The
Old House Challenge:
Kitchen Design for a Room That Can’t
Be a Kitchen
By James Garland
Kitchen
designers worth their salt are dedicated to the idea that through
the course of their work they will create a functional and appealing
room. In a new home a well-designed kitchen is pretty standard issue.
But that’s not the way it was a hundred years ago. The kitchen
then was usually barebones functional and more often than not equipped
for no more than one cook at a time.
The owner of an
older home should carefully plan before remodeling, understanding
that in updating the kitchen it should be possible to increase the
function of the room yet still work within what the space allows.
That’s where the services of an experienced, trained kitchen
design specialist can become invaluable. And that’s where I come
in.
“I’ve
already started to tear some stuff out,” a client of an older
home told me when he called. Uh-oh. “And I’ve got an idea
that I want to take out a couple of walls. I’d like to see what
you think...”
Smart homeowner.
To start removing walls without a clear idea of what course the project
will take when they’re gone is a dangerous game.
This client’s
kitchen was one of the worst I’d seen. The room was chopped up
by doorways and odd wall configurations. Storage was abysmal, with
few wall cabinets badly placed and doors alack. There was no countertop
landing or preparation space, nor storage at the range or refrigerator.
The fit and finish of the old cabinets was in ruin. The countertop
was failing. The ambient lighting for the room was provided by an
old ceiling fixture near the room’s center. This was not a kitchen
for a couple that loves to cook.
Along the north
wall was a run of cabinets just a little over 13’ long, with
the sink centered under a wide set (6’) of mulled double-hung
windows. The dishwasher had been cobbled into cabinet space to the
right of the sink. The upper cabinets on either side of the window
were hung too low to fit countertop appliances underneath. Among the
many problems on this wall was the location of the dining room passageway
entering the kitchen: it was only 12 3/4” inches from the corner.
The existing cabinets had a cut-depth base, with shallow counter,
running into the door trim. The doorway couldn’t be moved.
The range sat
alone on the east wall, without cabinets at either side. Near the
dining room passageway there was a tiny built-in pantry space, its
opening just a foot or so wide. The owner wanted the pantry removed,
creating a bit of a recess at the dining room end of the range wall.
To the right of the pantry, the wall projected into the kitchen space
to house built-in cabinetry on the dining room side. A chimney also
ran up through the wall, abutting the built-in space. The wall could
not be recessed or flushed. And at the south wall, a passage into
a hallway was 22 5/8” from the corner, again not deep enough
for standard base cabinets.
On the other side
of the hall passageway, a prior owner had built a closet space to
an adjoining room, occupying most of the space along the west wall
where the refrigerator stood, alone, facing the range wall. Access
to the basement was along the west wall. That would have to remain,
as would the breakfast nook being installed in a bump-out at the end
of the sink run, a bright spot in the kitchen.
I measured the
entire room. Making drastic changes in the configuration of an older
home should be approached carefully. In this case, I was all for removal.
The closet was not part of the original design of the home, and the
construction included no supporting walls (though this should always
be verified by a licensed remodeling contractor, architect, or engineer).
The idea of losing so much kitchen for some closet storage seemed
like too great a sacrifice.
Dividing up the
major preparation and storage areas, with the traffic pattern through
the middle of the work area, can add chaos to a busy kitchen. But
it has to happen here. The sink must remain where it is, and the window,
scheduled to be replaced, occupies the same amount of wall space at
the same location. That, and the proximity of the dining passageway
to the corner, constrains the design options for the north wall and
dictates what happens with the rest of the room as well.
Moving the dishwasher
to the left of the new sink allows a good-sized drawer base and an
angled cabinet to fit to the right (the angle base easing entry to
the room). And instead of keeping a 12” deep base cabinet from
the angle cabinet to the doorway, a wall-depth floor to ceiling pantry
cabinet, with mullion glass inserts in the upper doors. There’s
still room to the left of the dishwasher for a 24” base cabinet
finishing out the run to the breakfast nook. Storage is greatly improved
and countertop adequate on both sides of the cleanup area: this wall
of cabinets is designed. (figure 1)
The range area
turns out to be more a challenge. Removing the built-in pantry space
creates a recess area neither deep (22”) nor wide (23 3/4”...almost)
enough to accommodate standard base cabinetry, and I had been asked
to provide a shelf for a microwave at that spot (a non-issue in the
kitchen of a hundred years ago). It’s a good spot for a food
pantry cabinet, a functional cabinet, reduced in depth to fit the
space. Flipped sideways, facing the sink cabinet run, with a panel
to the side for added depth and to catch the edge of a countertop
on an abutting cabinet, the pantry serves to flush out the cabinet
run housing the range. Nothing left to do but center the range between
two 2’ base cabinets (wide drawer units, good for pot storage)
and put in another angle base, further easing access to the kitchen
from the dining room. Put the microwave in an upper cabinet to the
left of the range, freeing up counter space, and plan for a standard
range hood (to be vented out through soffit space above the wall cabinets),
and the wall looks good. (figure 2)
After that, the
refrigerator space is pretty easy. A wide base cabinet with rollout
shelves (providing ease of access) goes to the right of the appliance
with a wall cabinet above. Panels, 3/4” x 24” deep, support
a 24” deep wall cabinet over the refrigerator, again providing
ease of access to a difficult storage area. The refrigerator space,
though further from the sink than I usually like to see, is laid out. (figure 3)
That leaves the
island. Islands are tricky. They’re not for every room. If there
isn’t enough clearance the island can be an obstruction instead
of an asset. In this room, a three-foot wide island cabinet fits,
providing extra preparation and storage space near the sink area.
There’s usually
a ways to go until the final design is agreed upon (it’s unusual
for the first design to be final). It’s a negotiation, usually,
between the homeowner and designer to find the most functional layout
possible. Once the idea, the concept, is down, we’ll turn attention
to the details of the design, assigning conveniences and accessories.
Ideas breed new
ideas (“What if the island is put on casters, so it can be rolled
out of the way when it’s not in use?” leads to, “Yes,
and we can even set up a countertop next to the refrigerator to roll
the island under.”). We are solving the puzzle posed by an archaic
and awkward space, customizing a unique design for this couple’s
way of working in their kitchen.
James Garland
is a designer for Canac Kitchens in Tualatin. |
