New kitchen floor plan… (thinking about forgoing upper cabinets.)
Seeing as how I’m going to have an L-shape kitchen, I’d like to be on record that I’m AGAINST IT.
L is arguably the most boring letter.
In both the categories of upper AND lower case.
But I guess that’s what we are doing now: boring things we hate.
DEATH TO PIZZAZZ.
In case you are thinking I forgot about upper cabinets… I didn’t. I just hate all of them.
They fill me with antipathy.
And gout.
So unpleasant.
These images are blindingly hideous and I apologize for searing your eyeballs with the FUNDAMENTAL AND OBVIOUS KITCHEN-NESS.
No magic.
No orphaned forest creatures.
No items of delicate antiquity and bejeweled human remains.
I AM AN UTTER FAILURE AT LIFE.
Our kitchen island is a repurposed antique grand piano… but my skills at “photoshopping” it into these mockups is literally cut and paste; so my additions of windows, mirror, piano are just eyeball, not to scale!
Here is the antique mirror, shown above.
Here is THE FINISHED PIANO!
Here are the theoretical DIY slate countertops.
Now: important details.
When looking at these 3D layouts, you have to remember that our kitchen doorway is actually on an angle– the above floorplans don’t make that obvious.
The cabinets meet the wall, not the doorway.
So when you enter the kitchen, the interior wall of cabinetry will be sort of behind you/to your left.
Next.
For the entire century of my kitchen non-remodel, I have been working in some basic parameters; including the assumption that we’d do glass-front upper cabinets.
A light/bright base— white cabinets, glass uppers, LOTS of chunky white molding.
As kitchens go, I don’t hate this… and for a long time, it’s what I had in mind.
Groundbreaking, I know.
The detail that most makes this a good “inspiration” picture for me is the window they have in the corner.
The above photo is our exact layout option: L-shape perimeter, with an island… centering either the range (or the sink) on either wall… (but not with a gas range— we’re doing an induction cooktop and wall oven.)
BUT… from our existing kitchen, we have slowly removed upper cabinet after upper cabinet after upper cabinet… until I’ve been living with nothing but open shelving for the last year and a half…and…
… BRACE YOURSELVES…
I think it’s fantastic.
AND I LIKE IT WAY BETTER THAN CABINETS.
And I don’t think I want to go back.
NOT frou-frou open shelving with pitchers and cake plates and fake succulents… REAL open shelving that I actually use.
The sight of lentils does not offend me.
This is a new development for me… so I’m not sure what the shelf-amalgamation looks like yet.
Also!! don’t worry! I fully understand that lots of people REALLY HATE open shelving… and please! feel free to foam at the mouth and leave comments about HOW OPEN SHELVING IS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN DECENCY GERMS FILTH GREMLINS!
You should also know that I will not have a window over my kitchen sink.
I understand and certify here, on this day of April, in the year of endtimes, that I am making a giant, crushing, mistake-of-hideous-proportions, and I should go and throw myself directly into the river.
I proceed otherwise at my own risk.
Hereby signed, VEB
ps- several of you endorsed microfiber drying mats as an alternative to my bulky wire dish rack with mungy-grungy plastic tray WHICH DOES NOT FIT IN THE DISHWASHER EVEN THOUGH I HAVE TRIED 500 WAYS.
You have revolutionized my countertop. MY SHREDS OF SANITY THANK YOU.
pps- some of you put the dishrack into the sink, which does make sense! Maybe if we were doing a bigger sink? Our sink is only 30″… and I already bought it, so getting a bigger/different sink is not an option for us.
April 17, 2018 @ 11:07 am
I totally agree with drawers in all your lowers. You will thank us for it in the end. I have never had a window over my sink. Well, I did once, but right in front of that window was a telephone pole. Might well enough have had no window there! Do hurry, we are all very anxious to see the finished kitchen.
April 17, 2018 @ 11:07 am
It will be magnificent! Your L will NOT be boring – it is an Illuminated Calligraphy L of the fanciest type – because your L has a grand piano as the embellishment. I can’t wait to see how you do your open shelving – knowing your penchant for GFTs, I’m picturing maybe wrought iron scrolled shelf supports? Maybe brass piping a la Fixer Upper’s mid century modern kitchen (except along the wall, not out over the island of course)? (maybe this link would work: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/222435669080532506/ ). And I cannot agree more with Too Realistic’s comment above – drawers along every single bottom cabinet you can possibly manage it for. And if you don’t like the look of drawers, you can do doors with slide-out shelving. Changed my entire universe. Any future house must have them. Thanks so much for sharing your journey. I love your style – I’m from PA, went to school in Philly, and I know exactly the kind of GFTs you encounter and long for… me too!!
