New range ordered

We decided to go ahead with purchasing a new range, in spite of not having the layout completely nailed down. Hopefully a plumber can get things close enough that not too much work will have to be done with new cabinets... we're thinking the stove will be in (roughly) the same spot. Our church had a need for a new electric stove and we thought we could donate ours by replacing it before we're ready to do any other renovation.

We required a freestanding range with a gas stove. We didn't care what the oven was, but all-gas is much cheaper than dual-fuel. We really wanted a stove with no electronics. No computer, no timer, no "chicken nugget" button, etc. Stoves like this come in two categories. There are the $200 bottom-of the line models, and then there's a gap where you seem to get, basically, the $200 model plus more electronic features, and gradually better construction and burners, all the way up to $5000. You don't see another electronic-free model until about $2000 which starts the "pro-look" models, and those go up into five digits.

So, we were looking for the bottom of the upper range, rather than the top or middle of the bottom range, if that makes sense.

We decided on a NXR range. It's a brand I've never heard of, but it meets our criteria and has a price on the bottom of that upper range ($1999 delivered).

I wanted to know if I could get a better range by spending slightly more money. I looked at ranges by Five Star ($3000), Electrolux ($3200), American ($3300), Jade ($3500), and Capital ($3550). The Capital is the first one on the list I decided I'd rather have than the NXR, and it's a little bit better. Not $1550 better. So.... we ordered the NXR, from Dvorson's of Sausalito. More information when it arrives!

Plan contender

This is the plan we like best as of today. It has some problems, but some great features. There are upper cabinets only on two facing walls, so no upper corners at all. One pantry cabinet is removed to make the walls right and left of the window more symmetrical. The "bump" in the backsplash is repeated between the range and the sink. The range is moved right of its current location by 6" to center it on that wall, just as the windows look centered opposite. Both bottom corners are left blind, and the counter over the radiator is raised to windowsill height, and kept at the same depth as the pantry cabinets (18-19"). Here's what it looks like entering the room:

A 1910s kitchen would have had a couple pieces of big furniture - not cabinets everywhere. This plan tries to achieve that through limited use of upper cabinets, and maybe seems more spacious as a result. It also "simulates" a stand-alone hearth by making the range more of a focal point instead of just another built-in piece. That's how it looks to me, anyway.

It's not perfect. There's limited prep space near the range, and the sink isn't on the same counter as the range. The longest continuous countertop isn't near anything (except maybe the microwave). But, swapping the sink and the range (which would improve prep space) would mean putting back one wall of upper cabinets, messing up the look. The places that must have upper cabinets are the sink and the fridge, and having them across from one another looks best (in the computer program, anyway).

Old kitchen pictures

These pictures are all from before we bought the house. The only substantive change we've made is to run a low countertop over the radiator, where the previous owners had a small eat-in area. They were a retired couple; we're a family of four.

Plan iterations

Here's a progression of plans we thought through:
Switch the sink and the fridge: Makes an awful blind corner right of the fridge.

 Switch the stove and the sink: Not so bad, but no particular gain either. Requires all plumbing to be redone.

 Switch the refrigerator and the range. This is OK too, but the fridge door and the entry door will interfere. Venting the range is unpleasant (but possible).

 

Remove the fridge to the hallway: Opens up the kitchen nicely but the fridge area is quite cramped, even if those short walls are removed. Kitchen designers suggested this.  

What if we could move the radiator and put the sink in front of the window? The view out the window isn't awesome, and it'd be centered on a post between two windows, actually. Would have to push out the countertop to get the required depth after the passageway. Here, the radiator is right of the entry door:

And here, we tried it on the other side of the room. I'm not even sure if moving the radiator is possible, much less reasonable.

My mom helpfully suggested removing the closet and the bathroom; here's one possible plan:

Finally, we had a bit of an epiphany. We'd been trained by cabinet salesmen that every free bit of wall had to have cabinets on it. What if that's not true? Here's a plan with a few cabinets removed right and left of the window (for symmetry).

 

This is based on one a kitchen designer suggested, but with even more of the upper cabinets removed:

 And, here's what we think we've arrived at. No upper corners. We can put a large chimney hood over the range. We gain another few feet of countertop where the mixer is pictured. We lose half of a pantry cupboard. 

Tomorrow I'll post some elevation and perspective views of this plan.

Current floor plan

It seems the first thing one must do is arrive at a floor plan for the future kitchen, particularly deciding on the locations of the appliances and sink. Here's a floor plan of our kitchen, empty:

The door at the top (South) is the main entrance to the house for all except salesmen and evangelists. There is a hall to the left leading to our dining room, though a bit of a coat closet. The swinging door at the bottom leads to the study, and just to the left of that is the door to the basement. The radiator takes about 36" under the windows. The right is an outside wall, but there's a porch above the top. Now, here's our current kitchen layout:

The cabinets at bottom right are full-height, the rest are normal counter height with 30" uppers. I added a countertop over the radiator held on with some shelf brackets.

We took this plan to several cabinet stores and let kitchen designers fool around with them. The most popular thing to do was to move the refrigerator into what is now the coat closet. We don't like this idea, but it does create quite a bit of counter space in the kitchen. The oven, sink, and fridge can all be swapped around but this gains very little, and the choices are quite restricted. (Dishwasher must be near the sink; neither stove nor dishwasher may be in a corner; fridge must not be next to a wall, etc.) Some designers wanted to remove the wall so the bottom left countertop wraps into the coat closet area, forming a sort of Z-shaped counter.

We didn't really like any of the ideas which involved removing walls (not because we don't want to remove walls... they just didn't seem to work), and just swapping things around doesn't seem to improve anything generally.

Goals

Well, we're thinking about a kitchen remodel. The goals:

• Working appliances. Would like to switch to a gas range, with a range hood (instead of our current over-the-range microwave/recirculating vent), and a counter-depth refrigerator (instead of our current apartment-sized model).
• More continuous counter-top work space. Partly this will be accomplished by running counter over the radiator, and partly by adding a counter (and cabinets) in the area currently used by coats and "stuff." This counter could be used for some small appliances (coffee?) to free counterspace more useful for work area.
• This requires a small remodel of our mudroom so coats and "stuff" can be stored there.
• More functional cabinet storage. I don't mean pullouts and things like that (though those might come in to it). We're hoping to get rid of most of the super-deep corner cabinets, for example.
• Better flooring - the ceramic tiles have claimed too many of our dishes and glasses, and are very difficult to clean (too much texture and pitting).
• More style-appropriate. We'd like to see the kitchen in the same style as the rest of the house, like it "belongs" in a house built in the 1910s. Though kitchen cabinets, as such, were not used then, going to a quartersawn white oak, inset doors, exposed hinges, period hardware, etc. will make the kitchen look at home in our home, instead of separate.
• More attractive. The current upper cabinets are too short--going to the ceiling would look nicer. A different countertop material, different flooring, etc. Simpler, more classic shaker-style door fronts would look better in such a small room. Removing some of the upper cabinets and adding some molding would make the room seem bigger.