area, you will likely face the issue of hearing them run because someone forgot the shut the door. This will be especially true in this situation where you are walking through the laundry to get from the garage (I presume) to the house.


Finally, what is the room to the upper left? I looks like you have a study/office to the right of the entry, so is it a den? I only ask because without a closet in either room this is considered a 2-bedroom 2250sf home. Not very marketable if that is an important issue. If you don't think you're going anywhere for awhile don't worry about it.


Good luck with your project!

DMD Dytecture,
That's a great kitchen layout idea. How would you handle the ceiling height transitions in this case? The hallway/entry being at 9ft, the kitchen at 10ft, and the living dining areas at 12ft. I'm sure there would be a good opportunity to do sometime nice here, but I just cannot picture what it would be.

Tri-county Lumber,
We already have a dining table, but you have a good point about the space. I'll take a look at how much space will be optimal here.
I'm think of a shower and tub combination similar to the attached photo. Without the dimensions, it's hard to tell if it will work in the space we have to work with.
Good point about the pocket door. I was trying to keep from having a swinging door that opens in front of the washer/dryer. Again, something to ponder...
You are correct about the BR in the upper left. It is really will be used as an office.

Thanks for the feedback -- it is helpful and appreciated!

DMD With 10ft kitchen ceiling what would be the typical height of the top of the cabinets? Would it best to add a soffit or have them "free-floating" on the wall? Perhaps either way could work...

Dezign Studio Inc The mounting height should not be more than 96". Free floating with a double crown moulding would look good , although dusting will be required above cabinets.. You can also have staggered heights of cabinets.

Tri-County Lumber What style will you be incorporating?

nononanna One concern is that the first thng you see when you walk in the front door is the kitchen sink - which if you use the kitchen is always kind of messy. Maybe this is where you were thinking of putting the pocket door? That would be nice.

The floor plan is great. Kitchen and laundry are good, which in daily life are most important.Personally I would not open the kitchen to the living room. It's true that the dining area is not huge; is there space for a piece of furniture other than the table, like a server or hutch? The';re pretty useful - you don't want to have to have everything in the kitchen cabinets.

It's true that you need a closet in left bedroom even if it's not huge. Could you put something along the front wall?

DMD Tri-County Lumber: We like the traditional-style kitchens. Most of the examples I see in pictures have white painted cabinets. We also like lighter woods like naturally-finished maple.

I'm also looking into options for the openings between the kitchen/hall and kitchen/dining area. The heights of these openings, how to frame the openings, how high, etc...

DMD nononanna: Thanks for your comments. I see what you're saying about the sink location. It's funny that we looked at it's location from the other point of view -- in that we kind of liked the idea of being able to have a view of the entry when at the sink. However, I never considered it in the reverse!

I think there is a spot for a hutch along the wall the dining area shares with the BR. I sure wish I could bump out the dining area a bit -- even a foot or two -- but, I don't have the option of changing the footprint of the house.

eagledzines Here are some thoughts about upper treatments and cabinet height.

eagledzines Here is a nice one showing two islands and a refrigerator with a cabinet door attached.

Barbara Griffith Designs Also lots of wasted space in the laundry room..bedroom behind study has a long walk to the bathroom. Foyer seems narrow. Dining area way to narrow for table and makes for only casual dining. Ditch closet on hall/living rm wall. Leave it open. You can always use a drop from ceiling down to 9' ceilings and use this drop to define a space. You can usually span these with a paralam type beam. I would make the dining space, just that, and use the study for a dining room..open it to the foyer, use the little bedroom next to it as a study, and the back left room (add closet) as the 3rd bedroom. This size house without a formal dining room will detract from resales. Also, yes the door to shower will be too narrow..shorten the sink area on that side and extend the shower enough to allow a bigger door. In the kitchen..extend cabinets down the wall on the left side of table to end wall(remove the little window). Remove upper cabinets on the opposite side end for several feet, extend countertop for stools and be open to the living area.

eagledzines The transition between the height of the ceilings could be made via tray ceilings or double tray ceilings. If you google image 'tray ceilings' you will get a good variety to look at.

nononanna I'm not sure there's any such thing as "too much" space in a laundry room. If the "back of the house" space is big enough, the more visible areas don't have to be too big at all.

Interiors International, Inc. Dytecture idea is exactly what I was thinking. I like an open floor plan. You kitchen now seems to boxed in for me. Are you not going to have an attached garage?