April 17, 2018 @ 11:08 am
When I was renovating my kitchen, I came in the day they pulled down the upper cabinets and I loved how much more spacious the kitchen felt. So I just have open shelving, but I do limit what I have. Only white or clear dishes, black pans, touches of blue, and a few art items. I keep all dishes out, my primary pots and pans. My kitchen, 5 years later, still gorgeous.
April 17, 2018 @ 11:13 am
I (anonymous internet person) am not afraid to say I LOVE the idea of open shelving rather than bulky closed up upper cabinets! (lol) seriously though if I had a bigger space and enough storage space for the ugly that i have to keep in my kitchen (I’m talking stained plastic kid cereal bowls they refuse to give up) I’d do it too!
April 17, 2018 @ 11:40 am
Functional open shelves are awesome! I ditched my uppers and went to open shelves a year ago and L O V E it 💓
Go for it!!
April 17, 2018 @ 12:00 pm
Hi VEB, NOW I am going to REALLY mess with your kitchen floor plan. I think the big visual problem for you is that your fabulous piano counter is not centered between the windows.
1. Since you want to remove your wall cabinets and since you don’t plan to have a vent for your cook top, why not remove ALL the cabinets on your wall A? This will allow you to move the piano so it is centered under the windows.
2. Move all those base cabinets to the opposite side of the kitchen to create a peninsula. Your range can go in the peninsula. AND you can have seating at the peninsula if you need it.
Et voilà, your kitchen no longer an “L” but a “U”. You can use wall A for very thin shelving (5″ to 6″ deep) that is just one can or jar deep and/or to hang art or more of your glorious mirrors.
Smiles from Carol
April 17, 2018 @ 1:23 pm
I’m interested by your suggestions. The piano island not being centered with the windows bugs me too, and it’s only amplified when the lady head mirror is added. The unbalance of it all is further amplified by that built in bench with storage under the right hand window.
I’m in favor of losing that bench, but I don’t think there is space to move that island to the left, even if you don’t have the cabinets over there at all – it would kind of block the entrance from that angled doorway, at least visually if not physically. Really, the way you enter the room you probably can’t see how things line up. We can’t know how the space really looks or feels from those drawings. I mean, me not knowing how those windows relate to the house (front, back, side?), and money being no object (ha!) I would tear them both out and want a large one centered with the island.
Fun to dream and plan! It will be a beautiful space no matter what. The room could be empty with that beautiful island and I would declare it fabulous. 🙂
April 17, 2018 @ 12:06 pm
What 3D software do you use?
April 17, 2018 @ 12:12 pm
Simple is beautiful. I have nothing against open shelving – I have it in my basement kitchenette.
My dream kitchen has neither uppers or open shelving – just mostly windows. My present kitchen has limited uppers – partly because it is a small kitchen to start with. Many are putting the window in front of their prep area rather than sink because that is where they feel they are most of the time. Julia Child’s French Kitchen had no uppers – just peg board style. Yes to drawers rather than lower cabinets.
I do have the grill for my Whitehaven and don’t have a problem with it:)
April 17, 2018 @ 12:22 pm
One word of warning and it has nothing to do with open shelving: those microfiber drying mats are marvelous, but they are NOT heat-proof and if you set your favorite skillet down on it directly from the hot stovetop it WILL melt onto the bottom of your skillet and you WILL have to put the skillet into the freezer for a couple of days to harden the microfiber bits so you can scrape them off, and then the bottom of your favorite skillet will be scratchy and not pretty anymore. Not that I have personal experience in this area.
You do you. It will be lovely and I’m excited to see the finished kitchen!
April 17, 2018 @ 12:23 pm
Following your kitchen progress, too weak to keep away from kitchen reno and yours will , no doubt, stand out.
We had all upper cabinets in our former house , some plain, some glass front, and I absolutely hated cleaning them , the doors, the knobs, the top part that gathers this appalling greasy dust.
In the new house we went for all open shelving apart from one cabinet that sits right on the counter and goes all the way to the ceiling. It was supposed to look like some sort of integrated hutch, and so it does but I sometimes wish I had just put more shelves, I like the airy effect. My only advice would be to go for brackets. My husbad build floating shelves with a fork system but one swags a little, so pretty sturdy brackets is what I’d go for. I’ve not had any concern with cleaning, as things that are used don’t get dusty. I take the upper shelves inhabitants ( cake stands, compote dishes, silver…)down every other month to wash them.
And someone mentioned drawers in lower cabinets, that’s a choice I do not regret ( though I think I’d maybe reconsider under the sink now), great access and perfectly for a small “pantry cabinet” in the kitchen.
April 17, 2018 @ 12:26 pm
Open shelving and cats…could be a problem…?
April 17, 2018 @ 12:37 pm
So I have had great comfort with my indecision as I follow you. I’m not sure why I think that this kitchen remodel in a 117 year old house means that it MUST remain the same for the next 117 years. What about resale and what if the tile I pick that now seems so exclusive becomes available through a well known vendor via Target? The shame of it all! Maybe that’s why I love heavy trash day…what is one persons trash….right?
My crap – umm fabulous items – that have been stored in boxes that now seems to be an episode of Hoarders leave me thinking maybe I’ll just start all over. I mean if I haven’t used it this long, I won’t miss it right?
April 17, 2018 @ 12:43 pm
We have a tiny kitchen in our condo with no window ANYWHERE. I hung art work collected on our world travels and enjoy that over our sink. You do you. You will, anyway.
April 17, 2018 @ 12:59 pm
I presently have open shelving (and a large original butler’s pantry with uppers), and I like it for a small kitchen. It creates an airy feel, but it also limits your storage ability and you have to be organized otherwise it looks like an insane mess all the time.
I go back and forth about it. It’s certainly simpler to install, and I think you can really customize it much easier for a more interesting look, plus it’s also cheaper. Although sometimes I just wish I didn’t have to look at all my stuff or worry about arranging everything.
The good thing is, that if you decide you want uppers at a later date it’s much easier to take down shelves than it is cabs!
April 17, 2018 @ 1:15 pm
I had all drawers made for lower cabs. We found storing heavy dinner plates in the top drawer the best idea. Yes uppers get dusty, but do what you want. You have little fairies with swooshing tails to walk up there and dust for you!😽. Leave enough room on the walls to put sconces on each side of the mirrors. Hang a giant fancy Victorian framed oil painting on the other wall in between shelves to get rid of the ordinary kitchen feel that you abhor! Think Europe, they don’t have giant storage to store a 3 year supply of fancy food from Costco!
April 17, 2018 @ 1:33 pm
I took the bite after seeing it advertised and blogged about everywhere, and paid to have a room rendered by Modsy. HIGHLY recommend. Super easy to do and the rendering is so accurate. You can pay extra to have your must-keep things rendered and you can move things about to scale. Seriously love that technology like this is available to us little people who can’t afford to hire interior designers. Maybe there’s a similar service for kitchens?
April 17, 2018 @ 1:51 pm
Open shelving is all the rage right now, and while I am entirely too messy to have them, I don’t think you will regret it at all. You will come up with some way to modify some GFTs you find for an amazing price (full mantels? headboards? add glass shelves to your mirrors?) or else find the most perfect bits-and-bobs to conjure up shelving that will have us all drooling and sobbing in our buidler-grade hovels. I have the utmost faith in you and Paul.
I am such a heathen that not only do I not have a window over my sink, I don’t have any windows in my kitchen at all. One gets used to it. It doesn’t bother me near as much as not having a garbage disposal. And while I’m confessing, I will own up to not even having a microfiber mat; if I don’t dry the dishes right away, I just *gasp* drain them on a dishtowels(s). (Every horror you ever heard about hillbillies is apparently true)
April 17, 2018 @ 2:09 pm
In some kitchens I like cupboards …. in others I prefer open shelving . I am sure your open shelving will be beautiful !
April 17, 2018 @ 2:13 pm
I painted the kitchen cabinets in a former home of ours. They were beautiful — nice and white like I wanted them in our kitchen-o-abundant-windows. Somehow got interrupted (life!) and didn’t get the doors to the upper cabinets hung for several months. I came to LOVE the openness. It was hard to live with the doors again (husband! [who I adore and mostly bows to my whims, so of course I adore him]). Actually, we were moving soon, so I only had to live with the doors for a couple of months. I say a little extra dusting is a small price to pay for opening shelving. Can labels to the front, ladies!
April 17, 2018 @ 2:19 pm
We have open shelves and I love them. In the corners at either end are tall narrow units that rest on the counters—so useful for hiding the unsightly stuff. The open shelves flank the window over the sink and contain our everyday dishes, tea cups, and other things that are used a lot and can be attractively arranged. I agree with you about dry foods—arranged in matching glass jars, they are decorative. So are home-canned foods in glass jars.
There are also no cabinets squeezing the hood over my French stove. Instead, we have bars with S hooks on either side and below the hood. Most of my cookware and cooking implements hang from these bars. It is so convenient. In the absence of a hood, you could hang even more than I do. Most things are used often enough that they don’t get greasy or dusty.
April 17, 2018 @ 6:45 pm
I am thinking a beautiful harp hung over the piano would make a magnificent pot rack to hang some gold and black pots and pans.
April 17, 2018 @ 11:12 pm
Jackie B~ Love that idea!